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Batman Begins (2005)
Batman Begins is a 2005 superhero film based on the DC Comics character Batman. Directed by Christopher Nolan, who co-wrote the screenplay with David S. Goyer, the film stars Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne / Batman, with Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Gary Oldman, Cillian Murphy, Tom Wilkinson, Rutger Hauer, Ken Watanabe, and Morgan Freeman in supporting roles. The film reboots the Batman film series,…
Directed by Christopher Nolan · Shot by Wally Pfister · Cut by Lee Smith · Music by Hans Zimmer, James Newton Howard · Ratio 2.35:1 · 140 min
How it was made
- Nolan refused a second unit on principle to keep his visual vision consistent throughout the film, including on the Iceland glacier shoot where 75 mph winds forced cinematographer Wally Pfister to abandon a planned crane shot for handheld camera work.
- Production designer Nathan Crowley built the Batcave set at Shepperton Studios 250 feet long, 120 feet wide and 40 feet high, installing twelve pumps to drive a 12,000-imperial-gallon waterfall and casting the rock walls from molds of real caves.
- An airship hangar at Cardington was converted into a 900-foot soundstage to house the slum set known as the Narrows, which Crowley and Nolan modelled on the demolished walled city of Kowloon in Hong Kong.
- Nolan favoured practical stunts and scale models over CGI; the bats were entirely digital except in shots with only one or two animals, since directing large numbers of real bats was impractical.
Behind the scenes
Elsewhere
More by Christopher Nolan
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