From “I Thought My Jokes Were Bad” to “A Little Push,” there are many memorable pieces of music in The Dark Knight, as well as the other Batman films directed by Christopher Nolan. But if there’s one thing that enhances a film, it’s the score. Such is the case when you have a composer like Hans Zimmer working on the music.
In a recent discussion with Vanity Fair revolving around The 25 Most Influential Movie Scenes In The Last 25 Years, The Dark Knight was highlighted for the final scene where Gordon describes Batman as the hero that Gotham deserves. However, Hans Zimmer had one small complaint with the score: he found it to be too loud. He said as much to Christopher Nolan:
“I told Chris the music was too loud—you couldn’t hear the lines. He said, ‘I wrote them. I can do what I want.’ He was right; people do remember the lines. He could have done 200 different cop-out endings, but he put that ending on. It’s hard to pull off a satisfying ending, if you’re that ambiguous. One second longer, or one sentence or note different, and it would have been a different movie.”
The idea of sound in the Christopher Nolan Batman films sometimes feeling or sounding imbalanced is a sort of constant. Think back to how many said that, on some viewings, they could not understand what Bane was saying in The Dark Knight Rises. Indeed, in The Dark Knight, there are a few times when the music can feel…overpowering. But then, as Nolan said, it’s his script. Plus, on repeat viewings, the music and ambience don’t really overpower the dialogue in the film itself.
But based on Hans Zimmer’s words, what did you think about the music in The Dark Knight? Did you find it to be too loud, or of an appropriate level? Also, how do you feel about Hans Zimmer returning to scoring superhero films with Dark Phoenix and Wonder Woman 1984? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Directed by Christopher Nolan and released in 2008, The Dark Knight stars Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Heath Ledger, Gary Oldman, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Morgan Freeman. The film is available now on Digital HD, 4K, Blu-Ray, and DVD.
Source: Vanity Fair
