Christopher Nolan, as we all know, tends to go all out when he’s making a film. Be it set pieces, locations, or equipment, Nolan likes to pick the best of the best. Talking about equipment, he has, on many occasions, spoken highly of the IMAX format as he actively started to use it with Christian Bale’s The Dark Knight trilogy.
Days before the release of this year’s Oppenheimer, Nolan sat down with Jake Hamilton and the two had a thorough conversation about how his films have easter eggs to his other films. Hamilton asked Nolan about his experiences with the format over the years and if he regretted not using the technology in any of his earlier films.
The director reportedly increased the usage of the IMAX format after The Dark Knight (2008), but he went into the intricacies of how he should have used the technology in 2005’s Batman Begins. He described the scene to be one of the most special ones to him.
Christopher Nolan Regretted Not Using IMAX In Batman Begins’ Car Chase
The first time we saw the Bat Tumbler in action in Batman Begins was when Katie Holmes’ Rachel Dawes was poisoned by Cillian Murphy’s Scarecrow. Nolan revealed that this scene had the crew put their “hearts and souls into” as it involved a high-octane chase between the Gotham Police and the Batmobile.
Nolan explained it on Jake’s Takes –
“We didn’t have it for Batman Begins. The first time you see the Batmobile and that whole car chase, which we put our hearts and souls into; it would have been really fun to do that. Although we were able to blow it up and present it that way for the audiences.”
The Dark Knight had 28 minutes of IMAX footage, whereas Christopher Nolan pumped it up to 72 minutes for The Dark Knight Rises, according to a report from Slash Film.
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Christopher Nolan’s Major Reason For Extensively Using IMAX
Compared to most directors, Nolan has a unique way of binding the audience into a particular scene with the visuals that he chooses to go for. He believes that only an IMAX format has the capability to capture the viewers’ minds in a way that they feel they are actually present inside a scene.
“Shooting on that format gives you clarity and crispness that just takes you to a place,” he further said on Jake’s Takes. “So really in any of my films, whether it’s giant vistas or exciting action set pieces, there are a lot of quiet and personal moments. It’s just being with somebody and feeling that you’re in there.”
To this day, The Dark Knight trilogy remains to be Nolan’s top-tier work as he gave his own spin to the comic-book character and it became a topic of study for enthusiasts and filmmakers.
Batman Begins is currently streaming on Max.
Source: Jake’s Takes
