It's not out until December 4, but we just received an advanced copy of the Blu-ray combo pack of "The Dark Knight Rises" and it has a lot of goodies.
While we'll be going through a few of the features in the next two weeks, we couldn't wait to share some photos of the packaging with you, along with what to expect inside.
Here's the front, with Batman against a holographic background:
And, the back:
The three-disc combo pack comes with the standard movie DVD, a Blu-ray disc with special features, and an UltraViolet DVD which allows you to watch the film virtually anywhere (tablet, phone, computer, etc.).
The special features DVD can be a bit of an adventure in itself to navigate. They're spread out in four categories which branch out.
Here's a breakdown of what you'll find inside. We've highlighted our favorite bits so far:
The Batmobile "Short" Feature: The short film's actually an hour long documentary on the history of the Caped Crusader's automobile. Best part? Adam West makes an appearance.
Trailer Archive: Containing four trailers for the film.
Print Campaign Art Gallery: containing 31 pieces of advertising for the film that you may or may not have seen.
The most expansive part of the features is split into three "Behind the Scenes" sections:
Production
- High-Altitude Hijacking: The making of the plane crash in the beginning of the film
- Return to the Batcave: what went in to building the Batcave for the final film including a time-lapse of its creation.
- Beneath Gotham: Inside the making of Bane's lair.
- Concept art and the creation of Batman's jet, the Bat.
- Batman vs Bane: What went into the primary fight scene between the Dark Knight and the mercenary.
- Armory Accepted: How Bane's men broke into Applied Sciences to steal Batman's arsenal of weapons.
- Gameday Destruction: How the production team blew up the football field and made the stadium appear filled.
- Demolishing a City Street: How the crew blew up a Gotham street when Joseph Gordon-Levitt's character John Blake drove down it.
- The Pit: What went into designing the hole where Bruce Wayne was trapped located in India.
- The Chant: How director Christopher Nolan's team came up with the repeated words that became the inspiration for Bane's score.
- The War on Wall Street: How Nolan brought the massive fight in front of the stock exchange in New York City come to life with 1,100 people.
- Race to the Reactor: How the crew made the chase scenes between the Batpod, Tumbler, and the trucks.
Characters
- The Journey of Bruce Wayne: How Nolan brought his version of Batman full circle in TDKR and how the character of Wayne grew and changed in the three films.
- Gotham's Reckoning: Nolan and Tom Hardy share how they converted the adapted Bane for the Nolan-verse with some early concept art on what the villain could have looked like. (So far, this is one of our favorite features of the disc.)
- A Girl's Gotta Eat: How Nolan went about casting Anne Hathaway for his version of Catwoman and how she cemented her own branding of the character.
Reflections
- Shadows & Light In Large Format: Nolan and the crew sound off on the challenge of shooting the film largely in IMAX.
- The End of a Legend: Nolan, Christian Bale, and the team open up on completing the Dark Knight trilogy.
We're still making our way through the disc, but so far, we're excited about the Bane concept art and the hour-long featurette on the history of the Batmobile which we previewed at New York Comic Con.
"The Dark Knight Rises" is available on DVD and for download December 4.
SEE ALSO: The stunt doubles behind Batman, Bond, and beyond >
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