NEW YORK — As Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy comes to an epic close with "The Dark Knight Rises," now is the time to look back on the series as a whole, as well as anticipating the final installment.
MTV News hit the red-carpet premiere of "The Dark Knight Rises" and spoke with members of the cast about the scenes from the series that have meant the most to them and stuck with them over the years.
Batman himself, Christian Bale, recalled the first scene in which Bruce Wayne shared his idea for the Caped Crusader with Alfred. "There's a scene where Michael Caine's character, Alfred, and myself as Bruce are sitting on the plane and we first talk about the symbol of Batman and who he is and why," Bale said. "That really sets up what is going to happen for the next three movies."
One of the newest additions to the cast, Anne Hathaway also went back to the very start of things for her favorite scene. "Well, in the first film, it's the part where Wayne Manor is burning down, and Bruce Wayne is trapped underneath that beam and Alfred comes and says the words that his father had said to him, 'Why do we fall?' and he pushes it up," she said. "That gets me going every time."
For Gary Oldman, his very first scene working on the film has stuck with him the longest. "It's the first scene that I played in 'Batman Begins,' and that was [when] I got out of the police car on the dock and there was a bevy of criminals that was bound and gagged," he said. "Someone had taken care of them. I was not aware at that point in the story there was a Batman."
The tragic loss of Heath Ledger is never far from anyone's mind when discussing the legacy of the series, and Nestor Carbonell remembered his few scenes with the Joker vividly. "Heath Ledger's performance in ['The Dark Knight'] was so breathtaking, just about any scene with him," he said.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt treasures the entire trilogy's structure rather than one particular scene. "I think each movie has its own necessary place," he said. "There's a beginning, a middle and an end. That's a true trilogy. They talk a lot of trilogies. They say, 'Oh, it's a trilogy.' It's not a trilogy. It's three sequels, but this is really a trilogy. That's what satisfies me as an audience member."
Check out everything we've got on "The Dark Knight Rises."
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