The Dark Knight
Christopher Nolan revolutionized the superhero genre with hisThe Dark Knight Trilogy . Dark , gritty , and naturalistic , Nolan’sfilms swear on character - driven storytelling , seamless special effects , and provocative social comment to retell the story of the Caped Crusader . 2008’sThe Dark Knightis the implausibly successful subsequence to 2005’sBatman Begins .
The Dark KnightseesChristian Bale’stitle vigilante superhero protecting Gotham City fromHeath Ledger’schaos - get Joker . The highest - grossing film of 2008,The Dark Knightalso boast performances from veteran histrion like Michael Caine , Gary Oldman , Maggie Gyllenhaal , and Morgan Freeman . For those who ca n’t get enough of the moving-picture show ’s talented dramatis personae , some of their lesser - known ( but acclaimed ) lineament might just do the trick .
Christian Bale: Metroland (1999)
Long before he was Batman , Welsh actor Christian Bale star alongside Emily Watson in this British adaption of Julian Barnes ’s novel of the same name . Set in 1977 London , Bale play Chris , a suburbanite enjoy a passive life with his married woman Marion ( Watson ) and tike .
One daylight , Chris gets a telephone call for his former pal Toni . Toni ’s reappearance in Chris ’s sprightliness trigger memories of Chris ’s time as a lensman in the avant - garde Paris of the 1960s . Soon , Chris starts to question just how happy he is as a predictable family man .
Michael Caine: The Ipcress File (1965)
A classic British undercover agent thriller , a young Michael Caine stars inThe Ipcress File . A sorry , more intelligentalternative to the James Bond movies , Caine meet Harry Palmer , an agentive role tax with uncovering a conspiracy require disappearing British scientist .
Palmer , a jaded army sergeant with a criminal past , is led into a treasonous plot against the British government . Caine pass on an understated performance as Palmer - an ability hold over into his role as butler Alfred Pennyworth inThe Dark Knight . Directed by Sidney J. Furie , The Ipcress Fileskips the glamorized storytelling and prod into the gruesome realism of espionage .
Heath Ledger: Two Hands (1999)
A aboriginal Australian , Heath Ledger stars in this independent crime drama . Ledger play 19 - yr - previous Jimmy , a strip club employee who side hustles for the mob . Jimmy is expect to give up $ 10,000 to a woman in another townsfolk . Unfortunately , the woman is n’t base , and the money is stolen from Jimmy .
The mob want the money back , but poor young Jimmy has no direction to repay the debt . Instead , Jimmy go on the run . FellowAustralian Rose Byrneco - stars inTwo Hands .
Gary Oldman: Prick Up Your Ears (1987)
Gary Oldman is a prolific British actor who play Commissioner Gordon inThe Dark Knight . TheOscarwinner ’s filmography spans pages and 10 . Prick Up Your Earsis a biopic about the calamitous relationship between queer playwrights Joe Orton and Kenneth Halliwell . Oldman plays Orton , andAlfred Molina co - starsas Halliwell .
Working in sixties London , the lover struggle to keep their relationship ( at a clip when homosexualism was illegal ) while act on their individual careers . After Orton ’s career occupy off , a covetous Halliwell take both human being ’s lives in a tragic murder - self-destruction .
Aaron Eckhart: In The Company Of Men (1997)
view Aaron Eckhart ’s breakout movie , In The Company of Menis a darkly comedic geographic expedition of misogyny . Without his engrossing performance as a man of affairs named Chad , Eckhart may not have endure on to play Harvey Dent ( aka Two - Face ) inThe Dark Knight .
InIn The Company of Men , Eckhard ’s Chad joins up with his colleague Howard in a quest to try revenge on the distaff sexuality . Embittered by give out kinship , the two men decide it ’s all fair sex ’s fault . They require to point an insecure char , date her at the same time , and then plunge her . Needless to say , the plan backfires .
Maggie Gyllenhaal: Sherrybaby (2006)
InThe Dark Knight , Maggie Gyllenhaal plays assistant DA and Bruce Wayne ’s childhood friend Rachel Dawes . Gyllenhaal is noted for her diving head - first into type , which is on full presentation in the independent dramaSherrybaby .
Gyllenhaal hold a raw performance as a former drug addict who , after being released from prison , returns home to her young daughter . As Sherry ’s crime syndicate doubt her power to make a healthy life for herself and her baby , her firmness of purpose to stay light and unplayful endure .
Morgan Freeman: Clean And Sober (1988)
Speaking of clean and serious , Morgan Freemanstars alongside Michael Keaton in the movie that helpedKeaton land the role of Batman in Tim Burton ’s takeson theDC Comicssuperhero . Freeman , who play Wayne Enterprises CEO Lucius Fox inThe Dark Knight , plays a drug rehab counselor named Craig inClean and Sober .
Clean and Soberfocuses on Keaton ’s character Daryl , a successful genuine land salesman in Philadelphia who literally crashes and burn after developing a cocaine addiction . In rehab , Daryl undertake to piece his life back together while remaining attached to gravity .
Eric Roberts: The Pope Of Greenwich Village (1984)
Eric Roberts plays Italian mafia boss Sal Marino inThe Dark Knight . Back in the 1980s , Robertsworked with Mickey Rourkein the moody comedyThe Pope of Greenwich Village . The pair spiel two scheming cousins who are fired from restaurant job after being instigated in a check skimming patch .
Roberts ’s character Paulie convinces Rourke ’s character Charlie to steal $ 150,000 . Instead of just running off with the hard currency , Paulie intend they should use it to bet on a " indisputable affair " slipstream horse . Before they cognize it , the syndicate and the cops are on their seat .
Anthony Michael Hall: Pirates Of Silicon Valley (1999)
Former teenager beau ideal Anthony Michael Hall has a pocket-sized role inThe Dark Knightas Gotham Cable News newsman Mike Engel . After Hall ’s peak as the star ofJohn Hughes comedy , he play Bill Gates inPirates of Silicon Valley .
The film line the coincident maturation of Apple and Microsoft , the two companies that still rule the tech globe . Noah Wylie co - principal as Apple Centennial State - founder Steve Jobs .
Michael Jai White: Black Dynamite (2009)
Michael Jai White is known as Gambol inThe Dark Knight , an African mob boss . White is credit as one of the first black thespian to play a superhero thanks to his starring role in the 1997 movieSpawn .
White also stars inBlack Dynamite , a satiric comedy that pay homage toblaxploitation films . Black Dynamite is a former CIA agentive role who protects his neighborhood from The Man . Directed by Scott Sanders , Black Dynamitesimultaneously deconstructs the genre while uplift it .
NEXT:10 Reasons Why The Dark Knight Is Still The Best Superhero Movie
