Superhero movies are spun from the same fabric as the good old fashioned action-adventure films like Indiana Jones and James Bond, just with more costumes and EFX in the end to support the fantastic stunts. Arguably, they stock more types of stunts in these movies than any other type of film with High Falls, Fight Choreography, Car Chases, Big Jumps, Explosions and…I could go on and on and on.
What I love about this film is that the stunt team and the filmmakers wanted to go to a more grounded and realistic platform from which to work from. Much of Batman’s gear and apparel, including his cape and suit, is based on actual military technology and the stunts reflect this. The cast was used in the stunts and fight scenes as much as possible as well to keep things as real as possible. It’s funny, although Christian Bale performed many of his own stunts for the film, he wasn’t allowed anywhere near the Batmobile. Christian Bale had to perform 16 separate fights in the course of the film.
Up to this point in the movie industry, it was common practice to use a second unit for the action scenes. Director Christopher Nolan decided that there would be no second unit, and so for the whole of the one hundred and twenty nine shooting days Nolan oversaw every shot of the film personally. Christopher Nolan would generally shoot the fight scenes with the actors first. He would then shoot the same fight sequences with the stuntmen for coverage. Sometimes, it got quite scary, for example, when Christian Bale and Liam Neeson were fighting on the frozen lake they could hear the ice cracking beneath their feet. The next day, the lake was completely melted.
The Batmobile, 9 feet wide and 16 feet long, has a top speed of 106 miles per hour and can accelerate from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 6 seconds. The engine is a 5.7 liter V8 Chevy. It runs on unleaded gas and can do about 7 miles per gallon. It has four 44-inch tires at the rear, made by Interco Tire Corp, while the front is covered in jagged plates of armor. It was designed and built by Chris Corbould and Andrew Smith at Shepperton Studios in England. This Batmobile was built from the ground up and is estimated to be worth half a million pounds.
It’s interesting to note that “Batman Begins” inspired James Bond producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccolli to reboot the James Bond franchise and reinventing the character of British secret agent James Bond and making him much darker and more realistic. You can thank this film for the Daniel Craig era of James Bond. Batman Begins was directed by Christopher Nolan for Warner Bros.
Things to look up (go to IMDB ):
- Christopher Nolan
- Liam Neeson
- Christian Bale
- Barbara Broccolli
- Michael G. Wilson
- Chris Corbould
- Andrew Smith
Check out our new Book, 100 Years of the Best Movie Stunts!
