The Dark Knight's Blockbuster summer

3 months ago 30th Aug 08:15

This summer has been awash with highly-anticipated blockbusters. From 'The Dark Knight', which stars Heath Ledger as The Joker in a role already tipping him for an Oscar, to 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull', which saw Harrison Ford reprise his role as the fearless archaeologist for a fourth time, there have rarely been a succession of such incredibly popular movies.

But, as the summer blockbuster season draws to an end, which films have impressed their eagerly waiting fans, and which have left them wanting more?

Arguably the most critically-heralded blockbuster of the year, 'The Dark Knight' sees Christian Bale reprise his role as the Caped Crusader for a second time and is joined by castmembers including Morgan Freeman, Sir Michael Caine and Maggie Gyllenhaal in the high-octane thriller.

But it is undoubtedly the performance of Heath Ledger - who died of an accidental prescription drugs overdose in January - that has been the most talked about role of the season.

The role itself, which features Heath complete with a variety of terrifying prosthetics and ghoulish make-up, was anticipated prior to the 28-year-old actor's death. However, following his untimely passing, rumours started to emerge that he had been "consumed" by his role as The Joker and had been taking drugs to help him sleep during the tiring shooting process - reports which added to the popularity of the film and enticed viewers to see exactly how Heath portrayed the character.

Christian Bale, whose Batman feuds with the malevolent Joker throughout the film, admits no-one else could have fulfilled the role in the same way Heath did.

"The Joker is a fascinating character and Heath did an extraordinary job with it" he said. "I don't think the movie would have worked so well if we hadn't had an actor of the calibre of Heath Ledger, who was able to really up the ante, much as The Joker does in Gotham city."

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