10 Special Effects Movie Milestones That Came After Star Wars

3. The Dark Knight (2008)

Directed by: Christopher Nolan Like the last two entries, The Dark Knight doesn't create a new technique so much as make the most sophisticated and groundbreaking use of an existing technique. The one in question here is IMAX - certainly nothing new in the world of science-museum documentaries, and yet bringing it to Hollywood and finding a worthy use for it would be the job of The Dark Knight. Though the camera is loud and heavy, it creates images of unparalleled resolution. The scope is broader, the picture is brighter, and when filming a shot like the one pictured above, the overall effect is an epic seat-of-your-pants visual. Nolan used it for "smaller" shots, too, like the opening close-up of Heath Ledger's Joker at the end of the prologue. Why wouldn't everyone making epic films use IMAX? Because of money. Because of the gigantic piles of money that are required to operate and maintain one of those things. The film itself is three times as expensive as regular camera film, and IMAX cameras gulp it down at a ridiculous 6 feet per second. You know that scene where the Joker burns the huge warehouse of money? That wasn't about sending a message after all - he was just pissed that he still didn't have enough to go IMAX. Influenced: Well, Nolan uses it! Hopefully it will gain more traction with other directors and become more widely used, because it's really cool.