The Dark Knight Trilogy: 15 Best Moments

3. Truck Flip

What's most impressive about this scene is that there is no CGI present, such is the way Nolan likes to work. Having just been introduced to the Batpod, after saying a sad farewell to the Tumbler, we see Batman speeding through the streets, while the Joker comes the other way in an 18 wheel truck. What happens next is as unexpected as it is brilliant. Driving straight past the truck, the Bat trails wire around it's wheels before weaving between lampposts. "He missed!" Laughs the Joker, before being flipped unceremoniously through the air in a remarkable bit of action. Batman even tops it off by performing a little stunt on his bike, bouncing off the wall to survey the carnage he created. Cool.

2. Breaking The Bat

It's not so much how brilliant the scene is, but what it represents. Throughout the trilogy we had been convinced that in a physical battle, Batman could best anyone. Here we see Bane exhibiting a stunning, terrifying display of power on our hero. What's also great about this scene is the lack of music, making the brutality even more realistic and difficult to watch. Bane doesn't even look as if he's trying particularly hard as he beats Batman to within an inch of his life, before efficiently and calmly breaking his back. Bane walks away, carelessly tossing the broken cowl aside as we wonder how on earth Batman can come back from that. It's a rare thing in cinema to see a hero lose, but Nolan does it perfectly here, giving us a lesson on the kind of villain Bane is and reminding us that Batman is human after all.