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The Dark Knight movie cover Movie Locations Guide

Where was The Dark Knight filmed?

2008

City Locations

Chicago, US, London, UK, Hong Kong, China

Location Types

American, Architectural, Apartment, Mansions, Lofts, Banks, Buildings/ Offices, Clubs/ Bars, Police/ Jails

Location Styles

Airstream, Americana, Classic Car, Classic Truck, Convertible, Federal Building, Gothic, Neoclassical, High Tech, Futuristic

About The Dark Knight

The Dark Knight is based on the DC Comics superhero Batman, directed by Christopher Nolan. The Dark Knight was Christopher Nolan's second movie in the new Batman franchise series. It is the sequel to Batman Begins and the second installment of The Dark Knight Trilogy, starring Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/ Batman. The filming of The Dark Knight took place between April and November 2007 with a budget of $185 million. The Dark Knight is also the first blockbuster movie filmed on high-res IMAX cameras, with practical stunts instead of computer-generated images.

The main characters in the movie apart from Bruce Wayne, Harvey Dent (portrayed by Aaron Eckhart), Alfred Pennyworth (Michael Caine), the Joker (Heath Ledger), Officer James Gordon (Gary Oldman), Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), and Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal) have done exemplary jobs with the characters and brought a new dimension to the comic-style Batman. Unfortunately, Heath Ledger passed away in January 2008 before the release of The Dark Knight in July 2008.

In The Dark Knight, the curtain-raiser of the Joker in the opening scenes was a shocker to most since the Joker has always been a highly secretive character that usually comes out after plenty of mischief. The Dark Knight starts with a bank robbery where multiple men wear clown masks. The Joker (portrayed by Heath Ledger) orchestrates the entire heist to disrupt the working order of Gotham's organized mafia ring and control the crime. To battle the onslaught of organized criminal syndicates in the city, vigilante Batman, Police Lieutenant James Gordon, and District Attorney Harvey Dent formed an alliance.

What follows is the Joker's meticulously planned chaos and anarchy that disrupt all the peace in Gotham. Batman, Lieutenant Gordon, and DA Harvey Dent face their greatest enemy yet.

The Dark Knight Locations

The Dark Knight locations were spread across the world with filming in Chicago in the United States, London in England, and Hong Kong in China. These filming locations added a new depth to a franchise film series that was always based only in the US. Not only did the film show different locations and their importance, but it also let viewers know that Batman has finally gone international when he gets the bad guy from Hong Kong.

The majority of the film shoots were done in Chicago and its suburbs, but London also managed to grab a substantial chunk of the shooting locations. Many popular spots in London and Chicago were chosen as part of the new, dark sequence of Christopher Nolan's masterpieces. However, while these locations are popular, they look pretty sinister in the movie.

Fans of the Batman series can quickly identify the change in locations like the Wayne Building, which used to be an art deco in earlier films, but now is a gleaming monolith. The glass-covered Wayne Enterprises Building is the location of the IBM Building at 330 N Wabash Avenue. Even the offices of Harvey Dent are shot in this building, so fans can go and click pictures to their hearts' content.

Fun fact:

Heath Ledger won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor posthumously for his character portrayal of The Joker, which got near-unanimous praise. His death made the role extremely difficult to watch yet highly anticipated. Most series fans had mixed emotions while watching The Dark Knight for the first time. They knew he had passed away yet wanted to see his Oscar-winning final performance.

The bank robbery with the multiple clowns scene in The Dark Knight

Old Chicago Post Office, 404 West Harrison

The bank robbery with the multiple clowns scene in The Dark Knight

This scene starts with four men with clown masks entering a bank building while two more masked clowns stay outside. They run into the bank and start firing bullets in the air, scaring and alarming everyone inside. People start screaming and running around trying to get out of the bank. One of the clowns yells, "Alright everybody, hands up, heads down! Let's go, pal, I'm making a withdrawal here!" as he moves towards the cashier. The clowns create a ruckus in the bank, scaring everyone.

One of the clowns moves towards the bank vault while the others try to control the hostages in the bank. Seeing the chaos, the bank manager (portrayed by William Fichtner) gets a gun out and starts shooting at the robbers. Catching retaliatory fire, the clowns hide behind bank counters and tables. The bank manager walks toward the hiding clowns and yells, "Hey! Do you have any idea who you're stealing from? You and your friends are dead!"

This The Dark Knight action scene starts at the very beginning of the movie. While most viewers are just settling in, they are greeted with a fast-paced bank robbery full of twists and surprises. The filming location is the Old Chicago Post Office. Hop onto Metro Rail NCS, get off at Chicago Union Station, and walk for approximately a minute to get to the filming location at 404 West Harrison.

Bruce crashes Rachel and Harvey's dinner scene in The Dark Knight

Criterion, 224 Piccadilly, London, UK

Bruce crashes Rachel and Harvey's dinner scene in The Dark Knight

Rachel Dawes (portrayed by Maggie Gyllenhaal) and Harvey Dent (portrayed by Aaron Eckhart) are having dinner together at a classy restaurant where it is next to impossible to get a reservation even with a week's prior booking. As they are being seated, Harvey and Rachel look around in admiration. Harvey says, "Took me three weeks to get a reservation here. And I had to tell them I worked for the government." Rachel looks at him coyly and says, "Really?" as she smiles at him. Suddenly Bruce Wayne (portrayed by Christian Bale) walks up to their table, saying, "Rachel. Fancy that!" He introduces Rachel to his companion, Natascha (Beatrice Rosen).

Rachel recognizes Natascha and asks her, "Natascha. Are you the…?" but before she can finish her question, Bruce interjects, "Yea, the prima ballerina for the Moscow Ballet." Rachel is impressed and says, "Wow! Harvey's taking me next week to see it."

This The Dark Knight filming location is the impressive Criterion Restaurant attached to the Criterion Theater at 224 Piccadilly in London, UK. This opulent restaurant was built in the Neo-Byzantine style by renowned architect Thomas Verity and was opened in 1873. It is also known as the oldest restaurant in the UK. To get here, catch the Piccadilly Blue Underground Line, and get off at Piccadilly Circus Station. It is a minute's walk to Criterion from the exit.

Joker meets the gangsters for the first-time scene in The Dark Knight

Earls Court Exhibition Center kitchens, 20C Philbeach Gardens, London, UK

Joker meets the gangsters for the first-time scene in The Dark Knight

In this scene, there is a meeting of the Gotham gangsters, and a TV is wheeled in. On the screen is Gangster Lau (portrayed by Chin Han), who says to everyone gathered, "As you're all aware, one of our deposits was stolen – a relatively small amount – 68 million." They wonder who would have stolen the money. Gangster Maroni (portrayed by Eric Roberts) says, "Two-bit whack job who wears a cheap purple suit and makeup. He's not the problem. He's a nobody. The problem is our money being tracked by the cops."

Lau tells them that he has already transported the money and is taking it to Hong Kong. Suddenly they hear crazed laughter and turn around to see the Joker (portrayed by Heath Ledger) saunter into the meeting. The Joker says, "And I thought my jokes were bad." Gangster Gambol (Michael Jai White) growls, "Gimme one good reason why I shouldn't have my boy here pull your head off."

Considering all The Dark Knight locations, this one's a bit nondescript. This scene is shot at the Earls Court Exhibition Center kitchens at 20C Philbeach Gardens in London, UK. The best way to get here would be to hop onto the Green District Line and get off at Earl's Court Station. The Exhibition Center is approximately a 6-minutes walk from the exit.

Batman catches Lau and brings him back to Gotham City scene in The Dark Knight

Two International Finance Center, 8 Finance Street, Central, Hong Kong

Batman catches Lau and brings him back to Gotham City scene in The Dark Knight

Gangster Lau and his henchmen are holed up in a high rise. Batman (portrayed by Christian Bale) leaps off a building and lands on the roof of a high rise. He smashes through and starts attacking the bad guys, immediately trying to get to Lau. In the meantime, hearing the gunfire, Hong Kong Police encircle the building and try to get in. As the cops reach the floor when Batman has managed to capture Lau, the timed bombs that Batman has set go off.

Seeing the cops, Lau screams, "Don't shoot! Don't shoot!!" During this diversion, Batman escapes with Lau, jumps off the high rise, and gets pulled away by an aircraft. The aircraft is hired by Batman to help make a quick escape. Batman brings Gangster Lau back to Gotham City and leaves him outside the Gotham Police Department with a note attached to Lau's clothes that reads, 'Please deliver to – Lieutenant Gordon.'

This retrieval of Gangster Lau is one of the best scenes in The Dark Knight because, in all the Batman movies, this is the first time Batman has left Gotham to go crime-fighting. This incredible location is Two International Finance Center in Hong Kong. It is in one of the city's busiest business districts and is accessible by catching the Tsuen Wan Line and getting off at Central Station. From the station, the walk is approximately nine to ten minutes.

Mayor speech to commemorate the police commissioner after the funeral scene in The Dark Knight

230 S La Salle St., Chicago, Illinois, US

Mayor speech to commemorate the police commissioner after the funeral scene in The Dark Knight

The funeral procession of Police Commissioner Loeb is taking place in Gotham City. The Mayor (portrayed by Nestor Carbonell) of Gotham City is making a speech for the departed police commissioner, "Commissioner Loeb dedicated his life to law enforcement and to the protection of his community." He continues on for a while, talking about the life of the police commissioner. In the background, the scene shifts to Bruce Wayne investigating a group of officers tied to a column in a nearby building. Their uniforms are off, they are blindfolded, and their mouths are taped.

Bruce pulls the tape off the mouths of one of them and asks, "What happened?" The officer (still blindfolded) replies, "They took our guns and our uniforms." As Bruce realizes what has happened and that the Joker will strike again, Officer Gordon jumps on the Mayor (to save him) and gets shot instead.

Like many of the filming locations of The Dark Knight, this one is also shot on a street in Chicago. The entire street was cordoned off for the duration of the filming. It is pretty simple to get here. Hop onto bus number 62 and get off at the Dearborn and Jackson stop. The walk to 230 S La Salle Street is approximately four minutes from this stop.

Rachel is captured by the Joker scene in The Dark Knight

Battersea Power Station, 188 Kirtling St., London, UK

Rachel is captured by the Joker scene in The Dark Knight

In this heartbreaking scene (spoiler ahead!), Rachel is tied to a chair, while Harvey is immobile at a different location. The Joker has tasked Batman with choosing any one person to save (between Harvey and Rachel). As per his cruel machinations, Joker has rigged the entire trap so that Harvey and Rachel have timed bombs attached, and Batman can only save one. To add to the overall misery, the Joker has ensured that Harvey, Rachel, Batman, and the Joker can hear each other and the entire conversation.

Rachel speaks in the dark, "Harvey, just in case, I want to tell you something, okay?" Harvey responds, "Don't think like that Rachel. They're coming for you!" Rachel cries, "I know they are, but I don't want them to. I don't want to live without you, and I do have an answer for you. My answer is yes!" Just as she says this, Harvey starts screaming and asking Batman why he didn't save Rachel. Before Rachel can finish her following statement, she gets blown up by the bomb.

This The Dark Knight film scene is shot at the Battersea Power Station at 188 Kirtling Street in London. This is a historic building open to the public for viewing. Most fans will identify the old building immediately when they see it! To get here, catch the Southern rail to Battersea Park Station, and walk for ten to fifteen minutes to reach the power station.

Conclusion

The Dark Knight was a movie full of twists and surprises. Not only did viewers get a glimpse into the crazy world of the Joker, but it also saw the rise of another bad guy – Two-Face. The storm of moves that the Joker brought to Gotham, with punchlines like, "Why so serious?" revealed a dark side of human nature that was unseen in Batman. This gritty remake of Gotham's vigilante savior brought another dimension to an old movie and story that viewers had seen countless times.

This new look, coupled with all the fantastic international locations, raised the bar in the Batman franchise. The Dark Knight production team did a fabulous job focusing on critical areas in Chicago, Hongkong, and London City. The movie's international feel, fast pace, critical locations, and excellent acting by stalwarts like Heath Ledger, Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, and Maggie Gyllenhaal made the movie a great watch.