by canofhumdingers » Sun Jan 27, 2013 1:31 am
So I finally had a chance to watch the bluray of TDKR that I got for Christmas. It was my third time watching the film (the other two being on a real IMAX).
Gah, I love this movie. It is just so flippin good. This whole trilogy is completely spectacular. It's not the only way to do Batman right, but for the "grounded in a more believable reality" take, this ism100% perfect.
And this is the PERFECT ending. Might just be the best ending to a movie series ever. I don't care what arguments anyone makes to the contrary, it is clearly intended that Batman really does survive. I mean, besides the completely obvious Alfred seeing him (which is clearly not a dream or whatever), but also, Gordon gets a new shiny bat-signal and the insurance people mention a missing string of pearls (that Catwoman is wearing at the cafe). And there's the whole bit about the autopilot... It's clearly the filmmaker's intention that he survived.
And he SHOULD survive. The film ends on a high note of good conquering evil and a tremendously strong sense of hope for the future. And hope was a strong recurring theme throughout the whole movie. Bane giving false hope to the citizens. Batman having hope of climbing out of the pit. Blake even has a line about not letting the children die without hope. And it's just pitch perfect!
As for the mechanics of Batman being able to get out alive, I did a little math (put on your nerd hats, this is a little long).
If I remember correctly, the blast radius was given in the dialogue as 6 miles. Assuming he was pretty close to the coast when he took off, he needs to get 6 miles offshore minimum. We also see the counter tick down to just under 2 minutes before he takes off. So let's call it 90 seconds. 6 miles in 90 seconds is 240 miles per hour. That's totally realistic, even for a helicopter. But that's still a little close for comfort and it doesn't allow for Batman to eject after getting out over the water (which is required, based on the editing). Plus, the blast is clearly off in the distance. So lets double it and say he goes 12 miles. That would provide enough distance for him to get out of the city and over the water, eject, and still be clear of the blast himself. 12 miles in 90 seconds is 480 miles per hour. We clearly see two afterburners ignite as the Bat flies out over the bay. I think it's completely reasonable to believe it could go 500mph with the afterburners. Pus, the rotors are underneath and not directly exposed to the slipstream as the Bat flies, which is what limits the forward speed of conventional helicopters. As for nuclear fallout, ehh.... Maybe the prevailing winds carried it away from the city? Seems reasonable.
TL;DR: Nolan Batman movies rock. The ending is possibly the best movie series ending ever. It's completely feasible the Bat could fly fast enough to get Batman out of the city, over the water to eject, and carry the bomb far enough for both the city and Batman to be well outside the blast radius.