Christopher Nolan’s Batman movies are ranked among the greatest films ever made. They are not just the greatest superhero movies ever made — they’re on lists of the finest bona fide masterpieces in the history of cinema. They’re all included on IMDb’s Top 250 list, with Batman Begins taking the number 116 spot, The Dark Knight Rises taking the number 67 spot, and The Dark Knight sitting pretty at the number 4 spot.
Nolan’s achievements with the movies — especially considering he had to win back fans who were put off by George Clooney’s Bat-nipples put off — are pretty impressive.
Updated August 7th, 2021 by Rhys McGinley: It has been close to a decade since the critically acclaimed and widely adored Dark Knight trilogy from revered auteur Christopher Nolan came to an end, and even with the plethora of superhero movies that have come after it, they remain three of the very best. There is so much incredible writing between all three films that it is difficult to limit the very best Dark Knight quotes to only twenty. The trilogy has such a slew of memorable quotes and lines within the seven-and-a-half hours of Batman’s brilliance, coming from a collection of terrific characters.
“I’m Batman.” - Batman (Batman Begins)
For a film with “Batman” in the title, Batman Begins spends a lot of time with Bruce Wayne before the Caped Crusader appears. That is not a bad thing, and it gave fans this iconic line that is brilliant or infamous, depending on your view on Christian Bale’s Bat- voice.
When he lands on the car and pulls out Falcone, it truly is a chilling moment, seeing the iconic figure on the screen with such a beautifully dark, gritty atmosphere after such a horror movie-esque sequence.
“The Night Is Darkest Right Before The Dawn. And I Promise You, The Dawn Is Coming.” - Harvey Dent (The Dark Knight)
Harvey Dent is a crucial character for the themes of The Dark Knight as well as the goals of the Joker. A white knight turned bad, the best of humanity made into something rotten, something evil.
Dent is the source of some of the best Dark Knight quotes, including this which he gives in a speech to Gotham. Like Batman, Dent is a symbol of hope, of goodness in Gotham, and this is a quote that is not only well delivered but one that instills a lot of hope, a great message all around.
“The Training Is Nothing. The Will Is Everything. The Will To Act.” - Henri Ducard (Batman Begins)
Batman Begins is fast-paced in its establishing of Bruce Wayne and his backstory, but it is great to watch as he trains with Henri Ducard and the League of Shadows.
There is a lot of wisdom imparted on Wayne by the secret Ra’s Al Guhl, including this tidbit about will. Will is a prominent part of the Batman character throughout the trilogy. While Ducard meant it in a more evil way, Bruce’s constant will to act, to do good, to protect Gotham, to be whatever Gotham needs no matter how hard it may be, is a brilliant part of the character.
“A-Ta-Ta-Ta-Ta, Let’s Not Blow This Out Of Proportion.” - The Joker (The Dark Knight)
The entire scene where the Joker confronts the various crime bosses of Gotham is incredible and gives way to some Dark Knight quotes fans will never forget.
His pun while threatening to blow them up with a grenade jacket highlights not just his twistedness but also how he is one of the smartest characters in The Dark Knight trilogy, and it is just amazing to watch. The scene also has two more of the franchise’s most memorable quotes in “If you’re good at something, never do it for free,” and “Do you wanna see a magic trick?” which is fantastic mostly due to the context and delivery.
“You Always Fear What You Don’t Understand.” - Carmine Falcone (Batman Begins)
Carmine Falcone, head of the Falcone crime family, only appears in Batman Begins, but he plays a crucial role and gives fans a fantastic scene with a younger Bruce Wayne.
Falcone gives Wayne a speech about not knowing about the crime world and hits him with this line. Fear is the theme of Batman Begins, and it is crucial to Bruce’s rise to Batman and how the criminals of Gotham see him. Falcone is not spoken about too often, lost amongst some of the best comic book characters seen on screen, and this quote is definitely underrated.
“I Had This Fantasy, That I Would Look Across The Tables And I’d See You There, With A Wife And Maybe A Couple Of Kids.” - Alfred (The Dark Knight Rises)
The relationship between Alfred and Bruce in the Nolan trilogy is brilliant, and with Michael Caine’s phenomenal performances and some great screenwriting, Alfred has some notable quotes.
The ending of The Dark Knight Rises at the café, the by-product of this quote, is not beloved by every fan but is still a touching moment between Alfred and Bruce. Alfred deserved some peace and happiness, and he got that in the knowledge that Bruce lived the life Alfred always wanted for him.
“I Believe What Doesn’t Kill You Simply Makes You… Stranger.” - The Joker (The Dark Knight)
Christopher Nolan has a serious knack for opening scenes, from Inception to Tenet to this whole trilogy. But The Dark Knight is arguably the greatest in history, introducing audiences to the greatest big-screen superhero villain ever.
The entire heist is genius, and it builds up beautifully to this bone-chilling quote from Heath Ledger’s Joker, backed by the legendary composition from frequent Nolan collaborator Hans Zimmer. Joker has a variety of excellent quotes, and given the setting, few are as memorable as this.
“He’s the hero Gotham deserves but not the one it needs right now.” - Commissioner Jim Gordon (The Dark Knight)
Gary Oldman is the unsung hero of this trilogy. BBC critic Mark Kermode felt he gave the strongest performance in The Dark Knight. In his review, he acknowledged that Heath Ledger’s portrayal of the Joker was fantastic, but he felt that Oldman’s performance as Commissioner Gordon was “the best performance in the film, by a mile.”
He isn’t talked about as much as the other actors, but his performance was just as nuanced as anyone else’s, shown particularly when he says, “He’s the hero Gotham deserves but not the one it needs right now. So, we’ll hunt him. Because he can take it. Because he’s not our hero. He’s a silent guardian. A watchful protector.”
“Let the games begin!” - Bane (The Dark Knight Rises)
Tom Hardy had his work cut out for him when he signed on to play the villain in The Dark Knight Rises as he had to find a way to top Ledger’s performance as the Joker in The Dark Knight. Ledger had been acclaimed by critics, made into a cultural icon, and awarded a posthumous Oscar for his performance.
So, living up to that couldn’t have been easy. Hardy’s Bane voice and mask might have been a subject of ridicule among the fan base, but ultimately, he was far more memorable and iconic than most movie supervillains, if not as much as Ledger’s Joker.
“Swear To Me!” - Batman (Batman Begins)
Christian Bale’s Batman and the divisiveness of his voice gave way to many lines that fans have well remembered, and this sits near the top of that list.
The trilogy is filled with profound, thought-provoking, inspiring, and fear-inducing quotes, but lines do not need to be any of those to be memorable. The snappiness of Batman’s reply alone truly qualifies it as iconic.
“Why do we fall, sir? So that we can learn to pick ourselves up.” - Alfred (Batman Begins)
Origin stories don’t usually make great movies because they can rarely get rewatched. It’s hard to watch a superhero movie over and over again when the character isn’t a superhero until the third act. These movies are fun the first time around but quickly become tedious.
Batman Begins doesn’t have that problem. Being a Christopher Nolan movie, there’s still plenty to enjoy in cinematography, editing, music, and production design, even if the relatively straightforward origin-story narrative becomes stale. This Alfred quote calls back to an earlier scene in which Bruce’s father tells him, “Why do we fall, Bruce? So that we can learn to pick ourselves up.”
“Madness, as you know, is a lot like gravity. All it takes is a little push.” - The Joker (The Dark Knight)
The Joker, despite his psychological issues, also has a lot of wisdom. It’s haunting wisdom that shocks viewers to their core, sure, but he has some interesting philosophies that match him perfectly with Batman.
Simply put, the Joker wants to bring the world to its knees with his fiery chaos, but he’s also acutely aware of that madness and meticulously plans a lot of his schemes. This self-awareness is seen when he says, “Madness, as you know, is a lot like gravity. All it takes is a little push.”
“It’s not who I am underneath but what I do that defines me.” - Batman (Batman Begins)
This line comes up a couple of times in Batman Begins. Firstly, Rachel says, “It’s not who you are underneath but what you do that defines you.” And then later, Bruce himself says it, owning it: “It’s not who I am underneath but what I do that defines me.”
The line essentially says that actions speak louder than words. Bruce Wayne might be a broody, tormented billionaire orphan in his private life, tortured by his internal moral compass, but as long as he fights crime and does the right thing as Batman, he will be defined as a hero.
“You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” - Harvey Dent/Two-Face (The Dark Knight)
It often gets said that too many villains spoil a superhero movie. Just think of Spider-Man 3, Iron Man 2, Green Lantern, and countless other bombs. However, if they’re used correctly, they can work wonders for the movie. The downfall of Harvey Dent is both enthralling and tragic.
He starts as an upstanding citizen who fights for good and is a hero in the eyes of the public, but after he gets corrupted by the Joker and becomes Two-Face, it’s not long before he’s just another sinister villain bent on creating chaos. He foreshadows his own fall from grace with this line.
“Some men just want to watch the world burn.” - Alfred (The Dark Knight)
There’s nothing particularly wrong with how Jeremy Irons has been playing Alfred Pennyworth in the DC Extended Universe, but he hasn’t made nearly as much of an impact as Michael Caine did in The Dark Knight trilogy.
Caine’s Alfred wasn’t just the guy who got Batman’s vehicles ready or brought him his dinner at the right time; Caine played Alfred as a guy who promised the couple he worked for that he would keep their son safe after they died and then felt tormented as he watched that son go into a life of caped vigilantism. In other words, Caine played Alfred as a real guy with real emotions.
“As A Man, I’m Flesh And Blood; I Can Be Ignored, I Can Be Destroyed. But As A Symbol… As A Symbol, I Can Be Incorruptible. I Can Be Everlasting.” - Bruce Wayne (Batman Begins)
Throughout the entire trilogy, Bruce Wayne is continuously trying to do good for the people and the city of Gotham; he wants to inspire good and hope to save them from the sea of crime and chaos that has befallen the city.
Bruce understands that he cannot merely be a man to accomplish this, but something more, something that will last long after he is unable to protect the city. He is there for as long as, and for whatever Gotham needs him for, as a symbol.
“You think darkness is your ally.” - Bane (The Dark Knight Rises)
One of the most iconic moments in the history of the Batman comics is the time Bane broke Batman’s back. He picked him up and then slammed his back down on his knee to break it. In the comics, this established just how powerful Bane was. Nolan took note of this and used it in his own movie, with Bane dominating the screen throughout.
It wasn’t simply a way to tease the comic book readers — it got thrown in to evoke the same mood as the comic. He talks a lot about darkness: “You think darkness is your ally. You’ve merely adopted the dark. I was born in it, molded by it. I didn’t see the light until I was a man, and by then, it was only blinding.”
“I never said, ‘Thank you.’” “And you’ll never have to.” - Commissioner Jim Gordon & Batman (Batman Begins)
This line sums up the Batman character pretty perfectly. The Caped Crusader doesn’t take to the streets of Gotham City and fight crime to get thanked. He doesn’t want Commissioner Gordon to sing his praises to the city and shower him with all kinds of medals and awards for his work.
Batman merely wants Commissioner Gordon to cooperate with him and work towards cleaning up the crime-ridden streets of Gotham, and the great thing about Gordon is that he’s willing to bend the rules just enough to allow Batman to do his thing. That’s thanks enough, as far as Batman is concerned.
“A Hero Can Be Anyone, Even Someone Doing Something As Simple And Reassuring As Putting A Coat Around A Little Boy’s Shoulders To Let Him Him Know The World Hadn’t Ended.” - Batman (The Dark Knight Rises)
Bruce Wayne acts as pretty much a servant for Gotham, sacrificing any life for himself to protect the people of the city and continue its rehabilitation, preventing other people from experiencing what he did years ago.
Due to this, he has to play the persona of an eccentric billionaire, throwing everyone off his scent, including Gordon, a man he cares about deeply. This final exchange between the two in The Dark Knight Rises is phenomenal and heartbreaking at the same time, with the silver lining being that Gordon got to appreciate all Bruce did for him and the city after his watch ended.
“Why so serious?” - The Joker In The Dark Knight (2008)
Heath Ledger plays the Joker’s whole “Why so serious?” monologue with a captivating level of psychopathy that dares audiences to look away.
“You wanna know how I got these scars? My father was a drinker and a fiend. And one night, he goes off crazier than usual. Mommy grabs the kitchen knife to defend herself. He doesn’t like that. Not. One. Bit. So, me watching, he takes the knife to her, laughing while he does it. He turns to me and says, ‘Why so serious?’ He comes at me with the knife. ‘Why so serious?’ Sticks the blade in my mouth. ‘Let’s put a smile on that face!’”
