We had bought our tickets weeks ago. The plan was locked-in and fool-proof: in honor of the G-Man's birthday, we'd convene at Universal Citywalk on Saturday, have some rockin' good eats at the Hard Rock Cafe, and then jump in line in order to ensure prime seating at the 11 pm showing of The Dark Knight (in IMAX, naturally). We were all psyched, caffeinated, and ready for what promised to be the movie of the summer. What could go wrong?
For a while, the answer was nothing. We met up at the Hard Rock, had some good food, as quality classic rock tunes blasted from the speakers. We all wished Brian a happy birthday, and then it was time to get in line for The Dark Knight. Since we got in line a good two hours before the film was set to begin, we secured a pretty decent spot. The atmosphere was great, too. The line was filled with hardcore Batman fans, each chomping at the bit for Christopher Nolan's latest. There was a guy outfitted in full-on Joker getup, a group of teens sitting with a laptop watching BATMAN BEGINS, and tons of "I Believe In Harvey Dent" and "Why So Serious?" T-shirts (I for one was sporting my Batman-as-drawn-by-Jim-Lee T-shirt).
Finally, we got into the IMAX theater and all seemed to be right with the world. Our seats were pretty good, I had taken my final bathroom break after limiting my Diet Coke intake beforehand, and I was almost as excited for the pre-DK WATCHMEN trailer set to play prior to the movie as I was for the film itself. I cheered as Dr. Manhattan and Rorschach appeared on the big screen (Seth reseved his cheering for the brief Harry Potter teaser, but hey to each his own), and then, finally, it was time for the Main Event. The DC Comics logo flashed, the bat-symbol floated on the screen, and I got to relive the amazing footage I had seen prior to I AM LEGEND back in December - that glorious opening scene in which William Fichtner, playing one badass mofo, becomes the first casualty of The Joker's one-man war on Gotham City. Oh. Hells. Yes.
So we're watching the movie, totally into it, hanging on every scene - when about an hour and a half into things ..
... the movie stops. The lights come on. And THE FIRE ALARM begins to go off.
ARE. YOU. FREAKING. KIDDING. ME.
People began to reluctantly file out of the theater, but I wasn't having it. It seemed pretty clear that there was no fire. Soon enough, we were told to take our seats, but it still wasn't really clear what was going on, even as rumors began to spread that someone had pulled one of the fire alarms as a prank. The most surreal part was that the alarm was pulled right at a crucial point in the film where the Joker was about to unleash hell on Harvey Dent and Batman. I think more than a few of us, after being so engrossed in the movie, half expected the Joker to emerge as the responsible party.
So we're all sitting, waiting, wondering what the hell is going on. People at first were pissed, then chatty, then annoyed again as time wore on and we still ahd no answers about what was up. Some guys reported that if anyone decided to leave the theater, they'd be offered free movie vouchers. A few people heard that and decided to bolt, but most of us didn't care about free vouchers - we just wanted to SEE THE REST OF THE MOVIE. It was a really surreal experience - most of us were united in our determination to see the rest of the movie - if it had been almost any other film we probably all would have left after 20 minutes or so - but this was THE DARK KNIGHT, by gum, and come hell or highwater we would see the whole thing.
Of course, after a while everyone started to grumble, me included. Why weren't they turning off the alarm? Why wasn't anyone from the theater at least giving us an update on the situation? Finally, a hapless employee came in and tried his best to be friendly and to let us know that the problem was being worked on, but even though his likable manner sort of won over the crowd, it didn't really cover the fact that he was pretty much a giant moron. Basically, no one at the theater had any idea where the kill-switch was that would deactivate the alarm, and until they found it, the projectors could not be rebooted. A second employee came in a bit later, denouncing the "jackass" who had pulled the alarm, and saying that, to be honest, he wasn't sure whether they'd even be able to restart the movie once they shut off the alarm (keep in mind - this whole time, the alarm was blaring inside the theater). With an IMAX movie, as the employee explained, the audio track is digitally synced up with the video, and apparently there was no way to sync back up from where we had left off. With paying customers waiting for their late night / early morning screenings to begin, it was looking more and more likely that our luck was running out. As the reality of the situation began to sink in, some members of the crowd were on the verge of rioting. People shouted out questions to the employees, trying to figure out if they should leave or go. One guy screamed that they should just start the movie from the beginning if possible, and he got booed out of the building by the majority of us who would prefer for it to have started where we left off, if possible. One woman stood up, and tearfully wailed: "I just want to see the rest of the movie!!!", which was greeted by a mix of boos, cheers, and heckling from the audience. It really was like a scene from some cheesy movie - you had the one obnoxious guy who kept loudly complaining about how he wanted to leave, the nerdy dude who was happy to pass the time going over with those around him what we had seen in the movie thus far, and the tired couple who had driven all the way from who-knows-where and just didn't want their hard-earned time and money to go to waste. As people got up and went outside to try to get updates, they reported back with information - be careful about getting a voucher, they warned, because if you did they wouldn't let you back in the theater. This whole thing was definitely one of those unifying group experiences - both surreal and epic and horrible at the same time. I'd compare it to times I've been stuck on a grounded airplane - only instead of anxiously awaiting for word on takeoff, we were desperately hoping that we'd find out the final fate of Bruce Wayne, Jim Gordon, and Harvey Dent.
The funniest part of the whole thing was that, a good 40 minutes after the alarms began, a bunch of security guys came into the theater to inspect the situation, and they all seemed genuinely shocked that about 75% of us were still there. Every other theater in the cinema had long-since emptied out, but not this one. This one was filled with eager, desperate fans clinging to the hope that somehow, the movie would be seen through to its completion. I caught those security guys smiling - they couldn't help but admire our dedication.
For my part, I was trying to remain optimistic. This couldn't REALLY be happening ... could it? After all the build up, all the anticipation, would I in fact be in the one theater in the country that had to actually STOP the movie right as it was reaching its most intense and riveting moments? It was almost too impossible to believe.
Eventually, our worst fears came to pass: the theater employee told us that they were unable to sync up the IMAX audio and video tracks, and we were all going to have to leave the theater. Vouchers would be distributed, but for a moment, it looked like we would not be seeing the movie's conclusion that night. It was almost 2 am at that point. We were tired and downtrodden.
We forlornly shuffled out of the theater, wondering when we'd be able to all get together again to go to another showing. We even tossed out the idea of going to Burbank and trying to get into a late late showing that maybe wasn't sold out. But wait ...! Next to the IMAX screen was another, non-IMAX theater, where a 2:15 am showing of Dark Knight was about to start. It was a sold out show, we were told, so we couldn't go in.
But we did. We made a mad dash for the doors and planted ourselves in the front. While the show had been sold out, a few dozen people had left once they heard that things had been delayed due to the fire alarm fiasco. There were a handful of empty seats, and we grabbed 'em. It seemed like a minor victory, but as we settled into our seats, the reality of the situation began to set in: as all of us squirmed and yawned our way through the seemingly endless series of previews (I still managed a token cheer or two for Watchmen ...), the idea of watching the entire opening hour and a half all over again, at this late hour, was not entirely appealing. I told myself I'd stay put for that kickass William Fichtner opening, then hang out outside for a bit to kill time.
So after the first fifteen minutes or so, Brian and I headed out. I figured if I was going to go the distance and stay awake, I'd need some caffeine and sugar. I purchased a Diet Coke and Sour Patch Kids and walked around a little, curious to see if anything else was playing.
And that's when something caught my eye. Behind the concession stand, there was a theater that had been home to a 12:40 am showing of Dark Knight. I took a look inside out of curiosity - for some reason, either because the show had been cancelled or because everyone had left after the fire alarm, the the theater was completely empty. The lights were on, and half-eaten popcorn bags and empty cups filled the aisles. But when I looked up at the screen, I couldn't believe it - the film was playing, and it was literally at a point that was mere minutes from where we had last left off at the IMAX show before everything went to hell. Holy crap! I excitedly pulled Brian over and told him the news. He was so excited that he took off and ran back to the other theater, to grab Seth and Diane. But as he ran I got a little nervous. What if some theater employee was just watching the film for a bit, and was about to shut it off at any moment? What if we sat down to watch in the empty theater, only to promptly get kicked out? As the others ran back, I frantically expressed my concerns. Maybe we should have just kept our seats from before? I wasn't sure what to do, but Seth grabbed a theater employee and began explainin our situation - the film in that empty theater was almsot exactly where we'd left off - surely they wouldn't mind letting us sit down and catch the final hour? Miraculously - they allowed it! The movie gods had smiled upon us, and we ran into the theater jumping for joy. The lights got turned down, we spread out, put our feet up, and smiled ear to ear. We were back in business, baby!
In the end, the four of us sat watching the summer's biggest movie, a movie that had sold out theaters nationwide, in a theater that we had all to ourselves. Wow.
Finally, at about 4 am, we had seen THE DARK KNIGHT in its entirety, and watched the complete epic saga in truly epic fashion. It was an adventure, for sure, and not an entirely pleasant one at that. But we stuck it out, and somehow, we emerged, in some small way, victorious, despite the best efforts of a deranged prankster who deserves a Batman-style beatdown for his crimes against humanity. As the movie says: the night is always darkest before the dawn. And that statement couldn't have been more true, as I arrived home, overtired and buzzing, as dawn was about to break in Los Angeles. It had been a dark night indeed.
WHAT'S LEFT but to REVIEW the movie?!?! Next: THE DARK KNIGHT: Reviewed!
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