A Preview to a 'Knight' to Remember

The Dark Knight, one of the summer's most anticipated releases, arrives in theaters July 18. But we got a sneak peek at a Los Angeles screening, and offer this highlight reel of Batman buzz:

ALL-STAR LINEUP:

** Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman

** Heath Ledger as The Joker

** Michael Caine as Alfred the butler

** Morgan Freeman as Wayne's gizmo guy Lucius Fox

** Gary Oldman as Gotham cop Jim Gordon

** Aaron Eckhart as District Attorney Harvey Dent

** Maggie Gyllenhaal as love interest Rachel Dawes (replacing Katie Holmes)

JOKER'S WILD

The late Heath Ledger's last performance as The Joker is the movie's highlight, and the film is dedicated to him and special-effects technician Comway Wickliffe, who died in a car crash during production.

There's Oscar buzz for Ledger's repulsive but mesmerizing Joker, a chaos-loving terrorist. While Jack Nicholson and Cesar Romero played The Joker as a character straight from a deck of cards, Ledger, who died of a drug overdose just weeks after principal photography was completed, took a darker route with smeared clown makeup, a painfully scarred mouth and dirty, matted hair.

TECH TREATS

Shot in Chicago, London and Hong Kong, most action scenes used IMAX cameras - a first for a traditional Hollywood movie. The Dark Knight has several dazzling chase sequences featuring the Batmobile tricked out with truck-size tires.

BOOM!TOWN

The Joker blows up a hospital - a one-take situation as the production actually blew up Chicago's abandoned Brach's candy factory.

FUN FACT

For a scene in which Batman stands atop Chicago's Sears Tower, Bale insisted he, not his stuntman, be up there in his Batman costume.