Bane's Voice

[BatmAngelus]

This seems to be under much discussion and I thought I'd open up a thread on it.

I have not seen the prologue yet (will do this weekend). 

The trailer voice was alright.  Far better than the leaked audio,. as I had hoped and expected.  While I didn't quite catch the beginning of what he said, I think that's more due to the awkward phrasing ("When Gotham is ashes") than to the voice itself.

I came across this report today: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/dark-knight-rises-christian-bale-batman-tom-hardy-bane-275489

Sources close to the movie say Warner Bros. is very aware of the sound issue. One source working on the film says he is "scared to death" about "the Bane problem." And with good reason. The last Batman film, 2008's The Dark Knight, grossed more than $1 billion worldwide, and the studio doesn't want anything to tamper with Rise's chances for success.

Sources also say some at Warners would like Nolan to change the sound mix, but the filmmaker, whose autonomy is well-earned (his Inception earned the studio more than $800 million and eight Oscar nominations), has informed executives that he plans only to alter the sound slightly, not to rework it completely.

"Chris wants the audience to catch up and participate rather than push everything at them. He doesn't dumb things down," says one high-level exec, declining to be named. "You've got to pedal faster to keep up."

Nolan said similar things to The Hollywood Reporter at the prologue's unveiling during a press event Dec. 8, explaining that it was OK for a moviegoer not to understand what was said at times, as long as the overall idea was conveyed. The filmmaker is currently editing the movie and won't have a cut to show the studio for at least a couple pf months.

Clearly, the voice seems to be in as much debate as Bale's Batman voice.  Personally, I don't see how clearing up a character's voice is "dumbing down" anything.  I think it's common sense in filmmaking to have your audience understand what your characters are saying. 

On the other hand, I haven't seen the prologue yet so maybe I'll check it out and think "I understood him just fine."  We'll see.

[The Joker]

Seems like a bunch of ado about nothing.

Watching bootleg footage of the prologue, yeah ... it's hard to understand some lines Bane was saying.

Had no problem whatsoever understanding him in the recent *officially released* trailer.

[The Dark Knight]

How Bane sounds is Nolan's vision. Like it or not, it should be respected.

If they do anything, it should be about making it clearer and not touching the actual timbre of it.

[BatmAngelus]

Just saw the prologue on IMAX with Mission Impossible and...well, yikes.  I can see where the complaints are coming from.  I could only understand a couple lines from Bane and those were the ones that I had known about beforehand. 

I agree with The Dark Knight that when it comes to the voice, it should be about making it clearer to understand, without changing the timbre or the voice itself.  If he sounds like he does in the trailer with the "permission to die" line, it should be fine.

[riddler]

Interesting topic here now that the film is out. As we all know there was plenty of outrcy over the voice but Nolan did pay attention to his target audience and improved the voice over.

Contrast this to Schumacher whom received negative feedback from all sources on the bat nipples and not only ignored it but kept it for the next film.

[Azrael]

Why is it that everyone jumped on the "Bane's voice" bandwagon. Don't have a problem with it. For me he sounded a bit like a Bond villain, and this is a good thing. Besides his voice, his talk was a bit refined for a skinhead muscleman wearing a sleeveless vest, and I loved it. Nolan should do Bond.

When you apply fridge logic, however, how does he eat? (credit to those that pointed it out first, don't know who it was)

[BatmAngelus]

Bane's voice was much better and cleaner in the later trailers and the final film. 

The audio in the opening sequence in the final film was far clearer than in the IMAX December prologue.  It was obvious ADR, but I was willing to excuse that for clarity.  There were maybe a couple of lines that I didn't catch in the movie, but I felt that was due more toward Hardy speaking the lines quickly than the voice itself.

I think the backlash in December over the voice was completely justified and I'm glad it lead to a cleaner audio in the film.

[riddler]

Bane's voice was much better and cleaner in the later trailers and the final film. 

The audio in the opening sequence in the final film was far clearer than in the IMAX December prologue.  It was obvious ADR, but I was willing to excuse that for clarity.  There were maybe a couple of lines that I didn't catch in the movie, but I felt that was due more toward Hardy speaking the lines quickly than the voice itself.

I think the backlash in December over the voice was completely justified and I'm glad it lead to a cleaner audio in the film.

You're right. It sounded terrible in the prologue and december trailer, Nolan improved it heavily since then.

[The Joker]

[thecolorsblend]

When I could understand wtf he was saying, I actually kinda liked Bane's voice, the cadence and timber of it.