The Batman character has been around since the 1940s and portrayed in so many ways that it's often hard to pick a favorite. On top of that, with each iteration of the Dark Knight comes a new interpretation of his villainous rogues' gallery, and all kinds of new character dynamics. One of the most highly acclaimed versions of the Batman story is The Dark Knight featuring Heath Ledger's rendition of Joker. Ledger's portrayal of the classic villain even won him a posthumous Oscar for best supporting actor.
With acting like that, it's no wonder some of the best scenes of the film are centered on Joker's appalling mischief. The Joker hospital explosion and bank scenes are some of the most notable, but other Dark Knight scenes make this movie the dark masterpiece it is.
Some scenes are memorable because they offer a more in-depth look at a character; some are awe-inspiring because of the visual effects; and some can be considered the best based on dialogue alone.
After giving a shattered Harvey Dent a little speech about chaos, Joker strolls out of the hospital as it detonates, looking quite pleased with himself.
There seems to be a bit of a malfunction, and Joker turns, confused why the biggest blast hasn't gone off. He fiddles with the remote, hitting the button over and over again until the big boom. Then he happily climbs aboard a bus.
Shortly after taking Joker into custody, Gordon learns that, although Harvey Dent was unharmed during the car chase, he never made it back home. Instead of dealing with Joker himself, Gordon brings in Batman to handle the interrogation.
After a little rough housing, Joker reveals his motivation for the strikes he's put on the city: to turn the people of Gotham against each other. To do this, he must extinguish all hope the citizens of the city have. What better way to do that than to get rid of their shining DA Harvey Dent?
In this interrogation, Joker's next game is revealed and Batman has to choose between saving Dent or his former flame Rachel, both of whom are in terrible danger at separate locations.
The film opens with a bang as men in clown masks storm a bank to take everything in the vault. Each clown is also tasked with taking out another along the way, dwindling the numbers until only the real clown, Joker, remains.
While the men know Joker hired them to carry out this job, they are completely unaware that he's among the team during the incident.
After breaking into a gathering of Gotham's various mobs, Joker proceeds to get their attention by jamming a pencil into the table and announcing he'll do a magic trick. A bodyguard then attempts to grab Joker, but is quickly slammed to the table.
The pencil ostensibly "disappears" into the bodyguard's eye socket, and Joker lets out a self-satisfied, "Ta dah!"
Joker hijacks a big rig and surprises the convoy transporting Harvey Dent to county jail. Just as Joker shoots at the truck carrying Dent, Batman shows up, which results in an epic chase through the tunnel and streets of Gotham.
The Bat Mobile is wiped out in the bazooka blast, but Batman (who always has an escape route) ejects into the Bat Cycle and faces off with Joker on two wheels instead. Using high tension wire, Batman flips the semi, then engages in a game of chicken with Joker on the street.
