The production team on the upcoming Batman sequel The Dark Knight were given a grim reminder of Batman’s mortality last week, when he came face to face with one of his most deadly foes: pollution. A scene from the movie had to be axed due to health concerns when traces of salmonella and tuberculosis (among other things) were found in the Hong Kong harbour. The original plan was for Batman to drop from a plane into the water before climbing up some bamboo. Not such a good idea apparently!

Ironically, a few days later, the producers of The Dark Knight requested that all businesses along the harbourfront leave all their lights on at night in order to “better show off the city’s glass and steel skyline”. This has environmentalists up in arms, as it seems like a huge waste of energy to produce a visual effect that many believe could have been inserted in post-production. This is certainly not the first time that a film production crew had come under fire for disturbances they have caused while shooting on location. Do you think movie productions are overly destructive, or are they making up for it with the economic boost that they bring to a city?

Around the Web: