Chicago stands in for Gotham in 'Dark Knight'

It took six weeks of careful calculations before stunt coordinator Chris Corbould thought he could safely flip a 40-foot 18-wheeler on its back.

He tested the calculations by flipping a real rig in a place he described as "the middle of nowhere." Good enough. But could the stunt be replicated on LaSalle Street in the heart of Chicago's financial district?

As anyone who's seen trailers and TV commercials for "The Dark Knight" knows, it sure could.

Batman's assault against the 18-wheeler driven by the Joker is a key moment in Christopher Nolan's dark, break-through superhero drama where a muscular, gritty Chicago stands in for Gotham City. The LaSalle Street location is just one of many Windy City landmarks prominently featured in "The Dark Knight," which opens with special midnight screenings Thursday.

Here's where you'll spot more local sights:

• When the Joker makes good on his threat to blow up a building, we see Chicago's vacant Brach's Candy factory being demolished, not like a conventional implosion, but more like it's being hit by waves of sequential destruction. (Special effects were added.)

• Batman jettisons from a damaged Batmobile in a super-cool Bat-Pod, which he races through a newly remodeled train station under Millennium Park.

• Chicago's IBM Building, 330 N. Wabash Ave., served as the Wayne Enterprises boardroom and offices for D.A. Harvey Dent, the mayor and the police commissioner.

• The lobby of One Illinois Plaza at Michigan Avenue and Wacker Drive supplied the main living area of Bruce Wayne's new penthouse. Wayne's bedroom was built separately on the 39th floor of Hotel 71 on East Wacker Drive.

• The Convention Hall at McCormick Place West became the vast warehouse of Wayne Enterprises' Applied Science Division.

• Navy Pier is the location for a dramatic scene involving the panicked citizens of Gotham City and a diabolical trick by the Joker.

• The old Chicago Post Office spanning Congress Parkway was used in several scenes, most notably the opening bank robbery sequence.

• The under-construction Trump Tower, 401 N. Wabash Ave., became the battleground for a pivotal confrontation between Batman and the Joker, but only the outside. The actual fight scenes were shot in a converted airship hangar in Great Britain.

By the way, that dramatic shot of star Christian Bale looking down at Gotham City from atop the Sears Tower? It's really him. Bales' stunt double, Buster Reeves, was supposed to go out on the ledge 110 stories up, but Bale reportedly said, "Sorry buddy, no way. I just have to do this one myself."

And he did.

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Video</h2> <ul class="video"> <li><a href="/story/?id=221544">Dann Gire reviews 'The Dark Knight'</a></li> </ul> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=216929">Dann Gire reviews 'The Dark Knight'<span class="date">[7/16/08]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div>