Gamertell

I headed over to Kings Island Amusement Park near Cincinnati, OH (USA), yesterday (July 5, 2008) to get an up-close look at the Bat Pod to be featured in the upcoming The Dark Knight film (July 18, 2008). Check out the photo gallery below.

The Bat Pod was on display right inside the park’s main entrance near the water fountain and sectioned off with a few strings. You could get within an inch or two of the gun turrets (and get in a quick poke if you were slightly sneaky). There wasn’t much of a crowd around the bike, which made it especially easy to get close and see some of the cool details and brush marks where the bike was given a slightly worn appearance. There were also plenty of mini posters to grab and an entry box to win passes to a sneak preview screening of the movie.

The bike was pretty impressive, especially the massive wheels. The bike was barely even waste hight, which puts Batsy’s face pretty dern close to the road. A couple of the kids looking at it seemed especially impressed, not quite believing that the contraption would really run. According to the press release, the bike and does run, though I assume it isn’t quite as functional as we’ll see in the final film.

A The Dark Knight game has yet to be officially announced, although it has been speculated that Pandemic may already already working on one. If there really will be a game, you can bet it will have a Bat Pod in it.

While at Kings Island I also took a couple photos of the Avatar: The Last Airbender ride which features Avatar’s Aang on a giant skateboard, going over a one-hump half-pipe. The cool part about the ride is that it’s not just a giant pirate ship style ride, but also spins along the board’s horizontal axis.

The Avatar ride photos were taken from the top of the park’s 1/3 scale Eiffel Tower attraction so you could see the whole thing.

Photo Gallery [Gamertell: Bat Pod] Read [Gamertell] Site [King’s Island] Also Read [MSNBC] Also Read [IGN]

(Photos by PJ Hruschak, Gamertell Editor)

Check out the gallery: The Dark Knight Bat Pod at Kings Island Amusement Park