When I arrived at 11:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 17, to the Lincoln Center IMAX, I was not quite certain what to expect. On the bus to New York City from Boston, plenty of texts were coming in from excited friends about how the lines were out the door and wrapped around the street for hours. What were they there for? The preview night of "The Dark Knight," Christopher Nolan's incredible follow-up to his hit "Batman Begins."

By now the reports have all come in that this film broke several box office records, but on Thursday that was just a whisper of a possibility. Then again, once I stepped into the enormous IMAX Theater and found hundreds of excited screaming fans dressed in costumes and wearing "I Believe in Harvey Dent" shirts, it started to become clear that this would not be the average movie night.

A man in a rather impressive Batman suit walked by, and the entire crowd did the wave, yelling out catchphrases from the movie like "Why So Serious?" and stomping their feet in preparation for what was to come. Complete strangers started talking across the aisles about what they heard about the film and what could come in the next movie or the one after that. There is no finish line in sight for these fans, and the very idea of it would be blasphemy; Batman lives again, thanks to Nolan and his extremely talented crew.

The theater workers came through and insisted that everyone show their ticket, which caused a riot throughout the audience since it delayed the opening of this coveted film. The yelling then turned to jeering as at least 15 people were removed from the theater because they snuck in. Get outta here, you thieves, and learn how to pay proper tribute to the Bat like the rest of us!

Then the lights went down, the entire place shook with the intensity of our screams, and only two trailers were shown. A teaser for the new "Harry Potter" movie, and then ... "Watchmen." This is the first official trailer shown for this film, and it will be the next highly anticipated comic book movie.

The movie began, and it is lucky that no important dialogue or music was revealed in the first 10 minutes since the screams lasted for at least 15. This was the most entertaining moviegoing experience of my life. Every clever line was laughed at, every moment that the Joker was on screen was applauded, and at the end of the movie there were tears, intense conversations, and the realization that this was probably the best comic book film ever done so far.

All the Oscar talk was sincere. Heath Ledger is legendary, Aaron Eckhart is heartbreaking, Christian Bale is swoon worthy, and this film was so beautifully crafted that many of the audience members stayed for the next show!

As we left the theater, a line was already formed throughout the lobby and out the door for the 3 a.m. showing. They all looked very awake and excited and they expectantly watched our faces for a clue to how it went. We smiled, gave high fives, and cowered in fear from anyone in a Joker costume. So you haven't seen "The Dark Knight?" What're you waiting for, a Bat-signal?

-More on "The Dark Knight" here!

Story by Chelsea 'Dee' Doyle
Starpulse contributing writer