Scene stealer: 'The Dark Knight's new ride

"The Dark Knight's" new Batpod is a bike so outrageous it's hard to believe it was even built -- not just because it is tricked out with grappling hooks, cannons and machine guns. The front and rear tires are monstrously huge, and the engines are in the hubs of each wheel. The bike also has no handlebars. Instead, it has shields that fit each arm like sleeves and can rotate around the bike's frame, so the driver steers with his arms and shoulders rather than his hands.

The man behind the machine's design is Nathan Crowley, who created its predecessor for "Batman Begins." But it was Chris Corbould who built the beast.

Director "Chris Nolan and Nathan went for the look of it rather than thinking about the mechanics," Corbould said in an interview with The Times last year. "That was the biggest challenge: Get their vision, but make it work and perform."

Well, they've certainly done something right. The Batpod is featured in several key action sequences in the film, which pulled in a tremendous  $158.3 million at the box office in its three-day opening weekend -- the biggest such total to date.

-- Susan Carpenter