I’ve been contemplating whether I should pre-order The Dark Knight or add it to my Wish List in the hopes that some generous, thoughtful family member would purchase as a Christmas gift for me.

But I’m a very impatient girl … so impatient, in fact, that I’ve decided to go ahead and pre-order the DVD through Amazon, because then I get to watch it for free through their Video On Demand feature!

And you can, too!

Here’s the deal: Purchase the The Dark Knight on DVD or Blu-ray from Amazon, then on the release date — December 9, 2008 — you can watch it for free through Amazon’s Video On Demand. You can watch it through Amazon’s streaming player or download it for offline viewing to your TiVo DVR or Windows PC.

On the release date, you’ll receive an email with a promotional code, which must be redeemed by January 23, 2009. A link in the email will direct you to “purchase” the movie On Demand; click “Redeem a gift card or promotion code” on the right-hand side of the page, and enter the code. Click “apply,” then purchase the movie and your promotion code will be automatically applied to this purchase. Then you watch the movie, woo hoo! The offer expires December 25, 2008 and is only available to U.S. residents.

Here’s the variations of The Dark Knight currently offered for pre-order:

The Dark Knight (Two-Disc Special Edition + Digital Copy)

• Gotham Uncovered: How Christopher Nolan and his team developed the new Bat-suit and Bat-pod and composer Hans Zimmer musically characterized the Joker’s reign of chaos
• The Dark Knight IMAX Scenes: View these 6 action-packed sequences–shot on the largest format possible–in their original IMAX framing, just as they were intended
• Gotham Tonight: 6 episodes of Gotham Cable’s premier news program
• The Galleries: Poster art and production stills
• Digital Copy of the feature film

The Dark Knight: Limited Edition with Batpod (+Digital Copy and BD Live) [Blu-ray]

Comes with all the same bonus features and digital copy as the same 2-disc Blu-ray Edition, but also includes a limited-edition Batpod. Ups the price from $23.99 to $47.99, but a must-have for the diehard Dark Knight fan (and judging by those box office numbers there’s a lot of you out there).

The Dark Knight
(+ Digital Copy and BD Live) [Blu-ray]

• Movie with Focus Points (picture in picture)
• Explore your favorite movies through BD-Liveâ„¢, an interactive gateway to exclusive content
• Gotham Uncovered: Creation of a Scene: Director Christopher Nolan and creative collaborators unmask the incredible detail and planning behind the film, including stunt staging, filming in IMAX®, and the new Bat-suit and Bat-pod
• Batman Tech: The incredible gadgets and tools (in HD)
• Batman Unmasked: The Psychology of The Dark Knight: Delve into the psyche of Bruce Wayne and the world of Batman through real-world psychotherapy (in HD)
• Gotham Tonight: 6 episodes of Gotham Cable’s premier news program
• The Galleries: The Joker cards, concept art, poster art, production stills, trailers and TV spots
• Digital Copy of the feature film

Not a fanatic? Then pick up standard The Dark Knight (Widescreen Single-Disc Edition) DVD version and save a few bucks.

Not a fanatic, and hate clutter too? Then go directly for The Dark Knight – Video On Demand version and don’t mess up your home with needless DVD boxes; watch the movie right on your computer (or transfer it to your TiVo DVR if you have one).