Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, which concludes this week with 'The Dark Knight Rises,' is like a Batman-shaped piñata literally bursting with stars: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Anne Hathaway, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman and so forth. A piñata also has the odd piece of candy corn in it, a weird, possibly stale but familiar taste. Likewise, you'll find some pretty random stars from the '80s in the trilogy.

Here are five of our favorite blast-from-the-past appearances and what they've been up to since Nolan tapped them for supporting roles.

'Batman Begins' (2005)

Rutger Hauer

By 2005, the Dutch "Blade Runner" icon's career was nearly lost like tears in rain, having been resigned to the usual direct-to-video flotsam like "Omega Doom" and TV movies that include "The Call of the Wild: Dog of the Yukon." Then Chris Nolan cast him in the healthy supporting role of Mr. Earle, caretaker of Wayne Enterprises, and suddenly fans remembered that this guy was still an amazing screen presence. While his corporate douche got unceremoniously let go by Morgan Freeman at the end, Hauer started appearing in mainstream hits like "Sin City" and "The Rite" before landing the lead in the unexpectedly brilliant cult sensation "Hobo With A Shotgun."

'The Dark Knight' (2008)

Eric Roberts

After impressive turns in "Star 80" and "The Pope of Greenwich Village" with Mickey Rourke, and earning an Oscar nod for his role in "Runaway Train," it looked like the sky was the limit for Eric Roberts, but it turned out the limit was the sky. Drugs and an abusive reputation sank his shot at big screen stardom, and he was left to watch his little sister Julia soak up all the adoration while he plugged away in TV dreck like "Rough Air: Danger on Flight 534 ." With his bulk and exaggerated comic book features, Roberts was the perfect sleazy fit to play Gotham City mob boss Sal Maroni, based largely on the character's portrayal in comic book series "Batman: The Long Halloween." Since "The Dark Knight," the actor has gone on to play the heavy in hit actioner "The Expendables" and has an upcoming role in the Linda Lovelace biopic, "Lovelace." He also stole the 4th season of "Celebrity Rehab," which is a slightly more dubious honor.

During his Brat Pack days as John Hughes' geeky alter ego in "The Breakfast Club" and "Sixteen Candles," people were saying Hall had the makings of the next Jimmy Stewart. He declined a role in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" and tried to shed the geek typecasting to no avail. Hall had rocky decade before hitting it big again on the TV version of Stephen King's "The Dead Zone." His role as Mike Engel, a tabloid newscaster kidnapped by The Joker in "The Dark Knight," was a welcome return to the silver screen for Hall, who by this time had matured into an actor capable of exuding strength and confidence. Long gone are the days of Farmer Ted.

Tom "Tiny" Lister, Jr.

This 6 ft 5 in, 300lb behemoth made his film debut with Eric Roberts in "Runaway Train" before launching his short-lived WWF wrestling career as "Zeus: The Human Wrecking Machine," a rival of Hulk Hogan. The '90s actually proved quite fruitful for Lister, appearing as Ice Cube's nemesis in "Friday," a bounty hunter in "Jackie Brown," and, perhaps most presciently, the president in "The Fifth Element." His role as a convict who heroically tosses a bomb detonator out the window at the climax of "Dark Knight" undoubtedly prompted many calls from the audience of "Hey, it's that guy!" He recently appeared in "First Dog," but unfortunately not as the president. That role was taken by… Eric Roberts.

'The Dark Knight Rises' (2012)

Matthew Modine

Modine is most noted for his role as Private Joker (no relation to Heath Ledger's) in Stanley Kubrick's 1987 masterpiece "Full Metal Jacket," coincidentally a part that originally was cast as Anthony Michael Hall. He also appeared in a slew of pleasing '80s and early '90s movies like "The Hotel New Hampshire," "Vision Quest," "Married to the Mob," "Gross Anatomy," and Robert Altman's "Short Cuts." Modine's career sank, along with Carolco Studios and Geena Davis, when 1995's $100-million-dollar loser "Cutthroat Island" went to Davey Jones' Locker at the box office. Perhaps it was Modine's recent role as Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain in the ensemble HBO film "Too Big To Fail" that caught Nolan's eye for the role of sympathetic deputy commissioner Peter Foley.