Batman

-Warner Bros. (1989)

Summary

The caped crusader strikes fear into Gotham City’s most evil villain: HIGH ESTATE TAXES!

My Thoughts

Batman has always been a film close to my heart. When it first hit theaters way back in the late 80s, I went bat-crazy. I had the toys, the cereal, the posters, and anything else I could get my greedy, Batman obsessed hands on. I remember waiting forever for the VHS tape to come out, and when it did I got it for my birthday. I still have that tape today, and it has been watched so many times that the picture actually wore out. That's why I'm so disappointed in this DVD. Granted, it was released in 1997, but almost every crappy movie gets a special edition nowadays, why can't Batman? I guess it's only a matter of time, but right now this version is pretty lame.

My biggest beef with this edition, besides the horrible lack of extras, is the picture quality. It isn't that the DVD transfer that is bad, but its the film quality itself. It’s dirty, grainy, and the film stock is in serious need of restoration. Aside from these problems, the film is still a good adventure and is still the best of all the Batman films combined. It does have its problems, but on the whole it is a great representation of the comic book on the big screen, something that used to be almost impossible to pull off.

The success this Batman while the other films hideously fail can be attributed to several factors. One of these is that there is only one villain as opposed to the other films that are bogged down in multiple evil characters. When there are too many opposing forces, the story always seems to get convoluted and the audience is never able to really get into the heart of any particular villain. The film is also set on a smaller scale of sorts, with Batman having a limited amount of gadgets. He also has to rely on darkness and shadows to do his dirty work like in the comic books. A lot of the flash and cartoonish quality in this film is missing as opposed to the future Batman adventures that became pure camp. There's also enough smartly written and perfectly delivered dialogue in this film to fill at least couple of lesser comic book movies.  Almost everyone remembers lines like, "Where does he get those wonderful toys?"

Along with the great dialogue are a ton of memorable action scenes. Despite the great action, some of my favorite moments are the Bruce Wayne being a civilian scenes like when Vicki Vale and him are eating soup in his enormous room and have to yell at each other to talk. Its witty in a subdued way with Michael Keaton pulling it off perfectly. On reflection, the once controversial choice of Michael Keaton was a good casting call, but is still strange if you think about it. Keaton plays an excellent Bruce Wayne, which is a role that is overlooked in other Batman films. Val Kilmer played a deadwood Bruce, and let's not mention George Clooney. Keaton's Batman is also good, but sometimes I can still tell that it's the guy from Gung Ho underneath all that rubber.  Aside from Keaton, the entire cast is excellent. The choice of Jack Nicholson as the Joker is one of the greatest casting decisions ever since he owns the character of the Joker in the hearts of anyone that sees this film.

Tim Burton's sense of style was also a perfect choice for the film. The city of Gotham looks spectacular with its aging dirty streets and hard to pinpoint time frame. The cinematography is also stunning, and helps contrast the two divided worlds of the Joker and Batman.

Batman does have its share of flaws, however. A notable leap of logic occurs when Bruce Wayne is about to tell Vicki Vale that he is Batman. When the Joker comes in and Bruce confronts the maniac, why in the hell does he pick up the fire poker and say, "Do you want to get nuts?" Why would he take the chance that the Joker wouldn't shoot him in the face? I also always wondered why the hell Batman misses the joker when he's flying in his Bat-plane and firing thousands of rounds of bullets and missiles at the Clown Prince of Crime. Joker, in a funny yet totally illogical moment, pulls out a gun with a five foot barrel. With one shot takes the Bat-plane down. I have to wonder, did the Joker have this gun in his pants the whole time? How in the hell did he walk around? And why would one bullet take down Batman's jet? If that isn't enough, when Batman gets to the top of the bell tower there just happens to be about four henchmen up there waiting, even though we never see them going up with Joker.

I also have some issues with the soundtrack. While the score by Danny Elfman is extraordinary, the music by Prince leaves a little to be desired. Then there are the moments where the Prince songs get really loud and the film turns into a sort of music video. This has always gotten under my skin. Aside from these lapses, Batman is a great action adventure with a lot of gems throughout. It's great to know that something I loved so much as a kid is still a good watch, unlike the stupidity of something like Thundercats.

Extras

This is pretty much a first generation DVD and since extras back then were pretty sparse this disc is no different. In today's market however, this edition is showing its age. All you get are production notes, a cast list, and a screen showing you other films that you may like to purchase.

The best of these is the production notes, which give a good amount of background, but still pictures and text are not my idea of fun reading on my home theater. I also hate when interactive menus are listed as an extra, how many DVDs have un-interactive menus?

The 5.1 surround mix is very good, with lots of loud explosions and gunshots to keep you happy, without being over the top.

Score

Film:  8.5

Extras: 2.0

Edition: 4.0

If you're a big fan of Batman get this. If you're not, pray that a special edition comes out some day.

-Paul

The Caped Crusader is an enduring classic with some of the most wicked and sexy villains in the history of comics. Get some superhero costumes and become Batman and Robin for an evening. You could even play out your favorite episodes some night. Get some sexy costumes and find the puurrrrfect Catwoman to mess with the dynamic duo that cannot resist her beauty. There are enough adult costumes online to have a Batman party complete with the Joker, Penguin, Jester and all the other classic characters in this incredible tale translated from comic books, to television series, to video game and the silver screen.