Batman

Rating:
Summary: A Modern Classic
Review: This film proved to the world that comic book films could be much more than action-packed carnage festivals. This film (and the first sequel "Batman Returns") have so much more to it than that. "Batman" is a gripping and very moving exploration of the psyche; it peers into the souls of not only the Dark Knight, but also those of the people whose lives he changes with his presence. The film is brilliantly acted by its perfectly-chosen cast, which includes Jack Nicholson (the Joker), Michael Keaton (the Batman), Kim Basinger (Vicki Vale), Micheal Gough (Alfred Pennyworth), and Robert Wuhl (Alexander Knox). Tim Burton makes perfect use of his wonderful directorial talents, Anton Furst designs a gothic, beautiful Gotham City, and Danny Elfman's classic musical score further help make this a unique, thought-provoking, and very powerful modern classic, a masterpiece of film noir and grand opera. "Batman Returns shares these wonderful qualities, but, sadly, Joel Schumacher's "Batman Forever" and "Batman and Robin" lose all of that depth and meaning, and become little more than standard mindless action. But, we'll always have Burton's dark vision of a haunted and brooding Batman.

Rating:
Summary: "Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?"
Review: Hollywood has a penchant for making great movies and then putting out beyond crappy sequels that have zip to do with the original. The Batman series was no exception.

But watching this on TV not too long ago, I, too, had forgotten just how good the original was and how it stood out then and now. While Tim Burton's sets and movie making have become predictable, he made quite an impression in 1989 with Batman. The movie did receive one of the greatest amounts of publicity I had ever seen until that point in time (we kept hearing about how much money it cost to make) but this is actually one film that deserved the copious amount of hype.

Michael Keaton (fresh off "Beetlejuice," another Tim Burton film), Kim Basinger, and Jack Nicholson had great chemistry. When you see Jack Nicholson's name, expect a quality, powerful performance. Keaton seemed tailor made for the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman and Kim Basinger played the part of Vicky Vale very convincingly.

Batman is one of those movies that stands out from the rest. It was original and innovative.

Indeed, Hollywood needs to take a look at this to learn how to adapt movies from the printed medium (books, comic books) the right way.

Rating:
Summary: THE MOVIE 5 STARS, THE DVD SPECIAL FEATURES ZERO STARS.
Review: THIS BATMAN MOVIE IS THE BEST ONE, THE STORYLINE IS VERY GOOD, THE ACTING IS VERY GOOD TOO, ESPECIALLY JACK NICHOLSON AS THE JOKER AND MICHAEL KEATON AS BATMAN/BRUCE WAYNE HE WAS THE PERFECT ONE FOR THIS ROLE, AS FAR AS THE DVD IS CONCERN I GAVE IT ZERO STARS BECAUSE IT HAS NOTHING, NO COMMENTARY FROM THE DIRECTOR, NOR FROM THE ACTORS, AND NOT EVEN A THEATER TRAILER SO IN CONCLUSION THE MOVIE IS THE BEST, BUT THE DVD NO WAY!

Rating:
Summary: Gothic City Replaces Gotham?
Review: Another overrated production by Burton who's obsession with surrealim results in cheap overblown plastic backdrops. The poor direction and weak acting by Keaton and Bassinger bring the film down even further. Jack Nicholson and Jack Palance seem to be the only seasoned actors who leave an impression in this McDonald's Happy Meal promotional film.

Michael Keaton is hardly a convicing cast for a millionaire with a superhero alter-ego: his forced acting is just too laughable to bear with his shallow exclamation "I'm Batman!" Richard Simmons could portray a more convincing role than Keaton. Kim Basinger as reporter Vicki Vale is the most pathetic performance in this film; a mediocre actress working hard at screaming and little else. The dramatic musical score achieves nothing as the fake film props and special effects are too comical to invoke any dramatic theme. The stage designs along with costumes such as Batman's plastic gismo-suit and polyester cape make the audience feel like they're going to a rave or Halloween party instead of a sombre action film. In sum, the movie is too cartoonish and the acting too weak to evoke anything.

Worth watching once perhaps, but this overpublicized masquerade of a movie gets boring after a short while.


Rating:
Summary: Batman vs. the Joker in Gotham City
Review: The mysterious Batman (played by Michael Keaton) battles the evil Joker (played by Jack Nicholson) in Gotham City. What makes "Batman" (made in 1989) better than the subsequent Batman movies is that the tone of this film remains dark, and all of the film's elements are used effectively sparingly, so we don't tire of any of it. Whether it's the action, each of the characters, the Batmobile, the Batwing, and so on.
The DVD has the movie in widescreen, but there's not much to the special features, which is the only disappointment.

Rating:
Summary: Great movie, but where are the extras?
Review: Tim Burton's "Batman" redefined what a comic-book movie should look like. To this day, Burton's vision is shared (or imitated) by almost all directors of superhero adaptations - vengence, darkness, and grimness are the norm. Burton did it better than most, because the Batman character lends itself very well to a brooding atmosphere. Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson sounded miscast as the Batman and Joker prior to the film's opening; afterwards, they are remembered by many of us as *the* definitive portrayals. This is an unforgetable film for those of us who saw it in 1989.

That said, where are the extras on this DVD? It's a shame that the redundant and unoriginal action blockbuster playing at your local theater this weekend will be guaranteed a better DVD release than Tim Burton's "Batman." There's plenty that Warners could have included here - outtakes, auditions, interviews, original promotional materials, even trailers. Hopefully, this DVD will be reissued in the upcoming months with some goodies. Until then, despite its brilliance, I'm going to have to recommend this bare-bones release as a rental, not a purchase.

Rating:
Summary: Worth seeing, but a disappointment
Review: I remember the huge anticipation for this movie back in the Summer of 1989. And for me, I remember what a letdown it was when I finally saw it.

Tim Burton, the director, has a unique visual style, and his movies are always interesting to look at. Burton is great when working off a strong script (e.g. "Edward Scissorhands"), but he's a weak storyteller left to his own devices: unfortunately, Batman has a rather bland story. Even worse, Jack Nicholson as the Joker steals the show from Batman (as played by Michael Keaton). Keaton is a fine actor, but I believe he was simply too old to play a young Batman; and his low-key performance is easily overshadowed by Nicholson's. The 1992 sequel, "Batman Returns" has similar faults.

"Batman Forever"(1995) is the best of the four Batman movies, which isn't saying too much:( Hopefully, the upcoming "Batman Begins" movie will learn from the mistakes of its predecessors...

If you want to see a great superhero movie, then try the first two Superman movies (1978, 1981) and "Spiderman 2"(2004).



Rating:
Summary: FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE
Review: DA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA BATMAN!
DA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA BATMAN, BATMAN, BATMAN!
DA NA NA NA NA NA NA BATMAN!!!!!

MY FAVORITE PART WAS WHEN THE BATMOBILE LOST A WHEEL AND THE JOKER GOT AWAY! HEY!

"SIR I SHOW NO LISTINGS FOR A LAST NAME BATMAN, FIRST NAME BRUCE."
"I WILL TRACK HIM DOWN WITH ALL OF MY HATRED!"


Rating:
Summary: BATMAN
Review: Sure, Jack Nicholson did a great job as The Joker, but do you know who would have been better in the part? Charles Nelson Reilly. That would have been AWESOME!

I still wonder why they cast Nicholson instead of Reilly. Maybe Reilly was asking for too much money.

Rating:
Summary: the only good batman
Review: michael keaton and director tim burton teamed up to make this award winning dark slick version of batman in 1989 and to this day everybody agrees its the only good batman movie and the only one to get a good rating by critics sadly michael keaton retired from film to be with his family more after shooting this film and all others who tried playing batman simply wernt cool enough buy this film and see why it was the smash hit of 1989 and that batman can be a hip dark cool superhero when hes directed by tim burton and jack nicholson well can u have a better joker than jack? i think not