Rating: 
Summary: Hmmm - not up to usual standards
Review: ok ok, i'm being lenient and giving the movie the benefit of the doubt; otherwise, i'd give it 2 stars. the storyline and the voices seems fine. however, the animation is sadly much below the standards of the tv show and that detracts horribly from the movie. i find it painful to watch b/c of the cheaply drawn figures. if only they had kept to their usual standards...
Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic! But...
Review: This is an absolutely fantastic movie! The story is pretty decent and the animation and acting are outstanding! The only problem that I have is that I had the fortune/misfortune of seeing one of the pre-edited versions that didn't make it to the release. If you've never seen any version other than the one they officially released, count yourself lucky because in this case, ignorance IS bliss. I wish they had put both the "adult" version and the final version (which was toned-down for younger viwers) on the DVD because it makes the story flow a LOT better! Even the version that I saw had some stuff cut out of it that probably would have added to the story even further!
Rating:
Summary: The Future Clown Prince of Crime
Review: Truly nothing can ever kill the Joker, nor this Batman Beyond direct to video movie. I waited six months for this masterpiece of animation to be released in stores and was devistated to learn it had been pushed back three months for "cuts." Thankfully the WB didn't kill this cartoon movie like many thought they would. Certainly the missing and edited scenes would have been better in their originality, but after learning just how the movie was changed, I really don't think any of us are missing anything. In fact I think they actually made one scene better. I've been a Bat-fan since the 1989 Batman movie and its sequel Batman Returns. The animated Batman series instantly became my favorite cartoon. Batman Beyond is an appropriate spin-off to the Bat-toon, and although Terry is a much different Batman, he is the Bat of the future. What better way to bridge the gap from past to future than with a riviting tale about the immortal clown prince of crime known to the city of Gotham as the Joker. We all know the Joker is dead, or at least that he should be (you get to see his skeleton in the Batman Beyond episode "Joyride"), but how did he die and how did he cheat death once again. Behind that pale white face and sick twisted sense of humor lies the mind of a genius and the method of the Joker's return is truly inventive, assuming of course the Joker was just as crazy before his acid bath as he was after. If you happen to be a fan of Batman, whether it be movie, comic, or cartoon, I suggest you at least rent this direct to video movie. You won't be sorry. I know I wasn't and I'm very hard to please.
Rating: 
Summary: Dreadful -- Cut or Uncut!
Review: This is, quite simply, one terrible movie. The score (to use the term loosely) is dreadful. None of the characters are sympathetic, they are simply obnoxious and full of "witty" banter. (I know Bruce Wayne is supposed to be brooding and tormented and all that nonsense, but he's not the callous jerk he is here.) It is incredibly violent, the animation is poor and the storyline absurd even for a Batman film.The "rationale" for the Joker's return just doesn't wash. The Joker's disfigurement and madness are not in his genes/DNA! The Joker is the result of catastrophic conditions that disfigured him, driving him mad. To "recreate" him in another body using his genes/DNA would simply resurrect the pre-madness Joker. Phah! Not for kids and not fit for adults. Stick with the first two Burton films.
Rating:
Summary: Best BATMAN movie since Keaton and Nicholson!!
Review: This movie and DVD were terrific. I was really impressed with the depth of the storyline and the kicker about the Joker's Return. A word of advice. DO NOT...repeat...DO NOT read the Character Bios in the Special Features section prior to watching the movie! They give away the movie's big secret! I made this mistake. The movie was still fantastic, but would have been better if I had not already scanned the Bios. I won't give anything away, but part of what makes this such a great movie is that some loose ends from the original Batman animated series' are cleared up. With the state of the live-action Batman movies, you can't go wrong with this series and this DVD!
Rating: 
Summary: Not Flawless, But Still Excellent
Review: Nothing will ever replace the animated series of the early 90s for me, but this film carries many merits. There is a lot of dispute about as to whether the edits should have been made or not. On one hand, I don't feel it was such a bad thing to tone things down that were not crucial to the story. But I do feel they should have kept the scene where the Joker rams a knife into Batman's leg. (This would explain why the true Batman has to use a cane.) All of that aside, the movie is excellent. The action is well done, and the suspense rarely drops. I can not remember stopping the V.C.R. once when I watched this. The new Batman is fighting a gang. We later learn that their boss is someone who is at least claiming to be the one and only Joker. The (Joker's?) first scene is drawn very well. Right away we learn that whoever he is, he DOES NOT tolerate insubordination. Also, despite his role as the older man behind the scenes, he DOES get directly involved in the action. The original Batman says that there is no way this new terror could be the Joker seeing that he knows the Joker is dead. Yet all of the lab work in the Bat Cave says that it IS in fact the Joker. (Excellent suspense!) We are thrown a mislead here and there as to the (Joker's?) true identity, but they are gradually eliminated. (Excellent!) The flashback scene is one of the most terriffying things I have ever viewed. (Only the animated Batman episode where Batman fought the puppet Scarface, the episode "Be A Clown" where Batman and the Joker have their most dramatic confrontation, and the 1979 version of "Dracula" with Frank Langella and Laurence Olivier have frightened me more.) Besides the terror of the flashback, it was a charming bonus to see the original Batman as well as Harley Quinn in action again. The flashback tells us that despite the explosion of the misleads, the new terror simply CAN'T be the Joker. But soon afterwards the terror unfolds and we learn that the Joker truly has returned! The only thing that stops me from giving this 5 stars is that I feel despite his age, the original Batman should have been capable of putting his cape back on for this one final fight. (After all, in the 60s episodes, Alfred occasionally put on Batman's outfit in an emergency. In the early 90s episodes, Alfred, despite his age accompanied Batman in many of the missions.) I think it is almost tragic that animated movies seem to carry more story line, suspense, terror, and quality than so called adult movies. It is almost as if the people making these movies realize that since children are watching it, they can't shower it with sex and profanity. So they have to make it intelligent! Even if like me Bruce Wayne will always be Batman to you, you will not want to miss this.
Rating:
Summary: Takes awhile to get into, but is great once you have.
Review: When the television series Batman Beyond came out, I was very excited about watching it. I thought the episodes were cool, but being twelve at the time they first came out, I soon became bored and got into other things. A few weeks ago, during my spring break, I came across an episode of Batman Beyond on the WB. Since I was bored anyway, I watched it. I was hooked again. A few months earlier, I had bought this movie for my brother and watched it. I thought it was cool, but the creepy Joker's death scene turned me off. After I got into Batman Beyond again, however, I watched it a couple of times and thought it was great. For those of you out there that prefer the older Batman series over this one, I would like to state my opinion concerning them. I remember when I was younger watched The New Adventures of Batman and Robin, the live movies, and I think I saw a 70's episode where Batman's climbing a ladder with a plastic shark taped to his leg... Anyway, I can understand why dedicated fans of those shows may be slow to like Batman Beyond. Yes, the series are different, but in a way, I prefer Batman Beyond over the older series. Why? Because even though Bruce is usually the one sitting behind the computer doing the research, his crime-fighting dependance on Terry, the new Batman, shows almost a different side of him. Bruce isn't the one anymore telling the kids to sit at home and take care of business himself. Now he doesn't have much of a choice except to send the kids out to fight while helping as much as he can. So if you're a somewhat sentimental, action-loving, and comedy-enjoying kind of person that likes seeing father-son-like relationships developing in movies/tv series, then maybe Batman Beyond can eventually grow on you.
Rating:
Summary: We've been cheated.
Review: Do NOT, I repeat, DO NOT buy this video...UNLESS it's guaranteed uncut AND unedited. What we have here is a truly inferior product, when compared to the scenes that were cut and edited OUT of the video...which makes no sense really. Mask of the Phantasm had death, blood, and even sex! Why couldn't this video keep what it had originally? This is truly a shame. What was taken out was, while dark, a truly integral and provacative piece(s) of the story. Don't buy this, it's not how the story really happened. It's a dumbed down version of the flick that Warner Brothers commanded to be made, because they're still under the impression that kids are stupid, and cartoons are only watched by kids. Quite insulting really.
Rating:
Summary: Extreme Bat Fan
Review: In reading the reviews written by people who have not seen the uncut version, I find that most say that the cuts don't matter. That is totally incorrect! While the edited version is still good, the edits do change the story and in some places make it confusing. If you haven't seen the unedited version, do not be foolish and say that it the edits don't matter. They do. Hopefully WB will release the unedited version in the future and then the reviewers can be treated to something very special. Notice how everyone who has seen the unedited version immediately says that it is better. Take a hint from them. But I would say for now, buy the DVD or VHS tape. You may never get a chance to see the unedited version and the edited version isn't that bad. Although it doesn't hold a candle to the original, it's all we have for now.
Rating: 
Summary: Hold out for the original, uncut masterpiece
Review: I thought this movie was pretty good when I first saw it in the cut version, but I finally saw the uncut version recently (still not officially released by WB), and the difference blew my mind. The original is _far_ superior, and the difference is not just a matter of "a couple of scenes", as many have been led to believe. My friend and I saw both versions, and we thought there was no contest -- the original, uncut version has a consistent, coherent tone which is dark, eerie, and artistically satisfying. It's an _excellent_ movie, and my friend who's more Batman-knowledgeable than me tells me it's very much in the tradition of Batman as the Dark Knight-type character. The censored version has had many, many bits of action and dialogue snipped out of it, and many small changes to colors and facial expressions in the scenes, utterly changing the tone. Even when the censored version more or less makes sense plot-wise, it has a funny feeling of incoherence to it -- as if the censors sanded the edges off of it until it lost its shape and it's hard to tell exactly what the filmmakers are trying to do. The original is sharply-defined and gripping from beginning to end, with none of that nagging sense that something is off-kilter. Finally, the original makes character motivations very clear and evokes deep feelings at key points, while the censored version is apt to leave one wondering what the characters are making such a fuss about. I suggest people sign the various petitions out there asking Warner Brothers to release the original, excellent movie, rather than settle for the hacked-up version.
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