Rating: 
Summary: A little ironic
Review: A little ironic that this turned out to be the least cartoonish Batman film ever made, isn't it? On the heels of the overblown and quickly crumbling batman movie franchise, this movie was released to a very small box office return. Yes, sad but true, but the god awful bad joke that was "Batman and Robin" grossed more money than this baby. If the people only knew that despite using the animated medium that "serious movie goers" seem to have stigmatized as child's fair, this was as interesting, mysterious, thrilling and well done a Batman flick as one could ask for. The origins of the Dark Knight are given to us in poignant flashbacks that are relevant to the plot (unlike the similar scenes in "Batman Forevor") and all the characters are deep and add to the beauty of the Batman mythos. (Unlike...well, any other Batman flick, where the villains are an excuse for big celebrities.) All comparisons to other Batman films aside, this was just an interesting and well told story. Certainly worth the rental, if not the purchase.
Rating: 
Summary: Still good.
Review: I can't believe after all these years I still decided to buy this dvd. It's like what? almost 10 years since this movie came out? Anyways, The beginning church chorus will blow you away on the dvd version. The movie is more enhanced comparing to the vhs version. However, additional features aren't too outstanding. We got a trailer and a option of watching it either in english/french language with english/french subtitles. The movie still, will please you instead. This movie is about a secret life about Bruce Wayne that will answer all your questions of did he ever had a happy life? How he became Batman? and etc.....not to mention that you will never get these answers in the cartoons.This is the best animated Batman film yet. Not even return of the Joker can match this dramatic type of movie. This is a must see for all viewers. Thumbs up!!!
Rating:
Summary: Batman: The Dark Knight Of Gotham
Review: I've just seen this movie, and I was highly impressed not only by the quality of the animation, but also by the very mature tragic storyline. I've been a Batman fan for more than a decade, but I haven't seen a Batman movie that is as tragic as this one, the original Batman movie by Keaton/Burton comes close, but it doesn't touch this. The comics, especially the graphic novels portrays Batman as a powerful, strong warrior of justice as well as the most loneliest man alive.... THIS MOVIE UNDERLINES IT. I've also seen most of the old Batman cartoons, which "Batman: Mask Of The Phantasm" is evolved from, but none of those is as sad as this. If you love the legend of the Batman, the graphic novels, the whole mystery that surrounds this phenomenon, this movie is as good as it gets. This movie made me so sad, I felt like crying at the end, this only means this movie is that GOOD. I highly recommend this, this is 100% Batman.
Rating:
Summary: Almost, but not quite, a perfect Batman movie
Review: This animated movie tries to get a lot done, and it falls just shy of being a total success. That said, it is still extremely good, doing a better job than any other Batman script I've seen of showing the price Bruce Wayne pays to be Batman. Most of the time, Bruce Wayne comes across as the disguise Batman wears when he needs to interact with people -- but in this movie, you get a sense of who he might have been had he chosen a different path. And while the movies and comics have taken to depicting the more sysfunctional elements of Batman's personality, he comes off as a far more stable and sympathetic character here. The character exploration of the script is pulled off with great success by Kevin Conroy. In fact, all the voice actors -- especially Mark Hamill as the Joker -- do an excellent job. There are also a number of good action sequences, and the final confrontation between Batman and Joker is well done. (In fact, I'd say it's probably more intense in a way than anything on the recent Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker movie, which I don't think rises to the level of Mask of the Phantasm, even taking the deleted-scene controversy into account. But I digress.)So where does this fall short? In bouncing back and forth between flashbacks and the present, the mystery that drives the plot winds up getting somewhat short shrift -- there are too many unexplained leaps of logic made by the script and by the characters. It's certainly not enough to ruin the movie, but the few nagging questions that remain afterward take away just a little bit from my enjoyment of the movie.
Rating:
Summary: Forget Burton, Schumacher... THIS is Batman
Review: Of all the Batman movies out there, Mask of the Phantasm is the closest to the spirit of the comic book character. Tim Burton was close, and he would be in this category if he didn't make Batman out to be a vengeful killer. I don't even want to talk about Joel Schumacher... In Mask of the Phantasm, a figure has come to Gotham killing off mobsters one by one. This Phantasm, from a distance, bears a similar resemblance to Batman. Soon the cops figure that Batman must be behind these killings. Batman must try to expose the Phantasm and clear his own name. A subplot to this story is the origin of Bruce Wayne's vigilante character and eventual metamorphosis into Batman (in cartoon continuity, of course). Even the Joker makes an appearance. This is a great, moving movie that explores what drives Bruce Wayne, and the consequences of being Batman.
Rating:
Summary: BATMAN'S ORIGINS
Review: I know that there are a million variations on the story but, this one is quite enjoyable and the 40's film noir style adds a touch of class. The credits begin a swooping panaramic of "Gotham City" architecture it'll grab you and you won't look away, then BATMAN busts up a convention of neighborhood thugs with a casual panache as only "THE DARK KNIGHT" can. That's just the first 60 seconds. Buy and enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: The Origin of Batman
Review: Batman:Mask of the Phantasm is excellent movie, filled with mystery, action, flashbacks and some violence. This movie is based about an old girlfriend of Bruce Wayne's who returns to Gotham,and at the same time a series of murders are being committed by a mysterious figure called the Phantasm. The story also includes numerous flashbacks to the creation of Batman. The film has many twists and turns and deserves to be seen by all.
Rating:
Summary: The best filmed exploit of the Dark Knight yet
Review: Mask of the Phantasm is an on-film example of what not only the movie franchise, which was terribly ruined by Joel Shumacher, could have done with the character, but of how much better the 1990's Animated Series, good as it was anyways, could have been if it was scheduled in prime time instead of during the Kid's Hour. Don't get me wrong; the show went further then then any other long-running animated series yet has (with the possible exception of The Transformers back in the 80's) in terms of skimming close to adult level sophistication and dialogue. Still, this film shows how much better still the Animated Series could have captured the essence of the comic book Dark Knight if American adult audiences were more accepting of animated shows that were not purely idiotic sitcom fare (i.e., The Simpsons, Family Guy, Futurama, etc., ad nauseum). Unfortunately, for any super-hero series to get done, it has to be made 'kid-friendly' and put on Saturday or Sunday mornings, or weekday afternoons, in order to get a chance at the small screen (with the only few exceptions being MTV's Aeon Flux and HBO's Spawn, though these weren't really marketed for a mass audience, which may have contributed to their short life spans despite their success). This is quite unfortunate. What is also unfortunate is that no more Batman animated movies are likely to get onto the big screen after the very undeserved failure of this one, simply because audiences couldn't be bothered with going to see a 'serious' animated movie, unless it was a 'family-friendly' Disney epic. Thus, successive entries in the direct-to-video slot like Sub-Zero were made in the same mold as the series was, and was not given the PG rating that Mask of the Phantasm was awarded. WB has not yet attempted to snare the adult audience whose attention it caught with its super-hero shows of the 90's, and the failure of this one attempt to do so makes the odds of successive efforts in the future dim. I am hoping that a good deal of direct to video support of this film will get us more PG rated animated Batman movies from WB now that the TV series has apparantly run its course for good thanks to, of all things, the success of Batman Beyond, more's the pity. This big screen treatment of the Dark Knight was even closer to the great comic book version in tone, sophistication, action sequences and dark film noir then the animated TV series. The origin of Batman was told in a manner that could not have been conveyed on the more 'kid-friendly' TV version. The Joker was here in all of his insane glory, and we were now able to see him at his peak of homicidal brutality, which was especially welcome since we were not allowed to see the Clown Prince of Crime kill anyone on the TV series, which took away his most distinctive, if chilling, attribute. Finally, we got to see his twisted schemes cause people to buy the farm, including the use of his trademark 'smile venom', even if the filmmakers made sure that only other gangsters were his victims here. No longer did viewers have the comfort of knowing that all people onscreen would be inevitably saved from death by the Dark Knight that we were guaranteed in the TV series thanks to network restrictions for kid shows. The Phantasm was a way cool new anti-hero who seems to have been inspired by the brutal vigilante known as the Reaper from the Batman: Year Two comic book storyline, but with even more spectral aspects added (although the Reaper didn't turn out to be...well, I won't spoil things for those who haven't seen this great animated film yet). The dialogue, storyline and onscreen pathos were great. Also, a surprising amount of blood was seen in this film, even for a PG-rated movie, which was in stark contrast to the only occasional blood allowed for the TV series. This virtually unrestrained ability to show blood and death may turn off some parents, but was much more attuned to the type of serious crime drama and psychological thriller that the Batman character most logically embodies. However, no expletives at all were used in the film, not even minor ones; this silliness was in tune with a criticism I once heard of the original 1931 version of Scarface, in which the original filmmakers were allowed to show tons of brutal gangland murders, but no character in the movie was allowed to say anything as "horrible" as "damn" or "hell" (even though the Al Pacino remake more then made up for the loss of strong language in the original). This is no biggie, however; a lack of unrealistic language didn't destroy tons of good storytelling and realistic action. The scenes of Bruce Wayne attempting to fight crime before taking on the Batman moniker, when he was totally wet behind the ears as a vigilante, was also a welcome change that cemented into our heads the fact that Batman is a very human being under the suit that didn't become the master crimefighter that he is overnight. I highly recommend this film to all diehard Batman fans, even those who may not have religiously followed the Animated Series for whatever reason (lot's of American adults just seem to have a bias against any film or show that is animated since we are so socially conditioned to think that anything animated is automatic kiddie fare despite a decade of The Simpsons and its numerous prime time offspring, both good and bad). Any action or martial arts fan will also like this movie, as well as fans of Japanese anime, especially of the Street Fighter animated episodes from Japan. In short, if you like Batman, action flicks or anime, you will love Mask of the Phantasm. As stated above, this film is also heartily recommended if you are simply curious to see what the series could have been like if aired in prime time for a more adult audience. Kudos to WB for making this bold attempt, even if this particular one didn't work out as well as they hoped. I am hoping they will learn from the previous, if short-term, successes, of Aeon Flux and Spawn that there may indeed be a market for more adult super-hero/action fare if only they will someday take another chance with this largely untapped genre in America.
Rating:
Summary: Better by far than any live action Batman
Review: It's unfortunate that an animated series rarely gets serious attention, even when made into a movie, like Mask of the Phantasm. The writing is superior to the live action Batman movies, and the movie has more self-respect. We delve into Batman's past: not his why-I-became-Batman past which everyone knows; rather, we learn why he remains Batman despite the intense personal cost. This is a great movie, with a great voice cast (including Mark Hamill <yes, Luke Skywalker> who is just perfect as the Joker). The score is wonderful, playing a little with the score from the first Michael Keaton Batman movie, then proceeding along its own course. The movie is, of course, not for everyone. If all you want to see are fists hitting the bad guys in the gut, you'll be disappointed (or perhaps, your kids will be). There is romance, sorrow, and introspection, in addition to the violence of Batman's confrontation with villains. This is simply a far more thoughtful movie than one might expect, and though it is well-done in this regard, it may not be what you are expecting.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic
Review: Batman:MOTP is hands down the best comic-book/superhero adaptation ever; live-action or animated. It is better than Tim Burton's classic 1989 feature and any other comic based adventure to grace the small and big screen. The irony in this is that this series, if you want to admit it or not, was an animated spin-off of the then successful live-action movie series. This movie became a spin-off of the hit Fox series and now it is probably the best interpretation of the character to date. In the movie, a mysterious killer is knocking off gangsters and Batman is taking the blame. Meanwhile a former love interest of Bruce Wayne returns after suddenly skiping town several years later leaving then husband-to-be Bruce heartbroken. And to make matters more interesting, the Joker devilishly starts to cause trouble. Above all these fun and games is the love story which drives the story. It's an exploration of the loneliness in the life of the main character. Mask of the Phantasm to me is what Tim Burton's first feature could have been. Beware that the origin of the Joker in this movie also assumes the Jack Napier/organised crime beginning. The animation, though not Disney quality, works well with a terrific screenplay. What I liked about the movie was the role fate or destiny plays in the life of Bruce Wayne. Fans of Frank Miller's Batman:Year One should be pleasantly suprised by an action sequence involving the caped crusader against a swat team. A fantastic movie with a brilliant score by Shirley Walker. A must see movie for any Batman fan.
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