Rating: 
Summary: Great movie, poor DVD
Review: Tim Burton's Batman is phenomonal, unfortunately the DVD transfer by WB is terrible. The picture looks crappy, and of course, there are no special features. Buy it cheap if you can, just to add to your collection.
Rating: 
Summary: Tacky Designs; Bad Acting; Overrated Film
Review: Another overrated production by Burton who's obsession with surrealim results in cheap overbolown plastic backdrops and weak acting. Jack Nicholson and Jack Pallance 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. Keaton's 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 musical score is also overdone; trying to carry a suspenseful theme that the film simply fails to evoke. The movie is too cartoonish and the acting too weak to evoke anything. Again, the stage designs and costumes make the audience feel like they're going to a rave or Halloween party. Batman's plastic gismo-suit and polyester cape appears to be nothing more a cheap costume for a Haloween party. I give credit to the automobile design but, somehow, I liked the original Batmobile from the t.v. series better: it looked more like a car than the figment of some studio-artist's imagination. Worth watching once perhaps, but this overpublicized masquerade of a movie gets boring after a short while.
Rating: 
Summary: Batman is the man
Review: Batman was really the first of what would turn out to be a decade and a half blitz of superhero movies taken right out of the comics. The following movies have sprouted as a result to the snappy success of Batman: Spider man, The Hulk, X-Men, the Rocketeer, Daredevil, and of course its three pathetic sequels. What the movie Batman did was bring to life superheroes, take them out of its animated comic book form or simple-minded tv series and try to make them believable. Let me say first off that Batman is in no way the perfect film out there. There are some things about this film I would've done differently. Such as some corny scenes and useless characters who are more decorative than important. However, these are quite minor errors when you look at how big this film is, and I don't mean length or size. Big as in depth. The plot is intriguing, engaging, exciting to viewers. The character of Batman/Bruce Wayne is so very believable combing darkness with sophistication. The villain the Joker is the ultimate bad guy, combing violent humor with unimaginable insanity. This film is ENTERTAINMENT, with serious depth in plot and character. I know that Michael Keaton has unfairly gotten some heat for playing too dark a Batman. But these people who say this apparently don't know jack about the comic "The Dark Knight" and don't understand the character of Batman himself. Batman is supposed to be a dark superhero. I mean, he's a "Batman", bats are dark creatures. Michael Keaton who is among the most underrated actors ever, can play the perfect Dr. Jackyll and Mr. Hyde character with the dark, forboding Batman to the brainy, social Bruce Wayne.
I'm sorry but Val Kilmner and George Clooney played two pathetic superheroes in replacement of Keaton with the sequals. They were more Bruce Wayne than Batman. While Keaton makes a great balance between the two. Jack Nicholson is phenominal as the Joker. And it makes sense for him to be casted as this for those of us that have seen "The Shining." He makes a good psycho, who knows how to laugh at all the wrong moments, and makes the character believable. I can't think of too many other movies that take the time as this one did attempting to create a serious amount of character development and explanation on why the villain became the way he did. This made the depth of the film complete and the showdown between the Joker and Batman worth watching till the end. Unfortunately, the love interest Kim Basinger plays Vicky Vail, who is a worthless character in a lot of ways. Other than being fascinating with "bats" and being stalked by the Joker, she plays no huge role. It would've been great if her character had been this assertive reporter, torn between whether Batman is a villain or hero, than be this dame in distress and lusted after by the main villain. Although her character is hesitant over Batman, she is all too willing to share a bed with Wayne, thereby this strength in her character is lost. Other characters like Grissom (played by Jack Palance) had a minor role that makes sense on why it was so minor. Then you have a dufus like Alex Knox, another reporter, who is what Vail needed to be: assertive. But he's annoying as hell and not funny. Again, this film isn't perfect, but it's still great. Overall Batman is a superhero form of Dr. Jackyll and Mr. Hyde. Only neither side of Bruce Wayne is clearly bad. Dark, yes. Bad, no. I think Batman is a unique superhero, because he is a no nonsense, dark character. He's not like a Superman or Spiderman who make witty remarks and are kind and caring towards all. He's a loner, a survivelist who has seen horror in his life that changes him forever. This film does such a great job pointing this out, explaining again and again why Batman is the way he is. Only the dense would miss it. I recommend Batman to anybody who wants to see a great movie with a good storyline and good characters. It's entertaining, it's dark, and it's worth the experience. Grade: A+
Rating:
Summary: Movie is Great; DVD is aweful
Review: This must have been one of the first DVD's out and its age shows--there are absolutely no special features to speak of. This is inexcusable. If not for the no-frills DVD, I would have given it 5 stars. I say wait until they do a special edition.
Rating: 
Summary: Not the best in the series,but still enjoyable.
Review: Batman Forever is the best of the series,but this a really close second.Jack Nicholson and Michael Keaton are great in this.Nicholson plays Joker to the the core(he was even nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance)and Keaton is great as Batman,athough I think Kilmer was better.Anyway,a great movie!Followed by one terrific sequal(Forever),one that is very underated(Batman and Robin),and one that is just plain awful(Returns,boy I HATE tht movie).
Rating:
Summary: This movie was great
Review: I liked this movie somuch. I didn't have any reason
why this movie shouldn't be rated 5of5 stars.
It was perfectly good.
Rating:
Summary: The only great Batman movie
Review: This is easily the best of the four Batman movies and easily tops the sequels that followed this one. "Batman Returns" was enjoyable but was too dark and depressing for me and it kind of dogged down the movie's enjoyability. The third one "Forever" was okay but forgettable and the fourth Batman movie was pure garbage in my opinion. In this movie though, they could do no wrong and everything fell into place on this 1989 classic with Batman facing off against the violent criminal mastermind The JokeR. This is the best of the four batman movies and is highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: The First and finest of the Dark Knight's films.
Review: Batman was released in 1989 and was a huge blockbuster from the first day. When I first saw this film I was a little surprised that Jack Nicholson's [now my favoriet actor] name to be listed before Michael Keaton's, but soon realised that they weren't wrong by doing this. This is clearly Jack's movie, his style of acting makes the movie.
The finest point of this movie is it's cast, which like most other comic-book movies is outstanding. Michael Keaton is clearly the best Batman to date, Jack Nicholson is exceptional as the evil Joker, and Kim Basinger is convincng as Vicky Vale. Other actors of interest are Billy Dee Williams and screen legend Jack Palance. The film takes place in Gotham City where a man called Batman has been taking care of the city's ever growing crime with his fists and inventions. This puts fear in the crimelords and at the same time a botched hit is about take place on the Joker and his men while they're doing there normal crime. The man doing this to Joker is actually his boss, and like Batman always does, busts in to the scene and of course tries to stop them. As he does Jack's character tries shooting at him but as he does, Batman sidesweeps him and he falls into a tub of some kind of strange chemical.
And so begins the Joker's rein of terror. At the same time, Batman's real idnetity is a rich millionaire named Bruce Wayne, who at the time is having a party, and at the party is the lovely reporter Vicky Vale, who Bruce takes an instant liking to, unfortunately so does the Joker. As the movie goes on you'll see flashbacks from Bruce's past, explaining why he became Batman.
The soundtrack by Prince is suitable for the scenes and Nicholson brings humor to the film. The biggest fault of the film is how it drifts off to comic book territory a little bit, but not much. The directing is great by Burton, who has became one of my favoriet modern day directors. If you really want to see a sequel go ahead and see the second one which isn't that bad of sequel but forget the rest of them they aren't worth your time. Don't judge the movie before you see it, solely because of the corny TV show, it's an action movie that won't disappoint you.
Rating:
Summary: Still my favorite super hero movie
Review: This is still the best super hero movie. Superman was good, x-men was good, and Spiderman was good, but this Batman is great. The movie looks fantastic. Jack steals the movie as the Joker, and Keaton makes for one great Batman. The movie helps the viewer understand that Batman is not this kind hearted person who just wants to do good in the world; it shows that he is a tormented soul. He in other words is just about as psycho as the Joker. Batman is not a nice guy in the movie, something that you do not get to see in other superhero movies. Joker is fantastic. The movie is both funny and tastefully done. The action is not over the top and there is an added believability to the fictional characters. The direction and acting are great. I enjoyed this movie when it first came out when I was a kid, and enjoyed it so much more as an adult. It really is not for kids, its almost the first grown up super hero movie.
Rating:
Summary: A fascinating interpretation
Review: I have never been a comic book reader, so if you're familiarization with Batman stems from comics you might as well move one. My real familiarity with the character stems from the rediculous sixties TV show and the cartoon. Based on that the movies was inarguably superior. This movie portrays Batman in a dark, gothic, vigilante light that makes him somehow more real and understandable. I think Michael Keaton was an excellent Batman, in that he was not very heroic in and of himself. Thus he represented the everyman quality that the average viewer could relate to. Jack Nicholson was (of course) brilliant. I enjoyed this film. The second film was o.k. and it went quickly down hill from there
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