Rating: Summary: Legacy of The Batman Review: BATMAN
Witness to the brutal murder of his wealthy parents, Bruce Wayne designs a special, bullet-proof suit and becomes a masked vigilante known as the Batman. While on his latest crusade, Batman (played perfectly by Michael Keaton) accidentally knocks a wanted criminal named Jack Napier (played with vest by Jack Nicholson) into a drainage vat of acidic toxins. Jack later discovers that the toxins bleached his skin snow-white, dyed his hair bright green, and stretched his lips into a blood-red grin. Jack adopts the name "Joker" and begins to wreak all kinds of havoc on the dark and crime-ridden streets of Gotham City. Joker even kidnaps a hot ace reporter named Vicki Vale. Batman flies in and saves her and all is restored. Gotham City had given birth to a new hero.
BATMAN RETURNS
The Dark Knight (again, played to perfection by Michael Keaton) returns to take on two new villains, the repulsive Penguin (a marvelous Danny DeVito) and the kinky Catwoman (a sexually charged Michelle Phfeifer). The Penguin (who was abandoned by his parents as an infant), teamed up with an evil businessman named Maximillain Schreck (an evil Christopher Walkin) wants to elect The Penguin as the new mayor of Gotham City so he and Penguin can run Gotham like King George, while Catwoman wants to both sexually seduce and kill the Batman. An action packed sequel that overshadows the first, filled with wacky surprises, surperb special effects, and even drama.
BATMAN FOREVER
The face of District Attorney Harvey Dent (a hammy Tommy Lee Jones) is horriblly scared by a splurge of acid shot from a convicted mob boss, which causes him to become a vicious criminal known as "Two-Face." Two-Face makes his decisions with a double-sided coin, one side clean and shiny, the other all scared. Harvey Two-Face blames Batman (this time played by the dark Val Kilmer) for not being able to save him (when he tried to) and vows to destory him. Two-Face is having trouble with accomplishing his dream of killing the Dark Knight, fortunatley, a new criminal has arrived in Gotham. A psychopath with supreme brain power who calls himself "The Riddler" (an over-the-top Jim Carrey) wants Two-Face to help him steal the Production Capital so he become the world's smartest life-form, and in return, Riddler will help Two-Face destroy Batman. Batman is not alone on this mission. He receives help from a new hero, Robin (a well-done Chris O'Donnel), whose parents were killed by Two-Face, just like Batman's parents were killed by The Joker.
Not nearly as good as the first two, but still action packed.
BATMAN AND ROBIN
The Dark Knight (a corny George Clooney) and the Boy Wonder (Chris O'Donnel) return to take on the chillingly humorous Mr. Freeze (Arnold Swarzenegger in a metal suit) and the vemonous Poison Ivy (a seductive Uma Thurman). Poison Ivy wants to kill Batman and Robin and cover the world in plants. Mr. Freeze wants to freeze the city and hold Gotham City ransom until he gets the billions of dollars he needs to find a cure for his cryogenically frozen wife, Nora.
Mediocre, worst in the franchise.
SUMARRY
The first two are pretty much the only ones worth spending money for. The third one is decent, but not up to Batman Returns material.
FINAL ANALYSIS
Batman= 4/5
Batman Returns= 5/5
Batman Forever= 3.5/5
Batman and Robin= 2.5/5
Rating: Summary: To tell you the truth...... Review: ........I never really liked any of these movies. Even the Tim Burton 'masterpieces'. In my opinion, the franchise started off kinda weak, then got progressively worse. Of course, the Burton films are like Citizen Cain compared to the Schumacher efforts.
I give the first movie 3 stars for one scene and one scene only. The scene wear Batman and Vicki Vale are driving back to the cave. You can feel the uneasiness from Vicki as she nervously looks upon the stoic Batman. Later, in the cave, Batman reveals the Joker's method for poisoning the masses. This scene actually showed Batman as a detective which seemed to be lacking throughout most of the movie. This is an aspect of his personality that both filmmakers unfortuantely neglected. That's about it. The rest of the movie wasn't terrible but it just didn't really do anything for me. I can see, though, how so many people enjoy the Burton films. Anyone who liked the Schumacher films, of course, should be downright ashamed of themselves.
With all that said. I AM looking forward to this new Batman origin story, Batman Begins. Why? Well, Christopher Nolan is involved and if you've seen any of his three films you already know he's incapable of making a bad movie. And by the look of the teaser trailer....this is going to have a very, very serious tone to it.
Rating: Summary: Hollywood needs to learn when to stop. Review: First of all I would like to point out the striking similarites between the Superman series and the Batman series, as it strengthens my following arguement. Both Superman and Batman had exceptional first movies, decent sequels (Though those penguins with missles on their backs really had my eyes rolling), and then two stupendously horrendous follow-ups. The third and fourth installments of both franchises are not even worth watching. I mean, Superman pitted against a supercomputer created by Richard Pryor, an intelligence-draining machine crafted by the Riddler, a "Boy" wonder who's almost 30, Superman splitting in two and fighting himself, three different actors playing the same role, people turning into plants, batgirl, completely inventing a new villian (Nuclear Man... ugh) rather than borrowing from the tried and true pantheon of the comic, nipples on a superhero's suit... the list of bad ideas goes on and on.
This leads me to my point. The studio (Warner Bros.) should have stopped after the second sequel for both franchises, but noooo, there was money to still be made, and even though the material was wearing thin they went ahead and made atrocious films that stole the glory from the originals. They were weakly written and weakly directed, mostly because it didn't matter anymore. The studio knew people would go to see the films based on the previous successes, and that my friends is the greatest attrocity inflicted upon the movie-viewing public. They think we are stupid. Superman III, Superman IV, Batman Forever, and Batman and Robin should have never been made.
Now, should you buy this collection or the Superman collection. That's up to you. You don't get any extras with this set and the Superman set's extras really aren't that great. You can purchase the movies separately. Batman, Batman Returns, Superman: The Movie, and Superman II are all great films. That is definately the route to go in my opinion.
Rating: Summary: Why Did It End This Way Review: First of all, I want to say that the first two Batman films (Batman and Batman Returns) should be rated at a perfect 5 stars... but, Joel Schumucker (whatever his name is) single handly ruined this near perfect series. It really probably started with the critics nick-picking at Batman Returns, claiming it was "too dark". Though the first Batman is a classic and arguably the best, Batman Returns was on its level. I think I'm brain washed to tell people "the 1st one is the best", but in reality watch the second way more. I think I enjoyed images. I think the 2nd movie had some real (super) artistic scenes, like when Penguin went to his parents grave site or when Batman and Penguin have a sick conversation in fron of Shreks Department store. Again, both of these movies are hott to the point where you really dont even have to judge which one is better. If you own one, you should own the other.
Now, for the last two film (Batman Forever and Batman and Robin). Wack. Batman and Robin is one of the worst films ever made... period. Everyone seems to agree on this, but everyone debates on whether Batman Forever was that bad. Yes!!! Batman and Robin takes the cake, but there were signs in Batman Forever to let you know what direction the new director was taking the films in. The Director, Joel, figured Batman Forever worked so lets give them more it. Batman Forever was colorful, so they added more colors in Batman and Robin. The Successful Batman Forever added corny humor so the Director added even more corny humor. There is a pattern here. Val Kilmers Batman made a safe (being stolen by Helicopter) drop from the sky and land perfectly in place and everyone applauded. Was I the only one that thought this was a bit corny and unrealistic... even for comic book film. Do I even have to mention the ice skates in Batman and Robins boots in the last film. I agree that some of the actors were off in these late two installments. Val Kilmer was a bit dry, but to be honest with you I could of put up with it in a Tim Burton style movie. Plus, he was cool looking in the suit compared to George Clooney. Clooney looked like a guy at a hollween party with a Batman outfit on. Clooney played Bruce Wayne extremely well... he acting was truly convincing, but his Batman was terrible. Both of these actors failed to create two seperate characters for Batman and Bruce Wayne. Kilmer was Batman even when he playing Bruce Wayne and Clooney was Bruce Wayne even when he was Playing Batman. In the first films, Michael Keaton changed his voice, the way he walked, stood, everything. It even looked like he held his mouth differently. (side note: even the cartoon Batman changes his voice between the two characters). Why Joel failed to implement this? Its hard for me to blame the actors... even though Mr. Freeze was a bit corny... it reminded me of Arnolds one liners in earlier films like Commando and Running Man. No, I blame on the Director for how these movies came out. Though he gave another reason for quitting, I think Michael Keaton left the series because he saw where things were going. He had started production with Forever... fitted for the new Batman suit and everything. Its hard to beleive that he would just up leave after deciding to start because he doesnt want be known for Batman forever. I was a kid when these movies dropped, but even then I felt that he had quit because the script or the set (or something) was wack.
Anywayz, Batman and Batman Returns are great films. If you find the four pack for under thirty, why not buy it. Other wise dont waist your money on this set. You can buy the first two for fairly cheap and you will more than satisfied. I gave this set a 3 rating due to the fact 1)The last two films are terrible and 2) There were no special features on these disc. I bought Superman, which had at least one terrible movie in its set, but It was well worth my money due to the special features.
Rating: Summary: A great buy Review: This is a great buy! All four movies in this giftset except the last one, BATMAN AND ROBIN are execelent.
Batman (BATMAN 1) starring Jack Nicholson and Michael Keaton is by far the best one. Loaded with action, supsense, and scenes that are a fest to the eye. It has perfect special effects, great diologue, the best villain, and great acting.
Batman Returns (BATMAN 2)starring Michael Keaton and Danny Devito. This also proves Michael Keaton and Tim Burton are geniuses. It has, again, great special effects, action, and another wonderful villains set, including the Penguin and Max Shreck. Michelle Phfeiffer is great and sexier than ever as michevious Catwoman, and this movie is definately the second best in the series.
Batman Forever (BATMAN 3) starring Val Kilmer and Jim Carrey. It was dissapointing to see Time burton go, but this movie is still just as great as the first two. The damsel, Nichol Kidman, is outstanding, even better than Kim Basigner and Michelle, (though they were great too). Jim Carrey is great as the riddler, and Tommee Lee Jones is the perfect sinsiter two-face. It has theb est special effects, but it does tend to go on too much about Bruce Wayne's parents' death.
Batman and Robin (BATMAN 4) starring George Clooney. This is great too, though the storyline is sort of dumb. It has great special effects, and has great acting, including Arnold (the governator) as Mr. Freeze, who is the perfect sinister villain. His ice blast effects are excelent, and Uma Thurman is hot and evil as plant girl Poison Ivy. With the introduction of wonderful Batgirl (Alicia Silverstone) this movie is great!
So, there you have it. This collection is a great choice. And like I said, though the fourth was dissapointing, the other three movies are great!
Rating: Summary: great movies but batman reterns a little dark Review: Okay, for all those people who are wanting to know which of the four batman movies are the best. Well here is my two cents. Batman#1- staring Michale Keaton as the dark night himself batman, Jack Nicolson as the dark comical feind joker,and Kim Basinger as the sexy Vicki Vale. This was a dark beginning for the series and it explained the troubles of Bruce Waynes two lives Billion Dollar buissness man, and the dark night. Michale Keaton played an awsome batman, his two attitudes as both characters Bruce Wayne and Batman never reveal that they are the same person. Jack Nicolson as the joker was pure brilliance. His facical expressions through out the movie and his remarks make him the number one batman movie villian. This movie was directed by the brilliant mind of Tim Burton. Batman#2- Batman returns- staring- Michale Keaton returns as the role of Batman , Michelle Phieffer as the sly sexy Cat Woman, Danny DeVito as the sewer ridden Penguin, and Christopher Walken as the notorious Max Shreck. This movie was again directed by the brilliant mind of Tim Burton. This was the darkest of all four movies. It shows the trials and errors of masterminds against the dark knight. Danny DeVito played a spectacular role as penguin. He was definitly the man for the part. Michelle Phiffer as cat women was a great selection. Props on the skin tight body suite. This was another good movie from a good cast, and a great director. Until #3 Batman#3-Batman Forever- staring- Val Kilmer as Batman, Nichole Kidman as Dr. Chase Meridian, Chris O'Donnelle as the boy wonder Robin, Tommy Lee Jones as the physcotic Two Face, and Jim Carrey as the clever Riddler. This was the worst of the 4. Jim Carrey played an awsome Riddler, Tommy Lee Jones played a fantastic two face. Nicole Kidman played a beautiful role as the sexy physco-therapist. But the other two was the downer. Starting with the least of the worst, Chris O'Donnell as robin. He was good in the beginning but as the movie progressed, his image slowly died out. Drew Barrymore played a quick role as one of two faces girls. But the number 1 reason for the faliure of this movie is the man himself Batman, played by a no personality Val Kilmer. Dont get me wrong Val is an awsome actor, but not for Batman. He had no personality, except when he tried to rival with Edward E. Nigma (The riddler for the non true batman fans) other than that he had no personatlity split between the two Bruce Wayne and Batman. Batman#4-Batman and Robin- staring George Clooney as the role of Batman, Chris O'Donnell as the return role as Robin, Uma Thurman as the sensual Dr. Pamela Isley, also known as Poison Ivy, amd the governator himself Arnold Schwarzenegger as the bone chilling Mr. Freeze. This was an alright movie but not the best. Again the role of batman was trivialized by another actor. George Clooney as batman was good, on paper, but his performance was too wity for some. Again not seperating the lines between batman and Mr. Wayne. So all in all the batman series is a definite DVD collection to have my ratings on the movies are. BATMAN#1-***** BATMAN#2-**** BATMAN#3-** BATMAN#4-*** TAKE FROM A TRUE BATMAN FAN. ITS A GOOD BUY.
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