The Batmans

[JamesC]

The best thing about the Burton films is the production design. They still look great now and are sort of timeless, with that 30s/40s aesthetic and then that magnificent, futuristic looking Batmobile stuck in the middle.  I can't believe Schumacher chucked all that out, to replace it with day-glo and neon and that awful Forever-mobile.

[Alex W.]

And without the Burton films, I doubt WB would’ve been willing to go all in on the animated series’ look.

[SeanR]

4 hours ago, JamesC said:

The best thing about the Burton films is the production design. They still look great now and are sort of timeless, with that 30s/40s aesthetic and then that magnificent, futuristic looking Batmobile stuck in the middle.  I can't believe Schumacher chucked all that out, to replace it with day-glo and neon and that awful Forever-mobile.

and that burton was a producer on them…

[Benny]

4 hours ago, Alex W. said:

I still can’t tell whether that was deliberate. My face through the entire finale first time:

 

I seem to remember one of the biggest unintentionally elicited laughs I've had in the cinema was the bit when

 

Spoiler

With literally seconds counting down before an atom bomb is going to wipe out Gotham, Bats decides this is the most appropriate time to give Anne Hathaway a long, passionate snog.

 

I mean, makes sense if you don't think you're actually going to survive it I suppose.

 

[Flanders]

I watched the Dark Knight Rises for the first time since release a few weeks ago. Watched it over two nights and for the first 90 minutes I was genuinely confused as to its poor reputation relative to the other Nolan Batfilms because it was so much better than I remembered.

 

Then I watched the second half and yeah, that film completely tanks by the end, Batman getting out of the prison is the exact point that Nolan gets bored of doing superhero films and everything is very half arsed thereafter.
 

My possibly not hot take is that Hardy as Bane is better than any other movie Batvillain apart from Ledger and he’s not that far off Ledger. 

[Art Vandelay]

I think I've said before that the 1989 Batman is weird as it's like someone with tonnes of money did a galacticos-style splurge obtaining the absolute best of every conceivable thing you need to make a movie and none of it hangs together especially well. Like having two soundtracks you end up having to vaguely crowbar in because presumably you had the budget to do such a thing. It all just feels very weightless and inconsequential. 

[Jammy]

I do love that first Keaton film, but it does show its age in quite a few places now. The use of miniatures is really obvious, for example. But I’m all in on Danny Elfman’s score and the performances, except for Jerry Hall who was dire.

[Protocol Penguin]

On 31/03/2023 at 13:37, Art Vandelay said:

I think I've said before that the 1989 Batman is weird as it's like someone with tonnes of money did a galacticos-style splurge obtaining the absolute best of every conceivable thing you need to make a movie and none of it hangs together especially well. Like having two soundtracks you end up having to vaguely crowbar in because presumably you had the budget to do such a thing. It all just feels very weightless and inconsequential. 

Watched it a couple of years back, and it’s really dated, and very style over substance. But then it has more memorable scenes that the last half-dozen recent superhero movies I’ve seen. Admittedly because it’s a T. Burton film, and he cribs a lot of his visual vocabulary from 1930s and older cinema. M. Keaton’s the best thing in the film, really good Bruce Wayne. J. Nicholson is playing generic J. Nicholson character who happens to be a clown-themed psychopath criminal rather than the Joker.

 

I have a soft spot for Batman Returns, because it’s amazing and ridiculous that it was the big summer blockbuster in 1992. This dark, psychosexual, fetid, violent, small-g gothic film which is set at Christmas.

[Sabreman]

I don't think it's possible for anyone to make a Batman film that I love as much as '89, despite its flaws. It's so baked into me. Coming in high off The Dark Knight Returns and The Killing Joke, and the Death In The Family storyline of the main comics, it's the most hyped I've ever been for a movie at the cinema (maybe only matched by Returns, but my excitement for that one bled out pretty quickly after the titles were done).

 

I've probably told this story before, but I saw it (first time of four cinema viewings) at the Cannon cinema in Nottingham. Place was jam-packed and electric with atmosphere. They started rolling trailers and someone shouted "PUT THE FUCKING FILM ON!" followed by cheers and applause, and they cut off the trailers and put the film on immediately.

[Girth Certificate]

Quote

https://y.yarn.co/8e639cde-439a-4d93-9263-e89b12e8a7d1.mp4

 

Batman Returns is incredible.

Spoiler

Baby stealing DeVito at the end with his kiddie train and duck-boat and weird fucking henchmen and the rocket penguins and the green shit in his mingin teeth and his dead body flanked by penguins sliding down the ramp into the water. It is the best shit.

It was the first 12 rated movie I saw at the cinema. I was 9

 

Zack Snyder can blow me

[Nick R]

2 hours ago, Flanders said:

My possibly not hot take is that Hardy as Bane is better than any other movie Batvillain apart from Ledger and he’s not that far off Ledger. 

 

You have inspired me to put together MY LIVE-ACTION MOVIE BATVILLAIN TIER LIST RANKING:

 

SSSS+++ TIER, BEYOND RANKING

Riddler (Gorshin)

 

S TIER

Joker (Ledger)

 

A TIER

Harley Quinn (Robbie)

Penguin (DeVito)

Catwoman (Pfeiffer)

Penguin (Meredith)

Joker (Romero)

 

B TIER

Joker (Phoenix)

Penguin (Farrell)

Scarecrow (Murphy)

Bane (Hardy)

Joker (Nicholson)

Riddler (Dano)

Catwoman (Kravitz)

Catwoman (Meriwether)

Catwoman (Hathaway)

Ra's al Ghul (Neeson)

 

C TIER

Black Mask (McGregor)

Two-Face (Eckhart)

Talia al Ghul (Cotillard)

 

D TIER 

Riddler (Carrey)

Lex Luthor (Eisenberg)

Poison Ivy (Thurman)

Two-Face (Jones)

Joker (that deleted scene from The Batman)

 

F TIER 

Mr Freeze (Schwarzenegger)

Joker (Leto)

[fat flatulent git]

20 hours ago, Mogster said:

Pass me the shark repellent batspray!

Pass —-> Hand

[teddymeow]

On 30/03/2023 at 12:08, Mogster said:

I've still never seen Batman & Robin, despite owning it on blu-ray for several years. 

 

The disc isn't even worth using as a coaster!

[monkeydog]

3 hours ago, Flanders said:

My possibly not hot take is that Hardy as Bane is better than any other movie Batvillain apart from Ledger and he’s not that far off Ledger. 

 

He's great, and the Bane voice is iconic.  I pass Bain's Fish and Chip on the way to work.  Even though it's not spelt the same way, I immediately imaging various chip shop conversation happening in Hardy's voice.  Cheers me up no end.

[DeciderVT]

I can't remember where I read it recently but someone mentioned how absurd and architecturally weird Schumacher's Gotham was- designs like the observatory being held up by a giant statue, a weird mish-mash of classical sculpture, art deco and streets lit like a fluorescent nightclub. It's garish, silly and over the top but it's also something I really enjoy.

[Sabreman]

Gorshin famously hated the green leotard, but when he gets to wear a suit in the movie he looks so fucking sharp.

 

Edit: He's also by far the best thing in the movie. None of the other villains give a shit, but he's gunning for an Oscar.

[SeanR]

2 hours ago, Nick R said:

 

You have inspired me to put together MY LIVE-ACTION MOVIE BATVILLAIN TIER LIST RANKING:

 

SSSS+++ TIER, BEYOND RANKING

Riddler (Gorshin)

 

S TIER

Joker (Ledger)

 

A TIER

Harley Quinn (Robbie)

Penguin (DeVito)

Catwoman (Pfeiffer)

Penguin (Meredith)

Joker (Romero)

 

B TIER

Joker (Phoenix)

Penguin (Farrell)

Scarecrow (Murphy)

Bane (Hardy)

Joker (Nicholson)

Riddler (Dano)

Catwoman (Kravitz)

Catwoman (Meriwether)

Catwoman (Hathaway)

Ra's al Ghul (Neeson)

 

C TIER

Black Mask (McGregor)

Two-Face (Eckhart)

Talia al Ghul (Cotillard)

 

D TIER 

Riddler (Carrey)

Lex Luthor (Eisenberg)

Poison Ivy (Thurman)

Two-Face (Jones)

Joker (that deleted scene from The Batman)

 

F TIER 

Mr Freeze (Schwarzenegger)

Joker (Leto)

Harvey Dent (Williams) is the best looking Harvey Dent though. Can you IMAGINE his two face?

[MrHendo]

Fuck it, I’ve bought Mask of the Phantasm and the 1966 film.

As long as neither is as dull as Batman & Robin.

[MrHendo]

‘66 is not dull.

So much fun watching the 4 villains chewing the scenery right off, they must’ve been having the time of their lives.

 

Perhaps the most ridiculous of all the Batman films in all ways.

Especially the absurd descriptions of the ways Batman and Robin got out of the last scrape, completely off screen and ludicrous.

 

Also, Catwoman is certainly a striking looking woman. That’s quite an impact on your childhood right there.

[Protocol Penguin]

My peeve about Batman '66 is people criticising it as if it wasn't knowingly camp and silly; an official parody if you will. It's a 1960s American network television sitcom, just one without a laughtrack. And it says volumes that it's still remembered decades on, when we've had darker, serious cinematic and televisual versions of Batman constantly for the last thirty-four years.

[SeanR]

8 hours ago, MrHendo said:

‘66 is not dull.

the opening credits go on a bit…

[Hanzo the Razor]

On 31/03/2023 at 15:15, Sabreman said:

I don't think it's possible for anyone to make a Batman film that I love as much as '89, despite its flaws. It's so baked into me. Coming in high off The Dark Knight Returns and The Killing Joke, and the Death In The Family storyline of the main comics, it's the most hyped I've ever been for a movie at the cinema (maybe only matched by Returns, but my excitement for that one bled out pretty quickly after the titles were done).

 

I've probably told this story before, but I saw it (first time of four cinema viewings) at the Cannon cinema in Nottingham. Place was jam-packed and electric with atmosphere. They started rolling trailers and someone shouted "PUT THE FUCKING FILM ON!" followed by cheers and applause, and they cut off the trailers and put the film on immediately.

 

There's only three times I can remember being in a totally sold out screening at the cinema. Batman '89, Jurassic Park and Avatar.

[MrHendo]

Finished watching Mask of the Phantasm.

I’m not looking to piss anyone off who loves it, but I didn’t feel the love with this one.

It’s no spoiler that Joker is in it, but he really has no reason to be there, story wise.

I won’t go much into the story as it’s probably one of the least seen Batman films.

I found it interesting that it focuses more on Wayne’s emotions and love life than a big bad trying to destroy Gotham but I also found the story a bit dull and was expecting something a bit bigger for a feature film, something like Killing Joke.

 

The voice acting and animation is just as good, if not better, than the animated series, but the plot just seemed no more enticing than any other episode.

 

So far, I would happily rewatch the Burton films again, The Dark Knight, maybe even Batman Forever for a laugh and same goes for the ‘66 film.

I still think the most recent film with Pattinson is my favourite - mixing the realism of Nolan with the noir comic style, but more importantly focussing on Batman as a detective.

 

I’m not bothering with the Affleck films as they’re pretty dull, though I did enjoy the Snyder cut, despite being longer than time itself.

[Nick R]

10 minutes ago, MrHendo said:

The voice acting and animation is just as good, if not better, than the animated series, but the plot just seemed no more enticing than any other episode.

 

This is essentially my opinion of Mask of the Phantasm. It's good, but there are probably at least 25 episodes of the animated series (and Justice League/Justice League Unlimited) that I like more. I might even like Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker and the adaptation of Under the Red Hood more!

 

So I can't really agree with people who say it's the best Batman movie, ahead of The Dark Knight.

 

But it's better than the the other two animated series movies (Batman/Mr Freeze: SubZero, and Mystery of the Batwoman), and it's miles ahead of most of the later straight-to-DVD features.

[MrHendo]

How does the animated Killing Joke stand up?

[Festoon]

1 hour ago, MrHendo said:

How does the animated Killing Joke stand up?

 

Extra Barbara Gordon abuse.

[Festoon]

Batman Begins is, overall, a better film than The Dark Knight.

[Strafe]

The best Batman film is The Batman, which struck the fine line between realism and comic book styling. The Nolan trilogy was good but ultimately got a little silly, especially the third one.

 

I remember when Batman Begins got announced and the whole Wayne Enterprises arms division explaining how he got all his gear. Now I think that hundreds of people would have worked on the tumbler and Bruce Wayne would have been rumbled in minutes.

[Phantoon]

On 31/03/2023 at 15:11, Protocol Penguin said:

Watched it a couple of years back, and it’s really dated, and very style over substance. But then it has more memorable scenes that the last half-dozen recent superhero movies I’ve seen. Admittedly because it’s a T. Burton film, and he cribs a lot of his visual vocabulary from 1930s and older cinema. M. Keaton’s the best thing in the film, really good Bruce Wayne. J. Nicholson is playing generic J. Nicholson character who happens to be a clown-themed psychopath criminal rather than the Joker.

 

I have a soft spot for Batman Returns, because it’s amazing and ridiculous that it was the big summer blockbuster in 1992. This dark, psychosexual, fetid, violent, small-g gothic film which set at Christmas.

This is me. '89 was a huge thing when it came out, but I've never loved it. Now Batman Returns, that's the good shit. It's a strange film in structure - it feels like two or three short stories more than one cohesive film - but the atmosphere and everything about it is magical (and it has a great SNES game too). It's really dark and really sexy and the Christmas backdrop escalates it even more.

 

Batman '66 (?) is a goddamn camp masterpiece. It's the 60s formula perfected.

 

With those, the Nolan trilogy and The Batman, Batman has a shockingly good batting average

[GwiDan]

Batman Returns is a better Christmas film than Die Hard.