What’s your favorite of the original four Batman movies?
I say 1989′s BATMAN. In my true opinion, BATMAN is the greatest movie ever made!
This film had remarkable visuals and production/set designs. It was a visual marvel, according to the critics. Beautiful sets in this movie, production designer for this movie Anton Furst won multiple awards for his beautiful work in this flick. He practically created a whole city pretty much. The opening shot of this movie, with the words "Gotham City" appearing on the screen, you knew you were about to be swept in! This was Batman finally done right on the big screen…
…Batman went from this in 1966
http://www.kiddiematinee.com/images/batman_01.jpg
…to THIS in 1989
http://batman.ugo.com/images/galleries/batman_1989_filmtv/batman_1989_9.jpg
This film also had great score provided by Danny Elfman. Him and Tim Burton together was like John Lennon and Paul McCartney…pure genius. I mean, what good is a Batman movie without the cold, eerie, gritty sounding music. The score really accompanied the movie quite well!
And the cast…brilliantly casted if I say so myself! Michael Keaton was genius as Batman. He played the Norman Bates/Ted Bundy dual personality character perfectly…he made you think he was just a regular guy like everyone else. But oh is he far from! He is a saddened, troubled individual who’s only to cope with his parents’ death is to become his fear! When he put on the Batman costume, he BECAME Batman. Him and Batman were not just alter egos…he was no longer just Bruce Wayne in a bat costume. He was just…Batman!
And Jack as the Joker…don’t even get me started!
Even before the script was written, even before Tim Burton joined in, Jack Nicholson was the one and only choice for the role. He was and still is today, the most achieved and successful actor, having the most oscars and most nominations of any actor in history and being on both covers of People and Time!
The idea here was to portray the then-and-now-current comic book Joker as faithful as possible.
Visually, he is the 100% perfect reflection of the comic book – the EXACT same gangster outfit completed with same hat, pointy eyebrows, purple eyeshadow, heavy laugh lines and the permanent, unnatural smile, in the movie caused by a failed plastic surgery trying to repair a shot wound. Truly a grotesque frea
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Definitely, DEFINITELY the first one. I’m partial to Tim Burton anyway, so it’s kind of a no-brainer for me. Keaton was not only a great choice for Batman, but he was also awesome at portraying Bruce Wayne. And of course, Jack Nicholson as the Joker was a stroke of genius. Heath Ledger was pretty cool, but Nicholson was a lot more charismatic and fun to watch. So to me, there’s no contest.
Also, I love you for mentioning Danny Elfman’s score. It’s one of my favorites(although his music for Edward Scissorhands will always be Numero Uno in my book). Burton plus Elfman equals AWESOME.
My favorite Batman is one with Michael Keaten and the Joker, who I loved Jack Nicholson as the Joker, he was a little more funny.
But my all time Favorite Movie is the Dark Knight, because it was more twisted, evil and sick. The only problem I had with the Dark Knight, is that they killed off 2 Face a little to fast for me. I think Harvey Dent deserved more of a show.
Original Batman all the way!
But I grew up with some of the terrible sequels and liked them as a kid.
Tim Burton actually trained penguins to be in Batman Returns I always thought that was cool. Some of them were robots though, so the real penguins cuddled up with the robot ones at night during filming.
There are a few things that bugged me with Batman.
1. He killed the Joker?
2. He blew up a factory with bombs?
3. He revealed his identity to his girlfriend?
I feel it is more Tim Burton than Batman.
Actually, I would have to go back a bit further. There was a serial Batman in 1943 that I remember going to the neighborhood theater every Saturday to see back in the 1950s.
Here is the information on it:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0035665/
Yea, it is kind of lame today, but I still remember the cliffhangers every week and wondering how he was going to get out of them
You use to get in and see the serial and a movie for 6 RC Cola tops. That was the best. You get 30 cents for a drink and a pop corn and there was no better way to spend a Saturday afternoon. . .
Batman and Batman Returns are the best! The last 2 didn’t have the same feel that Burton had in the first 2 films. They tried to combine both the campiness of the 60′s show and the darkness of the first 2 films and they were a big mess!
There was another movie between Batman 66 & Batman 89. People just exclude it because it wasn’t licensed under Warner Brothers.
Like Ledger, I had a lot of issues with Nicholson. Each of them does not accurately depict the Joker of his time, mentally or physically, & I demand continuity/origin/character accuracy. I’m a Tim Burton Fan, but he could have looked into the Joker’s character a little more. The Joker had never shown an interest in women durring the Golden, Silver, or Bronze age of comics & Vickie Vale was a legit character, so why did he suddenly decide that Joker would fancy her? & what happened to Joe Cool being Batman’s parent killer?
Weren’t Ledger’s costume & make-up just awful? That annoying voice, that annoying lip-smaking habbit, being reminded of The Crow & Beetlejuice when you just want to see a proper Joker? The only resemblance I saw between the Ledgoker & the Modern Age Joker was suggestive batsexuality, sadomasochism, & single-minded obsession. Would it have killed Nolan to include something about his past with chemicals? Couldn’t he have maybe been an albino if he has to be so damned realistic?