Tim Burton's Vision of Batman...at Last with Special Features!
The worldwide success of Christopher Nolan's "Batman Begins" has prompted Warner Bros. to finally release Tim Burton's 1989 "Batman" with an extra disc of special features...and this is an event worth cheering about!
A groundbreaking cinematic achievement (and one of the most expensive films ever produced, to that time), "Batman" was a tremendous gamble, and the story behind the ten-year struggle to bring it to the screen is fascinating! It is a tale of visionaries, beginning with Michael Uslan, a young student/Batman fan, who not only convinced his university to include comics in their curriculum, but, fired up by Richard Donner's "Superman", knew a Batman film could be just as powerful, and took the idea, with Batman creator Bob Kane's blessing, to Hollywood; of Peter Gruber and Jon Peters, who listened to Uslan, after every studio had passed on it, saw the potential, and decided to gamble; of Sam Hamm, who had a "Batman" script in his head, praying to get the chance to...
A Modern Classic
This film proved to the world that comic book films could be much more than action-packed carnage festivals. This film (and the first sequel "Batman Returns") have so much more to it than that. "Batman" is a gripping and very moving exploration of the psyche; it peers into the souls of not only the Dark Knight, but also those of the people whose lives he changes with his presence. The film is brilliantly acted by its perfectly-chosen cast, which includes Jack Nicholson (the Joker), Michael Keaton (the Batman), Kim Basinger (Vicki Vale), Micheal Gough (Alfred Pennyworth), and Robert Wuhl (Alexander Knox). Tim Burton makes perfect use of his wonderful directorial talents, Anton Furst designs a gothic, beautiful Gotham City, and Danny Elfman's classic musical score further help make this a unique, thought-provoking, and very powerful modern classic, a masterpiece of film noir and grand opera. "Batman Returns shares these wonderful qualities, but,...
I'd forgotten how good this movie was!
If you want to look at a superhero adaptation done right look no further than this movie or the latest Spiderman movies. After watching the last two Batman flicks, I had kind of written the series off, but watching this on TV the other night I realized that I had forgotten how good this was. Michael Keaton was perfect as Batman, if you think about it Bruce Wayne is not the most tightly wrapped guy out there, he dresses up as a giant flying rodent and runs around at night in Gotham City beating up on criminals, and Keaton captured this essence perfectly. Kim Basinger was great as Vicki Vale and Jack Nicholson was awesome as the Joker. indeed I'd have to say that this is the last good performance that Nicholson did, after this movie he phoned everything in and cashed in on his Jack Nicholson act.
In addition to a well-written script (the only contrived part being the fact that the Joker had killed Bruce Wayne's parents years before) the sets for this movie were totally cool...
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