Yes!! Such a classic 👌side story: my mom was pregnant with me when this came out. My dad told her that if she bought the VHS for him when it was released, he would marry her. Well she got it the day it was released, they got married the following weekend. Been married almost 33 years now 🖤
This movie was unbelievably big when it came out. One thing to keep in mind: this was the first somewhat serious Batman treatment that most people had seen. Before this, most non-comics-fans only knew the Adam West camp version of the character.
really it was one of the first superhero movies period. there were the donner superman movies, which had already descended into campiness by the end, but that was about it. (swamp thing maybe?) and funnily enough despite how unbelievably massive this movie was - and seriously if you weren't around in 1989, batman mania absolutely ruled that summer - for most of the 90s studios were more interested in the earlier pulp heroes (the shadow), comic strip heroes (dick tracy, the phantom), and more recent characters that evoked that 30s/40s vibes (the rocketeer). it wasn't really until the one-two punch of x-men/spider-man that "superhero movies" really kicked off. (there was blade, but no one in 1998 thought of blade as a superhero movie really, just a kick-ass action movie.)
Whereas now the Adam West version has been having a resurgence from people who don't mind their billionaire dressing up as a bat to fight crime being a little silly. Personally I love having both extremes to choose from.
Jack Nicholson is amazing in this film. However, 'Batman Returns' is my favourite. Danny DeVito and Michelle Pfeiffer are brilliant in it, and Tim Burton's sets go full 'Burton' 🤩🙂
still wish they wrote in two face into returns. Billy Dee Williams was set to return for that movie and they changed the character to walkens role. he was great, don't get me wrong, but Billy Dee got the shaft!
Keaton's Batman and Bruce Wayne is great. His Bruce is part act part not knowing how to act around normal people. I love the scene when he first sees The Joker. So focused and doesn't realize he was shot. I am so happy Keaton has had a resurgence as an actor.
100% Yawp. Keaton is what I imagine like someone with those childhood circumstances would actually be like. Weird. Totally isolated. Almost autistic, minimally aloof. Not a playboy, just a weirdo old money billionaire probably hid away after the rents get killed. The most fascinating Wayne and most entertaining Joker.
The way the city looks in this movie is just unforgettable. It's borderline psychotic. You've got apartment interiors with just these giant 5 foot diameter pipes running through them, the buildings are like reaching out directly over the street and looming over everything and strangling the view of the sky, almost every surface is so filthy you wouldn't want to touch it. I always wanted more Batman with a Gotham like this, but they never really were quite like this ever again.
Batman, in this movie, wants to remain mysterious, and the movie respects that, meanwhile the Joker wants to be "out there", and the movie respects that as well.
While hans zimmer does bring a grandier sound and experience with his score the fact that danny elfman’s score from this was also used in the animated series..this will always be my favorite of the composers
Yea i believe the animated series also won awards.. and they gave him the name jack napier in this but originally he had no info on who he was.. another reason why he is so terrifying..
Yo, I HATE when people ask "Which actor did the better Joker, Nicholson or Ledger?" There is nothing to compare between them. They aren't totally different plates in a meal, they are totally separate courses! They are both incredible for the type of movie they were in, and there is no reason they can't BOTH be the best!
Ceasar Romero - rob the mint, leave Joker-dollars and the Dynamic Duo slowly being lowered into the presses Joker Jack Nicholson - mob boss gangster Joker Heath Ledger - anarchist terrorist Joker Jared Leto - thug life gangsta Joker Joaquin Phoenix - Taxi Driver Joker (EDIT: with a bit of Network too)
Yes, Burton directed Edward Scissorhands. His fourth film, Batman being his 3rd, Beetlejuice being his 2nd, and Peewee's Big being the first. Scissorhands was followed by Batman Returns and Ed Wood. I hope you see all of these films because Burton's early stuff is his best work. 1999's Sleepy Hollow was his last great film in my opinion.
Too be fair, James would really like Beetlejuice and Sleepy Hollow. Pretty sure he’d get a hellava kick out of Batman Returns. But Ed Wood and Mars Attacks? He’s gonna absolutely love those two.
This was no low key sleeper. This was the biggest film of 1989. The bat symbol was everywhere that year. You couldn't get away from it. Clothing, cereal, the toys, Taco Bell promotions, etc. This film influenced so much that came after. From Sam Raimi's DarkMan and Spider-Man. Dick Tracy, The Crow, and the lesser known, The Shadow. Also started the trend of heroes in black leather outfits, hence 1998's Blade and 2000's X-Men. Before this, the general public viewed Batman as he was portrayed in the 60's show. But the comics and graphic novels of the 1970's and 80's brought the character back to it's darker roots. Tim Burton applied that darker take to his two films, and it's impact is still felt to this day. BATMAN from 1989 is the template for the modern day comic book film. I love this film and I'm so glad you've watched it. To me, Keaton will always be Batman and Nicholson will always be classic Joker. Love this film.
Huge fan myself, funny that just recently it was made public that after Burton's "Batman Returns" the movie studio sought to go a different direction with Batman/Gotham. Claiming his version was "Too Dark" And look where we are now 🦇
Being a 90’s kid I grew up on this movie! Man it holds such a special place in my heart. Also I wanted to agree that after I had watched it in my adult years it felt very much like jokers movie. I think having a solo movie like Joker again but where there is an active Batman in the universe would be so interesting. Seeing the villains notice this vigilante in Gotham and maybe how his presence inspires them/interfere with what they are trying to do. Having Batman as this almost mythological type creature in the early years would be so cool.
That's pretty much what I want in a Gotham game where you play as a GCPD Detective in the early years of Batman like L.A Noir but in Gotham. Going to crime scenes and seeing signs of the Batman being there to randomly driving around in your place car and seeing Batman flying overhead would just be amazing like giving him his own AI where he just randomly goes around the city stopping crime to just watching from overhead.
It still haunts me that we almost had Billy FREAKING Dee Williams as Two-Face(As was Tim Burton's original intention) but Joel Schumacher got Tommy Lee Jones instead. A tragedy of immense proportions. Also, yes; Tim Burton directed Edward Scissor Hands as well. Not only that, But Danny Elfman was the composer to both Batman and Edward Scissor Hands.
Tim Burton’s Batman was not a sleeper. It was one of the biggest movies of the decade and one of the biggest cultural phenomenons any movie has ever inspired. The marketing of Burton’s Batman has actually been studied analytically and been called the most well marketed movie ever. Tim Burton’s 89 Batman, as the 78 Superman, were totally unique films and blazed a trail for the genre. There would be no Nolan Batman or MCU without the path forged by 78 Superman, and 89 Batman
When I first came across this one as a little kid ,I was scared of Nicholson‘s joker yet so so fascinated by him at the same time. Think this is where my love for Nicholson‘s work started.
I loved the Nolan Batman movies, especially The Dark Knight, but this Tim Burton/Micheal Keaton Batman will always be my favorite Batman movie. Saw it opening night and instantly fell in love with it!
I saw this in the theatre in 89 with my family. There’s no way to convey how big this was at the time. It was in books, on shirts, cereal boxes, toys, video games and every fast food dining room wall. We used to run around the neighborhood in capes playing Batman.
This film was a game changer when it came out. Nobody was expecting anything this dark, and the marketing for it was insane! No future Batman films would exist without this.
I'm glad you liked it! It always annoys me when reviewers downplay Nicholson's performance as just playing Jack Nicholson. Jack did a lot of research to create that performance and the rest is movie history! And gotta love a Prince Soundtrack!!
I love this movie. I watched it opening night and was blown away by, well, everything. This was the film that made me start collecting movie scores as the opening was jaw dropping.
I think as much as the direction, probably Danny Elfman's score put you in mind of Edward Scissorhands. Such a distinctive style, even in two very different scores.
I assume you've seen Fritz Lang's "Metropolis" and perhaps other German expressionist classics. Tim Burton really shows his love for German expressionism and specifically Metropolis in this movie.
I have always loved Michael Keatons Batman. Some of us grew up on Adam West's Batman TV show then, which was so campy and fun. I will say the best Batmobile is still the one from the 60's tv show and movie.
I remember watching this film as a child decades ago although I'm not that old XD and watching The Joker emerge from the shadows firing the gun and feeling simultaneously creeped out and entertained. I always come back to that scene and it's just as good as I remember it being if not better. The opening to Batman plus the theme and it's build up has never been topped by another superhero film IMHO.
"Did he do Edward Scissor hands" Oh good god you're serious! (head desks) lol Oh, and re the cowl, love, thats the best we could do back then. Each of those Bat cowls were cast in unpainted back foam latex, which meant you couldn't afford to have any air bubbles or faults in any of the casts, which is extremely time consuming if you knew anything about foam latex casting. I remember visiting the blokes that were foaming them up and their workshop was full of rejects! :)
Yes!! Not only it's my favorite Batman movie but It's also my personal favorite films of all time. Michael Keaton as Batman was always perfect for me, along with Adam West (1966) TV show and the movie and Kevin Conroy from the Batman The animated series and many others.
Adam West's Batman is underrated because people are way too serious about a comic book character. Fortunately, some have been coming around to the fact that there can be many takes on the character. And sometimes you just can't get rid of a bomb.
I saw this film at a drive-thru theater with my family when I was 6 years old. I loved this film so much that it made me fall in love with movies in general. I said, "If movies are this good, then I want to watch them for the rest of my life." Great reaction bro! 👍🏿 And Michael Keaton is my 2nd favorite onscreen Batman of all time. (Christian Bale is my favorite.)
The reason you don't see such dynamic camera movements is that the design for this film was supposed to be reminiscent of frames from a comic book... that's also why the environmental shots were done the way they were
I adore the heavy focus on gothic revival architecture along with the elements of Art Deco combined with 1930s elements from the fashion to the corner shops. As much as I love the Nolan movie's his Gotham mostly in the two sequels did not feel like Gotham at all lacking any Gothic aesthetic instead the city just looked like Chicago. It also didn't help that the Nolan Gotham looked different in each film but yeah It wasn't for me. Batman Returns holds up much better as much as I love 89 you can tell everything's filmed on a large set while Batman Returns feels more natural yet still keeps that Burton fantasy look and feel. This look also inspired the amazing Batman Animated Series which dived more into the 1930s aesthetic a mix of old meets new. They dubbed it "Dark Deco" which really suits well for Gotham. The Batman 2022 did a great job as well using alot of gothic revival architecture along with a great skyline of gothic skyscrapers you could see Gotham's history in the film. In the comic lore Solomon Wayne the Mayor of Gotham in the mid 1880s commissioned a massive city overhaul using the gothic revival architecture style that was popular at the time. This gave birth to Gotham's iconic look with a massive budget funded by Wayne Gotham turned into a landscape filled with some of the most unique gothic structures in the world. Art Deco was later introduced debuting in 1903 and 1904, Paris with the style carrying over into the States and around the world which is why Gotham also has alot of Art Deco elements but not as much as Metropolis. Metropolis is pretty much the city of the future filled with Art Deco and 1950s Googie architecture to create a very interesting city. Unfortunately Metropolis in film as yet to capture it's comic book look instead they just go for a generic city with no personality at all like we see in Man of Steel and Batman Vs Superman. Oh note about Joker killing the Waynes. In the comic's the Waynes were gunned down by a man named Joe Chill just a random thug no one special. Of course being a rendition of Batman they're free to make any changes they want from having the Joker kill the Waynes to The Batman 2022 where they made Martha Wayne an Arkham instead of a Kane. So yeah it's fun to see how different each rendition of the character and universe are like it would be pretty boring if we kept getting the same movie over and over again. Batman Forever and Batman & Robin were created as sequels to the Burton movies even if many of the characters were recast WD saw those films are continuing off from where Burton left. But in the last year we've gotten Batman 89 comic's that follow off from Batman Returns and pretty much retcons the events of these two movies only focusing on the burton movies. So yeah if you want more Keaton Batman I 100% recommend checking out those comic's.
Yeah, after hearing in an interview after this movie came out that the bat cowl had no neck mobility, all I could see is the ridiculous way Keaton looks up as well. That aside, it's still one of my favorite Batman movies with my favorite Batman. People will debate forever who was better between Ledger and Nicholson, but they're both genius in their own ways. Nicholson embodied the character that was on the comic book page while paying plenty of tribute to Cesar Romero, while Ledger reinvented it and made it his own. Both steal the movie they're in, no doubt. And yes, Burton directed Edward Scissorhands. His career was far more eclectic and interesting before the mid-2000's when he kind of became a parody of his own style. Movies like Big Fish, Ed Wood, Beetlejuice, and Pee-Wee's Big Adventure have some of his hallmarks, but they all have their own kooky moods that are unique to themselves.
If you love Jack Nicholson you have to watch The Witches of Eastwick. It’s hysterical and it’s directed by George Miller, the genius behind the Mad Max films.
R u stupid? Mark only did the voice, and really bad laugh, so fake and forceful, most of them had to scream to get the joker's laugh, Jack's on the other hand sounded so natural and real
I highly suggest you see all the ideations of Batman. As a film maker its an extraordinary opportunity for you to explore how each person brings all the elements to life in different intriguing sometimes rediculously fantastical ways.
Of all the roles Jack has done, this one is his favorite. My buddies and I actually saw this at the drive in when it came out. We got an old junker car and spray painted it green and purple like a Joker goon car and drove that to the drive in. It as an absolute blast.
Bro, rewatching this now in 2022 I can see this easily having been a Tim Burton musical, there were so many "musical" moments in this movie. Certain scenes, lighting, backgrounds even some lines felt like they should have been followed up with some song's, Lol. This is also the movie I love using to shut down those "Batman don't kill" arguments, he killed some folks.
@@thesmithdeep Well "real" Batman from the comics started out pretty dark in the Golden Age, often kicking guys hard enough to snap their necks, throwing dude's down stairs, resulting in neck snap's, and shooting guy's. But in the modern age even, within continuity he's killed a few guy's, more of a guideline thing than a rule.
My dad likes the gag where after Joker poisons random makeup products the news anchors aren't wearing makeup and have visible blemishes and look rough.
I love the story about the plant in this film. It's the same location used for the AP station in Aliens, and when Tim Burton's crew showed up to film Batman stuff... They found the Alien lair, still there with the cacooned bodies in the walls.
The one thing that I love about this movie is the soundtrack. Prince wrote o.g. songs for the movie while Danny Elfman rocked the theme. You now know why people are hyped for The Flash Flashpoint movie, not only because of Keaton reprising Batman but just the vague possibility of Nicholson reprising the Joker would be Spiderman: NWH numbers.
I was thrilled when I saw your reaction listed. I knew this was going to be a fun ride, because everything that this movie does well and larger than life, you appreciate. And sure enough you did. I love it for all the same reasons - Jack killed it as Jack and the Joker. Part of the reason so much time was devoted to him was, I think, to build a bigger villain so that the victory would be that much more dramatic. Of course, if you have Jack Nicholson in the cast, you AREN'T going to waste any opportunities. The set design is sooo good, a mix of Art Deco and gothic on steroids, dwarfing the people and drowning them in darkness. The external bracing of the buildings made them look like cages, adding to the crushing atmosphere of the city. Bleakness and night, perfect for the Dark Knight to terrorize the criminals.
I'm really impressed that you could recognize Burton's style without knowing he was the director of both films! And in a related note, this film especially drew a lot inspiration from German expressionism, which is an additional reason why it favors static shots. (The influence is more overt in the sequel.)
I'd imagine the cinematography was partly caused by the director themselves and its intent, as well as the attempt to make it feel more like a comic book, emphasizing static frames more. I'd imagine that, combining the style of Gotham that all films had into one, we'd likely have the best Gotham.
I'm watching the 1960s TV show right now and I'm really enjoying it. The corny 1940s Batman movie serials that took themselves way too seriously returned to the theateres back then and that show was a parody of those. The theatrical movie was made between seasons 1 and 2, and it indeed includes one of the most hilarious scenes that was ever in a Batman movie.
This Batman film is my top 5 favorite films of all time! I can watch this movie over and over again, this is the film that really made future directors change how they view CBMs. The only other Batman that was known before this was Adam West’s Batman from 1966, so when Burton did this, it really was a shot in the arm and it was classic. Even now I hold it higher than other Batman films that have come out because it was the first to take well known actors and place them in supporting roles, I mean Billy Dee Williams as Harvey Dent(who would become Two Face), Jack Nicholson as Joker, Kim Basinger as Vicki Vale… I mean this movie really had some great actors that know how to act and bring some chops to the film. I love this film so much and I’m glad you enjoyed it too
Adam West was not the first actor to play Batman. There were two other actors who took the role before him. Lewis Wilson and Robert Lowery played Batman in the movie serials.
Man, seeing the footage again makes me realise how robbed we are of THIS Gotham City with the heavy art deco architecture and the weird 1940s setting but computers still exist, and everyone dresses like mobsters, and it's permanently nighttime... can we get THIS Gotham City back, please? Less gritty realism and more dark fantasy please. I am so bored of gritty realism...
Spitting the facts here. I think both can exist kinda at the same time (The Batman I felt actually came close to marrying the two), but damn does gritty realism tire me so damn much. In a way it's the main reason the Nolan Batman movies don't do it for me anymore (especially Rises, but that movie has more issues than just that).
This was fun to watch. You are so much fun (smile). The reason why this movie makes you think of Edward Scissorhands is because it has the same director, Tim Burton, and the same composer, Danny Elfman. Their energy is so distinctive, I love it. ❤
I grew up in the 80's which meant that I grew up with re-runs of the Super Friends and the Adam West 60's Batman. So when this hit theaters it was mind blowing to my 10 year old brain. Seeing Batman '89 was almost a right of passage. It was interesting that they did pay some homage to the 60's Batmobile with the Turbine engine. If you see this movie for fun on your spare time I suggest to turn off the color and bring down the sharpness on your TV it totally feels Noire when the color is removed.
When you mentioned how you enjoy seeing how different directors approach Batman it got me thinking about a dream project I had which would be to get a bunch of the top directors and giving them all the same script and budgets and seeing what kind of movies they would make. I've always been fascinated by how directors solve different filmmaking problems and by what aspects of the story or characters they prefer to emphasize. Unfortunately I doubt you would ever be able to get people to do that. I'm not sure many directors could handle being directly compared to each other that way. But i think it would be an interesting experiment for arts sake.
Not exactly what your talking about but have you ever seen Four Rooms? It's four different directors telling their own short story in each room. It's among my favorite comedies. Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino are rooms 3 and 4.
I've had that same thought. I've tweeked it to having the 4 directors just do a quarter of the movie in their own styles, so one movie but 4 takes on the characters and sets etc.
You might know this on, but on Netflix, there was an interesting experiment where they had the same scenario - investigators questioning a suspect in a single room - told in four separate three-episode series released at the same time; with each series being done by a different country (UK, France, Spain, Germany) The entire batch was called 'Criminal' and it was an intriguing idea; but I will confess that what I saw was profoundly 'meh', only watching some of the series. Bit of a shame, but it might be worth checking out for an episode or two.
I think that's a thing that ran through all these early movies, and Nolan's Dark Knight (with Heath Ledger's Joker) that the villain carried the spotlight. I definitely remember reading that more than one of the Batman actors weren't that happy about it because they're playing a quiet, brooding character who's in a costume that limits their movement & expression a bunch of the time, while the villain actors get to chew up the scenery and be funny & exiting. Also, notice that here Jack Nicholson got first billing, not Michael Keaton who was playing the title character. Yes, Jack was a much bigger star & was paid more, but it does tell you where things are going.
The camera angles are not restricted from the set, although it is. Each cut is a frame of a comic book. It's like watching a comic book that moves, bad analogy. You get it Watched in theater when I was 12 years old. Before this we only had Adam West's version and the comics. Prince soundtrack and the Batman Nike Air boots was the S#!T!
Burton did "Edward Scissor Hands", also "Beetlejuice" and "Sleepy Hollow". "That reminds me of the Dark Knight", yeah I wonder what that scene in Nolan's movie was an homage to =P
All I ever wanted growing up was the Power-Wheels of this Batmobile. I'd see it in Toys R Us up on the rack, calling out to me... On another note: I'm pretty sure as soon as Jack Nicholson signed on, it became a Jack Nicholson picture. He was a huge star at the time, and him being attached made it a lot less risky (which a big budget comic movie was at the time), not to mention helped with getting a bigger budget. Add to that Michael Keaton not being a big name at the time (even facing some backlash, as he was seen as a comedic actor). I see what you mean about the camera work, but that wasn't a big thing for Tim Burton then, more focused on showing off the set and character design, with a lot of tacked-down shots. He's never been the most technically astounding director, but he had style to make up for it (until he never recovered from Planet of the Apes).
I don’t know if it’s intentional or not but I feel like the static cameras make the movie feel like a frame of a comic book but in motion. I think it’s cool. Seriously, you can take a picture of any scene in this movie and imagine it as an illustrated frame.
DC's Peacemaker tomorrow! Finishing & Stranger Things on the patreon! Click here for early access: www.patreon.com/jamesvscinema Have a great day everyone!
Batman Returns was actually my favorite movie through childhood. I'd forgotten about it awhile, but then rediscovered it in college and was my favorite for awhile. Right now it's still number two (2).
So, there's a lot to unpack about Batman (1989), and as a franchise. But most pop culture was more familiar with the 1960s camp TV show than the grittier comics that came out of the 70s and 80s. Tim Burton's film was groundbreaking for incorporating the grit from the 1980s Batman, but also for injecting satirical themes into the movie that were part of a sort of tetralogy of 80s and 90s media: Videodrome, They Live, The Cook the Thief his Wife and her Lover, and American Psycho (not the movie, but the controversial and far more disturbing novel). But much of Tim Burton's Batman is lifted from 1930s Detective Comics Batman. People have posted media about how story boards for both Burton's films appear to have been lifted from panels from the 1930s. Batman used to kill people. Superman did as well, but comic books were updated in the 1950s to conform to the Comic Book Code, in response to outrage from childhood psychologists stating that comic books were causing juvenile delinquency. That's right, comic books were the video games of their time. But the "doesn't kill people" rule comes out of the 1950s reforms, and has become a sort of unconscious metacommentary on social values in conflict with social reality. Tim Burton's Batman was also a meditation on a theme at the heart of both films. Casting Michael Keaton was controversial at the time. But Burton defended his decision because, based on his understanding of the character, Bruce Wayne's secret identity is supposed to be the person one would not expect. And Batman contrasts from the Joker because, whereas the Joker wants attention, Batman does not want to be seen. This contrast between Batman and the Villain-of-the-Week is also summed up by what someone says later: "You're just jealous because I'm a genuine freak whereas you have to wear a mask!" This idea of Batman's desired anonymity is from the source novels that inspired the Batman comic book--The Scarlet Pimpernel and The Curse of Capistrano (the original Zorro novel). In the case of Zorro, the secret identities of the character are so distant that the text only reveals Zorro's secret identity at the end; and the romantic lead who is in love with Zorro spurns his foppish secret identity from the beginning. This is a formula that was actually followed more consistently by the Superman franchise. The point is, Tim Burton understood Batman as being more boring. Which is why the character is more boring in the film than his villains. And bringing it back to Reagan-era satire, the self-important, attention seeking personalities of the Tim Burton villains more closely resemble *_politicians_* than Bruce Wayne/Batman does. But does that not conform to reality? If there was such a thing as a "Good Billionaire," would they resemble more The Joker or Bruce Wayne? Would they resemble more Elon Musk, or...(some person we've never heard of)?
Jack requested Prince for soundtrack because he was a huge fan. Prince used parts from the movie in the music. I listened to soundtrack and when I saw movie I knew lines in scenes. Gotta love Prince and Jack.💜💜🎶🎵
This batman kills more than the comicbook batman and joker didnt kill his parents BUT the yellow oval and the gothic out of time gotham and batwing are so comicbooky I love it. Early Burton visuals were perfectly creepy for Batman and it impacted the character A Lot.
Still my favorite live action rendition of Gotham. The versions since Nolans trilogy all trying to make it look like a typical American metropolitan area robs the city of all its character. I love the feeling that Gotham is a city wallowing in decay and aging infrastructure...a place that has seemingly resisted most attempts at modernization. Makes it a place whose exterior matches its soul.
Couldn’t agree more! For me, this will always be the definitive Gotham. I was sad that they changed it for Batman Returns, where it is still interesting, but more reflecting the soul of Tim Burton than the soul of Gotham! I heard that they left the backlot Main Street set standing after filming was completed on the first movie, in anticipation of a sequel, but production shifted to the States for Batman Returns and Gotham was eventually torn down. So sad 😞 🦇
Well I'd say Reeves Gotham has a lot of heart and soul to it, it looks like a city that would exist, while simultaneously looking grimy and gothic, also I'd say Nolan only went typical metropolitan after Batman Begins, because Batman Begins' Gotham is pretty awesome.
This movie was in constant rotation as a kid. BUT as an adult Batman Returns might be my favorite Batman movie. The icy atmosphere and sets of Batman Returns just sets a mood. Everything is stylized two step beyond normal. I would def suggest continuing with the sequel!
This was a happening when it came out. I remember getting the full color photo book at the time of the movie. Wish I would've kept that. Probably worth a little now. The fact Burton made this blockbuster is amazing with his macabre film background and his quirky scripts. Such a rich, beautiful film landscape. I wonder if The Crow film sets were inspired from this movie.
Micheal Keaton got backlash when he was cast as Batman, as he was best known known for Comedy. Jack Nicholson took a smaller fee, than normal but took a % of the gross.
This movie was released with the first, full THX sound treatment. We drove all the across to town to see it in 70mm and THX. I was 12, and will never forget the scene where Joker walks around the meeting table. The voice went all the way around the theater. Now, we have IMAX and 7 channels of sound (I don't but it's available) at home.
Seeing this film in the theater (multiple times) was going good for me up until the parents being shot scene. At that point I wanted to yell at the screen because, being a knowledgeable fan of Batman, I knew that their killer is Joe Chill, not this character invented for the film.
Yes, Edward Scissorhands was also directed by Tim Burton. He really does have a unique style that you can just instantly recognize. The same with Beetlejuice and a whole lotta other films too.
I recommend watching The Crow with Brandon Lee, another gothic style film and a cult movie which is many peoples favourite (including myself). Also has a main character that rivals Blade for coolness
This ushered in the modern era of Batman films. Before this was the TV show from the 50s. We had nothing to compare it to. I was in 9th grade when this came out and we loved it.
Saw at the theater in New Orleans, it was huge! A real nationwide phenomenon, Bats were everywhere, news stories daily etc , fun times back then, thanks again!
Yea you are right the Director of Batman was Tim Burton who also did Edward Scissorhands (1990) and other horror films such as Beetlejuice (1988), The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), Ed Wood (1994), Sleepy Hollow (1999), Corpse Bride (2005), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007), and Frankenweenie (2012).
I'm always shocked how many people have not seen this movie. It's iconic, it changed the game for cinema for the era, both as a Tim Burton film, Hollywood blockbusters, and Superhero movies. Just like what Superman did a decade earlier. You can not understand how we got here in film without seeing Batman.
This AWESOME film score is what put Danny Elfman on the map. Conducted by the late and great, Shirley Walker. Orchestrated by Steve Bartek. Performed by The Sinfonia of London Orchestra.
Michael Keaton silently: "I'm Batman...I'm BATMAN." God damn right you are. This was the first turn to darkness with the comic book charisma. It will always be my favorite. I may be bias, but I'm also right. Ever dance with the Devil in the pale Moon light?
Yes!! Such a classic 👌side story: my mom was pregnant with me when this came out. My dad told her that if she bought the VHS for him when it was released, he would marry her. Well she got it the day it was released, they got married the following weekend. Been married almost 33 years now 🖤
This put a stupid smile on my face hahaha, hell yes to all of that. 🙏🏽♥️
@@JamesVSCinema haha yeah the 80s were a wild and interesting time 🤣
@@xandra_5099 that is so cool.😄
That’s such a small bribe, I almost get that feeling he really wanted to marry her.
@@xandra_5099 We are just about the same exact age. 😀
This movie was unbelievably big when it came out. One thing to keep in mind: this was the first somewhat serious Batman treatment that most people had seen. Before this, most non-comics-fans only knew the Adam West camp version of the character.
The original serials from the 40s long forgotten at that point.
I’d go further and say it was the first somewhat dark treatment of any comic-book superhero on the big screen.
so big i remeber they had juice boxes with batman stuff on it at school
really it was one of the first superhero movies period. there were the donner superman movies, which had already descended into campiness by the end, but that was about it. (swamp thing maybe?) and funnily enough despite how unbelievably massive this movie was - and seriously if you weren't around in 1989, batman mania absolutely ruled that summer - for most of the 90s studios were more interested in the earlier pulp heroes (the shadow), comic strip heroes (dick tracy, the phantom), and more recent characters that evoked that 30s/40s vibes (the rocketeer). it wasn't really until the one-two punch of x-men/spider-man that "superhero movies" really kicked off. (there was blade, but no one in 1998 thought of blade as a superhero movie really, just a kick-ass action movie.)
Whereas now the Adam West version has been having a resurgence from people who don't mind their billionaire dressing up as a bat to fight crime being a little silly. Personally I love having both extremes to choose from.
Jack Nicholson is amazing in this film. However, 'Batman Returns' is my favourite. Danny DeVito and Michelle Pfeiffer are brilliant in it, and Tim Burton's sets go full 'Burton' 🤩🙂
still wish they wrote in two face into returns. Billy Dee Williams was set to return for that movie and they changed the character to walkens role. he was great, don't get me wrong, but Billy Dee got the shaft!
Keaton's Batman and Bruce Wayne is great. His Bruce is part act part not knowing how to act around normal people. I love the scene when he first sees The Joker. So focused and doesn't realize he was shot. I am so happy Keaton has had a resurgence as an actor.
still my fave batman
100% Yawp. Keaton is what I imagine like someone with those childhood circumstances would actually be like. Weird. Totally isolated. Almost autistic, minimally aloof. Not a playboy, just a weirdo old money billionaire probably hid away after the rents get killed. The most fascinating Wayne and most entertaining Joker.
hes a great actor.
It’s not Batman, he kills with a smile on his face
@@zipperdemon1389 Michael Keaton's Batman is a badass "give no Fs" Batman. I love it.
The way the city looks in this movie is just unforgettable. It's borderline psychotic. You've got apartment interiors with just these giant 5 foot diameter pipes running through them, the buildings are like reaching out directly over the street and looming over everything and strangling the view of the sky, almost every surface is so filthy you wouldn't want to touch it.
I always wanted more Batman with a Gotham like this, but they never really were quite like this ever again.
Batman, in this movie, wants to remain mysterious, and the movie respects that, meanwhile the Joker wants to be "out there", and the movie respects that as well.
While hans zimmer does bring a grandier sound and experience with his score the fact that danny elfman’s score from this was also used in the animated series..this will always be my favorite of the composers
That’s awesome. Didn’t know that!
Yea i believe the animated series also won awards.. and they gave him the name jack napier in this but originally he had no info on who he was.. another reason why he is so terrifying..
I know Elfman's score largely inspired the BTAS score, but I think it was Shirley Walker primarily doing original music for it.
@@samkeller5823 Elfman composed the theme tune, but none of the music in the episodes themselves.
The boardroom scene was similar in The Dark Knight, too. Burton’s Joker used a hand buzzer, Nolan’s a pencil.
Yo, I HATE when people ask "Which actor did the better Joker, Nicholson or Ledger?" There is nothing to compare between them. They aren't totally different plates in a meal, they are totally separate courses! They are both incredible for the type of movie they were in, and there is no reason they can't BOTH be the best!
Ceasar Romero - rob the mint, leave Joker-dollars and the Dynamic Duo slowly being lowered into the presses Joker
Jack Nicholson - mob boss gangster Joker
Heath Ledger - anarchist terrorist Joker
Jared Leto - thug life gangsta Joker
Joaquin Phoenix - Taxi Driver Joker (EDIT: with a bit of Network too)
I say Heath ledger does the best realistic joker and jack Nicholson does the best comic book joker
@@dustinreinhardt8231 Bingo.
And then you have Mark Hamill to round off a great trio of Jokers.
@@dustinreinhardt8231 Many things only work in comics and cartoons, Nicholson made comic book Joker work in live action.
Yes, Burton directed Edward Scissorhands. His fourth film, Batman being his 3rd, Beetlejuice being his 2nd, and Peewee's Big being the first. Scissorhands was followed by Batman Returns and Ed Wood. I hope you see all of these films because Burton's early stuff is his best work. 1999's Sleepy Hollow was his last great film in my opinion.
Big Fish is a great movie... Mars Attacks! It's also
@@HBC423 Sweeney Todd was at least decent.
Too be fair, James would really like Beetlejuice and Sleepy Hollow. Pretty sure he’d get a hellava kick out of Batman Returns. But Ed Wood and Mars Attacks? He’s gonna absolutely love those two.
@@HBC423 also Big Fish. That movie suits James too a tee.
@@cappinjocj9316 that's what I said
Really like Keaton as Batman. He doesn't look like he's been living as a monk for years. I like how it keeps some of the comic feel and colours
This was no low key sleeper. This was the biggest film of 1989. The bat symbol was everywhere that year. You couldn't get away from it. Clothing, cereal, the toys, Taco Bell promotions, etc. This film influenced so much that came after. From Sam Raimi's DarkMan and Spider-Man. Dick Tracy, The Crow, and the lesser known, The Shadow. Also started the trend of heroes in black leather outfits, hence 1998's Blade and 2000's X-Men. Before this, the general public viewed Batman as he was portrayed in the 60's show.
But the comics and graphic novels of the 1970's and 80's brought the character back to it's darker roots. Tim Burton applied that darker take to his two films, and it's impact is still felt to this day. BATMAN from 1989 is the template for the modern day comic book film. I love this film and I'm so glad you've watched it. To me, Keaton will always be Batman and Nicholson will always be classic Joker. Love this film.
My favorite Batman is the sequel to this one: Batman Returns.
Hope you see that too.
By far my favorite Batman. Also, Tim Burton was a perfect choice to bring Gotham City to life.
Huge fan myself, funny that just recently it was made public that after Burton's
"Batman Returns" the movie studio sought to go a different direction with Batman/Gotham. Claiming his version was "Too Dark"
And look where we are now 🦇
Being a 90’s kid I grew up on this movie! Man it holds such a special place in my heart. Also I wanted to agree that after I had watched it in my adult years it felt very much like jokers movie. I think having a solo movie like Joker again but where there is an active Batman in the universe would be so interesting. Seeing the villains notice this vigilante in Gotham and maybe how his presence inspires them/interfere with what they are trying to do. Having Batman as this almost mythological type creature in the early years would be so cool.
That's pretty much what I want in a Gotham game where you play as a GCPD Detective in the early years of Batman like L.A Noir but in Gotham. Going to crime scenes and seeing signs of the Batman being there to randomly driving around in your place car and seeing Batman flying overhead would just be amazing like giving him his own AI where he just randomly goes around the city stopping crime to just watching from overhead.
The soundtrack by Prince is also something special. You can find some of the music videos on youtube.
And the commercials that came with teh film, all the franchise marketing that went along with this film!
@@CaptainAmercia that would be a blast! L.A Noir x Batman would be a great mix but and at the same time very fitting.
@@CurtisOnUA-cam Maybe a Question game that would also work extremely well
It still haunts me that we almost had Billy FREAKING Dee Williams as Two-Face(As was Tim Burton's original intention) but Joel Schumacher got Tommy Lee Jones instead. A tragedy of immense proportions. Also, yes; Tim Burton directed Edward Scissor Hands as well. Not only that, But Danny Elfman was the composer to both Batman and Edward Scissor Hands.
Sad part is, James is probably too young to even know who The Elf-Man is.
At least he got a chance in The Lego Batman Movie
Tim Burton’s Batman was not a sleeper.
It was one of the biggest movies of the decade and one of the biggest cultural phenomenons any movie has ever inspired.
The marketing of Burton’s Batman has actually been studied analytically and been called the most well marketed movie ever.
Tim Burton’s 89 Batman, as the 78 Superman, were totally unique films and blazed a trail for the genre.
There would be no Nolan Batman or MCU without the path forged by
78 Superman, and 89 Batman
When I first came across this one as a little kid ,I was scared of Nicholson‘s joker yet so so fascinated by him at the same time. Think this is where my love for Nicholson‘s work started.
Awesome 👍👍😎 and Same Here Greetings from Helsinki, Finland 🇫🇮🇺🇸🇫🇮🇺🇸🇫🇮🇺🇸
Heath Ledger Joker was Great and so was Joaquin Phoenix's Joker, but Jack Nicholson's Joker is comic accurate and my favorite
Hamill is the GOAT Joker for me but Nicholson's turn was pretty entertaining too.
@@Legather Of course, Hamil's Joker is iconic
Exactly Bro!! 👍👍😎
@@Legather the man got arkham in he's name
I loved the Nolan Batman movies, especially The Dark Knight, but this Tim Burton/Micheal Keaton Batman will always be my favorite Batman movie. Saw it opening night and instantly fell in love with it!
Nicholson's laugh is the greatest Joker laugh ever. Keaton brought great mystique to the Batman role.
I saw this in the theatre in 89 with my family. There’s no way to convey how big this was at the time. It was in books, on shirts, cereal boxes, toys, video games and every fast food dining room wall. We used to run around the neighborhood in capes playing Batman.
This film was a game changer when it came out. Nobody was expecting anything this dark, and the marketing for it was insane! No future Batman films would exist without this.
I'm glad you liked it! It always annoys me when reviewers downplay Nicholson's performance as just playing Jack Nicholson. Jack did a lot of research to create that performance and the rest is movie history!
And gotta love a Prince Soundtrack!!
"Aaah the beauty and the beast, but if anyone else calls you the beast I'll kill him!" Awesome line! 😁
And yes Burton directed Edward Scissorhands.
if anyone else calls you beast, ill rip their lungs out.
I love this movie. I watched it opening night and was blown away by, well, everything. This was the film that made me start collecting movie scores as the opening was jaw dropping.
I think as much as the direction, probably Danny Elfman's score put you in mind of Edward Scissorhands. Such a distinctive style, even in two very different scores.
The music at that particular moment was probably the most Elfman'esque out of the whole movie here lol
I assume you've seen Fritz Lang's "Metropolis" and perhaps other German expressionist classics.
Tim Burton really shows his love for German expressionism and specifically Metropolis in this movie.
Metropolis was crazy! Way ahead of its time
@@ninjavigilante5311 The anime of "Metropolis" (2001) was also interesting.
I have always loved Michael Keatons Batman. Some of us grew up on Adam West's Batman TV show then, which was so campy and fun. I will say the best Batmobile is still the one from the 60's tv show and movie.
I remember watching this film as a child decades ago although I'm not that old XD and watching The Joker emerge from the shadows firing the gun and feeling simultaneously creeped out and entertained. I always come back to that scene and it's just as good as I remember it being if not better. The opening to Batman plus the theme and it's build up has never been topped by another superhero film IMHO.
"Did he do Edward Scissor hands" Oh good god you're serious! (head desks) lol Oh, and re the cowl, love, thats the best we could do back then. Each of those Bat cowls were cast in unpainted back foam latex, which meant you couldn't afford to have any air bubbles or faults in any of the casts, which is extremely time consuming if you knew anything about foam latex casting. I remember visiting the blokes that were foaming them up and their workshop was full of rejects! :)
Great reaction James
really enjoyed the commentary and tips
Keep up the great work!!!
I saw this movie when it premiered back in the day. I thought Nicholson should have received an Oscar nomination for his performance.
13:30 possibly, but I know the Prince soundtrack had multiple samples. "Oh we got a live one here" is the one which always rings in my head.
Yes!! Not only it's my favorite Batman movie but It's also my personal favorite films of all time. Michael Keaton as Batman was always perfect for me, along with Adam West (1966) TV show and the movie and Kevin Conroy from the Batman The animated series and many others.
Adam West's Batman is underrated because people are way too serious about a comic book character. Fortunately, some have been coming around to the fact that there can be many takes on the character. And sometimes you just can't get rid of a bomb.
I saw this film at a drive-thru theater with my family when I was 6 years old. I loved this film so much that it made me fall in love with movies in general. I said, "If movies are this good, then I want to watch them for the rest of my life." Great reaction bro! 👍🏿 And Michael Keaton is my 2nd favorite onscreen Batman of all time. (Christian Bale is my favorite.)
The reason you don't see such dynamic camera movements is that the design for this film was supposed to be reminiscent of frames from a comic book... that's also why the environmental shots were done the way they were
Yup, I say this :)
I adore the heavy focus on gothic revival architecture along with the elements of Art Deco combined with 1930s elements from the fashion to the corner shops. As much as I love the Nolan movie's his Gotham mostly in the two sequels did not feel like Gotham at all lacking any Gothic aesthetic instead the city just looked like Chicago. It also didn't help that the Nolan Gotham looked different in each film but yeah It wasn't for me. Batman Returns holds up much better as much as I love 89 you can tell everything's filmed on a large set while Batman Returns feels more natural yet still keeps that Burton fantasy look and feel. This look also inspired the amazing Batman Animated Series which dived more into the 1930s aesthetic a mix of old meets new. They dubbed it "Dark Deco" which really suits well for Gotham. The Batman 2022 did a great job as well using alot of gothic revival architecture along with a great skyline of gothic skyscrapers you could see Gotham's history in the film.
In the comic lore Solomon Wayne the Mayor of Gotham in the mid 1880s commissioned a massive city overhaul using the gothic revival architecture style that was popular at the time. This gave birth to Gotham's iconic look with a massive budget funded by Wayne Gotham turned into a landscape filled with some of the most unique gothic structures in the world. Art Deco was later introduced debuting in 1903 and 1904, Paris with the style carrying over into the States and around the world which is why Gotham also has alot of Art Deco elements but not as much as Metropolis. Metropolis is pretty much the city of the future filled with Art Deco and 1950s Googie architecture to create a very interesting city. Unfortunately Metropolis in film as yet to capture it's comic book look instead they just go for a generic city with no personality at all like we see in Man of Steel and Batman Vs Superman.
Oh note about Joker killing the Waynes. In the comic's the Waynes were gunned down by a man named Joe Chill just a random thug no one special. Of course being a rendition of Batman they're free to make any changes they want from having the Joker kill the Waynes to The Batman 2022 where they made Martha Wayne an Arkham instead of a Kane. So yeah it's fun to see how different each rendition of the character and universe are like it would be pretty boring if we kept getting the same movie over and over again.
Batman Forever and Batman & Robin were created as sequels to the Burton movies even if many of the characters were recast WD saw those films are continuing off from where Burton left. But in the last year we've gotten Batman 89 comic's that follow off from Batman Returns and pretty much retcons the events of these two movies only focusing on the burton movies. So yeah if you want more Keaton Batman I 100% recommend checking out those comic's.
Yeah, after hearing in an interview after this movie came out that the bat cowl had no neck mobility, all I could see is the ridiculous way Keaton looks up as well. That aside, it's still one of my favorite Batman movies with my favorite Batman. People will debate forever who was better between Ledger and Nicholson, but they're both genius in their own ways. Nicholson embodied the character that was on the comic book page while paying plenty of tribute to Cesar Romero, while Ledger reinvented it and made it his own. Both steal the movie they're in, no doubt. And yes, Burton directed Edward Scissorhands. His career was far more eclectic and interesting before the mid-2000's when he kind of became a parody of his own style. Movies like Big Fish, Ed Wood, Beetlejuice, and Pee-Wee's Big Adventure have some of his hallmarks, but they all have their own kooky moods that are unique to themselves.
If you love Jack Nicholson you have to watch The Witches of Eastwick. It’s hysterical and it’s directed by George Miller, the genius behind the Mad Max films.
Now you're on the right track! Jack's Joker is second only to Mark Hamill. Batman Returns and Mask of The Phantasm are my favorites.👍
Mark Hamill just did the voice, which is still a big deal but Jack Nicholson did it all. For that reason, Jack Nicholson is #1, in my opinion.
R u stupid? Mark only did the voice, and really bad laugh, so fake and forceful, most of them had to scream to get the joker's laugh, Jack's on the other hand sounded so natural and real
I highly suggest you see all the ideations of Batman. As a film maker its an extraordinary opportunity for you to explore how each person brings all the elements to life in different intriguing sometimes rediculously fantastical ways.
Of all the roles Jack has done, this one is his favorite. My buddies and I actually saw this at the drive in when it came out. We got an old junker car and spray painted it green and purple like a Joker goon car and drove that to the drive in. It as an absolute blast.
Bro, rewatching this now in 2022 I can see this easily having been a Tim Burton musical, there were so many "musical" moments in this movie. Certain scenes, lighting, backgrounds even some lines felt like they should have been followed up with some song's, Lol. This is also the movie I love using to shut down those "Batman don't kill" arguments, he killed some folks.
Oh absolutely destroyed people in this lmfao
Movie Batman is a different universe than "real" Batman (comics). But yeah,he threw that guy down bell tower...
@@thesmithdeep Well "real" Batman from the comics started out pretty dark in the Golden Age, often kicking guys hard enough to snap their necks, throwing dude's down stairs, resulting in neck snap's, and shooting guy's. But in the modern age even, within continuity he's killed a few guy's, more of a guideline thing than a rule.
@Darkstar For real, but Tim Burton was so close with this one
My dad likes the gag where after Joker poisons random makeup products the news anchors aren't wearing makeup and have visible blemishes and look rough.
Love Jack Nicholson’s performance in this.
His laugh.
Honestly my favorite part
Yes, Tim Burton did indeed direct both this and Edward Scissorhands
18:20 -- The 1989 Batmobile was one of the realist looking and absolute best..
One of my favorite elements of this version is the reveal that, although Batman created Joker, Joker created Batman first!
"I made you, you made me first." 😉
I love the story about the plant in this film. It's the same location used for the AP station in Aliens, and when Tim Burton's crew showed up to film Batman stuff... They found the Alien lair, still there with the cacooned bodies in the walls.
The one thing that I love about this movie is the soundtrack. Prince wrote o.g. songs for the movie while Danny Elfman rocked the theme. You now know why people are hyped for The Flash Flashpoint movie, not only because of Keaton reprising Batman but just the vague possibility of Nicholson reprising the Joker would be Spiderman: NWH numbers.
One of my favourite superhero movies for sure. I love this movie. Both Keaton and Nicholson are great.😊
They are Awesome, Bro 👍😀 Greetings from Helsinki Finland 🇫🇮🇺🇸🇫🇮🇺🇸🇫🇮🇺🇸
Wait until you watch Batman returns your gonna love it. Danny devito and Michelle Phifer do a amazing job as the Penguin and Catwoman.
A sleeper? More like one of the biggest films of the decade that re-launched all modern Batman popularity.
Hi🖖😎 Greetings from Poland.
This Batmobile is, in my opinion, the most beautiful car ever built. Love Yours chanel 🤘😁
I was thrilled when I saw your reaction listed. I knew this was going to be a fun ride, because everything that this movie does well and larger than life, you appreciate. And sure enough you did. I love it for all the same reasons - Jack killed it as Jack and the Joker. Part of the reason so much time was devoted to him was, I think, to build a bigger villain so that the victory would be that much more dramatic. Of course, if you have Jack Nicholson in the cast, you AREN'T going to waste any opportunities.
The set design is sooo good, a mix of Art Deco and gothic on steroids, dwarfing the people and drowning them in darkness. The external bracing of the buildings made them look like cages, adding to the crushing atmosphere of the city. Bleakness and night, perfect for the Dark Knight to terrorize the criminals.
I feel that Jack is the best joker. I also feel that Jim Carey is the best riddler, even tho that movie was a bit sub par. Great reaction.
I'm really impressed that you could recognize Burton's style without knowing he was the director of both films! And in a related note, this film especially drew a lot inspiration from German expressionism, which is an additional reason why it favors static shots. (The influence is more overt in the sequel.)
I'd imagine the cinematography was partly caused by the director themselves and its intent, as well as the attempt to make it feel more like a comic book, emphasizing static frames more. I'd imagine that, combining the style of Gotham that all films had into one, we'd likely have the best Gotham.
100% reminds me of Terry Gilliam actually.
@@JamesVSCinema Now that you mention it, you're right, it is pretty reminiscent of Terry Gilliam.
I'm watching the 1960s TV show right now and I'm really enjoying it. The corny 1940s Batman movie serials that took themselves way too seriously returned to the theateres back then and that show was a parody of those. The theatrical movie was made between seasons 1 and 2, and it indeed includes one of the most hilarious scenes that was ever in a Batman movie.
This Batman film is my top 5 favorite films of all time! I can watch this movie over and over again, this is the film that really made future directors change how they view CBMs.
The only other Batman that was known before this was Adam West’s Batman from 1966, so when Burton did this, it really was a shot in the arm and it was classic. Even now I hold it higher than other Batman films that have come out because it was the first to take well known actors and place them in supporting roles, I mean Billy Dee Williams as Harvey Dent(who would become Two Face), Jack Nicholson as Joker, Kim Basinger as Vicki Vale… I mean this movie really had some great actors that know how to act and bring some chops to the film. I love this film so much and I’m glad you enjoyed it too
Adam West was not the first actor to play Batman. There were two other actors who took the role before him. Lewis Wilson and Robert Lowery played Batman in the movie serials.
@@michaelash8552 I didn’t say Adam West was the first actor, I said the last time anyone saw Batman was in 1966
The film was a box office success making $411 million dollars ($987 million dollars today) against a $50 million dollar budget.
If you want to see how 80’s this Batman really could be… check out the official music video for the song “Batdance” by Prince off the soundtrack. 👍🏻
Man, seeing the footage again makes me realise how robbed we are of THIS Gotham City with the heavy art deco architecture and the weird 1940s setting but computers still exist, and everyone dresses like mobsters, and it's permanently nighttime... can we get THIS Gotham City back, please? Less gritty realism and more dark fantasy please. I am so bored of gritty realism...
Spitting the facts here. I think both can exist kinda at the same time (The Batman I felt actually came close to marrying the two), but damn does gritty realism tire me so damn much. In a way it's the main reason the Nolan Batman movies don't do it for me anymore (especially Rises, but that movie has more issues than just that).
I love Burton's Gotham. It's perpetually wet but never rains.
Yes, seriously!
This was fun to watch. You are so much fun (smile).
The reason why this movie makes you think of Edward Scissorhands is because it has the same director, Tim Burton, and the same composer, Danny Elfman. Their energy is so distinctive, I love it. ❤
I grew up in the 80's which meant that I grew up with re-runs of the Super Friends and the Adam West 60's Batman. So when this hit theaters it was mind blowing to my 10 year old brain. Seeing Batman '89 was almost a right of passage. It was interesting that they did pay some homage to the 60's Batmobile with the Turbine engine. If you see this movie for fun on your spare time I suggest to turn off the color and bring down the sharpness on your TV it totally feels Noire when the color is removed.
Same here. I was born in November of 79 so I was essentially an 80’s kid. Seeing this for the first time blew my mind.
When you mentioned how you enjoy seeing how different directors approach Batman it got me thinking about a dream project I had which would be to get a bunch of the top directors and giving them all the same script and budgets and seeing what kind of movies they would make. I've always been fascinated by how directors solve different filmmaking problems and by what aspects of the story or characters they prefer to emphasize. Unfortunately I doubt you would ever be able to get people to do that. I'm not sure many directors could handle being directly compared to each other that way. But i think it would be an interesting experiment for arts sake.
Not exactly what your talking about but have you ever seen Four Rooms? It's four different directors telling their own short story in each room. It's among my favorite comedies. Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino are rooms 3 and 4.
I've had that same thought. I've tweeked it to having the 4 directors just do a quarter of the movie in their own styles, so one movie but 4 takes on the characters and sets etc.
You might know this on, but on Netflix, there was an interesting experiment where they had the same scenario - investigators questioning a suspect in a single room - told in four separate three-episode series released at the same time; with each series being done by a different country (UK, France, Spain, Germany)
The entire batch was called 'Criminal' and it was an intriguing idea; but I will confess that what I saw was profoundly 'meh', only watching some of the series.
Bit of a shame, but it might be worth checking out for an episode or two.
I think that's a thing that ran through all these early movies, and Nolan's Dark Knight (with Heath Ledger's Joker) that the villain carried the spotlight. I definitely remember reading that more than one of the Batman actors weren't that happy about it because they're playing a quiet, brooding character who's in a costume that limits their movement & expression a bunch of the time, while the villain actors get to chew up the scenery and be funny & exiting.
Also, notice that here Jack Nicholson got first billing, not Michael Keaton who was playing the title character. Yes, Jack was a much bigger star & was paid more, but it does tell you where things are going.
It is the same director and soundtrack composer as Edward Scissorhands - Tim Burton and Danny Elfman.
Yes, Tim Burton did Edward Scissorhands, among other ones.
Tim also directed Beetlejuice....guess which actor played the role of Beetlejuice? 😁😉
The hype on this movie was huge when it came out. Still one of my favorite depictions
The camera angles are not restricted from the set, although it is.
Each cut is a frame of a comic book. It's like watching a comic book that moves, bad analogy. You get it
Watched in theater when I was 12 years old. Before this we only had Adam West's version and the comics. Prince soundtrack and the Batman Nike Air boots was the S#!T!
Burton did "Edward Scissor Hands", also "Beetlejuice" and "Sleepy Hollow".
"That reminds me of the Dark Knight", yeah I wonder what that scene in Nolan's movie was an homage to =P
All I ever wanted growing up was the Power-Wheels of this Batmobile. I'd see it in Toys R Us up on the rack, calling out to me...
On another note: I'm pretty sure as soon as Jack Nicholson signed on, it became a Jack Nicholson picture. He was a huge star at the time, and him being attached made it a lot less risky (which a big budget comic movie was at the time), not to mention helped with getting a bigger budget. Add to that Michael Keaton not being a big name at the time (even facing some backlash, as he was seen as a comedic actor).
I see what you mean about the camera work, but that wasn't a big thing for Tim Burton then, more focused on showing off the set and character design, with a lot of tacked-down shots. He's never been the most technically astounding director, but he had style to make up for it (until he never recovered from Planet of the Apes).
I don’t know if it’s intentional or not but I feel like the static cameras make the movie feel like a frame of a comic book but in motion. I think it’s cool. Seriously, you can take a picture of any scene in this movie and imagine it as an illustrated frame.
exactly, characters move through the scene instead of camera actively following them, I always thought it gave it a comic feel as well
DC's Peacemaker tomorrow!
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YUP!! ... Burton also did Edward Scissorhands.
Batman Returns was actually my favorite movie through childhood. I'd forgotten about it awhile, but then rediscovered it in college and was my favorite for awhile. Right now it's still number two (2).
One of my favorite movies
So, there's a lot to unpack about Batman (1989), and as a franchise. But most pop culture was more familiar with the 1960s camp TV show than the grittier comics that came out of the 70s and 80s. Tim Burton's film was groundbreaking for incorporating the grit from the 1980s Batman, but also for injecting satirical themes into the movie that were part of a sort of tetralogy of 80s and 90s media: Videodrome, They Live, The Cook the Thief his Wife and her Lover, and American Psycho (not the movie, but the controversial and far more disturbing novel).
But much of Tim Burton's Batman is lifted from 1930s Detective Comics Batman. People have posted media about how story boards for both Burton's films appear to have been lifted from panels from the 1930s. Batman used to kill people. Superman did as well, but comic books were updated in the 1950s to conform to the Comic Book Code, in response to outrage from childhood psychologists stating that comic books were causing juvenile delinquency. That's right, comic books were the video games of their time. But the "doesn't kill people" rule comes out of the 1950s reforms, and has become a sort of unconscious metacommentary on social values in conflict with social reality.
Tim Burton's Batman was also a meditation on a theme at the heart of both films. Casting Michael Keaton was controversial at the time. But Burton defended his decision because, based on his understanding of the character, Bruce Wayne's secret identity is supposed to be the person one would not expect. And Batman contrasts from the Joker because, whereas the Joker wants attention, Batman does not want to be seen. This contrast between Batman and the Villain-of-the-Week is also summed up by what someone says later:
"You're just jealous because I'm a genuine freak whereas you have to wear a mask!"
This idea of Batman's desired anonymity is from the source novels that inspired the Batman comic book--The Scarlet Pimpernel and The Curse of Capistrano (the original Zorro novel). In the case of Zorro, the secret identities of the character are so distant that the text only reveals Zorro's secret identity at the end; and the romantic lead who is in love with Zorro spurns his foppish secret identity from the beginning. This is a formula that was actually followed more consistently by the Superman franchise.
The point is, Tim Burton understood Batman as being more boring. Which is why the character is more boring in the film than his villains. And bringing it back to Reagan-era satire, the self-important, attention seeking personalities of the Tim Burton villains more closely resemble *_politicians_* than Bruce Wayne/Batman does. But does that not conform to reality? If there was such a thing as a "Good Billionaire," would they resemble more The Joker or Bruce Wayne? Would they resemble more Elon Musk, or...(some person we've never heard of)?
James, I dare you to react to Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom
Jack requested Prince for soundtrack because he was a huge fan. Prince used parts from the movie in the music. I listened to soundtrack and when I saw movie I knew lines in scenes. Gotta love Prince and Jack.💜💜🎶🎵
When you get a minute, check out the 2 albums from this film. Score by Danny Elfman and soundtrack by Prince
This batman kills more than the comicbook batman and joker didnt kill his parents BUT the yellow oval and the gothic out of time gotham and batwing are so comicbooky I love it. Early Burton visuals were perfectly creepy for Batman and it impacted the character A Lot.
Oh yeah I mention this hahaha
Say whaaaa, they're not dead, they're just sleeping!
@@generic_sauce nice nod... college humor is the best...lol
A great treatment of a comic book character, not in a "comical" way. Batman Returns may be even better as the sequel.
The first two Batman films are iconic! So many of the subsequent films pay homage to them.
"You don't have to be on your game at all. There is no game. That's how you be on it." James Vs Cinema 👌🏾
Still my favorite live action rendition of Gotham. The versions since Nolans trilogy all trying to make it look like a typical American metropolitan area robs the city of all its character. I love the feeling that Gotham is a city wallowing in decay and aging infrastructure...a place that has seemingly resisted most attempts at modernization. Makes it a place whose exterior matches its soul.
Couldn’t agree more! For me, this will always be the definitive Gotham. I was sad that they changed it for Batman Returns, where it is still interesting, but more reflecting the soul of Tim Burton than the soul of Gotham! I heard that they left the backlot Main Street set standing after filming was completed on the first movie, in anticipation of a sequel, but production shifted to the States for Batman Returns and Gotham was eventually torn down. So sad 😞 🦇
Well I'd say Reeves Gotham has a lot of heart and soul to it, it looks like a city that would exist, while simultaneously looking grimy and gothic, also I'd say Nolan only went typical metropolitan after Batman Begins, because Batman Begins' Gotham is pretty awesome.
Imagine if instead of Shumacher taking over, we had, say, Alex Proyas directing the latter half of this era.
@@StCerberusEngel If they still wanted dark and gothic they wouldn't have replaced Burton in the first place.
@@nathanielmorgan9108 I know. I'm just throwing the idea out there.
This movie was in constant rotation as a kid. BUT as an adult Batman Returns might be my favorite Batman movie. The icy atmosphere and sets of Batman Returns just sets a mood. Everything is stylized two step beyond normal. I would def suggest continuing with the sequel!
The '89 Batmobile hurtling down a dark road to Danny Elfman's 'Decent Into Mystery' will never not be a great scene.
This was a happening when it came out. I remember getting the full color photo book at the time of the movie. Wish I would've kept that. Probably worth a little now. The fact Burton made this blockbuster is amazing with his macabre film background and his quirky scripts. Such a rich, beautiful film landscape. I wonder if The Crow film sets were inspired from this movie.
Micheal Keaton got backlash when he was cast as Batman, as he was best known known for Comedy. Jack Nicholson took a smaller fee, than normal but took a % of the gross.
This movie was released with the first, full THX sound treatment. We drove all the across to town to see it in 70mm and THX. I was 12, and will never forget the scene where Joker walks around the meeting table. The voice went all the way around the theater. Now, we have IMAX and 7 channels of sound (I don't but it's available) at home.
Seeing this film in the theater (multiple times) was going good for me up until the parents being shot scene.
At that point I wanted to yell at the screen because, being a knowledgeable fan of Batman, I knew that their killer is Joe Chill, not this character invented for the film.
Yes, Edward Scissorhands was also directed by Tim Burton. He really does have a unique style that you can just instantly recognize. The same with Beetlejuice and a whole lotta other films too.
I recommend watching The Crow with Brandon Lee, another gothic style film and a cult movie which is many peoples favourite (including myself). Also has a main character that rivals Blade for coolness
This ushered in the modern era of Batman films. Before this was the TV show from the 50s. We had nothing to compare it to. I was in 9th grade when this came out and we loved it.
Saw at the theater in New Orleans, it was huge! A real nationwide phenomenon, Bats were everywhere, news stories daily etc , fun times back then, thanks again!
Even though not all the old Batman movies are great.. they are still worth the watch… this one was pretty great tho
Yea you are right the Director of Batman was Tim Burton who also did Edward Scissorhands (1990) and other horror films such as Beetlejuice (1988), The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), Ed Wood (1994), Sleepy Hollow (1999), Corpse Bride (2005), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007), and Frankenweenie (2012).
He doesn't want you to think he above all people would be batman. The whole angler of how he play's Bruce.
I'm always shocked how many people have not seen this movie. It's iconic, it changed the game for cinema for the era, both as a Tim Burton film, Hollywood blockbusters, and Superhero movies. Just like what Superman did a decade earlier. You can not understand how we got here in film without seeing Batman.
One of the biggest movies of 1989. Batmania was everywhere. It was awesome
This AWESOME film score is what put Danny Elfman on the map. Conducted by the late and great, Shirley Walker. Orchestrated by Steve Bartek. Performed by The Sinfonia of London Orchestra.
Michael Keaton silently: "I'm Batman...I'm BATMAN." God damn right you are. This was the first turn to darkness with the comic book charisma. It will always be my favorite. I may be bias, but I'm also right. Ever dance with the Devil in the pale Moon light?