For those asking, the music used at 11:17 is not "official" Dr. Who music, it's an unused track from Batman The Brave and The Bold video game. Seems like the composer made some weird test tracks that are homages to themes they liked! Weird! The track in question is: Batman: Brave and the Bold (DS) - Unused (10th Doctor Theme)
I think Batman Forever found the edge of what people are willing to take as far as lightheartedness in a Batman movie. Batman and Robin jumped off that edge.
@@MrPsyren99 Yeah, whenever you look at successful or semi-successful takes on a comedic Batman, what they tend to have in common is that Batman himself plays things straight. Even Adam West, a lot of what made his take so iconic was that he would deliver lines like "Hand me the Bat-shark-repellant spray!" with complete conviction.
the Adam West movie was way more lighthearted than either of Schumacher's batmovies, but the reason it's better is that it was actually clever and funny rather than being another toy commercial.
Indeed. It's why I find it much easier to not be as nice to this film when The Lego Batman Movie showed that concept done much better because it was already an obvious toy commercial while still surprising with a little bit of that gravitas, as put.
yup it's honestly my favourite batman movie ever, and one of the thinks i love about it is that the movie alongside return of the cape crusader show that you can make a batman comedy without it being extremely dumb and way too childish for its own good, it's was just batman and robin which sucked
I somehow missed the Alicia's treatment in the media and on set, because of all the years of hate the movie gets, that's some of the part they never gets mentioned. Out of all the stuff Joel Schumacher did, for better or for worse, he's still a good director, excepted his failure, and stood up for his cast, RIP Joel... Also Akiva Goldsman, man keeps failing up, now making Star Trek content now. (Holy crap, that Brave and the Bold music REALLY sounds like the 2005 Murray Gold Doctor Who theme... How did that slip by... Anyone?!)
I liked his apology for the fans of Batman Forever, it made me glad that I was at just the right age to enjoy the movie and still look back at it later and laugh at how outlandishly silly it all was.
tbf the failure of this film wasn't really down to Akiva Goldsman, in fact even he was weary about it and as Joel Schumacher said ultimately he was right to be. I also did notice the Doctor Who theme, that caught me by surprise!
Unfortunately Goldsman is an Oscar winner for writing A Beautiful Mind...just like future Batman v. Superman and Rise of Skywalker scribe Chris Terrio being an Oscar winner for Argo.
I used to shit on B&R a lot when I was in college, but after actually researching about it and seeing how Joel Schumacher was basically put in a corner perpetually on fire, I have a lot of respect for the project. Also kudos to Schwarzenegger for putting a pretty sensible clause in his contract. 12h a day is still FUCKED though
The crew and media's treatment of Silverstone was pretty fucking vile, and was something I didn't know about until now. I can respect Schumacher for stepping up to rightly call them all out on that.
It's fun to look back at decades past with nostalgia, but I sure as hell do not miss the 90s definition of "fat female". To imagine anybody saying Alicia Silverstone was anything close to "fat" is ridiculous.
Nicholas Cage as The Scarecrow... Given his ability to go from calm and collected to explosive (see Mandy and The Color Out of Space for the best examples) it could've been sublime.
Yeah, that part pissed me off, and Schumachers response made me respect him even more. Bodyshaming like that could never happen in this day and age, but it was just a fact of life for actresses back then.
@@jonathanmartinez5050 There's also a big difference when people constantly making fun of you on work and on gossip media rather than a bunch of nobodies on social. media.
@@mindshuffler3332 The thing is he accepted everything the studio thrown at him. He never fought anything. He was just a puppet, so he deserves quite a big part of the blame.
@@theLikou1 yeah, i wonder how can a man fight against an entire corporation he is just a director, if he says no he will just get fired and thats it the man needded a way to eat ok?
11:08 the idea of a bunch of Warner Bros. executives in a board room watching the suit up scene of the movie and going "Yeh, this is gonna be great, we need more of THIS" is the most what happened thing ever
Seriously, how many movies got screwed from Studio interference compared to crew (director, actors, production, etc) fuck ups? The execs take this one by a mile.
@@Lucaz99 yeah it's a good thing WB learned its lesson and NEVER interfered with another dc movie completly ruining them in the process EVER AGAIN, RIGHT???
Whatever you think about this movie, i always appreciate how earnest Schumacher was. I've seen him in interviews and seems like a genuine nice guy, and he loves film.
yeah i love how he recognized that it has problems and that people aren't wrong for hating it, unlike certain MCU actors and many MANY movie and tv directors nowadays
Imagine calling 90s Alicia Silverstone "fat"... that's the most insane part of the whole story. Especially in a movie where Bane looks and acts like they spent fifteen bucks making his costume, and they're worried about Batgirl having hips, lol. Other than the harassment, though, the making of Batman & Robin is one of the most entertaining "making of" stories to me. A perfect case study in directionless excess.
It’s genuinely entertaining if you go into it with that expectation. I understand why people hated it because the burton movies were the first glimpse of superhero/comics being taken somewhat seriously by Hollywood, but I think in retrospect it’s fun and campy.
The problem was it was supposed to be in the same universe as the time burton movies and thats why fans got pissy about it for years. Glad it can be apreciated as it's own thing now.
@@unseenphantomamvsytp2186 It was so out of place compared to the previous 3. With Michal Gough (Alfred) and Pat Hingle (Commissioner Gordon) being the only cast members from the Burton films I like to think of Batman and Robin as a standalone movie separate from the other three.
Let’s be real; even if Batman Unchained got made it would’ve only been hampered by the same issues as B&R. And if fans were mad about Freeze’s treatment, imagine the backlash that would’ve come about from trying push a ‘family-friendly’ version of Scarecrow. It would have been a disaster.
The fact Arnold could of played Bane instead of Freeze just boggles my mind. I mean a villain with a brains and brawn just makes sense for him to play and having an accent? It just makes sense! But Warner bros really just wanted to sell toys. Also the plot of unbound sounds like a fever dream.
Honestly I think Arnold wasn't a bad pick for Freeze. He does pretty well in the quieter scenes he has. The issue is most of his performance is making Austrian grunts and Ice puns. He would have done good as Bane, but I don't think Freeze was a miscast.
I remember loving this movie when I was younger. Needless to say, i wasn't very critical back then, just a young lad wanting to watch Batman. Watching this, it all makes sense how and why it went wrong. Props to Schumacher for owning it. I was kinda hoping this video would be about the game after watching you playing it recently. Maybe something to look forward in the future.
You should go out and find the Rifftrax version of this. Puts things into perspective about how ridiculous the movie really is. Plus it's just damn funny.
Nostlagia critic also has his own take on it, granted he took as an offense since he was a fan of the burton films and rages about the absurdity of it.
In the first 20 minutes they play ice hockey on frozen dinosaurs, go to the edge of the atmosphere, and then hoverboard their way into Gotham's rooftops. It's a legitimately thrilling sequence that doesn't get enough credit.
Is it weird that this movie was one of my childhood favourites? Like, I had the VHS of it and I probalbly broke it because I watched it pretty much every day. It's awful watching it now but it still holds a big place in my heart and as such it's a guilty pleasure even today for me
It's 100% a fun toy box of a movie for anyone 12 and under for sure. After that the cracks DO become apparent. It's not a 'good' movie at that point, but a fun one with how bad it can get.
All I can say about this movie is I remember watching it and thinking "Wow! That was some spectacular nonsense!" It is great to watch at least once for that factor alone
I saw this movie for the first time last year. I do not regret watching it. It must be seen to be believed. That said I had no problem with Schumacher's Batman movies being campy. The scripts were the problem. Well along with lots of other stuff, but mostly the scripts.
13:50- That bit about Harley being rewritten as Joker's daughter just sounds so weird to me, but it also would be pretty unique, and could probably work depending on how it's written. Stuff like that makes me wonder on what could've been with the Unchained movie, and how well it would've performed if it wasn't cancelled.
@@Gideon13397 I don't know, Harley seems to be into those types. On the topic of who would be Joker's wife in Batman Unchained, it seems more likely that the two of them would get together before Joker became the clown psychopath; we'll just never know if the union between them was before or after due to cancellation.
You're placed under arrest by the pun police. You're in violation of the overuse of ice puns in one post. We're taking you downtown to cool your heels until your lawyer arrives. *realizes the unintended ice pun* Ah, dammit! Now I gotta arrest myself!
A fact relating to this that sticks out in my brain is that Bane actor and noted WCW Ultimate Solution, Robert "Jeep" Swenson, died a mere 2 months after the release of Batman and Robin.
one small thing to note in regards to movies making money is an older movie making less money than a newer one can sometimes be attributed to inflation, just like if you compare the value of a dollar 50 years ago to now, that difference is still true between movies - tho not in this case since it was just 2~ years apart but still, something to think bout another thing is, sometimes a continuation gets a lot of money potentially because the one before was well liked & famous, so a bad movie can get a lot of money just because the one before it wasnt bad, and then when we finally get a good one, it can be screwed cause the bad one drove people away also damn, i knew this was a trainwreck, but this is even worse than i expected i used to like this movie when very young somehow - - also joel is such a rarity, someone that can admit their own faults, even tho it might not have been very much his fault at all, considering how obnoxious they were about making toys shame he died, RIP
"When we finally get a good one , it can be screwed cause the bad one drove away" Case in point James Gunn's The Suicide Squad got amazing reviews but ultimately bombed in theaters cause the 2016 one was so bad unfortunately.
@@F.Hakeem89 Gunn's Suicide Squad also had the unfortunate timing of being released during a pandemic so not nearly as many people were going to theaters, the 2016 movie didn't have that hurdle to jump.
@@someonewhocommentsonyoutub3779 I also forgot it was also on HBO Max at the same time so in a way I'm glad both The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker became successful in its own way.
Another reason modern movies can make so much more money: There are (or at least were 2 years ago) more movie goers than ever before As ticket prices raised according to inflation, they didn't change in regards to population, so you have a situation where you can get massive box office earnings with simply advertisement. You just need to get those butts in the seats I think that's why (with a few exceptions) there are a lot of movies not doing nearly as well the last couple years as they probably should have: Streaming services and a lack of people wanting to go out has meant you can't get those population boosts
I bought that Tim/Joel batman quadrilogy in Walmart, and the nostalgia just hit me right then and there. I'll always have fondness for the Schumacher films for their light heartedness, which is a rarity now. A "so bad it's good" movie in Batman and Robin, for sure.
Nicolas Cage as The Scarecrow... Given his ability to go from calm and collected to explosive (see Mandy and The Color Out of Space for the best examples) it could've been sublime.
I know you don't really cover anime here, but one story I'd love to see is Wha Happun with Robotech/Macross and the two decades of lawsuits behind its licensing.
@@MrJulio632 Yeah, at least Macross is in a slightly better place now, last year on Dec 14th BigWest had a showing of Macross Plus in some US theatres with new subs, a message from it's creator and zero mention of Harmony Gold. The next day Flying Dog put an announcement video that 523 official Macross songs from SDFM II and beyond are now on spotify etc worldwide. I'm unsure but sadly it seems Harmony Gold still might have a grip on the Super Dimension Fortress Macross music for now since it wasn't included.
@@djpegao He was not Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, or Damian Wayne, he didn't have a costume, he wasn't Batman's sidekick, and he didn't go by Robin... Was he really Robin?
I remember watching this as a little kid and loving it. I had a lot of the toys back then (I was around 5 or 6 when it released) from the movie. Rewatched it when I was around 22 years old and now every time I do watch Batman & Robin I'm laughing at how campy and over the top the movie actually is lol. If their intention was make kids want to buy the toys, I think they succeeded.
Arnold was still buff back in '97, I know the wrestler was bigger but it would've saved a lot more money, because Freeze suit was expensive, and gave us a better script.
Audiences: "It's been over 20 years since we had a lighthearted, theatrical Batman film. Why do they have to keep getting grittier and darker?" *Points at the Lego Batman Movie* Audiences: "Oh a cartoon? Looks like it's for babies. Who cares?"
Face / Off was the greatest movie ever. The first time I saw it I laughed so hard I nearly choked to death, tears pouring down my face. I don't think I've ever laughed that hard at a movie in my entire life.
Wahey thanks Matt, i've been on a Batman kick lately, been watching the Dark Knight Trilogy, Batman 1989 and i'm playing Arkham Asylum again (best superhero game ever made) Playing Arkham Asylum is actually making me want to to watch the Animated Series again :)
I remember watching this in 1997 and actually liking it. But when I started to remember the movie in my head I was like "oooh it was terrible". A second watch reinforced those sentiments. I watched it again and with time I liked it. Not because it's good, but because it's a Batman movie that will never be made ever again...and that gives its charm somehow.
Regarding your comment at the end, the reason (IMO) that more lighthearted takes on batman don't work is that they, ironically, take themselves too seriously. Wanna have their cake and eat it too. I think if they did a take that REALLY leaned into the camp and was self aware about it, it could work.
RIP joel Schumacher, dispite the fact that this movie left a stain in your carreer, you had other jems over the years like lost boys, falling down, flatliners and phonebooth.
Ian here!!! I must say, I really felt bat on the creators/actors from the B&R movie from 1997. I just hope that someday in the future, we'll a Batman Unchained movie come to life. I also felt bad for Joel as well. He really did tried his best and everything. If you know what I mean. Let's hope Joel's memory/life will still live on for good as we all know. Besides the bad ones. #BatmanandRobinFOREVER #UnchainedOrNot!!!
I love the additional information about Schumacher really paints him in a new and favorable light to me. All that haters of Alicia are pathetic. I do have to disagree on fun batman never being a good idea. Adam West and Batman the Brave and the Bold prove a light hearted Batman can work great. I do love the gritty versions and they're usually the ones remembered but I can't help myself going back to Brave and the Bold occasionally for all it's campy goodness. Great as always sir!
I completely forgot about Taco Bell advertising a contest with a chance to win a real life to-scale version of the Batmobile. I don't remember who won it if anybody even did win it, but it seemed so bizarre at that point in time to have a contest to win an actual Batmobile (y'know, minus the weapons, technology, an Alfred that spoke to you, and pretty much everything that made the Batmobile what it should be) based off of Batman & Robin of all the Batman films and it being promoted by Taco Bell. Oh 90's, I sure do miss how badshit insane some of your ideas were.
As someone whose favorite Batman is Adam West, I think there were two main issues with Batman & Robin's approach. 1. Confusing tone. They had the jokes and silliness, but they also had plenty of innuendo and 90s grittiness. The silliness undermined the weight of the darker scenes, while the heavier stuff undermined the charm of the jokes. In trying to appeal to everyone, they just made sure everyone would have something to complain about. 2. Self-aware characters. The characters themselves were delivering their lines fully aware of how campy they were. It honestly wouldn't have surprised me if George Clooney had winked at the camera after some of his lines. Contrast with 1960s Batman, where, no matter how ridiculous and silly the lines got, Adam West and Burt Ward played them completely straight. I think the deadpan delivery was a large part of what made that series so fun, personally.
I know it's hip to crap on Schumacher's works (lord knows I've taken my shots) but the sad truth is that if this film did a little bit better commercially or critically or Clooney wasn't clowned quite as hard, we might not have gotten the Nolan reboot. Which meant it might not have been fashionable for other studios to reboot their works. Schumacher made a film so bad, it gave birth to the term "reboot." But that led to the Dark Knight so... Thanks? And also RIP
I really wish I could’ve met mr Schumacher. I wanted to tell him how much I love Batman Forever! To me, that film is a perfect combination of dark Keaton Batman and 60’s West Batman. The story gets Batman and Bruce, Val was a great Batman, and I really enjoy nearly everything about it. My issues include Tommy Lee Jones trying to up Jim Carrey on being funny and I wish we could’ve seen the deleted scenes within the film. I mostly like-love everything else. I wanted him to know a Teen like me enjoyed that movie very much. I’m nineteen and still love it. My Fourth favorite behind ‘89, Returns, and The Batman
The lighthearted nature isnt the problem. Lego Batman was great. It was the inconsistency in tone and overall lack of quality that killed B&R. And the fact that it was in the same series as 89 and Returns, which were more adult films. Forever gets a lot of hate, but its something kids can watch as well as adults.
Funny how Val Kilmer dropped the 4th film to go work with Marlon Brando. Just for them to go to war with each other on set and contribute to the already messy shitshow that was Dr Moreau. Hoping for an What Happened on that beautiful train wreck.
I remember watching this as a kid with my aunt. I loved it but she didn't saying it wasn't nearly as good as Forever. I thought she was crazy but then I grew up and watched it with adult eyes and realized why she said that 😭
Good video. BTW I'm a coaster nerd, and you could have a whole WHa Happun around the Batman & Robin roller coaster too (not Mr. Freeze, as those are still open, but the actual one called Batman & Robin). It was glitchy as hell, and consumed so much energy to launch 2 dueling trains that they couldn't actually duel them (they had to stagger the launches because there simply wasn't enough electricity available to do a simultaneous launch). Add to that the fact sometimes the coaster trains would struggle to complete the run (and they actually cut elements off the ride and re-profiled the track to try and address that), and you get a situation where the coaster had a short life. It was sold to a park in South America, but -when they sent it down- they forgot to include instructions on how to assemble it, so to this day it's still in pieces down there and no one knows how to correctly assemble it!
There's a documentary out there about this called Lost Soul that came out about 8 years ago. It's roughly 90 minutes long. I can't see What Happen being able to say anything that wasn't already said there, but I guess it would be a more condensed format.
The more interviews with Joel Schumacher that I've read, the more I've come to appreciate him as a person, not to mention he directed Falling Down - one of the best movies ever. The man has his share of the blame for B&R, but he doesn't deserve 1/10th of the hate he gets for it.
Even though the movie isn't exactly great for many things, I do appreciate the amount of work that goes to makingsl sure everything work properly no matter the reputation it gets after coming out
Matt, I don't know what happened but I have to fucking thank you. I've been having stomach issues for the past week and the part where you talked about Arnold's battery acid incident made me laugh so hard that I started to feel better. Thanks for entertaining me!
I know it's kinda pedantic, but it's really annoying that the movie is called Batman and Robin, except Robin is wearing a Nightwing, not Robin, costume
You know what personally hurts the most of this disaster of a movie? The waist of one of my favorite villains, MR.FREEZE. I still remember the ICONIC Batman Animated Series episode, where he was introduced. A masterpiece of a Villian!!
While I am firmly in the camp of "people take this film existing too seriously" I can't help but agree with you there. I pray that we may still have a phenomenal live action on screen depiction of such a tragic character. I loved him in Arkham City in addition to his iconic introduction in the animated series.
Whenever I hear that Batman Forever outperformed Batman Returns, my faith in humanity dies a little more. The goofy attempts of BMF to throw back to the Adam West-style camp were IMO so bad that its sequel had no hope of being good, so I didn't watch BM&R. Interesting to see a behind the scenes look of how the series was run into the ground.
For those asking, the music used at 11:17 is not "official" Dr. Who music, it's an unused track from Batman The Brave and The Bold video game. Seems like the composer made some weird test tracks that are homages to themes they liked! Weird! The track in question is: Batman: Brave and the Bold (DS) - Unused (10th Doctor Theme)
I was wondering why I was heard the Dr Who theme!
I mean, it's quite clearly the Doctor Who theme lmao. Someone surely got sued
@Grimjow Exactly
I read that the soundtrack for this film actually did well enough to win some awards.
I was wondering why I heard the Dr. Who theme in a video about batman.
Holy hell Arnold as Bane would’ve been the most “awesome 90’s” thing ever and I kinda love it
@@JohnGodfrey141 tbf so is whatever the hell accent Tom hardy was doing
Why can't we have nice things.
@@stefanfilipovits21 The lawsuh of society are an illusion... TREBEK!
Honestly, I never thought of that lol.
I don't know why I never even considered that. Tone down the one liners a bit and that would be pretty awesome.
I think Batman Forever found the edge of what people are willing to take as far as lightheartedness in a Batman movie. Batman and Robin jumped off that edge.
Hell, give us more of Brave and the Bold- that whole show is PERFECT for a more lighthearted Batman that still feels accurate to his character.
I always hoped they would make a show or video game based out of the Batman forever style.
@@MrPsyren99 Yeah, whenever you look at successful or semi-successful takes on a comedic Batman, what they tend to have in common is that Batman himself plays things straight. Even Adam West, a lot of what made his take so iconic was that he would deliver lines like "Hand me the Bat-shark-repellant spray!" with complete conviction.
the Adam West movie was way more lighthearted than either of Schumacher's batmovies, but the reason it's better is that it was actually clever and funny rather than being another toy commercial.
The lego batman movie would fit in that descripction. It even uses this movie as a plot point
Joker coming back in a 5th movie as an hallucination because of Scarecrow's Fear Toxin is exactly what happens in Batman Arkham Knight.
Word to word.
I was about to say 😂 this channel also does videogames he should know that's the same premise at Arkham knight.
I was really surprised he didn't mention it in the video. Thought the same thing
The hallucination scenes in the Arkham games were some of their most interesting scenes to fight through.
The Lego Batman Movie is how you do a comedic take on the vigilante, without taking out the gravitas of the character
Indeed. It's why I find it much easier to not be as nice to this film when The Lego Batman Movie showed that concept done much better because it was already an obvious toy commercial while still surprising with a little bit of that gravitas, as put.
Batman: Soul of the Dragon also shows how it can be done. The movie is fun, action packed but still treats all the characters seriously.
yup it's honestly my favourite batman movie ever, and one of the thinks i love about it is that the movie alongside return of the cape crusader show that you can make a batman comedy without it being extremely dumb and way too childish for its own good, it's was just batman and robin which sucked
I somehow missed the Alicia's treatment in the media and on set, because of all the years of hate the movie gets, that's some of the part they never gets mentioned.
Out of all the stuff Joel Schumacher did, for better or for worse, he's still a good director, excepted his failure, and stood up for his cast, RIP Joel... Also Akiva Goldsman, man keeps failing up, now making Star Trek content now.
(Holy crap, that Brave and the Bold music REALLY sounds like the 2005 Murray Gold Doctor Who theme... How did that slip by... Anyone?!)
@Wolf 2000 He was just a genuinely good dude, and should be remembered more as such
I liked his apology for the fans of Batman Forever, it made me glad that I was at just the right age to enjoy the movie and still look back at it later and laugh at how outlandishly silly it all was.
Schumacher just seems like a genuine good guy. His stoty about defending his actress from his crew and media is really good to hear.
tbf the failure of this film wasn't really down to Akiva Goldsman, in fact even he was weary about it and as Joel Schumacher said ultimately he was right to be.
I also did notice the Doctor Who theme, that caught me by surprise!
Unfortunately Goldsman is an Oscar winner for writing A Beautiful Mind...just like future Batman v. Superman and Rise of Skywalker scribe Chris Terrio being an Oscar winner for Argo.
The Art Deco aesthetics of Gotham City is one of the only couple aspects I like about Joel Schumacher’s Batman films
I really enjoy it too! You saw a good amount of it in Batman Returns as well, but Joel turned it up to 11.
It's very comic books and fun
i have mixed feelings about it but i legit love the bat vehicles they really look like something out of the comics
I used to shit on B&R a lot when I was in college, but after actually researching about it and seeing how Joel Schumacher was basically put in a corner perpetually on fire, I have a lot of respect for the project. Also kudos to Schwarzenegger for putting a pretty sensible clause in his contract. 12h a day is still FUCKED though
12/hrs a day is actually pretty standard for filming; they often go even longer, with the promise of overtime pay.
12 hours a day is fucked, but for 25 million dollars...
The crew and media's treatment of Silverstone was pretty fucking vile, and was something I didn't know about until now. I can respect Schumacher for stepping up to rightly call them all out on that.
I didn't read too much about it, any sources you can recommend beyond this video?
The backlash to Schumaker was kinda homophobic, too. I remember some things being really damn nasty with the gay-bashing.
@@thecunninlynguist I found some tidbits, but I was hoping for something with the same production quality & research as this.
@@thecunninlynguist seemingly. I guess it's a bit too old & niche in general. Still a disgrace from what I've read so far.
It's fun to look back at decades past with nostalgia, but I sure as hell do not miss the 90s definition of "fat female". To imagine anybody saying Alicia Silverstone was anything close to "fat" is ridiculous.
I do feel for Schumacher though. He is a good director and he owed up to this film AND defended Silverstone. Can't beat that.
Yeah, Joel was a really good guy. He just was doing what the studio demanded and got most of the media backlash which is sad.
Yeah I do think it was mostly the fault of the executives and such but yeah he is commemdable for taking the heat
Nicholas Cage as The Scarecrow...
Given his ability to go from calm and collected to explosive (see Mandy and The Color Out of Space for the best examples) it could've been sublime.
I mean...he could still play him
Makes more sense than Coolio.
@@chazzwozzio Mmmmmhhh...🤔
honestly that and Arnie's Bane are the things that i really hate we never got
It’s sad what happened to poor Alicia and I’m glad Schumacher defended her
Yeah, that part pissed me off, and Schumachers response made me respect him even more. Bodyshaming like that could never happen in this day and age, but it was just a fact of life for actresses back then.
@@jonathanmartinez5050 There's also a big difference when people constantly making fun of you on work and on gossip media rather than a bunch of nobodies on social. media.
This movie sucked but Schumacher always seemed like a cool dude
Nice profile pic
He got a lot of shit too, about how a gay man shouldn't be directing a Batman movie.
You gotta hand it to Schumacher, he might not have made a good movie, but a least he made a memorable one
He’s the greatest Batman villain of all time. He’s the closest one to killing Batman
@joebeast15 Idk, it seems like that it was more studio meddling that ruined the movie than it was Schumacher.
@@mindshuffler3332 The thing is he accepted everything the studio thrown at him. He never fought anything. He was just a puppet, so he deserves quite a big part of the blame.
@@APinchofBazel Huh? no?
@@theLikou1 yeah, i wonder how can a man fight against an entire corporation
he is just a director, if he says no he will just get fired and thats it
the man needded a way to eat ok?
11:08 the idea of a bunch of Warner Bros. executives in a board room watching the suit up scene of the movie and going "Yeh, this is gonna be great, we need more of THIS" is the most what happened thing ever
"MOAR BAT-NIPPLES!!!"
Seriously, how many movies got screwed from Studio interference compared to crew (director, actors, production, etc) fuck ups?
The execs take this one by a mile.
@@Lucaz99 so many what happened due to studio execs not understand what people actually want, and not what they want
@@Lucaz99 yeah it's a good thing WB learned its lesson and NEVER interfered with another dc movie completly ruining them in the process EVER AGAIN, RIGHT???
I have to give credit to Joel Schumacher, he didn't blame other people and accepted it on himself
Whatever you think about this movie, i always appreciate how earnest Schumacher was. I've seen him in interviews and seems like a genuine nice guy, and he loves film.
Jon Peters is the real villain.
yeah i love how he recognized that it has problems and that people aren't wrong for hating it, unlike certain MCU actors and many MANY movie and tv directors nowadays
To be fair, to this movie's credit, it's one of the most infamous and quotable comic book movies of all time.
The Street Fighter of Batman movies.
@@dsgitlin Of course!
its like the movie version of a fable or cautionary tale
I agree, I watched it with my sister who is a huge Batman fan and we thought it was so weird and bad that we unironically enjoyed and quoted it
"LET'S KICK SOME ICE"
In defense of the Bat-Credit Card: What's Batman supposed to use when he gets drive thru?
Cash?
The same thing as Lego Batman: Batbucks
He doesn't need to pay, he's a goddamn Batman!
A fun romp can be good, but it depends on the jokes. If the jokes are bad, it's a bad movie.
Arnold as Bane would have been absolute perfection. Soooooo, many, one-liners. Instead, we get Bat Credit Card.
Imagine calling 90s Alicia Silverstone "fat"... that's the most insane part of the whole story. Especially in a movie where Bane looks and acts like they spent fifteen bucks making his costume, and they're worried about Batgirl having hips, lol. Other than the harassment, though, the making of Batman & Robin is one of the most entertaining "making of" stories to me. A perfect case study in directionless excess.
@Crescent Fresh
Alicia silverstone's Batgirl may not have been Barbara Gordon but she was 99% better than the CW Batwoman (Kate and Ryan)
@Crescent Fresh
90s Alicia Silverstone is a way better/decent Batgirl than The Killing Joke movie
Hands down still the hottest Batgirl to date!
Batman And Robin really is the best unintentional superhero comedy ever. Its frigging horrible but so hilarious of how it was even made.
12 hours a day for Arnold sounds perfectly reasonable. Makes me wonder how much longer would other actors be made to work daily.
I feel like if Batman and Robin were released today, it would've been praised for being a bold homage to the 60s Batman
It’s genuinely entertaining if you go into it with that expectation. I understand why people hated it because the burton movies were the first glimpse of superhero/comics being taken somewhat seriously by Hollywood, but I think in retrospect it’s fun and campy.
The problem was it was supposed to be in the same universe as the time burton movies and thats why fans got pissy about it for years. Glad it can be apreciated as it's own thing now.
@@unseenphantomamvsytp2186 It was so out of place compared to the previous 3. With Michal Gough (Alfred) and Pat Hingle (Commissioner Gordon) being the only cast members from the Burton films I like to think of Batman and Robin as a standalone movie separate from the other three.
Personally I don't see too many similarities between B&R and the 60's Batman. Other then "it's silly".
I always liked it, even as a kid.
Let’s be real; even if Batman Unchained got made it would’ve only been hampered by the same issues as B&R. And if fans were mad about Freeze’s treatment, imagine the backlash that would’ve come about from trying push a ‘family-friendly’ version of Scarecrow. It would have been a disaster.
Arnold as Mr. Freeze is a treasure
The fact Arnold could of played Bane instead of Freeze just boggles my mind. I mean a villain with a brains and brawn just makes sense for him to play and having an accent? It just makes sense! But Warner bros really just wanted to sell toys. Also the plot of unbound sounds like a fever dream.
Honestly I think Arnold wasn't a bad pick for Freeze. He does pretty well in the quieter scenes he has. The issue is most of his performance is making Austrian grunts and Ice puns.
He would have done good as Bane, but I don't think Freeze was a miscast.
Because evil scientists need to have an accent, duh! /s
He would hve done a good job as Bane
I remember loving this movie when I was younger. Needless to say, i wasn't very critical back then, just a young lad wanting to watch Batman.
Watching this, it all makes sense how and why it went wrong. Props to Schumacher for owning it.
I was kinda hoping this video would be about the game after watching you playing it recently. Maybe something to look forward in the future.
You should go out and find the Rifftrax version of this. Puts things into perspective about how ridiculous the movie really is. Plus it's just damn funny.
Nostlagia critic also has his own take on it, granted he took as an offense since he was a fan of the burton films and rages about the absurdity of it.
In the first 20 minutes they play ice hockey on frozen dinosaurs, go to the edge of the atmosphere, and then hoverboard their way into Gotham's rooftops. It's a legitimately thrilling sequence that doesn't get enough credit.
Scarecrow would've made Batman keep spendin most his life
livin in the gangsta's paradise
Is it weird that this movie was one of my childhood favourites? Like, I had the VHS of it and I probalbly broke it because I watched it pretty much every day. It's awful watching it now but it still holds a big place in my heart and as such it's a guilty pleasure even today for me
It's 100% a fun toy box of a movie for anyone 12 and under for sure.
After that the cracks DO become apparent.
It's not a 'good' movie at that point, but a fun one with how bad it can get.
The soundtrack was super 90s and great as well. The Smashing Pumpkins, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, Goo Goo Dolls, Soul Coughing, etc.
bro how much have you seen the bat credit card?
My brother and I had all four movies on tape and had them on all the time! How we didn't wear them out I don't know.
Same! Me and my cousin would watch the heck out of it, I must have watched it at least 100 times!
I love that you left out Phantom of the Opera, because holy good god wow is that one a What Happened in and of itself lmao
All I can say about this movie is I remember watching it and thinking "Wow! That was some spectacular nonsense!" It is great to watch at least once for that factor alone
LOL Yeah the first 20 minutes in, young me was LMAO, 'iCE TO MEET YOU :P
I saw this movie for the first time last year. I do not regret watching it. It must be seen to be believed.
That said I had no problem with Schumacher's Batman movies being campy. The scripts were the problem. Well along with lots of other stuff, but mostly the scripts.
2016's Justice League feels like low hanging fruit for a Wha Happun episode
13:50- That bit about Harley being rewritten as Joker's daughter just sounds so weird to me, but it also would be pretty unique, and could probably work depending on how it's written. Stuff like that makes me wonder on what could've been with the Unchained movie, and how well it would've performed if it wasn't cancelled.
Because Joker's Daughter needed to be a more confusing character.
The big question is missing here is: Who the hell would have boinked an insane psychopath in clown make-up?!
@@Gideon13397 I don't know, Harley seems to be into those types. On the topic of who would be Joker's wife in Batman Unchained, it seems more likely that the two of them would get together before Joker became the clown psychopath; we'll just never know if the union between them was before or after due to cancellation.
Oh boy, time to cool down with a new episode of what happened. What a ice surprise to view this chilling story.
You're placed under arrest by the pun police. You're in violation of the overuse of ice puns in one post. We're taking you downtown to cool your heels until your lawyer arrives.
*realizes the unintended ice pun*
Ah, dammit! Now I gotta arrest myself!
I felt my frosty demeanor melting away while reading this.
Wait a second...
A fact relating to this that sticks out in my brain is that Bane actor and noted WCW Ultimate Solution, Robert "Jeep" Swenson, died a mere 2 months after the release of Batman and Robin.
one small thing to note in regards to movies making money is
an older movie making less money than a newer one can sometimes be attributed to inflation, just like if you compare the value of a dollar 50 years ago to now, that difference is still true between movies - tho not in this case since it was just 2~ years apart but still, something to think bout
another thing is, sometimes a continuation gets a lot of money potentially because the one before was well liked & famous, so a bad movie can get a lot of money just because the one before it wasnt bad, and then when we finally get a good one, it can be screwed cause the bad one drove people away
also damn, i knew this was a trainwreck, but this is even worse than i expected
i used to like this movie when very young somehow - -
also joel is such a rarity, someone that can admit their own faults, even tho it might not have been very much his fault at all, considering how obnoxious they were about making toys
shame he died, RIP
"When we finally get a good one , it can be screwed cause the bad one drove away"
Case in point James Gunn's The Suicide Squad got amazing reviews but ultimately bombed in theaters cause the 2016 one was so bad unfortunately.
Joel's work with what he had to deal with is remarkable and it sucks that people want to remember his fuck ups more than his hits
@@F.Hakeem89 Gunn's Suicide Squad also had the unfortunate timing of being released during a pandemic so not nearly as many people were going to theaters, the 2016 movie didn't have that hurdle to jump.
@@someonewhocommentsonyoutub3779 I also forgot it was also on HBO Max at the same time so in a way I'm glad both The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker became successful in its own way.
Another reason modern movies can make so much more money: There are (or at least were 2 years ago) more movie goers than ever before
As ticket prices raised according to inflation, they didn't change in regards to population, so you have a situation where you can get massive box office earnings with simply advertisement. You just need to get those butts in the seats
I think that's why (with a few exceptions) there are a lot of movies not doing nearly as well the last couple years as they probably should have: Streaming services and a lack of people wanting to go out has meant you can't get those population boosts
I bought that Tim/Joel batman quadrilogy in Walmart, and the nostalgia just hit me right then and there. I'll always have fondness for the Schumacher films for their light heartedness, which is a rarity now. A "so bad it's good" movie in Batman and Robin, for sure.
Nicolas Cage as The Scarecrow...
Given his ability to go from calm and collected to explosive (see Mandy and The Color Out of Space for the best examples) it could've been sublime.
"Not the bees! NOT THE BEEEEEEEES!!!"
Considering that ability, I think he would be way better as Two-Face.
Dude....or....Coolio... wtf ..was shoue maker.... smokin..
I desperately need to be in the timeline where we got to see Nic Cage as The Scarecrow as directed by Joel Schumacher.
For as bad as the movie was, its movie poster/cover is still badass looking to this day. The colors and layout are just gorgeous.
This will forever be linked in my mind with the nostalgia critic yelling “bat credit card!!!”
Simpler times
I know you don't really cover anime here, but one story I'd love to see is Wha Happun with Robotech/Macross and the two decades of lawsuits behind its licensing.
Fucking harmony gold
*screams in Jetfire*
@@MrJulio632 Yeah, at least Macross is in a slightly better place now, last year on Dec 14th BigWest had a showing of Macross Plus in some US theatres with new subs, a message from it's creator and zero mention of Harmony Gold.
The next day Flying Dog put an announcement video that 523 official Macross songs from SDFM II and beyond are now on spotify etc worldwide. I'm unsure but sadly it seems Harmony Gold still might have a grip on the Super Dimension Fortress Macross music for now since it wasn't included.
Fuck Harmony Gold
Ah yes the reason that lead to the decades old Jetfire vs Skyfire debate in the transformers fandom. I’d love to hear more about in depth honestly.
The idea of fear toxin causing batman to hallucinate about the joker didn't go to waste after all
It just hit me, neither Robin nor Batgirl have been seen in a Batman movie since this and that makes me very sad.
Technically Robin was on the 3rd Nolan's Batman movie, but yeah you're right about that.
@@djpegao He was not Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, or Damian Wayne, he didn't have a costume, he wasn't Batman's sidekick, and he didn't go by Robin... Was he really Robin?
Reeves has already said he wants to bring Robin into the next film he is doing.
Batgirl coming soon.
@@thewhitewolf7886 I'll believe it when I see it
I remember watching this as a little kid and loving it. I had a lot of the toys back then (I was around 5 or 6 when it released) from the movie. Rewatched it when I was around 22 years old and now every time I do watch Batman & Robin I'm laughing at how campy and over the top the movie actually is lol. If their intention was make kids want to buy the toys, I think they succeeded.
6:30 Goddamn. Arnold as Bane would have been the greatest thing ever!
06:30 Good point, actually. Why DIDN'T he get cast as Bane? It was RIGHT THERE...
Arnold was still buff back in '97, I know the wrestler was bigger but it would've saved a lot more money, because Freeze suit was expensive, and gave us a better script.
Audiences: "It's been over 20 years since we had a lighthearted, theatrical Batman film. Why do they have to keep getting grittier and darker?"
*Points at the Lego Batman Movie*
Audiences: "Oh a cartoon? Looks like it's for babies. Who cares?"
It's sad to think Batman and Robin may have more respect than The Lego Batman movie for some people.
Ah yes, the best Batman movie ever made, ever, by anyone, in history, forever. Yes. That one
Just started watching this channel and with Batmania back in full force, this was an ice surprise!
Face / Off was the greatest movie ever. The first time I saw it I laughed so hard I nearly choked to death, tears pouring down my face. I don't think I've ever laughed that hard at a movie in my entire life.
Wahey thanks Matt, i've been on a Batman kick lately, been watching the Dark Knight Trilogy, Batman 1989 and i'm playing Arkham Asylum again (best superhero game ever made) Playing Arkham Asylum is actually making me want to to watch the Animated Series again :)
You meen 3rd best because Archambault vity is asylum but with way more... waaaaaaay more.
Asylum and City together are the best Batman story that'll likely ever be told
I remember watching this in 1997 and actually liking it. But when I started to remember the movie in my head I was like "oooh it was terrible". A second watch reinforced those sentiments. I watched it again and with time I liked it. Not because it's good, but because it's a Batman movie that will never be made ever again...and that gives its charm somehow.
Regarding your comment at the end, the reason (IMO) that more lighthearted takes on batman don't work is that they, ironically, take themselves too seriously. Wanna have their cake and eat it too. I think if they did a take that REALLY leaned into the camp and was self aware about it, it could work.
RIP joel Schumacher, dispite the fact that this movie left a stain in your carreer, you had other jems over the years like lost boys, falling down, flatliners and phonebooth.
Ian here!!! I must say, I really felt bat on the creators/actors from the B&R movie from 1997. I just hope that someday in the future, we'll a Batman Unchained movie come to life. I also felt bad for Joel as well. He really did tried his best and everything. If you know what I mean. Let's hope Joel's memory/life will still live on for good as we all know. Besides the bad ones. #BatmanandRobinFOREVER #UnchainedOrNot!!!
Wait, they got an actual wrestler to play the Venom-juiced Bane? I always thought it was a blow-up muscle suit...
I love the additional information about Schumacher really paints him in a new and favorable light to me. All that haters of Alicia are pathetic. I do have to disagree on fun batman never being a good idea. Adam West and Batman the Brave and the Bold prove a light hearted Batman can work great. I do love the gritty versions and they're usually the ones remembered but I can't help myself going back to Brave and the Bold occasionally for all it's campy goodness. Great as always sir!
I completely forgot about Taco Bell advertising a contest with a chance to win a real life to-scale version of the Batmobile. I don't remember who won it if anybody even did win it, but it seemed so bizarre at that point in time to have a contest to win an actual Batmobile (y'know, minus the weapons, technology, an Alfred that spoke to you, and pretty much everything that made the Batmobile what it should be) based off of Batman & Robin of all the Batman films and it being promoted by Taco Bell. Oh 90's, I sure do miss how badshit insane some of your ideas were.
@@valletas u beat me to it lol
As someone whose favorite Batman is Adam West, I think there were two main issues with Batman & Robin's approach.
1. Confusing tone. They had the jokes and silliness, but they also had plenty of innuendo and 90s grittiness. The silliness undermined the weight of the darker scenes, while the heavier stuff undermined the charm of the jokes. In trying to appeal to everyone, they just made sure everyone would have something to complain about.
2. Self-aware characters. The characters themselves were delivering their lines fully aware of how campy they were. It honestly wouldn't have surprised me if George Clooney had winked at the camera after some of his lines. Contrast with 1960s Batman, where, no matter how ridiculous and silly the lines got, Adam West and Burt Ward played them completely straight. I think the deadpan delivery was a large part of what made that series so fun, personally.
I know it's hip to crap on Schumacher's works (lord knows I've taken my shots) but the sad truth is that if this film did a little bit better commercially or critically or Clooney wasn't clowned quite as hard, we might not have gotten the Nolan reboot. Which meant it might not have been fashionable for other studios to reboot their works. Schumacher made a film so bad, it gave birth to the term "reboot." But that led to the Dark Knight so... Thanks? And also RIP
"The Island of Dr. Moreau" is its own What Happened. Freaking chaos.
A new episode of Wha Happun. Always ice to see.
Haha. VERY funny you icehole! 😁
Out
I unironically love this movie actually because it was goofy as it was, it's albeit unintentionally hilarious
Got my copy of "Go Straight" a few weeks ago. Fantastic book!
oh men this classic deserves an episode indeed
I really wish I could’ve met mr Schumacher. I wanted to tell him how much I love Batman Forever!
To me, that film is a perfect combination of dark Keaton Batman and 60’s West Batman. The story gets Batman and Bruce, Val was a great Batman, and I really enjoy nearly everything about it. My issues include Tommy Lee Jones trying to up Jim Carrey on being funny and I wish we could’ve seen the deleted scenes within the film.
I mostly like-love everything else. I wanted him to know a Teen like me enjoyed that movie very much. I’m nineteen and still love it. My Fourth favorite behind ‘89, Returns, and The Batman
For the longest time i always wondered why Val Kilmer wasn’t in Batman and Robin, glad to finally know the reason why.
The lighthearted nature isnt the problem. Lego Batman was great. It was the inconsistency in tone and overall lack of quality that killed B&R. And the fact that it was in the same series as 89 and Returns, which were more adult films. Forever gets a lot of hate, but its something kids can watch as well as adults.
Absolutely loved this video. This film is so fun to watch. Its that enjoyable.
Funny how Val Kilmer dropped the 4th film to go work with Marlon Brando. Just for them to go to war with each other on set and contribute to the already messy shitshow that was Dr Moreau. Hoping for an What Happened on that beautiful train wreck.
I think this was the most informative episode of WH in a long time. Legit kudos, this was great & super interesting!
I remember watching this as a kid with my aunt. I loved it but she didn't saying it wasn't nearly as good as Forever. I thought she was crazy but then I grew up and watched it with adult eyes and realized why she said that 😭
Good video. BTW I'm a coaster nerd, and you could have a whole WHa Happun around the Batman & Robin roller coaster too (not Mr. Freeze, as those are still open, but the actual one called Batman & Robin). It was glitchy as hell, and consumed so much energy to launch 2 dueling trains that they couldn't actually duel them (they had to stagger the launches because there simply wasn't enough electricity available to do a simultaneous launch). Add to that the fact sometimes the coaster trains would struggle to complete the run (and they actually cut elements off the ride and re-profiled the track to try and address that), and you get a situation where the coaster had a short life. It was sold to a park in South America, but -when they sent it down- they forgot to include instructions on how to assemble it, so to this day it's still in pieces down there and no one knows how to correctly assemble it!
The most important thing to learn from this is that Face/Off continues to win.
I think it’s clear Matt McMuscles had fun making this episode, I’ve never laughed so much at a What Happun episode before!
This feels like the episode of What Happened we've all been waiting for
I was waiting for this last week but I’m glad we got it now!! Big fan of the series.
Speaking of Island of Dr. Moreau, there's a whole lotta What Happened in that story? Would definitely love to see that one covered someday.
There's a documentary out there about this called Lost Soul that came out about 8 years ago. It's roughly 90 minutes long. I can't see What Happen being able to say anything that wasn't already said there, but I guess it would be a more condensed format.
The ones who has to apologize for batman and robin isn't Joel Schumacher, but WB production team and marketing team, who only wanted to sell toys
OH MY GOD WHY DID THEY NOT LET ARNOLD PLAY BANE!?
I gotta admit Arnold can throw wicked dad jokes like there's no tomorrow.
I wasn't prepared to see my favorite Batman movie being reviewed today. What a pleasant surprise!
0:14 the curtains open to reveal more curtains 💀
“Welcome back to another episode of ‘What Happened?’”
Happy to be here, Matt!
I've got a lot of nostalgia for this movie. I remember watching the VHS religiously, collecting the toys and those McDonald glasses.
Casting Arnold as Bane wouldve been brilliant! How have I not heard anyone suggest that before?
The more interviews with Joel Schumacher that I've read, the more I've come to appreciate him as a person, not to mention he directed Falling Down - one of the best movies ever. The man has his share of the blame for B&R, but he doesn't deserve 1/10th of the hate he gets for it.
11:17 love the Doctor Who theme in a Batman & Robin review.
Even though the movie isn't exactly great for many things, I do appreciate the amount of work that goes to makingsl sure everything work properly no matter the reputation it gets after coming out
Ok, I NEED to know if somebody actually won that Taco Bell contest for the life-sized Batmobile.
Matt, I don't know what happened but I have to fucking thank you.
I've been having stomach issues for the past week and the part where you talked about Arnold's battery acid incident made me laugh so hard that I started to feel better.
Thanks for entertaining me!
I searched for the sketch burgard did to see how bad it was.
I feel disgusted and so sorry for alicia silverstone, she didn't deserve that
Part of me is morbidly curious but the other part wants to stay blissfully ignorant.
Right before clicking into your videos, I wondered if you ever did Batman & Robin. So to see your newest video is Batman & Robin is awesome
A MATT CREDIT CARD!?!?
I know it's kinda pedantic, but it's really annoying that the movie is called Batman and Robin, except Robin is wearing a Nightwing, not Robin, costume
You know what personally hurts the most of this disaster of a movie? The waist of one of my favorite villains, MR.FREEZE.
I still remember the ICONIC Batman Animated Series episode, where he was introduced.
A masterpiece of a Villian!!
While I am firmly in the camp of "people take this film existing too seriously" I can't help but agree with you there. I pray that we may still have a phenomenal live action on screen depiction of such a tragic character. I loved him in Arkham City in addition to his iconic introduction in the animated series.
I still can't believe we went from this to Batman Begins. Praise Nolan!
Whenever I hear that Batman Forever outperformed Batman Returns, my faith in humanity dies a little more. The goofy attempts of BMF to throw back to the Adam West-style camp were IMO so bad that its sequel had no hope of being good, so I didn't watch BM&R. Interesting to see a behind the scenes look of how the series was run into the ground.
It could be much more different if Arnold was casted as BANE- and be MAIN VILLAIN. Man i missed Robin in batman film. I Hope i will see it soon enuf