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Batman Returns (1992)
quirkyquirk
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Anyone else a fan of this? As a Batman film it falls short and is in no way faithful to the source material but I think it's a fantastic gothic fairytale. The plot is dark,and the christmas setting and Danny Elfman's score make it very atmospheric IMO.
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Its just the two after these where things went pear shaped.
To me it captures the mystery of Batman
Th art direction is flawless, it has the best dialogue of any super hero film - its sparky and full of wit.
The villains upstage the Bat, but Keaton still plays it brilliantly.
The only niggle is the over complictaed plot, but I can forgive a film that tries too hard, as opposed to a film that doesn't try at all.:cool:
Always loved the ending, hinting that Cat woman was still alive, if only Burton had made the third....:(
Great way to end a discussion
there are loads of lovely little bits, my favourite being when michelle pfeiffer is killed then comes back to life, walks into her appt and smashes a couple of the letters on her neon HELLO THERE sign.
when you see her from afar, after she's become catwoman, the sign says HELL HERE
i love that.
One thing that does niggle me slightly everytime I watch it is the white eyes just before the cowl gets ripped off.
He's got black eyes in one scene when taking to Selina, camera turns away then when it goes back to Batman he's now got White Eyes.
Yeah it's a visually stunning film.Like I said in my OP the christmas setting just gives the film a little something extra I think.And as much as I like Christian Bale,I still love Keaton's take on it.The troubled, recluse who's not comfortable in his own skin - he only lives to be Batman.His introduction where he's sat alone in his dark mansion speaks for itself.
I like the bit when Batman is out late at night quietly cruising the snowy streets of Gotham in the Batmobile (which is surely the best designed one ever) watching Penguin through the window.
My favourite Batman film, well live action film. Everyone knows Mask Of The Phantasm is king.
Michelle Pfeiffer is amazing in this as is Danny De Vito.
"I don't know about you Miss Kitty but I feel so much yummier!"
I saw it in the cinema as a child - and the bit where the penguins bring 'The Penguin' (Danny Devito's) body into the water had me balling my eyes out! Literally in bits at how they loved him and brought him into the pool. Then I realised NO-ONE in the cinema was crying.
What does that say about me??! Weird-child
Tim Burton also understood that Batman is best played by someone who hides his rock hard real persona beneath a nerdy oddball facade. Someone you wouldn't even suspect as being Batman. Rather than the "hunk" type actors that have played him since.
Michael Keaton never had to do a silly voice to play Batman. He simply stammered and stuttered as Bruce and got deadly serious as Batman.
Returns is just plain nasty, messy, dull, convoluted... Yuk. Hated it the first time I saw it and only occasionally watch it (if it's on the box), if I'm in a hating mood. This was not a proper Batman film, just Burton overdosing on his gothic style-excess and, his weirdness just overtook proceedings. Does Bruce just mope around in his manor, living solely for the bat-signal to shine? Selina fashioning her costume from her wardrobe was plain silly (as was the sight of her washing herself..). The Penguin was abominable to watch and though no prude, could see why his innuendos and actions riled parents and the younger crowd.
I for one was glad he was given the elbow by WB (whichever way you read it), for Schumacher to take the reins with the brilliant Batman Forever, my personal fave of the 90s movies.
No, but it was late in the evening. It's understandable he was at home doing nothing much
I disagree. It's nice to see a comic book movie explaining practically where a character got their outfit from. Compare that to the Raimi Spiderman trilogy where Spiderman's advanced costume is never explained. He just pulled it from thin air.
Pandering too greatly to kids led to the mediocre BF and terrible BR. Given the choice, WB should have stuck with dark Batman, which they pretty much went back to anyway with the even more violent Nolan series.
:D:D:D
Seriously! I've never read such crap.
You've got the massive continuity error with the casting for Harvey Dent/Two Face with Tommy Lee Jones. Pretty sure if Burton had been in charge then Billy Dee Williams would of reprised that role. Even if Billy would of been replaced anyway, then at least give the roll to someone of the same ethnic origin.
Commisioner Gordan was pretty much a no nonsense character in Batman & Batman Returns, but in Batman Forever we see the start of the comedy role they turned him into which was even worse in Batman & Robin.
As time has gone by the whole Edward Nigma/Riddler character just grates on me and to a certain extent so does Two Face with that Yin & Yang sh**e.
Didn't have that much of an issue with Kilmer as I thought he was quite a good Batman.
The less said about Robin the better I think .
Apparently Returns has no redeeming features at all, Hmmmmm.
Please tell us what Forevers redeeming features are.
One can only presume that people who favoured Schumacher were very young when it came out - probably 5 or 6 years old maybe.
The action is a bit sub par in BR as well - much as I like Michael Keaton, his Batman is basically a little bloke on a motorised winch, stuck inside a stiff rubber suit which hinders his movement.