Batman DVDd Reissue news

Actually the original edit of Batman Forever was a wee bit longer and DARKER! Yes it had stuff like 2 face escaping from jail. I'd actually go watch it, but heck Begins is gonna blow it away.

Everything that is wrong in FOREVER can't be fixed by recutting.

I actually didn't mind BF. Not a total loss, but not as good as the first two either. I'm excited about the re-release of the first two. Batman Returns has been on Encore a few times here and there and I always find myself watching it. I think I might like it more than the first one. I just love the Catwoman character in the movie, and the relationship b/w her and Batman/Bruce Wayne. And of course, the Walken is great.

"Bruce Wayne!? What are you doing wearing a Batman costume?"
"That's because he IS Batman, you moron!"

I hope these are available as separate releases rather than one boxed set.

I'd like to petition for this thread being moved to the DVD section....but while it's here.....

As Charles said, all that is wrong with Batman Forever will not be fixed by a new edit...however, there's a pretty noticeable portion of right with that film underneath all the camp (primarily, the Bruce Wayne material)...and if there's stuff that adds to that side of the film, I'm in.

And even though I still hate how they fucked up Two-Face, I enjoy him and the Riddler in that film on the same level I enjoy Gene Hackman's Lex Luthor...it's not what should've been done with the character(s), but, on their own terms, it's obvious both Carrey and Jones are having a shitload of fun, the feeling's kinda infectious, and it makes them a blast to watch....it's my guilty pleasure Batman fix.

And in terms of the box set, in general.....if I can deal with having that piece of shit Alien Resurrection in my Quadrilogy box, I can deal with having The Film That Should Not Be in this case.

Jim Carrey´s Riddler was even worse, i still cringe thinking about how Jim Carrey´s constant gurning ruined the film.

I don't think I'll be buying this as a box set. We'll see.
But I completely agree that what's wrong with BF can't be fixed by adding stuff. And I've sort of promised myself never to give money to the franchise via B&R. But I will be interested in the first two with Burton commentary. And I said in some other thread that I at least would be interested in hearing Schumacher talking about what went wrong with his films, because from what I read in interviews he is aware that B&R was something of a misstep.

I'd love to hear Schumacher's commentary on "Batman & Robin." Two hours and five minutes of apologizing.

Batman Forever is actually worse than Batman and Robin.

Batman Returns, on the other hand, is a fantastic movie. One of the best comedies on the war of the sexes ever made.

Tommy Lee Jones' Two Face is sub-par. Sure, he wasn't helped by the director, or the fact that Jim Carrey was stealing all the scenes, but he played it with one note throughout the whole film. Boring, and partially Jack Nicholson's fault.

Still, I'm curious to see what gets thrown back into the film, especially if they do a LOTR type thing with real thought put behind it.

The Tim Burton films have not aged well, but they are minor successes. I've almost come to enjoy the sheer awfulness of B&R. Batman Forever is the one I've seen the least of, meaning I've only seen it in chunks.

"Everything that is wrong in FOREVER can't be fixed by recutting."
Agreed. I don't absolutely hate Forever...it has it's moments..but it's not going to be improved by additional material .
Now BATMAN AND ROBIN is a total piece of Shit, and the point where Arnie's film career jumped the shark.
But I will buy the Boxed set just for the first two films and the extras.

After seeing the glorious footage from BB, these films will soon become irrelevant. Put them in the same catagory as Corman's Fantastic Four. (although the FF film is entertaining despite it's dirt-cheap budget)

Good try, but now let's get to the real business of telling a cool, respectful compelling story of the Batman. At this point Nolan's version with be the defintive take on Bats unless something bizarre really goes wrong.

I see no reason to buy or even watch these films ever again.

mastronikolas, How is Batman Forever actually worse than B & R? Please explain this! Forever is at least somewhat watchable whereas the latter is one long unfunny campy joke.

Apparently Batman 1 comes out in May while the boxset comes out in Oct/Nov....that's a long wait.

Fuck, who cares. Unlike the Alien Quadrilogy and Ultimate Matrix boxes, the only films I have any interest in from *this* set are the first two Burton flicks.

Might end up checking out the Batman Forever recut on rental as a trifling curio, but barring a miracle, I don't see myself actually buying it, nor the fourth one.

1)Batman & Robin knows it is high camp. Forever thinks it's a serious film.

2) I dig Kilmer but he was a terrible choice for Batman.

3) Carrey and Jones were terrible. Thurman is just as bad, but Arnie chewing scenery is at least watchable (although it's a travesty of what the character could've been like).

4) The plot goes way beyond my ability to suspend disbelief. A mind reading machine? I'll pass. Batman is supposed to exist in a semi-realistic universe.

"After seeing the glorious footage from BB, these films will soon become irrelevant."
Wanna bet?
The last two, I will agree are forgettable. But the ones Tim Burton actualy directed are still great entertainment.
I hate to say it but Zod is beginning to sound like a parody of the stereotyped, Pavlovian fanboy.
And BTW, it might be a good idea to actully see BB before making Judgements like those above.
And I can give you a long list of movies that had great trailers but sucked when they came out.

I love the first two with minor quibbles( Batman killing guys, Jack Napier being the guy who iced Bruce's parents, The Penguin Being a mutant freak, though it works well enough within the film, and be honest, Catwoman in that film was also a Catwoman in name only, she wasn't even in the same vein as a cat-burglar, or the disenchanted prostitute who dug Batman but thought his methods were too soft.) Forever is a very entertaining film, though Robin being so much older than a Boy Wonder was a huge misstep. I look forward to the extended version of Forever, even though Two-Face was underused, cripes, they could have had a whole movie based on the Harvey Dent character going after the mob in gotham and getting screwed up afterwards, that would have been cool. Batman and Robin is what it is, horrible, but so horrible its worth watching for the crapiness of it all. The reboot with Begins could start a whole new series of movies that really capture the spirit of Batman since the early 80's. Its a shame that we probably won't get to see a decent incarnation of Catwoman due to the fuckover of the chracter last year. The animated series of Batman has spoiled us Bat-Fans, but I still have hope for a new successful incarnation. Begins looks great.

all these DVD's better be sold seperate, I don't want to have to buy a damn box set in order to get 3 out of the 4.

I don't know, I think I'll stay away from all of these, unless the extras on the first one seem to be worthwhile. I just feel that now that the Animated Series is becoming available, there's almost no reason to subject yourself to an inferior version of the character.

Batman 1 doesn't hold up so well, but I wouldn't call Batman Returns an inferior-Bat Product. Sure it takes some big liberties with the characters, but the essence of it is pure Batman. Penguin was a little over done, but the relationship between Bruce Wayne and Selina was so perfect that they quoted it almost exactly in Mask of the Phantasm. And, aside from Edward Scissorhands and Beetlejuice, it might be the most "Tim Burton" Tim Burton movie.

Agreed.

Ok. Good points.

Yes, they will become irrelevant because BB actually follows Bats true origins. The film is actually about BATMAN and not the villian.

My biggest problem with the first flick is Joker. He's a buffoon. A crazed goofball who listens to Prince. I love the Prince, but why was he heard in that film? Stupid.

Joker is a great baddie and typical Burton he waters down and makes the villian more interesting than the hero. A pussy villian as well.

The last two flicks are painful to watch.

Batman Begins, its the cure to what ailes ya.

Well, I've always disliked Batman Returns for a number of reasons that I won't go into here, but it's all a matter of my personal taste of course.

By making Ra's al Ghul a part of his formative years?

And the "Joker killed Batman's parents"-thing was probably done to create a more self-contained story, one that would work outside the comic. It seems like comics enjoy a higher status these days, which enables films like Begins to be made. I still think we need to keep in mind that it's almost impossible to pin down a "true" Batman.

Still, I haven't looked forward to a movie this much since late 2001. *keeps fingers crossed*

It may be hard to pin down a true Batman, but they didn't even pin down a true Joker in the first movie. I know I'm asking for it, but I HATE Nicholson's Joker. There is no character there, its just Jack doing an impression of the Joker doing an impression of Jack. The Joker is such a great bad guy, a force of evil nature, I got none of that from Nicholosn. I guess that's my most major gripe with Burton's two films, the heros and the villains all feel wrong and not true to the more popular iterations seen through the years in the comics.

I don't think you're alone in not digging Jack as the Joker. Mark Hamill's pretty much got the support of the net nerds, and rightly so.

Edited 'cause I'm in the wrong thread. Whoops!

At least with the DVD reissue more people will discover how awful the first Batman movie was. I have a lot of the same gripes as everyone else. Jack Nicholson, Prince, etc. I'll also add Michael Keaton woefully miscast, poor pacing, and the overly gothic influences and phallic designs.

I'm not so quick to hail Batman Begins as the franchise savior because of the script . Wasn't great, but it was good. When considering that they've had all this time to come up with a winning script, it's really disappointing. The suit is no big improvement either. It still looks awkward and immobile. The fat neck area and how it doesn't connect to the rest of the suit, laying there sloppily, bugs the shit out of me. What happened to a suit made of the same material used in Spider-Man?

Definately purchasing Batman and Batman Returns (both are also supposed to include deleted scenes). I'm iffy about getting Forever though. It's decent, but I don't know if I really feel like wasting my money on a special edition of it. This is the first I've heard of a boxed set or the inclusion of Batman & Robin. All articles I have read basically alluded to the fact that they weren't doing a thing for or with the 4th film. I'm pretty sure they will all be sold separately, as that was the original intention (hence the exclusion of Batman & Robin).


I like a few Joel Schumacher films (mainly his low budget ones), but damn him for destroying the series...

- The neon-lighted campiness was brought to the table by Schumacher. Michael Keaton actually stayed on the project for Batman 3 when Burton left and was keen on playing the role again. That is until Schumacher came with his "vision". Keaton wanted it to stay in as dark and serious a tone as the first two, and when Schumacher refused, Keaton quit.

- He destroyed the characters of Two-Face, The Riddler, Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy, and ESPECIALLY Bane.

- Alicia Silverstone as Batgirl? Why? Batgirl should NEVER have been added to the film series.

- Nipples on the Batsuit. 'Nuff said. I could keep on going, but I'm gonna stop here.



I know that the new REMAKE series that "begins" this summer will eventually end up using The Joker, for it is almost unavoidable. However, I sincerely hope they use an actual rendition of Two-Face for a sequel. More than any of the others the Schumacher screwed up, that character deserves to be done properly. Besides, while it is going to be hard for whoever takes on the Joker to make people forget Nicholson, Two-Face can be redone easily because he was never even played close to begin with (which I blame more on Schumacher than Jones).

Another interesting note. I once read an analysis online that presented each Batman film as an unintentional adaptation of certain periods in the comics/media (i.e. Batman & Robin was the film version of the Adam West series). Could any of you Batman-philes out there correlate this with your knowledge of the different eras of the character and see if you agree? If this is true, it might make for a very interesting Chewer column.

I read that article awhile ago as well. It screams of fanboy apologizing horseshit. If you liked the movies , you liked them, you don't need to come up with theories that support some non-existant homage to certain eras of the incarnation.. I like the first three, more than a bit, I love watching Batman and Robin and getting shit-hammered drunk while I do. I don't need to correlate the films to anything else than having a good time while watching them.

I used to refer to B&R as being an updated version of the 1960's show, but it lacks all the charm of the Adam West incarnation. So know I just call it shit.

I'll definitely buy the boxset.
While I agree the films are all flawed, I did enjoy certain aspects of each (if regarded as an homage to the 60's show or a seperate entity to 1-3, B&R is tolerable)
I doubt even half of Forever's problems can be solved by the re-edit, but it can't make it any worse. If I was Schumacher, I'd focus my budget on 'Lucasing' some scenes, toning down colours and sound effects.

Any solid news on relase dates? I have a feeling that release of the first movie will precede BEGINS, if only so they can stick a 10 minute EPK on Begins, a la the '3 Disk Re-issue' of Spider-Man in 2004.

Keaton was fantastic and Burton's vision was fresh and exciting back in 1989.

However, the film has aged badly and can only be seen now as a product of its time. It's a very eighties movie. Batman Returns is far better on this account

Not to mention that the villains were both terrific characters and terrifically realised. And I really dig the whole battle of the sexes angle.

Joel Schumacher recording a commentary track for BATMAN AND ROBIN.

I will buy this.

Definitely a reason to at least rent it. It would be interesting to hear what he has to say. I'll bet he'll blame the whole thing on everyone but himself. That or profess how it's the best in the series.

Or he'll blame Harry Knowles for the film bombing, like he did that whole fucking summer...

Man, even with all the quibbles I have with this series, I'm still itching to pick up the box set. I hope schumacher does a commentary on the extended version of Forever as well, as that film, to me, had the best intentions but droppped the ball on a lot of things, it will be interesting to hear what he says.

Are these still on track for fall? Anyone got info?

I'll probably pick up the first two. I have no interest in getting the others, though I'll consider Netflixing them, especially if the last one's commentary track is Schumacher admitting what's wrong with the film, which I think is a distinct possibility given his comments afterwards (and the fact he's not bothering to recut it). Admittedly, the film's running time isn't enough to fully dissect the film's missteps; for that you'd need a 14-disc set like Flying Circus has.

Batman and Robin has been my candidate for "worst movie ever made" for quite some time, as it's the kind of awfulness that needs tremenous amounts of money and a lot of talented though misguided people to pull off, with the assistance of a lot of talentless and clueless ones. I had remembered Batman Forever as being nowhere near as bad, until I watched it again recently and realized that it's within shouting sistance of as bad as B & R. It's telling though that I saw it and Judge Dredd close together and though Judge Dredd was the better movie.

I's agree that Kilmer was totally miscast. Keaton was actually pretty good, while Clooney probably could have been given even halfway decent material (a la Thomas Jane in Punisher).

I'm not a huge fan of any of these, but I'll always have a soft spot for Batman Forever. Horrible Batman film, but it entertains me nonetheless.

Not to mention the first time I ever got a job in a movie theater was the second week this came out, and it was playing on THREE screens at my theater, so I watched it.....let's just say way too many times.

The other three flicks can piss right off.

I'd probably buy the whole set if it provided the first two movies with Elfman's isolated score in 5.1.

BTW The current boxed set is just the current DVDs boxed togetherk no extra features.
Save you dough for the SE this fall....allegedly.
And boos for Warner's for doing this double dip. A few people will grab this set thinking it is the SE.

I'm pretty much with Micah here. Of the four previous films, BATMAN FOREVER is my favorite but that's not syaing much.... it too is pretty crappy and has probably one of the worst final acts I can remember. However, it was the first of the films to feature a Gotham that wasn't obviously an indoor set the entire time (BATMAN RETURNS looks and feels like it was filmed in someone's living room).

Yeah, but that Gotham was decorated like the cars in THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS.

I agree the sets were way too obviously indoor in the Burtons, but the design was pretty great stuff. That first shot of Gotham in '89 set the scene perfectly.

Anton Furst deserves credit for the look of Gotham in the original film. In fact, we can only wish Burton and WB had used MORE of his designs.

Personally, I still like a Gotham that looks and feels like a REAL city... and that's another thing that Nolan has accomplished better than anyone before.

I dunno, I like a mix. I think with Superman, it's much more important to get that real-life corny Americana I <3 NYC feeling for Metropolis. With Gotham, it's always worked so well when it's been a hyper-stylised 30s art-deco film noir world, that it's kind of a let down to see it look like a normal city.

I see what you mean, but "normal" and REALISTIC are too different things. I have no problem with Gotham having a unique look and design. Like you said, it's Gothic Art Deco... a mixture of 30's architecture with the futuristic. However, the previous films have completely dropped the ball and come up with designs and sets that were more whimsical than anything else, and far from realistic. They take you out of the movie at times, which is the worst.

I will believe they are made when I see them at the store.

Any chance of a special edition Batman score? I have the original Elfman score and it's missing alot of music, some of the best cues are left out.