Batman [DVD] [1989]

I was looking forward to Batman coming to Blu-Ray, I like the Nolan films just as much but find Jack Nicholson's Joker far more enjoyable than Heath Ledger's.

Warner Brothers have chosen to let the film start almost immediately, without the chance to select options from the menu; rather annoying. This also means that if you wish to watch any of the extras (there is an exhaustive library of documentaries and interviews) you have to select them from the pop-up menu while the film is running, and when you finish it returns to the film - I find that a little weird.

Image quality is very good and a huge improvement over the DVD, I'm pretty familiar with this film but found I was able to detect more emotional nuances than usual in the faces of the actors, the quality certainly seems to add something to the performances. It should be spectacular if it is ever re-mastered, but for now, it's still pretty good. I wouldn't go so far to say this is as good as Blade Runner though, which is exceptional.

I haven't heard the HD soundtracks, but the standard Dolby Digital 5.1 is a little disappointing, it's too quiet and occasionally seems to drop into mono, or at least partly, with dialoque suddenly spreading to the front left and right speakers. This may be of interest to others like me who haven't upgraded yet from their original surround set-ups for DVD.

One really can't overstate this film's lasting impact on contemporary Hollywood cinema. While Richard Donner's Superman laid the foundations Tim Burton's gothic masterpiece established what we know today as the comic book adaptation as huge summer event flick. The commendable successes of the recent X Men and Spider-Man franchise owe their success (and indeed production) to the 1989 Batman.
There's nothing I can say about the film itself that hasn't already been said. But just in case you spent the 80s and 90s on the moon;
It looked amazing in 1989 and it still looks amazing today!
Michael Keaton silenced any critics with his deft portrayal of a tormented, psychologically plausible Dark Knight and remains my favourite big screen Batman (with Christian Bale a close second).
Jack Nicholson's Joker provided us with one of the most iconic screen villains of all time.
But I'm assuming you know all about the film.
You want to hear about the DVD don't you?
You know when I bought my first DVD player back in '01 I was shocked and appalled that I couldn't find a Special Edition of one of my favourite films Batman. So I stuck with my VHS copy until I my girlfriend bought me the vanilla DVD one Christmas. Still I yearned and cursed Warner Brothers for not giving Bat-fans and cinema enthusiasts the 2 disc treatment that had been awarded to so many lesser films.
While it was a wait of nearly 5 years WB really pulled out the stops to create a Special Edition worthy of the Dark Knight's legacy.

The film itself has been completely remastered. Grain is seriously reduced (no mean feat in a film with this amount of matte work), colours (particularly blacks) are nice and rich which is essential in a film with this dark a palette, and the film is generally much crisper and sharper. The 5.1 and DTS tracks are superb and really do justice to Danny Elfman's score. Tim Burton's commentary track is pretty good. Anyone who's seen an interview with him knows he prefers to let the films speak for themselves but he raises some interesting points on why he knew Keaton was the man for the job, why Robin was cut from the film and what HE would have done with Two Face.
Disc 2 is where the real meat of the extras lies in easily negotiable (but sadly non-animated) menus.
Legends of the Dark Knight is an in depth look at the origins of the comics and the varying multi media representations of The Batman from the Pulp rooted violent detective of the 30s through to the swashbuckler of the 40s (and visiting the enjoyable movie serials of 1943 and 1949 along the way), the time travelling, space exploring self parody of the 50s and 60s and the darker return to source material of the 70s and 80s culminating neatly in the work of Frank Miller and its effect on the Batman film. While the 60s TV show is mentioned it is (unfortunately) devoid of footage, presumably due to the ongoing rights wars between WB and Fox for the show. Narrated by Mark Hammill and featuring interviews with everyone from Stan Lee to Frank Miller to Dennis O'Neil this is a quintessential Batman documentary.
The 3 Shadows Of The Bat documentaries comprehensibly track the film's long, LONG journey from conception to post production in an incredibly informative and enjoyable way from the perspective of Executive Producer and Bat-fan Michael Uslan. Interestingly these run all across the 4 Burton / Schumacher films and are an excellent means of illustrating the journey the franchise took in the space of 8 years.
The Beyond Batman documentaries are slightly smaller, more manageable featurettes that document every aspect of production from the production design to scoring.
As if all this weren't enough there are some nice little touches like the fun but short On The Set With Bob Kane segment and the Heroes and Villains mini segments in which Batman comic writers, the film makers and the actors themselves share their thoughts on what the character is all about. Another neat little segment is the Robin Animated Storyboard Sequence. Voiced by Batman Animated Series actors Kevin Conroy and Mark Hammill this illustrates how the introduction of Robin might have looked had it not been jettisoned.
In conclusion this 2 disc DVD is one of the few Special Editions truly worthy of the title. WB have finally given The Dark Knight his due!
Thank you reader for making it all the way to the end of this extremely long winded (but I hope, helpful) review!

This was the first film i got on blue-ray. Why? Becuase it is my favourite movie of all time.
Jack Nicholson steals the show as the joker, you can clearly see that he was having fun and Michael Keaton is a suprisingly good Batman, everyone slated the casting choice before the film's release but once they saw the movie everyone admitted to being wrong.

Hardcore Batman fans will say that this movie is not as true to the comics as they would like but that to me is why it was a film and not a comic. It is a completely different media so enjoy this movie for being the movie that it is.

If you do enjoy this film please also read the comics that inspired it such as the beloved Batman: The Killing Joke (Deluxe Edition) and Batman: Dark Knight Returns