The best Batman film (in my opinion) comes to DVD. Tim Burton's inspired direction provides a darker and more brooding vision of the caped crusader, laying to rest the cringe-inducing campness of the Adam West/Burt Ward TV series. Sam Hamm and Warren Skaaren's screenplay give Tim Burton plenty to work with and he directs a strong cast in this wonderful film.
Michael Keaton is superb as Bruce Wayne (alias Batman) and he play the role with a wit and charm that really brings the character to life. Kim Basinger positively sizzles as Vicky Vale, a photographer assisting Robert Wuhl (Alexander Knox) in his search for the mysterious Batman.
Inspired casting sees Jack Nicholson steal the show as The Joker. If ever there was a role that was made for Jack Nicholson, then this is it.
For an older film, the transition to DVD is remarkably good. The picture is sharp and clear and the colours are bright and clean. The sound (in Dolby Digital 5.1) is clean and does what it's supposed to.
Extras on the disc include cast biographies, production notes and scene selection as well as subtitles in English and Arabic.
I doubt that there can be many people who haven't seen this film, but I'll just give a quick run down of the story. When he was a child, Bruce Wayne watched as his parents were killed during a mugging. He inherited his parents fortune and grew up to be a fine upstanding citizen of Gotham City. Years later, while fighting crime he drops Jack Napier (Nicholson) into a vat of acid. Napier survives and becomes The Joker, intent on wreaking havoc on the good people of Gotham. Caught between the hero and the villain is Vicky Vale. Suffice to say, good triumphs ultimately.
This film has just about everything you could want and since it is available for about twelve quid, it's definitely worth getting. Put simply, it's a great film with a great cast and there isn't really a reason not to get it.
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Production Year: 1977 - Action/Adventure - Director: Clint Eastwood - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring:Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke, Pat Hingle, William Prince, Bill McKinney
Production Year: 2002 - Action/Adventure - Director: Vincenzo Natali - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring:Lucy Liu, David Hewlett, Anne Marie Scheffler, Joseph Scoren, Matthew Sharp, Jeremy Northam
Production Year: 1964 - Action/Adventure - Director: Cyril Endfield - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring:Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth, Michael Caine, Nigel Green
After a young boy witnesses his parents' murder on the streets of Gotham City he grows up ... more
to become Batman a mysterious figure in the eyes of Gotham's citizens who takes crime-fighting into his own hands. He first emerges out of the shadows when the...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Gotham City, not the safest of places to live, but that is about to change with the ... more
emergence of a new super hero, who intends to inspire fear into the hearts of the evil, and hope into the hearts of the honest citizens of that city! Who is Batman?
Advantages: Great story, Great effects and make up, great soundtrack great performances. Disadvantages: Not enough of Alfred and commissioner Gordon shown
Gum 22.07.2000 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of BATMAN (DVD)
Advantages: good acting from a few, good story, funny bad effects! Disadvantages: Wooden acting from the villians, some may be disappointed by the effects
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