Return To The Batcave - The Misadventures Of Adam And Burt (DVD)

...a reunion TV movie called Return to the Batcave -The Misadventures of Adam and Burt.

So with Adam West who played, Batman, Burt Ward who played Robin, Julie Newmar who played Catwoman and Frank Gorshin who played the memorable part of Riddler, the cast were gathered. But none of the characters actually play the role they are famous for as all the characters play themselves. I will explain further.

---The Plot---
...to a charity function where an original Batmobile from the TV series is up for auction. When the lights go out, the vehicle is stolen and driven out of the function. As it was dark no one can see who stole the car. With everyone looking at Adam and Burt for guidance, the duo decides to investigate further in hopes of finding out who stole the vehicle, as well as for the charity

Along the journey of discovery the two take, there is ... more

Hello and welcome. As a kid that watched the Batman TV show when it was shown on Thames Television every Tuesday at 5.15pm, I was totally enthralled and always disappointed that it was a serial that continued the next day. This DVD takes it a step further after 35 years since the show was cancelled.

---The Source---

In 1966, a revolution took place in American TV. A brand new series based on the characters from the DC Comics publication was aired. Simply called Batman it told the story of the Caped Crusader, and his sidekick Robin, fighting crime against a host of villains ranging from The Joker, The Penguin, Catwoman and The Riddler to the Siren, who was played by Joan Collins.

The first show aired on ABC from January 12 1966 and ran for a total of 119 episodes that were aired until March 14th 1968, the humour was camp; the violence was no more harmful than a Tom and Jerry cartoon and everything was done with a tongue firmly in cheek. After the first season a full length feature was released world wide which only raised further interest in the show. The two main stars Adam West and Burt Ward became household names across the world.

The show was in syndication for years after, meaning that actor's fees are still paid with various rights for TV channels to show the series. By the end of the final episode the show had changed dramatically from episode 1 as the introduction of Batgirl and the schemes that the guest criminals planned became more outrageous.

Batman is one of the few shows that are still shown today that the majority of the cast are still alive. Not being funny but there is no way could I include Dad's Army in that statement!!

---The Reunion---

So with nostalgia becoming the new black it seems that a possible remake or special was inevitable. In 2003 the surviving cast were gathered for a reunion TV movie called Return to the Batcave -The Misadventures of Adam and Burt.

So with Adam West who played, Batman, Burt Ward who played Robin, Julie Newmar who played Catwoman and Frank Gorshin who played the memorable part of Riddler, the cast were gathered. But none of the characters actually play the role they are famous for as all the characters play themselves. I will explain further.

---The Plot---

Adam West and Burt Ward are invited to a charity function where an original Batmobile from the TV series is up for auction. When the lights go out, the vehicle is stolen and driven out of the function. As it was dark no one can see who stole the car. With everyone looking at Adam and Burt for guidance, the duo decides to investigate further in hopes of finding out who stole the vehicle, as well as for the charity

Along the journey of discovery the two take, there is a number of flashbacks as Adam and Burt recall their memories of the show, perhaps from different point of views but definitely memories.

With the flashbacks, I think is where the film exceeded where other re-union shows failed. Others have a 60 year old man coming back and playing the same part and running in even slower motion as they did 25 years before, see The Six Million Dollar Man. But here the characters in the flashbacks are played by younger actors who resemble the actors as they looked in the sixties named Jack Brewer and Jason Marsden who play Adam and Burt respectively, also that is Jack and Jason on the cover of the DVD and not Adam and Burt, that for me was the acid test.

This not only gives a fair amount of room to expand the story but also means that the sky's the limit with what can be recalled. This works well as the flashbacks are done in chronological order from the screen tests where the actors were given there respective roles to the stars dealing with the new found fame.

One of the best scenes is in a flashback is where Adam turns up late to a press conference so decides to bring the two models he has been with all night with him. There is also a flashback on the downside where Burt was stalked due to being a well known celebrity. This helped keep a balance between the up's and down's of being famous. It also shows what both actors were doing before they achieved the parts in Batman and even who they were up against to get the parts, a few famous names are mentioned with an extremely rare screen test clip being shown as well.

Other flashbacks include the creation and construction of the Batcave and the make up process that the actors playing the villains went through. A good example is Cesar Romero who upon taking the part of The Joker refused to shave his moustache off as this was his cinematic trademark. In actual fact if you watch the episodes you can see that the Joker does actually have a moustache, but has been considerably covered up with face paint, its one of them things that you can see more in some scenes rather than others.

The best one for me though is the fact that the Censor of the TV Station received a number of complaints from the public regarding the size and pointing of Robin's lunchbox and threatened to have the show cancelled. So before a jockstrap was used to pad down the bulge, Robin was filmed from the waist up until this was addressed and resolved.

---Extras---

Personally I didn't expect that many additional features for this type of film as the film the film itself is a gem to watch. Surprisingly the film comes with an optional Dolby 5.1 and DTS soundtrack as well. Other extras include:

• Trailer
• Actor biographies
• Film Notes

Apart from the trailer the other extras are just text screens that you flip through using the remote keys.

---Overall---

What I thought was fresh was the actor's allowing themselves to be portrayed in the flashbacks as actors with an agenda, one flashback shows the downside of when actors fall out and how sexual harassment reared its head on-set as well. A good example of this is where one actor says there lines slower to get more screen time and the other actor having his lines cut or edited to keep within the time constraints of the show.

There are also some questions that I felt the film answered; yes Adam and Burt were not always friendly to each other on set, Adam's stuntman was used far more than Burt's was. Adam always was allowing others to pay for him and dodging the bills, which led to him having a reputation for his thriftiness, as well as the Health and Safety Council requesting seatbelts must be added to the Batmobile as an example to drivers of America.

It's the little things like this that makes this DVD a gem and so enjoyable to watch. You can watch the full episodes anytime you want to on You Tube or even download them if necessary, but the DVD goes deeper than what most documentaries on many of the recent major releases fails to achieve.

Although the actors do look there age as one would expect, Julie Newmar having exceeded her quota of facelifts, it really is the nostalgia aspect of the film and the depth that makes this different from other reunion shows. Sadly this was Frank Gorshin's last film as he passed away from lung cancer shortly after the film was broadcast in America.

I loved this as the sixties Batman was something I grew up with; the film is 90 minutes in length and to be honest is just the right length. I bought my copy from HMV for £12.99 on the day it was released, but it is available to buy this from £4.99 on-line, the film is a certificate 12, which is fine as anyone under 18 will probably not have heard of this version of Batman anyway. So this is one for the grown up's to watch. Hopefully this may kick start the release of the episodes onto DVD as well.

Thanks for reading, until next time. Take care.

Tim
 

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