Sat, 03/28/2009 – 18:00 — matt
"Alfred, let''s go shopping."
Before Christopher Nolan's "Batman Begins" and "The Dark Knight", there were a few other adventures of the Caped Crusader. Warner Brothers has just released the classic theatrical adventures of The Batman for the first time ever on Blu-ray in the new Batman: The Motion Picture Anthology 1989-1997. This collection includes Batman, Batman Returns, Batman Forever, and Batman and Robin. This set is loaded with hours and hours of special features as well as our hero''s adventures in High Definition!
Batman
"Where does he get all those wonderful toys?"
The first modern Batman movie was released in 1989. This film redefined the Superhero film genre in the early in the same way that The Dark Knight has done in recent years. Directed by Tim Burton, the film starred Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne, Jack Nicholson as the Joker, and Kim Bassinger as Vicki Vale. This film was the most faithful of the series in regards to mimicking the world of the comic book. The film shows us Bruce''s back-story as we learn more about the tragic murders of Thomas and Martha Wayne at the hands of criminal Jack Napier. Jack later goes on to work for Crime-Boss Carl Grissom who controls the crime in Gotham City. Commissioner James Gordon (Pat Hingle) and District Attorney Harvey Dent (Billy Dee Williams) try to put a stop to the crime spree with some unwanted help from the mysterious Batman. Batman encounters Jack and his gang at a chemical plant and Jack becomes injured and falls into a vat of chemicals…only to become extremely disfigured. !
His disfiguration causes Jack to lose his mind and he becomes the Joker…DUN DUN DUN
Little Known Facts: Did you know that they had originally planned for Robin to be in the movie? Do you know that the Billy Dee Williams took the role of Harvey Dent because he wanted to play Two-Face eventually? Check out the special features for more details.
Batman Special Features
-Commentary with Director Tim Burton
-On the Set with Bob Kane
-Legends of the Dark Knight- The History of Batman
-Shadows of the Bat: The Cinematic Saga – A look at the making of the film with Directors and Cast and many other surprise guests
Part 1: The Road to Gotham City
Part 2: The Gathering Storm
Part 3: The Legend Reborn –
-Beyond Batman Documentary Gallery
Visualizing Gotham
The Production Design of the Batman
Building the Batmobile
Those Wonderful Toys
Designing the Bat-Suit
From Jack to the Joker
Nocturnal Overtures: The Music of the Batman
-3 Prince Music Videos
Batdance – I had honestly never seen this before, and it is forever etched into my mind…Watch if you dare…
Partyman
Scandalous
-The Heroes and Villains Profile Galleries
-Batman: The Complete Robin Storyboard sequence- This is quite possibly the best feature on the set as it is a look at how they were planning on incorporating Robin into this film. It was a much better plan than how they ended up introducing him in Batman Forever, but it would have felt very rushed in this initial film. This story board sequence includes voice acting by Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill as Batman and the Joker! DO NOT MISS THIS!
-Theatrical Trailer
-High Definition 1080p Video
-Dolby True HD 5.1 Audio
Batman Returns
"I don''t know about you, Miss Kitty, but I feel so much yummier."
In the second installment in the Batman Movie franchise, Director Tim Burton and star Michael Keaton return to take on the new villainous team of The Penguin (Danny DeVito) and Catwoman (Michelle Pfeiffer). The film revolves around the Penguin trying to discover who his family is while simultaneously creating a new criminal empire! Meanwhile Assistant Selina Kyle stumbles into a sticky situation with her boss (played by Actor Christopher Walken) and gets herself pushed out a window. Kyle then goes through a transformation of her own into the leather-clad Catwoman!
Little Known Facts: Did you catch that Paul Reubens played the Penguin''s Father in the opening sequence? It''s true! Also it was rumored the Marlon Wayans was cast as Robin?? We are very lucky that the Powers-That-Be came to their senses on this one…
Batman Returns Special Features
-Commentary by Director Tim Burton
-The Bat, The Cat, and The Penguin Making of Featurette
-Shadows of the Bat: The Cinematic Saga
Part 4: Dark Side of the Knight
-Beyond Batman Documentary Gallery:
Gotham City Revisited
Sexy and Sinister: The Costumes of Batman Returns
Making Up the Penguin
Assembling the Arctic Army
Bats, Mattes and Dark Nights: The Visual Effects
Inside Elfman Studios
-Siouxsie and the Banshees Face to Face Music Video
-The Heroes and the Villains Profile Galleries
-Theatrical Trailers
-High Definition 1080p Video
-Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Audio
Batman Forever
"Holy Rusted Metal Batman!"
Joel Schumacher takes over Directing duties on the third film in the series, Batman Forever, which now features Val Kilmer in the title role. This time around Batman must stop the twisted Two-Face (Tommy Lee Jones) and the Riddler (Jim Carrey). But at least he won''t have to fight them alone, as he now has a little help from Dick Grayson (Chris O''Donnell), who''s family was killed by Two-Face. Now, this Dynamic Duo must race against the clock to save all of Gotham from becoming trapped under the mind control of The Riddler.
Little Known Facts: Michael Keaton turned down the offer to return as Batman because he was unhappy with the directions that the character and film would be going. Also, did you know that Iron Man Director Jon Favreau has a cameo in this movie? He plays an assistant…key your eyes out for this brief appearance!
Batman Forever Special Features
-Commentary by Director Joel Schumacher
-Additional Scenes
-Riddle Me This: Why is Batman Forever?: How a new Director and Cast created a new vision of Gotham''s classic good and bad guy
-Shadows of the Bat: The Cinematic Saga
Part 5: Reinventing a Hero
-Beyond Batman Documentary Gallery:
Out of the Shadows: Production Design
The Many Faces of Gotham
Knight Moves: The Stunts of Batman Forever
Imagining Forever: The Visual Effects
Scoring Forever: The Music of Batman Forever
-Seal Kiss from A Rose Music Video
-The Heroes and Villains Profile Galleries
-Theatrical Trailer
-High Definition 1080p Video
-Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Audio
Batman and Robin
"Hi Freeze, I'm Batman."
In the fourth and final movie in the 90''s anthology set, Joel Schumacher returns as Director but brings a new Batman and new villains to Gotham. George Clooney takes over as Batman, Chris O''Donnell returns as Robin, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger plays Mr. Freeze, Uma Thurman plays the enchanting Poison Ivy, and Alicia Silverstone plays Batgirl. This film took the Batman Series in a more campy direction, playing up the cornball antics and changing to an extremely bright color scheme which was the complete opposite of Tim Burton''s Batman. Schumacher also messes with Batman history and makes Barbara Gordon into Alfred''s Niece Barbara…a move that really didn''t quite sit right with fans. Barbara is a motorcycle riding, prep school drop out who comes to stay at Wayne Manor and eventually becomes Batgirl. There were a lot of choices that were made that caused this to be the final film in the 90''s series, but more than anything it really felt like the powers behind this fil!
m didn''t care about the fans. The bad script, combined with the bright colors and choices of actor caused this film to become the worst of the series.
Little Known Facts: Former Smallville star Jon Glover plays a small role in this film as Dr. Woodrue, the man responsible for Poison Ivy''s origin!
Batman and Robin Special Features
-Commentary by Director Joel Schumacher
-Shadows of the Bat: The Cinematic Saga
Part 6: Batman Unbound
-Additional Scene: Alfred''s Lost Love
-Beyond Batman Documentary Gallery:
Bigger, Bolder, Brighter: Production Design
Maximum Overdrive: The Vehicles of Batman and Robin
Dressed to Thrill: The Costumes of Batman and Robin
Frozen Freaks and Femme Fatales: The Makeup of Batman and Robin
Freeze Frame: The Visual Effects of Batman and Robin
-4 Music Videos
The End is the Beginning is the End by Smashing Pumpkins
Foolish Games by Jewel
Gotham City by R. Kelly
Look Into My Eyes by Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
-The Heroes and The Villains Profile Galleries
-Theatrical Trailer
-High Definition 1080p Video
-Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Audio
Overall
This is an amazing set. With hours and hours of special features this is definitely worth your time and money. They have done a very nice job touching up the film and sound for these releases. Honestly you should take the time and watch every single feature on the first two discs at the very least. There are some great interviews with Bob Kane (Batman''s Creator) and many other comic book writers that you will recognize. Warner Brothers went all out on this set and they couldn''t possibly have done a better job on this release. This is how Batman was meant to be seen. I know that you will be as impressed as I am with this set.
ComicsOnline gives Batman: The Motion Picture Anthology 1989-1997 5 out of 5 Bat-Nippled Suits.
