Legends of the Dark Knight: The History of Batman (2005) (V)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Writer:

Jason Hillhouse (writer)

Genre:

Documentary | Short

Plot:

A look at the history of the Batman comic franchise. |

Plot Keywords:

Batman | Graphic Artist | Comic Book | Marvel Comics | Film Adaptation

Cast

Brian Bolland	...	Himself
Mark Cotta Vaz	...	Himself
Les Daniels	...	Himself
Dan Didio	...	Himself
Paul Dini	...	Himself
Harlan Ellison	...	Himself
Mark Hamill	...	Narrator (voice)
Geoff Johns	...	Himself
Jenette Kahn	...	Herself
Bob Kane	...	Himself (archive footage)
Stan Lee	...	Himself
Paul Levitz	...	Himself
Jeph Loeb	...	Himself
Mike Mignola	...	Himself
Frank Miller	...	Himself
Denny O'Neil	...	Himself
Eric Radomski	...	Himself
Alex Ross	...	Himself
Elizabeth Sanders	...	Herself (as Elizabeth Sanders Kane)
Kevin Smith	...	Himself
Bruce W. Timm	...	Himself (as Bruce Timm)
Michael E. Uslan	...	Himself

Runtime:

41 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Company:

New Wave Entertainment

Trivia:

This documentary is featured on the Two-Disc Special Edition for Batman (1989), released in 2005.

Movie Connections:

Features "Super Friends" (1973)

Do you like Batman, and/or want to know more about him? Look no further

If you are at all interested in Batman, or maybe even comics in general, this is definitely worth your attention. Narrated by Mark Hamill, who does a bang-up job, this goes all the way back to the beginning of Batman, and takes you through to present time, being quite thorough but never boring. It comes in at 41 minutes, and it is expertly paced. The interviewees are interesting to listen to, and the whole thing is edited well. Harlan Ellison manages to *not* complain about how his original work was changed for the Star Trek: The Original Series episode The City on the Edge of Forever. Brian Bolland appears, talking about his work on The Killing Joke, my personal favorite Batman story(though I haven't read Year One or The Dark Knight Returns), as written by Alan Moore, and they do talk some about it, too. Frank Miller gets a fair amount of time, and talks about the characters being larger than life. Several esteemed artists who have worked on the characters over the years are interviewed, and the story told is one that spans over decades, and goes back to the very birth of comic books. They talk about the various mediums they appeared in, and Bob Kane's inspirations when he first created the character. I recommend this to any fan of comics, the characters, and the movies. 8/10