I have a confession to make: like many, I watched the TV series as a kid and then the movie. Sure, it was formula, but as a little kid, formula works. Here, Batman gets the big-screen (albeit low-budget) treatment a year after it debuted on television, and the results, while mixed, are still fun.
It seems that the super-villains of Gotham City--the Riddler, Catwoman, the Joker, and the Penguin--have decided to team up and kidnap the members of the United Security Council (parodies of the real UN members) by dehydrating them (!) and thus, control the world.
Batman to the rescue! Through a series of quips, puns, bad jokes, and thrills, they manage to capture the super-villains and restore the United Security Council to their former selves...with mixed results.
Pluses. Low-budget or not, Leslie H. Martinson (the director) manages to keep the action flowing nicely. The film is quite well-edited, and there is that bomb scene on the pier where he tosses the Salvation Army, a new mother, lovers in a boat, and ducks, into the mix, working on a small set and he STILL manages to pull off the scene, albeit with nary a straight face in sight. Batman's immortal line of not being able to get rid of a bomb is hysterical, it has been repeated endlessly, and, guess what, it deserves to be.
The acting is appropriately broad, with Frank Gorshin hamming it up as the Riddler maniacal Richard Widmark giggle, rubber-face and all--and he was the only bad guy who ever scared me as a kid--Cesar Romero (mustache!) having fun as the Joker, Lee Meriwether is fine as Catwoman, and Burgess Meredith is great as the Penguin.
Adam West (RIP) was always sort of wooden, but here, his straight-faced delivery works. Same deal with Burt Ward as Robin, and the rest of the cast, they know their roles.
Minuses. While the fans will probably carp and say, "The Joker should be more evil, the Riddler deadlier, etc." keep in mind that this show (and movie) was made as a parody of the old 1930's and '40's serials. If you want serious, watch the Nolan trilogy with Christian Bale in the lead (and that's an excellent trilogy, too!). Here, this is fun all the way. It's not serious and it was never meant to be taken seriously.
As well, the film does suffer from low-budget woes in the special effects department, so the cast and the crew had to make do with what they had. The special effects department had to make do with mainly hard effects, and while that was obvious--especially in the final fight scene on a lake (standing in for an ocean)--it was still fun.
That's what the 1960's Batman was all about. Thanks, Adam West and company, for making this reviewer's childhood fun.
It seems that the super-villains of Gotham City--the Riddler, Catwoman, the Joker, and the Penguin--have decided to team up and kidnap the members of the United Security Council (parodies of the real UN members) by dehydrating them (!) and thus, control the world.
Batman to the rescue! Through a series of quips, puns, bad jokes, and thrills, they manage to capture the super-villains and restore the United Security Council to their former selves...with mixed results.
Pluses. Low-budget or not, Leslie H. Martinson (the director) manages to keep the action flowing nicely. The film is quite well-edited, and there is that bomb scene on the pier where he tosses the Salvation Army, a new mother, lovers in a boat, and ducks, into the mix, working on a small set and he STILL manages to pull off the scene, albeit with nary a straight face in sight. Batman's immortal line of not being able to get rid of a bomb is hysterical, it has been repeated endlessly, and, guess what, it deserves to be.
The acting is appropriately broad, with Frank Gorshin hamming it up as the Riddler maniacal Richard Widmark giggle, rubber-face and all--and he was the only bad guy who ever scared me as a kid--Cesar Romero (mustache!) having fun as the Joker, Lee Meriwether is fine as Catwoman, and Burgess Meredith is great as the Penguin.
Adam West (RIP) was always sort of wooden, but here, his straight-faced delivery works. Same deal with Burt Ward as Robin, and the rest of the cast, they know their roles.
Minuses. While the fans will probably carp and say, "The Joker should be more evil, the Riddler deadlier, etc." keep in mind that this show (and movie) was made as a parody of the old 1930's and '40's serials. If you want serious, watch the Nolan trilogy with Christian Bale in the lead (and that's an excellent trilogy, too!). Here, this is fun all the way. It's not serious and it was never meant to be taken seriously.
As well, the film does suffer from low-budget woes in the special effects department, so the cast and the crew had to make do with what they had. The special effects department had to make do with mainly hard effects, and while that was obvious--especially in the final fight scene on a lake (standing in for an ocean)--it was still fun.
That's what the 1960's Batman was all about. Thanks, Adam West and company, for making this reviewer's childhood fun.