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IMDbPro

Batman

Original title: Batman: The Movie
  • 19661966
  • PGPG
  • 1h 45m
IMDb RATING
6.5/10
34K
YOUR RATING
Adam West, Cesar Romero, Frank Gorshin, Burgess Meredith, Lee Meriwether, and Burt Ward in Batman (1966)
Spanish Trailer for Batman
Play trailer3:07
6 Videos
99+ Photos
ActionAdventureComedy
The Dynamic Duo faces four supervillains who plan to hold the world for ransom with the help of a secret invention that instantly dehydrates people.The Dynamic Duo faces four supervillains who plan to hold the world for ransom with the help of a secret invention that instantly dehydrates people.The Dynamic Duo faces four supervillains who plan to hold the world for ransom with the help of a secret invention that instantly dehydrates people.
IMDb RATING
6.5/10
34K
YOUR RATING
    • Leslie H. Martinson
    • Lorenzo Semple Jr.(television series)
    • Bob Kane(based upon the characters created by)
    • William Dozier(based on the series created by)
  • Stars
    • Adam West
    • Burt Ward
    • Lee Meriwether
    • Leslie H. Martinson
    • Lorenzo Semple Jr.(television series)
    • Bob Kane(based upon the characters created by)
    • William Dozier(based on the series created by)
  • Stars
    • Adam West
    • Burt Ward
    • Lee Meriwether
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 198User reviews
    • 81Critic reviews
    • 71Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards

    Videos6

    Batman (1966)
    Trailer 3:07
    Watch Batman (1966)
    Batman (1966)
    Trailer 1:37
    Watch Batman (1966)
    Batman (1966)
    Trailer 3:04
    Watch Batman (1966)
    Is the New 'Joker' Most Like Jared, Heath, or Jack?
    Clip 4:46
    Watch Is the New 'Joker' Most Like Jared, Heath, or Jack?
    By the Numbers: Joker Movies
    Video 4:36
    Watch By the Numbers: Joker Movies
    Who Nearly Played Alfred Pennyworth?
    Video 3:04
    Watch Who Nearly Played Alfred Pennyworth?

    Photos101

    Adam West and Burt Ward in Batman (1966)
    Adam West in Batman (1966)
    Adam West in Batman (1966)
    Adam West and Burt Ward in Batman (1966)
    Adam West in Batman (1966)
    Adam West and Burt Ward in Batman (1966)
    Cesar Romero, Frank Gorshin, Burgess Meredith, and Lee Meriwether in Batman (1966)
    "Batman: The Movie" Lee Merriwether 1966 20th Cent. Fox
    "Batman: The Movie" Lee Merriweather 1966 20th Cent. Fox
    Stafford Repp in Batman (1966)
    Adam West and Burt Ward in Batman (1966)
    Cesar Romero, Frank Gorshin, Burgess Meredith, and Lee Meriwether in Batman (1966)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Adam West
    Adam West
    • Batman…
    Burt Ward
    Burt Ward
    • Robin…
    Lee Meriwether
    Lee Meriwether
    • The Catwoman…
    Cesar Romero
    Cesar Romero
    • The Joker
    Burgess Meredith
    Burgess Meredith
    • The Penguin
    Frank Gorshin
    Frank Gorshin
    • The Riddler
    Alan Napier
    Alan Napier
    • Alfred
    Neil Hamilton
    Neil Hamilton
    • Commissioner Gordon
    Stafford Repp
    Stafford Repp
    • Chief O'Hara
    Madge Blake
    Madge Blake
    • Aunt Harriet Cooper
    Reginald Denny
    Reginald Denny
    • Commodore Schmidlapp
    Milton Frome
    Milton Frome
    • Vice Admiral Fangschliester
    Gil Perkins
    Gil Perkins
    • Bluebeard
    Dick Crockett
    Dick Crockett
    • Morgan
    George Sawaya
    • Quetch
    Robert Adler
    Robert Adler
    • Guard
    • (uncredited)
    Leon Alton
    Leon Alton
    • Official
    • (uncredited)
    Al Bain
    Al Bain
    • Waiter
    • (uncredited)
      • Leslie H. Martinson
      • Lorenzo Semple Jr.(television series)
      • Bob Kane(based upon the characters created by)
      • William Dozier(based on the series created by) (uncredited)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Cesar Romero (The Joker) refused to shave his mustache during filming and it was covered with makeup instead.
    • Goofs
      (at around 1h) When Batman and Robin are climbing up the wall, you can see the strings used to hold their capes up, as the scene is clearly a rotated shot of the duo walking horizontally. Although this has been widely regarded as a mistake, the special edition DVD commentary with Adam West and Burt Ward explains that it was done purposely to have some fun for the adult audience.
    • Quotes

      Batman: Some days, you just can't get rid of a bomb!

    • Crazy credits
      (Opening disclaimer) ACKNOWLEDGMENT We wish to express our gratitude to the enemies of crime and crusaders against crime throughout the world for their inspirational example. To them, and to lovers of adventure, lovers of pure escapism, lovers of unadulterated entertainment, lovers of the ridiculous and the bizarre--- To funlovers everywhere--- This picture is respectfully dedicated. If we have overlooked any sizable groups of lovers, we apologize. ---THE PRODUCERS
    • Alternate versions
      Depending on the condition and color saturation of the print, the Joker's hair can appear orange rather than green. This was evident on the VHS releases of the film. The same thing would sometimes happen in the TV series (particularly during fades to black), but the mistake was more evident and consistent in the film version. The Blu ray release color saturation corrects this and the Joker's hair appears green as it should.
    • Connections
      Edited into Batman: Walk the Straight and Narrow (1966)
    • Soundtracks
      Batman Theme
      Written by Neal Hefti

      Performed by Studio Orchestra (uncredited)

    User reviews198

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    6/10
    "Oh, the delicious irony of it all!"
    Having, losing, gaining... to a generation of kids this WAS Batman. Only when Tim Burton reinvented the big screen perception of the "caped crusader" did it become outdated.

    The third of the new films, Batman Forever parodied this film and the series with a "holy" joke. Unfortunately the movie in question was the first to be directed by Joel Schumacher, and so was consequently brash and bereft of wit. Yes, thanks to ShoeMaker this version of Gotham has suddenly become the coolest yet again.

    It's all such brilliant fun, awash with the irony so gloriously absent from Batman & Robin. Michael Keaton was a wonderfully dark Batman, but the other two were planks. Adam West is knowingly hammy as the title role, and relishes the deliberately cheesy lines. He has a potbelly and a costume that looks like it was made out of an old binliner. Anyone who cannot see the genius of that is beyond help. Burt Ward's brilliantly overacted Robin is also hilarious, and far less irritating than the asinine Chris O'Donnell version.

    The Batmobile is ace, too. I remember having a chunky Corgi model of the car that shot out matchsticks across the room. Much better than a CGI-enhanced penile extension. Even the rubbish filmed backdrops are fun. Everything's a bat-something in this film, a rope ladder having a large "Bat Ladder" sign tied to the end.

    This is a fantastic movie, how could anyone not love it? Some hilarious scenes include the shark fight, the trap door spring and Batman with the biggest (and longest-fused) bomb in history. Look at this dialogue exchange where they try to work out which supervillain is behind the mayhem: "But wait! It happened at sea. See? C for Catwoman." "An exploding shark ... was pulling my leg." "The Joker! It all led to a sinister riddle. Riddle -er. Riddler?"

    Fortunately, it turns out they're all involved, along with Burgess Meredith as the Penguin. The scenes set on the villains' hideout are shot with the camera at slanted angles, an inspired touch. All the poor things about this film work in its favour - Cesar Romero as the Joker looks about 80 and clearly hasn't bothered to shave off his moustache, but it works, as does the full-bore "acting" of Meredith and Merriwether. Only Frank Gorshin as the Riddler slightly disappoints; though that's because he's nowhere near as over the top. He is, of course, infinitely preferable to Jim Carrey. Anyway, they all work superbly together and the film doesn't feel top-heavy. A huge flaw of the new series, where more than one villain never quite clicked, can you imagine Nicholson, Pfeiffer, Carrey and DeVito all in the same movie? Of course it'd be impossible not just in budget but in egos, so having modest TV actors here serves the story well. One strange element of characterisation is seeing the Joker getting bossed around by the Penguin, something that would never happen in the comics.

    Some of it's so wilfully silly it almost goes too far. If you put your tongue into your cheek you may choke, and seeing a Pentagon head playing tiddlywinks eggs the joke a little, though the whole thing is so well-meaning that you simply can't hold it against the movie. The plot, though, really isn't up to much at all, something I never noticed as a child (but then I never realised it was a comedy when I was a child, either). A repetitious sequence of events that sees the villains constantly trying to destroy Batman and Robin from afar, the heroes trying to locate their secret base. It goes round in circles, but a glorious "Biff! Pow!" fight on a submarine and a sideways swipe at eugenics make sure it all ends in style.

    Lastly, look out for the scene where Ward and West run up and down on the spot ("Luckily we're in tip-top condition!") while a film background of a street and the theme tune play - a classic. Simple, silly fun and almost relentlessly appealing. So much so I nearly added another point to the total... 6/10.
    helpful•62
    12
    • The_Movie_Cat
    • May 15, 2001

    FAQ5

    • Which characters were adapted from the Batman comic books?
    • Who created the character of Batman? Bob Kane is listed in old (pre-2015) media including the comic books as creating Batman on his own but new media (made after 2015) shows him as co-creating the character with someone called Bill Finger, so what's all that about?
    • When was Batman originally created?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • July 30, 1966 (United States)
      • United States
      • English
      • French
      • German
      • Hebrew
      • Japanese
      • Russian
      • Spanish
      • Swahili
    • Also known as
    • Filming locations
      • Stearn's Wharf, Santa Barbara, California, USA
    • Production company
      • Greenlawn Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • 1 hour 45 minutes
      • Color
      • (original aspect ratio/open matte)

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    Adam West, Cesar Romero, Frank Gorshin, Burgess Meredith, Lee Meriwether, and Burt Ward in Batman (1966)
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