Batman (1989)

The Dark Knight of Gotham City begins his war on crime with his first major enemy being Jack Napier, a criminal who becomes the clownishly homicidal Joker.

Director:

Tim Burton

Writers:

Bob Kane (Batman characters), Sam Hamm (story)

Stars:

Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger

Won 1 Oscar. Another 8 wins & 26 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael Keaton	...	Batman / Bruce Wayne
Jack Nicholson	...	Joker / Jack Napier
Kim Basinger	...	Vicki Vale
Robert Wuhl	...	Alexander Knox
Pat Hingle	...	Commissioner Gordon
Billy Dee Williams	...	Harvey Dent
Michael Gough	...	Alfred
Jack Palance	...	Grissom
Jerry Hall	...	Alicia
Tracey Walter	...	Bob the Goon
Lee Wallace	...	Mayor
William Hootkins	...	Eckhardt
Richard Strange	...	Goon
Carl Chase	...	Goon
Mac McDonald	...	Goon (as Mac Macdonald)

Storyline

Gotham City. Crime boss Carl Grissom (Jack Palance) effectively runs the town but there's a new crime fighter in town - Batman (Michael Keaton). Grissom's right-hand man is Jack Napier (Jack Nicholson), a brutal man who is not entirely sane... After falling out between the two Grissom has Napier set up with the Police and Napier falls to his apparent death in a vat of chemicals. However, he soon reappears as The Joker and starts a reign of terror in Gotham City. Meanwhile, reporter Vicki Vale (Kim Basinger) is in the city to do an article on Batman. She soon starts a relationship with Batman's everyday persona, billionaire Bruce Wayne.

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Plot Keywords:

bruce wayne character | batman character | dc comics | joker character | superhero | 

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Taglines:

Justice is always Darkest before the Dawn.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure

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Certificate:

PG-13

Did You Know?

Trivia

Had the Batwing been built to size, it would have had a thirty-five foot (10.7 meter) wing span.

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Goofs

(at around 24 mins) Eckhart's beard when he busts Jack raiding the office. He enters the factory with a face full of stubble, but moments later he is clean-shaven.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Passenger: Excuse me.
Tourist Dad: I'm sorry, this is my cab.
Passenger: Sorry.
Tourist Dad: Listen, I was here first!
[as the cab drives away]
Tourist Dad: Oh, God! Oh, taxi? Taxi!

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Crazy Credits

(VHS): Before film starts, there's a diet coke ad with Michael Gough's character and then a Warner Bros. catalog ad with Bugs Bunny & Daffy Duck. The catalog that Bugs Bunny shows the viewers has the Batman logo in regards to the film

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Alternate Versions

In order to put the 126m. movie in 120m. video cassette, South Korean video distributor cut two scenes when the movie was first released on VHS. The first one is a whole sequence where The Joker kills a mob with a quill pen in front of the city hall. The second is the arrival of Batman on the rooftop of the cathedral and a few fight scenes with the goons. After the police sweeps the cathedral with searchlights, the scene abruptly cut to the scene where a goon with rope(the third goon that attacks Batman) desperately seeks Batman. Also, the initial South Korean DVD release has only widescreen version of the movie, so it featured a strange cut where Vicki pretends to tempt The Joker. This scene has been fixed on the special edition DVD.

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Connections

Referenced in According to Jim: The Tale of the Tape: Part 2 (2005)

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Soundtracks

Scandalous
Written by Prince with John L. Nelson
Produced and Performed by Prince

User Reviews

Two hours of comic book fun

Firstly may I just state that 'Batman' is one of those films where Batman isn't really the star. The star character is in fact the Joker played to brilliance by Jack Nicholson. However seeing as Batman himself didn't have that much of a back-story back then, its no wonder. All the character had for a well enough established origin was 'parents were murdered in a back alley' (the graphic novel 'Year One' only hit shelves like one year before the films release). So its no wonder why the Joker almost steals the entire film. Having said that Michael Keaton does make an excellent Bruce Wayne/Batman depicting a man constantly in turmoil between identities. The plot line initially seems rather basic good vs evil. However after watching it time and time again it actually gets more intriguing. Particularly with how Joker rises to the top of Gotham's criminal empire to further his plot. If you want a Batman story thats still dark but more grittier then watch Nolan's interpretations. They're every bit as enjoyable as this and vice versa. But if you want to watch a Batman that's grim in a graphic novel way this is it.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English French Spanish

Release Date:

23 June 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

Batman

Filming Locations:

Albert R. Broccoli 007 Stage, Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$35,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$40,489,746, 25 June 1989

Gross USA:

$251,348,343

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$411,556,825

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., The Guber-Peters Company, PolyGram Filmed Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

126 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby (35 mm prints) DTS (DVD version) Dolby Digital (DVD) Dolby Atmos (Blu-ray release)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1