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.
Batman must battle former district attorney Harvey Dent, who is now Two-Face and Edward Nygma, The Riddler with help from an amorous psychologist and a young circus acrobat who becomes his sidekick, Robin.
Superman agrees to sacrifice his powers to start a relationship with Lois Lane, unaware that three Kryptonian criminals he inadvertently released are conquering Earth.
Directors:
Richard Lester,
Richard Donner
Stars:
Gene Hackman,
Christopher Reeve,
Margot Kidder
Superman returns to Earth after spending five years in space examining his homeworld Krypton. But he finds things have changed while he was gone, and he must once again prove himself important to the world.
An artificial man, who was incompletely constructed and has scissors for hands, leads a solitary life. Then one day, a suburban lady meets him and introduces him to her world.
Ichabod Crane is sent to Sleepy Hollow to investigate the decapitations of three people, with the culprit being the legendary apparition, The Headless Horseman.
Director:
Tim Burton
Stars:
Johnny Depp,
Christina Ricci,
Miranda Richardson
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.Written by
grantss
The highest grossing Warner Brothers movie of the 1980s. The previous decade, the highest grossing movie for Warner Brothers, was another DC Comics hero, Superman (1978). See more »
Goofs
(at around 28 mins) In the first meeting of Jack and Batman in Axis chemicals, Batman picks up Jack by the cuffs of his jacket using his forearms against his chest but Batman's gloves have 3 spikes on them and they would have stabbed or hindered his ability to lift him this way. See more »
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!
See more »
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 See more »
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. See more »
Dark, foreboding and vastly entertaining, BATMAN changed superhero movies forever. Gone are the days of happy-go-lucky heroes arriving just in time to save the day. Director Tim Burton's Caped Crusader is a vengeful creature of the night preying on criminals who would turn his city into their personal playground.
BATMAN is one stylish, thrilling and one helluva ride. While he's not generally associated with action, Burton proves it to be his forte as the Dark Knight Detective swoops out of the shadows, crashes through windows and employs a host of what his nemesis calls "wonderful toys," such as grappling hook guns and the amazingly versatile Batmobile. And man on man, this Batman kicks some ass, at one point daring an armed henchman with a "come here" finger gesture.
BATMAN wouldn't have worked nearly as well as it does without the right casting ingredients. The hiring of Michael Keaton in the lead role drew plenty of snickers, but the underrated actor showed up his detractors with a suitably mysterious performance. We know his heart is in the right place, but we're never quite sure what we should make of him. Jack Nicholson's famous performance as the villainous Joker is every bit as good as they say. Nicholson is equal parts amusing and sadistic beneath the white face paint and green hair. Sexy Kim Basinger, as reporter Vicki Vale, also makes the most out of her screen time.
BATMAN is one of those films whose obvious flaws are so easily overlooked. The worst sin a movie can commit is to be dull, and that's something BATMAN never does.
125 of 165 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
| Report this
Dark, foreboding and vastly entertaining, BATMAN changed superhero movies forever. Gone are the days of happy-go-lucky heroes arriving just in time to save the day. Director Tim Burton's Caped Crusader is a vengeful creature of the night preying on criminals who would turn his city into their personal playground.
BATMAN is one stylish, thrilling and one helluva ride. While he's not generally associated with action, Burton proves it to be his forte as the Dark Knight Detective swoops out of the shadows, crashes through windows and employs a host of what his nemesis calls "wonderful toys," such as grappling hook guns and the amazingly versatile Batmobile. And man on man, this Batman kicks some ass, at one point daring an armed henchman with a "come here" finger gesture.
BATMAN wouldn't have worked nearly as well as it does without the right casting ingredients. The hiring of Michael Keaton in the lead role drew plenty of snickers, but the underrated actor showed up his detractors with a suitably mysterious performance. We know his heart is in the right place, but we're never quite sure what we should make of him. Jack Nicholson's famous performance as the villainous Joker is every bit as good as they say. Nicholson is equal parts amusing and sadistic beneath the white face paint and green hair. Sexy Kim Basinger, as reporter Vicki Vale, also makes the most out of her screen time.
BATMAN is one of those films whose obvious flaws are so easily overlooked. The worst sin a movie can commit is to be dull, and that's something BATMAN never does.