Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993)

Batman is wrongly implicated in a series of murders of mob bosses actually done by a new vigilante assassin.

Directors:

Kevin Altieri, Boyd Kirkland

Writers:

Alan Burnett (story by), Alan Burnett (screenplay by)

Stars:

Kevin Conroy, Dana Delany, Hart Bochner

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kevin Conroy	...	Batman (voice)
Dana Delany	...	Andrea Beaumont (voice)
Hart Bochner	...	Arthur Reeves (voice)
Stacy Keach	...	Phantasm / Carl Beaumont (voice) (as Stacy Keach Jr.)
Abe Vigoda	...	Salvatore Valestra (voice)
Dick Miller	...	Chuckie Sol (voice)
John P. Ryan	...	Buzz Bronski (voice)
Efrem Zimbalist Jr.	...	Alfred (voice)
Bob Hastings	...	Commissioner Gordon (voice)
Robert Costanzo	...	Detective Bullock (voice)
Mark Hamill	...	The Joker (voice)
Jane Downs	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Pat Musick	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Vernee Watson	...	Additional Voices (voice) (as Vernee Watson-Johnson)
Ed Gilbert	...	Additional Voices (voice)

Storyline

Batman, the costumed crime-fighter who prowls the night skies in Gotham City, soon finds there's another vigilante in town knocking off prominent mob figures. Despite the scythe-like blade for a hand, a mechanical voice and the cloud of smoke that follows the figure wherever it goes, the police and outraged officials mistake the homicidal crusader for Batman himself and demand that the city's longtime hero be brought to justice. Meanwhile, Andrea Beaumont returns to town. She is the lost love of Bruce Wayne, the billionaire playboy who is Batman's alter ego, and was an integral part of Wayne's decision ten years earlier to don the cape and cowl. Now, she is back in his life and is no less a disruption than the return of his old archenemy, The Joker, who has a stake in seeing the annihilation of this new vigilante, whoever it proves to be.

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Plot Keywords:

batman character | bruce wayne character | dc comics | neo noir | based on tv series | 

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Taglines:

The Dark Knight fights to save Gotham City from its deadliest enemy.

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Genres:

Animation | Action | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Romance | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for animated violence

Did You Know?

Trivia

When the Joker shoots the robots in the "World's Fair", the sound of them winding down is the sound of the Millennium Falcon winding down from Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) which also starred Mark Hamill.

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Goofs

The GCPD try to shoot Batman when he is in a cloud of tear gas, and he is high above them. In real life, law enforcement are not allowed to shoot at a target if they cant see them, and if they don't know if there is a potential hazard.

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Quotes

The Joker: Ain't it always the way? You get in the mood and company shows up.

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Alternate Versions

A version shown on UK channel ITV-1 was cut: most of the fight between the Joker and Phantasm is edited out. When Joker sprays Phantasm with his flower, in the unedited version she takes off the glove he hits pushes Joker into a table where he reaches between the large sausage and a knife, and grabs the large sausage. He then runs past her, and escapes by running through a window. In the edied version, he sprays her glove and then escapes through the window. The table fight is completly removed.

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Connections

Followed by Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero (1998)

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Soundtracks

There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow
(uncredited)
Written by Richard M. Sherman (as Richard Sherman) and Robert B. Sherman (as Robert Sherman)

User Reviews

An absolute classic, the best Batman movie so far

Out of all the Batman films so far, including all the live action films, this one is still the only one to really explore the character of Bruce Wayne/Batman and examine what drove him to becoming Batman.

It has a great story that flashes back to just before Bruce took up the mantle of the bat and the woman he was involved with at the time, then skips forward to an unknown assassin killing Gotham City's mobsters, and we see how the 2 story's meet. The writing is top-notch, in no-way predictable and the voice acting by Kevin Conroy as Batman and Mark Hamill as the Joker truly amazing and bone-chillingly scary.

The only complaints is that the animation could have been better at some points, but that is because it was originally meant to be a straight to video release before Warner's saw what a masterpiece they had created, and also it should have run for a little bit longer, but oh well. If you haven't yet seen it i highly recommend it.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 December 1993 (USA)

Also Known As:

Batman: The Animated Movie - Mask of the Phantasm

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$6,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,189,975, 26 December 1993

Gross USA:

$5,635,204

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$5,635,204

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros. Animation, Warner Bros. Family Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

76 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1