Comments on: 20th Anniversary: 5 Things You Might Not Know About ‘Batman Returns’

By: pete33

pete33 — Sun, 22 May 2016 03:56:43 +0000

im in agreement with alot of the comments, Batman Returns is a great batman film, one of the very best. perfectly casted, gotham city looks awsome with the snow, the gothic look, devito was crazy as the penguin! totally demented! the movie is a bit depressive near the end but its a batman movie! it dealt with so many of the problems of duality and darkness that you see in the comic books but without copying the comics word for word. unlike nolan, who's banal films are made strictly for the comics nerd crowd, tim burton actually did his own thing and was original with the material and not trying to please some comic book fanboys, but still kept true to the characters as seen in the comics, just slightly altered to fit a serious live action movie. seriously, the burgess meredith penguin would not work in a big budget serious batman movie. i love how tim burtons character designs have actually influenced the comic books, instead of the other way around. his take on the characters was memorable, mythic and sheer genious, unlike the dull, "realisitic" nolan versions (seriously, nolans scarecrow and catgirl are an absolute bore). i dont hate joel schumachers batman like other people do. batman forever is an awsome movie, just about on par with Returns for me. i loved all the original films. i even have a soft spot for B&R as ai remember going to the theater to see it. it may suck but at least it was FUN. the new movies are just overrated and i fail to see whats so special about them. the new ones have gotten so far away from what batman used to be. being serious is one thing, but taking all the fun elements that made the first 3 batman's so successful to the point that the movies become lifeless and bland no different then any courtroom drama on TV is another. Batman Returns might have got a bad rap back in the day because of its darkness (and yes, it is pretty damn dark, even by todays standards) but looking back in history, today its definetly looked at in a better light. plus, its the movie that spawned the also pretty awsome Animated Series that i grew up watching everyday afterschool.

By: Agent69

Agent69 — Sun, 22 May 2016 03:56:43 +0000

Anyone who grew up in the 90's loved these films.
I was obsessed by Nicholson's Joker and Pfeiffer's Catwoman. And sine others have mentioned him in the comments, let me say that Nolan doesn't come close to capturing my imagination like Burton did. Too bad Burton seems to have lost his touch as well.

By: [A]

[A] — Sun, 22 May 2016 03:56:43 +0000

I was gonna say "hey this is more like 5 things you didn't know if.." but no, the words "might not know" are actually in the title. See, that's the way other sites link to you, guys.

By: ChrisGa

ChrisGa — Sun, 22 May 2016 03:56:43 +0000

I have some appreciation for all the Batman flicks, but Batman Returns in my mind remains the best of the first franchise and either of Nolan's pics(both highly overrated in my book). The real shame was no follow through on the proposed Catwoman spin-off; Michelle Pfeiffer gives possibly the greatest performance(well maybe next to Christopher Reeve) housed in any film based on a comics property.

By: The Bandsaw Vigilante

The Bandsaw Vigilante — Sun, 22 May 2016 03:56:43 +0000

@ Tim Burthog:

Actually, the Schumacher films *don't* work precisely because of these exact same reasons you list. One can view the Burton films as arch, demented comedies, and they have moments that are actually really quite funny; coming from an honest, twisted place (even the so-called "campy" moments). The Schumacher films just turn everything into a vaudeville gag, hoping to gain extra-credit points just by winking and being barndoor-broad.

By: The Bandsaw Vigilante

The Bandsaw Vigilante — Sun, 22 May 2016 03:56:43 +0000

One of my great regrets to this very day is that Tim Burton and Michael Keaton never reteamed to produce one more (perhaps final) Batman film — a proper trilogy, perhaps covering Two-Face's turn (through Burton's lens) and certain other elements that we'll never get to see, now.

And although Keaton wasn't fond of the suit, he reportedly turned down something close to $30 million to reprise his role in "Batman Forever" (probably for the best), but one can only imagine what a third picture would've looked like, and where it would've gone. To say nothing of that potential Burton-directed Catwoman movie.

For myself, the Joel Schumacher movies do not take place in the same universe as the Tim Burton ones — once Bruce and Alfred drive off in that limo in the winter snow, holding the cat, the universes diverge, and the Burton-verse Batman has entirely-different future adventures than the Schumacher-verse ones.

About the only consolation I can take from the Schumacher disasters is that, without them and Joel going so far off the reservation into gay, camp fantasia, we never would've gotten the Christopher Nolan films as a repsonse — the franchise had gotten *SO* incredibly derailed that the studio needed to regain some measure of grounded credibility by bringing in the director of Insomnia and Memento for a gritty, realistic reboot.

And I for one couldn't be more thrilled about that end result.

By: zebsdead

zebsdead — Sun, 22 May 2016 03:56:43 +0000

All this information including the quotes was lifted from the Batman Returns two disc DVD in the making of feature, in almost the exact order too.

By: jeanrobie

jeanrobie — Sun, 22 May 2016 03:56:43 +0000

Here's another thing you might not know or remember about this movie: it was accused of borrowing imagery from Nazi depictions of Jews for the Penguin. The producers disputed it at the time, but I don't think Tim Burton really cares who he cops imagery from and if you watch it with this in mind, it's hard to miss–especially the similarities between Moses and the Penguin.

By: Tim Burthog

Tim Burthog — Sun, 22 May 2016 03:56:43 +0000

Strange how this always gets lauded as being poles apart from Schumacher's efforts when the scenes between Penguin and Catwoman, where they're sitting around making bad puns to one another, are just as campy as anything in the later films.

By: triguous

triguous — Sun, 22 May 2016 03:56:43 +0000

I almost forgot how much I hate the deep-voiced trailer narration. So glad it's a thing of the past. Scenes from the film speak for themselves, thank you.

By: vdoun

vdoun — Sun, 22 May 2016 03:56:43 +0000

I find it ironic that Chris O'Donnell didnt like Batman Returns. It was dark, funny, riveting, and very imaginative. Unlike the crap that followed it, oh wait, O'Donnell stared in Batman Forever, hmmm envy much?

By: Christopher Bell

Christopher Bell — Sun, 22 May 2016 03:56:43 +0000

Dope piece, Drew. I think it's time I gave the Burton ones another go through.

By: Hurrah

Hurrah — Sun, 22 May 2016 03:56:43 +0000

I adore 'Batman Returns'! Of the original 4 part series it's the only that comes off as a truly great film. I think Nolan's two- now three- efforts are stronger films but 'Returns' is such a nuts, wild crazy flick it still might be my favorite thing Batman.

P.S. Nice to see when it came to casting Burton wasn't color bind. I'm all for a black Robin. Not to mention they did cast Lando as Harvey Dent.

By: Keith L

Keith L — Sun, 22 May 2016 03:56:43 +0000

I must have watched it over 50 times… I used to watch Batman Returns every other day (rotating with the first Batman) after school when i was 10 or so. Still love the movie!

By: cory everett

cory everett — Sun, 22 May 2016 03:56:43 +0000

One thing to note: I love this movie.

By: jimmiescoffee

jimmiescoffee — Sun, 22 May 2016 03:56:43 +0000

Michelle Pfeiffer is so hot in this flick. Truly iconic performance.