20 Years Since Burton's "Batman"

Found this interesting article about the legacy of Tim Burton's first "Batman" film and the effect it had on the movie business.

Wow, it really has been 20 years since that movie was released hasn't it? Damn, I'm old. I paid to see that movie three times that summer!

http://open.salon.com/blog/scott_mendelson/2009/06/24/20_years_later_how_batman_changed_the_movie_business

I remember standing in line for this one. A friend and I was already downtown, and saw the adds for the premier. We rushed home to get our allowance (sp?) money, and rushed back to stand in line. I still say this is the definitive Batman movie.

I was just finishing my first year of college in New York when "Batman" came out. I was a full on comic book geek at the time so I was freakin' stoked for that movie. I remember seeing that "June 23" poster EVERYWHERE for at least a month before the movie was released. It was on the walls in the subway stations, on the sides of buses, on billboards, bus shelters, etc., etc.

As I said, I saw it three times in theatres that summer (the first time was opening weekend! Yea, I was a geek, haha) then of course I saw it several more times when it was released on video later that year (I think either me or my brother got it for Christmas)... by 1990 I was totally sick of the movie because I'd seen it so many times, haha. So I didn't see it for years and years but I saw it again fairly recently on TV and it's really held up very well. Still a great movie.

I dont really remember this movie, I do however remember the one with mr freeze and ivy which sucked sooo bad...I was more into the original cartoon(early to mid 90's I think)...that thing was so cool! I loved the art on black paper look, I dont think that had been done before until then.

Stender wrote:

I dont really remember this movie, I do however remember the one with mr freeze and ivy which sucked sooo bad...I was more into the original cartoon(early to mid 90's I think)...that thing was so cool! I loved the art on black paper look, I dont think that had been done before until then.

Yea, that "Batman: The Animated Series" cartoon was bad-a$$. it really did a nice job capturing the look/feel of the Burton films. I catch that now and again on Toon Disney (or "Disney XD" or whatever the hell they call that channel now), it has also held up rather well.

And I agree, "the one with Mr. Freeze and Ivy" (the fourth film, "Batman & Robin" with George Clooney as Batman) is indeed a stinker of the first order. Thankfully I didn't waste my $ to see that one in a theatre, I waited till video on that one (and I still wanted my money back!).

Stender wrote:

I dont really remember this movie, I do however remember the one with mr freeze and ivy which sucked sooo bad....

I'm the only person who actually enjoyed this movie? wow.

I still say batman returns was the best, very dark and creepy.

sam wrote:

I still say batman returns was the best, very dark and creepy.

Danny DeVito's Penguin make up was freakin' nasty lookin'!! Nothin' wrong with Michelle Pfeiffer in the Catwoman suit either.

Overkill sampled one of my fave bits from "Batman Returns" in the song "Battle" -- when she tells Christopher Walken "Well, it's not like you can just kill me," and he sez "Actually... it's a lot like that," then pushes her out the window.

My friend Carl dragged me to the advance 10 PM screening the day before it opened. At the time I was secretly dating this girl Bridget and she snuck out to see the movie with us. Carl and a few other guys who were fanboys of the comics got into a heated dispute before the movie started (may have been about the casting of the movie or the lack of other characters). Soon almost everyone there (all batman fanboys) started getting into the argument too. Afterward I think Bridget and I were the only ones who loved the movie. Our secret relationship ended up becoming not so secret on another date to see it again without all the fanboys.

Not long ago I found at a dollar general the deluxe dvd version. The movie surprised me how well it held up even beyond the nostalgia.

It still amazes me that things from 1989 (no question my favorite year from youth) are now 20 years ago. Feels like a long time ago but not 20 years.

Saw this one three times in the theater. Of course, it pales in comparison to the last two....Nicholson's Joker can't hold a candle to Ledger's!




Arttie

20 years have passed that quickly? This means I'll be dead soon. Crap.

sam wrote:

Stender wrote:

I dont really remember this movie, I do however remember the one with mr freeze and ivy which sucked sooo bad....

I'm the only person who actually enjoyed this movie? wow.

I hope so.

Batman and Robin was terrible.

Funny thing, George Clooney said once in an interview that if you mention to him that you saw it in the theater, he'll reimburse you of your $10.

20 years ago???! Man, where does the time ? A classic movie, one I still like to watch a couple times a year.

I remember watching it in a theater on a Saturday afternoon and had a few of the t-shirts that came out around that time. Yes, I was cool.

I was in 3rd grade when this came out, and what I remember most was all the merchandising tied to the movie. It was a good time to be 9 years old.

Saw this one the day it was released - GREAT movie!!!! Not only that, but made it cool to do a dark take on comic book heroes. This movie has alot to thank Frank Miller for as well as Tim Burton's imagination - just an amazing movie. Jack was perfect as the Joker.

I perfer Batman Begins and The Dark Knight I think that Frank Miller (the writer) really captures the essence of batman

arttieTHE1manparty wrote:

Saw this one three times in the theater. Of course, it pales in comparison to the last two....Nicholson's Joker can't hold a candle to Ledger's!




Arttie

Not sure I agree. But, it's an apples to oranges comparison anyway. The character was approached from radically different directions. Nicholson's character was closer to the Joker from the campy TV series, but with a darker twist. Ledger played the Joker as a psychopathic nut job. I enjoyed both versions, and each fit into it's respective vision of the Batman story.

QuothTheRaven wrote:

arttieTHE1manparty wrote:

Saw this one three times in the theater. Of course, it pales in comparison to the last two....Nicholson's Joker can't hold a candle to Ledger's!




Arttie

Not sure I agree. But, it's an apples to oranges comparison anyway. The character was approached from radically different directions. Nicholson's character was closer to the Joker from the campy TV series, but with a darker twist. Ledger played the Joker as a psychopathic nut job. I enjoyed both versions, and each fit into it's respective vision of the Batman story.

I'm with you. They both had quite a different (and awesome) take on Joker. I remember seeing this movie in the theater. My dad, despite not wanting anything to do with this movie, took me to see it (he didn't care for it but he did like Nicholson's Joker). Later I got it on VHS for Christmas and played the hell out of it. It really annoyed my sister but it was payback for all the time she'd watch Grease and Dirty Dancing (unfortunatly she got back at me with The Land Before Time). Burton's Batman was awesome and when he stepped down and Keaton left they went to hell (they even brought Robin in and I never liked his character-his absence was also the highlight of the 90s cartoon which I also enjoyed). They went back up (maybe even surpased it?) with the last two.