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Posted on Tuesday, September 11th, 2012 at 11:26am

As with all movies there can be a certain amount of film that ends up on the floor of the proverbial cutting room. With blockbuster movies there can be quite a significant bit of lost material - just look at Richard Donner's Superman! Here we have tried to shed light on possible lost scenes in Batman (1989) and explain others away.

 

"IS IT HALLOWEEN?"
The Joker's goons chase Batman and Vicky down an alley after they leave the Batmobile. Batman rescues a little homeless girl from the hail of machine gun fire. The little girl, startled by the appearance of Batman, asks, "Is it Halloween?" Batman grins, and rushes back to pick up Vicki from behind a parked car and the chase resumes... 

 

KNOX is BATMAN?!
This little known scene was featured in the final draft of the script and the comic book adaption. In an attempt to evade the police Batman puts his cloak over an unconscious Alexander Knox as a distraction. For a long time it was considered not to exist, however as the on-set photos below reveal - the scene was shot and is most likely sitting in a vault somewhere. Interestingly, in the final script it's Vicki that takes the photo of Knox.

From the comic adaption:
 

Courtesy of Shawn Reeves (www.reevz666.com)
 

 

BOB FIGHTS!
I don't know about the rest of the world, but here in Ireland and the UK, Bob is the last one to fight Batman, and when his time comes, he stands up from behind a bin. Batman beckons him forward, Bob thinks for a second, drops his knife and runs away.Obviously, from these pictures we can see that was not always the case. The scene I have described above, has always looked out of place as if filmed at a later date - the lighting isn't the same (I think!).Personally, I was convinced that I saw Bob fighting when I saw Batman in the cinema (on its first night of release), but I could be mistaken. It was some time ago, and I had the Topps cards and maybe just though I had seen it. 

The final version of the script (before shooting began) plays out much like the film except that Bob is not present. Instead it is "Goon IV" and he is holding a gun.

"GOON IV has his gun out, but he's shaking too much to
pull the trigger. Batman smiles. GOON IV SCREAMS and
RUNS FOR HIS LIFE."

Also in the behind the scene's documentary footage shown in the video below, it is very likely this sequence was meerly played out for the press. Michael Keaton's fight/stunt double, Dave Lea, was not involved in the scene. Given that he did the rest of the fighting it is safe to assume that it wasn't played out as an actual fight scene. However, it was filmed - it would be cool to see that footage!

 

GORDON & DENT'S SPEECH
In addition to the letter from Batman speech, there is some addition dialogue.

 

GRISSOM'S DEMISE
In the movie, the only time we see The Joker behind the desk is when he is reading the paper (already seated!), but in these photos he is standing and Grissom is dead. Talking to Burton, or laughing maniacally as The Joker?? Looking at the last two photos, I initally assumed these were just of Jack Palace and Jack Nicholson discussing the scene, especially since The Joker has no coat on. (He has it on when entering the apartment and after Grissom's death, whilst reading the paper) But could it be another scene later? Perhaps, but the last photo could also be Burton directing the scene when the Joker says "Gotham City! Always brings a smile to my face!". (He has his legs on the table while delivering the line.)

   

 

BATMAN AT THE FLUGELHEIM MUSEUM?
Burton in deep discussion with Keaton. Surely all Batman's scenes take place on the balcony, upstairs. Which is most likely a different set-up. Could this a missing scene? Or is the second photo just a promo shot? Was this the scene Burton and Keaton were discussing?

 

"GO ASK HIM!"
After Batman rescues Vicky from the museum, The Joker remarks, "Where does he get those wonderful toys?". Fair enough. However, the Topps Movie Cards and other sources quote him as also saying to his goons "Don't just stand there, go and ask him!".

 

BATMAN & VICKY HIDING?
The Topps gum cards had an image of Batman and Vicky on a rig of some sort that led to questions of "Are they hiding here until they are discovered by The Joker's goons?" No. Judging by the background it's the rig that was used for the grapling hook elevation scene, where they get stuck half way up - "See that thing on my belt?"

 

FANCY DRESS
At the end of the movie, Vicki Vale meets two children dressed up as Batman.

 

JOKER'S FAVOUR?
The scientist in Axis Chemicals was played by the late actor Michael Balfour. In an interview he claimed a scene was shot where the Joker kisses him after exchanging dialogue.

 

ALTERNATIVE ESCAPE
The whole sequence where Batman first encounters Jack Napier, drops him in the acid and escapes with the aid of a grapling hook and smoke pellets was filmed twice.

A behind the scenes photo and the comic adaption confirm the escape sequence took place a little differently, with Batman throwing two smoke pellets and escaping.

After the 1st shoot, they blew the set up to film the Batmobile raid. They had to rebuilt the set when it was discovered what they had shot for Batman's escape with the smoke pellet wasn't what they wanted.

During the second shoot they built 2 stages (at Jack Nicholson's suggestion) to give the platform a greater sense of height and give the audience a greater sense of vertigo when Jack falls into the acid! So, there exists an alternative shot of Jack falling to his doom.

 

It is a shame that these cut scenes were never included as extras on the recent special edition DVD/Blu-ray sets. The video clips on this page were merely snippets from the documentaries on those discs.

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[This feature has been updated from a previous one I wrote for the site. My thanks to Shawn Reeves (www.reevzfx.com) for the use of some of the photos in this feature - Paul]

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