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I made the list out of names i have read were up for the role back in 99 or were suggested by fan's alot.

If you have any more tell me so i can add them ;)

First off, let me get this off of my chest.

After my huge disappointment w/ B & R back in 1997, I thought that the idea of it having a sequel was just plain stupid. Seriously, a film that was supposed to have a Returns tone, but at the same time, it would be the sequel to an atrocity. What two words come to mind: epic failure.

But had it been in the works, I choose Mr. Llyod as the Scarecrow b/c of his roles in Back to the Future & Who Framed Roger Rabbit. All he would've had to have done was add the professor persona w/ the scary persona, & we would have a suitable Scarecrow.

A preceding film has no bearing on the current film. That's the kind of thinking that leads to needless restarts.

Who gives a damn about what's in-continuity as long as the film you're currently watching is good?

Christopher Lloyd would've been perfect and John Malkovich probably would've kicked ass.

I never liked the Scarecrow they're using in the current series. That role belongs to actors who are great at being odd, weird and creepy. Not pretty boys.

Crispin Glover would make an excellent Scarecrow.

Quote from: batass4880 on Fri, 13 Mar  2009, 02:31
I never liked the Scarecrow they're using in the current series. That role belongs to actors who are great at being odd, weird and creepy. Not pretty boys.

I've read that while Murphy was in a Batman audition for Begins, Chris Nolan looked at his eyes & thought that he'd be perfect for Scarecrow.

^ That's weird because he looks like the guy who plays Superman in Smallville.

Looking back there were only two realistic possibilities:

1) Schumacher picks an actor that is perfect for the role (e.g. Uma Thurman for Poison Ivy) but the role is poorly written

2) Schumacher picks an actor that is awful for the role (e.g. Arnie for Mr. Freeze) but the role is...well, poorly written.

QuoteThat role belongs to actors who are great at being odd, weird and creepy. Not pretty boys.

Pretty much that's the one gripe I've got against Murphy.  I always thought Crane should became the Scarecrow as much as anything because of his looks.  If he's just a fugly dude, well, that would make him a target for the richer, more beautiful kids who always made his life miserable.

Murphy didn't exactly have that going for him.

Appearances aside, I thought Murphy did the role proud.

Quote^ That's weird because he looks like the guy who plays Superman in Smallville.

Can't say as I see the similarity, myself.

Quote1) Schumacher picks an actor that is perfect for the role (e.g. Uma Thurman for Poison Ivy) but the role is poorly written

And we come to it at least.  I just never saw it.  Don't understand why peeps think Thurman rocked as Ivy.  I thought Ivy should have two sides to her- the sexpot and the amoral killer.  The B&R script definitely supports that interpretation and I suspect the direction could've allowed for it.  Thurman, an otherwise fine (in more ways than one) actress, just didn't see those layers in the character.  Even Ahnuld brought a sense of humanity to Freeze, recoginizing that Fries is a dude who does things that would violate his conscience (if he still had one) in pursuit of a larger agenda to save his wife.  The governor brought as much of that as I suspect Shlockmaker allowed him.

So what's Thurman's excuse?

Quote from: thecolorsblend on Fri, 13 Mar  2009, 02:58

Quote1) Schumacher picks an actor that is perfect for the role (e.g. Uma Thurman for Poison Ivy) but the role is poorly written

And we come to it at least.  I just never saw it.  Don't understand why peeps think Thurman rocked as Ivy.  I thought Ivy should have two sides to her- the sexpot and the amoral killer.  The B&R script definitely supports that interpretation and I suspect the direction could've allowed for it.  Thurman, an otherwise fine (in more ways than one) actress, just didn't see those layers in the character.  Even Ahnuld brought a sense of humanity to Freeze, recoginizing that Fries is a dude who does things that would violate his conscience (if he still had one) in pursuit of a larger agenda to save his wife.  The governor brought as much of that as I suspect Shlockmaker allowed him.

So what's Thurman's excuse?

Exactly. It seemed like she always forgot her lines. You could tell when she takes a long pause to finish a sentence, or just by telling by looking in her eyes, as they don't look focused.

I think she recognized that the script sucked, so she just decided to overact.

@ thecolorsblend

I don't know any Batman fans that think she rocked in the role. I remember a number of movie critics saying stuff like "Uma steals the show" or "Uma is the only good thing about B & R". Made me wonder if I saw the same movie they were talking about.

I thought Uma was perfectly fine in the role. Had the tone of the film been more serious, I don't think she would have hammed it up anywhere near as badly.

When in Rome, as they say.

I have to agree with thecolorsblend.  Whilst I don't especially rate Ahnuld as a great actor I still believe that he was a better choice for Mr Freeze than Uma Thurman was for Poison Ivy.  I can buy the interpretation of Mr Freeze as a being both a top scientist and former Olympian with a beautiful wife; basically the man who has everything until his wife succumbs to a degenerative illness.  As it was, Arnie was as 'good' as the script would allow him to be.
Uma on the other hand, as fine an actress as she can be, decided to overplay the role in a rather offputting Mae West style that had no place in a 90s comic-book movie, even one as wretched as B & R turned out to be.  Like Clooney, who can also be a good actor when he wants to be, Thurman should have quit the project if she wasn't going to take the role seriously, or had any inkling that the film was going to be so bad.

Quote from: DocLathropBrown on Fri, 13 Mar  2009, 07:06
I thought Uma was perfectly fine in the role. Had the tone of the film been more serious, I don't think she would have hammed it up anywhere near as badly.

When in Rome, as they say.

My thoughts exactly.

Actually, I think I'm responsible for Christopher Lloyd and Bruce Spence making the list, as I suggested them in a Batman V thread. I'm not sure they were actually rumored choices to play the character.

Well, I can't give credit to Arnie for the subplot about his dying wife.

He didn't write the script. And the guy who did write the script simply adapted an idea that Paul Dini of BTAS came up with. There's nothing wrong with that--Harley Quinn originated in the cartoon as well--but let's give credit where credit is due.

I wasn't giving Arnie the credit for Mr Freeze's origins which as you say arose from BTAS, although I was giving a tiny slither of whatever possible praise can be directed to a film like B&R, for the casting of Arnie in the role.  I don't believe that the original Mr Freeze was a Teutonic Olympian, but I do think that interpretation worked in this film - or at least it worked better than the same film's interpretation of Batgirl, Bane or Poison Ivy.
As you say though, Paul Dini deserves high praise for his conception of Batman, particularly the addition of Harley Quinn and the reinterpretation of many of the villians' backgrounds - which have almost become canon.  I need no convincing as to the brilliance of BTAS.

Quote from: Batman on Fri, 13 Mar  2009, 18:09
Actually, I think I'm responsible for Christopher Lloyd and Bruce Spence making the list, as I suggested them in a Batman V thread. I'm not sure they were actually rumored choices to play the character.

Yup ;D as i said at the start i got some of the name's that had been suggested by fans.... that and i like Bruce Spence. Christopher Lloyd on the other hand actually was one of the Scarecrow choices.

Inserts two pennies.
Early in Batman & Robin, Uma Thurman came across like Jim Carrey in drag, which come to think of it Carrey's Riddler came across like Jim Carrey in Drag, but I thought she got better as the movie went along. At least she got as good as the film would allow.

As for Scarecrow, as soon as they unloaded Steve Buscemi from the truck in Con-Air, I was like, PERFECT SCARECROW!


I really like Cillian Murphy in the part though.

From a studio's perspective, Jeff Goldblum probably would have been the preferred choice for Schumacher to go with.

We all know how WB had a thing for big name celeb's playing the roles of the villains during this era, and considering that Jeff was coming off of "The Lost World", I'm sure WB saw him as the ideal choice.

I remember reading Shumacher stating that he had no intention on offering Howard Stern the role. And for the most part, I believe him. Though one has to wonder if "Private Parts" was more of a box office success, instead of a modest one, how much of that would have played into him being considered for the role. From what I gather, Stern was definately interested.

Quote from: Dark Knight Detective on Fri, 13 Mar  2009, 02:33
Crispin Glover would make an excellent Scarecrow.

Quote from: batass4880 on Fri, 13 Mar  2009, 02:31
I never liked the Scarecrow they're using in the current series. That role belongs to actors who are great at being odd, weird and creepy. Not pretty boys.

I've read that while Murphy was in a Batman audition for Begins, Chris Nolan looked at his eyes & thought that he'd be perfect for Scarecrow.

Thats 100% true, Murphy was at WB auditioning for the role of Bats and they chose him for Scarecrow instead, which I think was a perfect choice, though I wish we got to see him do more in the Nolan films.

I think the guy who plays ScareCrow in Nolan's is pretty correct. He has a noticably similar look to the several of the comics. He also has nice thin anotomy for the part. He looks good when he gets on that horse and his casual suit is taken away.

I think Burton would have made a great ScareCrow story, most likely he'd make it seperate and all about him. I know he would have loved to make that one, it's completely his style there.

One of these days Nolan may make a seperate ScareCrow story. Perhaps the third one may have him in it more.

I would have to say Jeff Goldblum would have been the choice for me. He's a fantastic actor and if you've seen him in The FLY you would know he would be uncanny for the role of The Scarecrow.