Val Kilmer Appreciation Thread

[The Laughing Fish]

Interesting to see HBO Max call Kilmer an icon in this promotional tweet.

https://www.twitter.com/hbomax/status/1475134316237799427

Okay...so where is the Schumacher cut?

The fact they list Routh as an icon as well, despite starring in a Superman movie that killed the franchise for seven years, is rather amusing.

[thecolorsblend]

Interesting to see HBO Max call Kilmer an icon in this promotional tweet.

https://www.twitter.com/hbomax/status/1475134316237799427

Okay...so where is the Schumacher cut?

It's not on HBO Max, that's all I know.

For better or worse, I'm not sure Kilmer's Batman can be considered iconic. But Kilmer as a film actor is most certainly an icon at this point. His Eighties comedies, Iceman, Jim Morrison, Doc Holliday, Moses, arguably Madmartigan, John Henry Patterson, he has played iconic roles. Or at least been in iconic movies. I think it's a fair description of his film career.

The fact they list Routh as an icon as well, despite starring in a Superman movie that killed the franchise for seven years, is rather amusing.

Pfah. Tell me about it. The star of the very same "Superman" movie that got completely blown out of the water by a pirate movie is somehow an "icon"?

[The Dark Knight]

For better or worse, I'm not sure Kilmer's Batman can be considered iconic.

Not iconic. But BF is a true 90s movie and I think people enjoy it more than they're willing to admit. I love it. And funnily enough, if the Keaton revival doesn't pan out as we would have liked, the Schumacherverse will still stand preserved even though the intention was to jettison it and its continuity to the rear view mirror.

[The Laughing Fish]

I know Kilmer already expressed his disappointment over his Batman experience months ago. But out of curiosity, I had a look at what he said back in 1997, when he explained why he decided to star in The Saint instead of B&R. As you can see, he didn't care for franchise movie making.

With 'Batman,' the reason it's so popular has nothing to do with me.

And with respect to Mr. Clooney or Michael [Keaton] before us, it doesn't have much to do with them, either. . . .

One of the reasons it wasn't such a lure to go back to do Batman is that they were so happy with the product. There was nothing stimulating to me in that in a personal way. There's nothing wrong with success, and it's hard to conceive that it wouldn't be [successful] again. It's just not stimulating.

Not to take anything away from [Batman creator] Bob Kane, but you have a choice between a comic book and, with 'The Saint,' a literary figure that has inspired this whole espionage genre, this notion of the gentleman thief, surviving by his wits, notbrawn.

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-04-03-ca-44947-story.html

People have said I enjoy playing other characters more than I like being myself. That's not true. Have you ever seen Robin Williams? Robin makes me laugh, but that's not my bag.

I got into acting to find out more about myself and I did. I just love my work, and I function just like other people. As an actor, you can't help but be interested in people. I like different voices and odd characters, but the things I like to do aren't actor things - I like to read, ride my horse and spend time in wilderness ...

But I will say, playing Simon [Templar] was a lot more challenging to me than Batman. Batman is more of a physical presence, while Simon is a thief - a thinker - a much more interesting character all together.

https://www.oklahoman.com/article/2578229/kilmer-enjoys-disguises-in-the-saint

His experience was definitely soured even further when he didn't get along with Schumacher, for whatever reason. I don't know if he was in the wrong or not, but he was resentful and confused over Schumacher's negative assessment of him at the time. Seems to me it was a typical case of personality clashes.

I watched The Saint many years ago, and found it entertaining. Maybe Kilmer might've appreciated playing Bruce Wayne just a little bit better if BF explored his expertise as a master of disguise, like in the comics, and emphasised more on the detective side.

[thecolorsblend]

This guy has a bit of a Kilmer lovefest going on. BF fans will probably like what this guy has to say, at least about Kilmer.

[The Laughing Fish]

I found this blog post containing these old scans of Kilmer talking about Forever, addressing rumours that he and Jim Carrey didn't get along and he was expected to play Batman again for another couple of films. His falling out with Schumacher despite saying they got along in the interview did him favours with B&R bombing in the end.

https://www.1995batman.com/2020/09/magazine-article-film-review-magazine.html