Dark Gotham

[JokerMeThis]

I love the dark, gothic look of Gotham in the Burton Batman movies. Even the Schumacher Batman movies have a little of it if you can see past all of the neon lights. There are a lot of statues here in there in those later movies in scenes like when Two-Face is flying in his helicopter away from the bank and in the scene where Two Face is pushing the baby carriage. And of course who can forget the statue by the freeway and the statue holding up the observatory.

The best statues though are the statues in Gotham plaza pulling the levers. And I love all of the stone faces that you can find here and there in Batman Returns if you pay close enough attention. And Gotham Cathedral is just beautiful in both Burton movies even if it doesn't look the same. Wayne Manor in Batman Returns is a big improvement over the one in Batman '89 although I like that one too. Very gothic and fairy-tale like in my opinion. It looks to me like a castle really.

And the scene after Tucker and Esther drink their drinks when we see the night time view of Gotham's skyscrapers and hear that beautifully haunting music that is just perfect for a Tim Burton movie in my opinion. I don't know how faithful all of this is to the Batman comics but I think it all fits the universe perfectly.

Anyone agree?

[Catwoman]

yes

[The Dark Knight]

Wayne Manor in Batman Returns is a big improvement over the one in Batman '89 although I like that one too. Very gothic and fairy-tale like in my opinion. It looks to me like a castle really.

Not an improvement, just different.

We see more of the 89 Wayne Manor and it has some lovely rooms. The library, the long table room, costume room (which Knox and Vicki enter), and the staircase Bruce and Vicki walk up. The kitchen where Alfred recounts his pony story is very homey. Grand but homey is a good description of the whole place, actually. The room where the party is held at the beginning of the film feels intimate, a good life but not pompous. The batcave lies underneath this place and is a different environment altogether.

The BR Manor by contrast is effectively Bruce Wayne's soul being felt pretty much everywhere in the building, not just the cave. Sure, scenes take place at night, but that's what we have to go on. Most of the time we see it, rooms are dark and quiet. Bruce sits alone in darknesss, ala TDK Returns. Just as he sits alone in front of the bat computer researching The Penguin before Alfred walks in. I'm not sure if this is a place where fundraisers would be held, ala the first flick. It feels more isolated, all alone on a frozen patch of land on the outskirts.

[JokerMeThis]

Wayne Manor seems like a darker, more sad and more lonely place in Batman Returns. Some people might find it depressing but I think it's beautiful. I think it looks like a castle too. A fairy tale castle where a lonely man beast broods like in Beauty and the Beast. It also seems like the place where Count Dracula or Frankenstein or his monster might live. Very Gothic.

[The Dark Knight]

Wayne Manor seems like a darker, more sad and more lonely place in Batman Returns. Some people might find it depressing but I think it's beautiful.

The fireplace room is magnificent.
http://www.batman-online.com/images/12528223216827.jpg
It essentially provides light to the entire room.
The raw simplicity of a man sitting by a raging fire in the darkness.

[JokerMeThis]

That's a beautiful scene. That enormous, dark, sad, lonely room with Bruce in front of the enormous fireplace watching television. Batman Returns is one of the most visually beautiful movies I've ever seen.

[The Dark Knight]

Everyone would have probably seen this, an animated trailer for Arkham Asylum, the graphic novel.

Simply amazing.

The Returns score goes so well, particularly when the 100 years later title card appears with the bat signal being lit up. A slither of recognisable Batman theme penetrating this thick cloud of darkness. Lovely.

The 100 year later thing - I think it's something Burton could've done, ala the Gotham City title screen after the BR main titles. This is like getting a sneak peak at a third, truly off the chain Burton film.

[Azrael]

I love the dark, gothic look of Gotham in the Burton Batman movies. Even the Schumacher Batman movies have a little of it if you can see past all of the neon lights. There are a lot of statues here in there in those later movies in scenes like when Two-Face is flying in his helicopter away from the bank and in the scene where Two Face is pushing the baby carriage. And of course who can forget the statue by the freeway and the statue holding up the observatory.

The best statues though are the statues in Gotham plaza pulling the levers. And I love all of the stone faces that you can find here and there in Batman Returns if you pay close enough attention. And Gotham Cathedral is just beautiful in both Burton movies even if it doesn't look the same. Wayne Manor in Batman Returns is a big improvement over the one in Batman '89 although I like that one too. Very gothic and fairy-tale like in my opinion. It looks to me like a castle really.

And the scene after Tucker and Esther drink their drinks when we see the night time view of Gotham's skyscrapers and hear that beautifully haunting music that is just perfect for a Tim Burton movie in my opinion. I don't know how faithful all of this is to the Batman comics but I think it all fits the universe perfectly.

Anyone agree?

This is what I loved about Batman in the first place. I don't know if it's "misaimed fandom", but it's this kind of atmosphere that attracted me as a kid.

Rolling Stone: What's Batman about to you? Bruce Wayne's depression?

Tim Burton: It's about depression, and it's about lack of integration. It's about a character . . . unfortunately I always see it being about those things, not about some kind of hero who is saving the city from blah-blah-blah. If you asked me the plot of Batman, I couldn't tell you. It's about duality, it's about flip sides, it's about a person who's completely f***ed and doesn't know what he's doing. He's got good impulses, but he's not integrated. And it's about depression. It's about going through life, thinking you're doing something, trying very hard. And the Joker represented somebody who got to act however he wants.

Rolling Stone Interview (1992) | Tim Burton Collective