89 nostalgia...your memories of the hype

[batass4880]

I was 9 years old at the time and really had no interest in seeing it because I knew nothing of the Batman world. I don't know why but I don't even remember seeing ads on TV for the film. The only thing I knew was that summer there was a big Batman movie out with Michael Keaton as Batman. Also there were posters all over my school from the movie because Halloween was coming. There was a poster of Keaton standing in front of the Batmobile and a poster of the Joker wearing sunglasses 'advertising' his Smilex poison but I had no idea who the Joker was or that he was part of Batman. Also when I went to summer camp, there was a kid in my cabin who wore a Batman ball cap and t-shirt sometimes.

Then on a very Gotham City like Saturday night in October, me, my mother, my sister, two of my friends/neighbors and their mothers and sisters went out to dinner at Pizza Hut and then went to a shopping mall where we were late for the movie. I really didn't care at the time because I wasn't a Batman fan (yet) and because I was just having fun with my friends. We got in right after Batman kicked that Joker ninja-swordsman's ass and was driving Vicki to the Batcave. When the movie was over I was in love!

We stayed in the theater to see the first half of the movie that we missed but when we got to the swordsman scene again, our mommies told us "it's time to leave!" and we were like "but ma??!!" and were so pissed On the way home we were planning on who would rent the VHS when it came out and who's VCR's we should hook up to make copies!

[Sandman]

On the way home we were planning on who would rent the VHS when it came out and who's VCR's should we hook up to make copies!

Ah those were the days.

[DarkVengeance]

I remember the feeling of being so excited like it was yesterday. I was only 5 years old in 1989, but I can remember everything about it.

I was begging my dad to take me to see it opening night at the local drive-in theater when looking at the beautiful iconic gold bat symbol in the newspaper ad for opening night showings. He gave in and took me (probably cause I cried until he did hehe), I remember seeing the bat-symbol everywhere ( posters, cups, people wearing shirts) and I can still taste that fresh summer air, remember the dark mysterious sky, and the scent of movie popcorn flowing in the air. Unfortuneatly I actually ended up falling asleep three quarters of the way into the film, but it was actually worth it cause a week later my Dad took me to see it again at a regular theater, so I got to enjoy it on two mediums as opposed to just one.

It was probably one of the best feelings of my life, and one of my best memories ever. Alot of people laugh at me when I say that the film itself has made me who I am today, but I dont care what others say, it has made me who I am. Thats why I have a tattoo of the 89 chest logo on my arm, its there for me to always remember and cherish that time early on in my life, the love for the characters being truly amazed and what it meant to be, and eventually led me to branch out on being a huge batman fan, I have been ever since seeing that film.

Its crazy to be able to honestly say that this film has changed me as much as it did, after seeing the film I remember all of the sweet bat-merchandise I got for my birthday and christmas, all of the Toy Biz figures, accessories and playsets I had them, along with pretty much everything I could get my hands on ( posters, t-shirts, plus ther most random stuff.Its funny cause I still have alot of my stuff since then (check the DarkVengeance collection thread some of its still there) and I can remember the first Batman toy I had I got at an amusement park called Knobels in PA, it was the stuffed applause Keaton Batman (that looks nothing like Keaton, but I still have that sucker to this day).


Thinking about all these memories makes me love everything Batman even more, fanboy, nerd, fan whatever you may call me, all I know is I LOVE BATMAN!!

-DV

[Paul (ral)]

Here are a couple of photos of a school project I did about a year or more after Batman 89 came out.  You could say it's version 1 of this site. Everyone else was doing serious stuff, but i stuck to Batman 

It was made up from info I got from newspapers, topps cards and a sticker album - that's all the stuff I had to go on.

[Kamdan]

That's quite impressive, Paul! I too did a school project on the film my senior year in high school.

[The Dark Knight]

That is brilliant, Paul. A true fan from the start!

[Paul (ral)]

I think I was about 13 when I did that.

[Redskull]

I believe I was 7 when it came out, 6 or seven and my dad (rip) would not allow me to see it because it was deemed too scary, he was probably right.

Anyways I remember it was a huge deal when it came out because Batman was in a black suit and I was use to seeing the adam west batman. The fact it was dark and not for kids also made it appealing to me.

When i saw it I found the Joker really scary but Batman himself did not leave a huge impression on me.

However when I saw Batman returns two years later, now that was awesome! Such good memories with that one, probably the best out of any movie I can remember!

[Paul (ral)]

Just a bump for this thread with 2009 being the big year

Perhaps newer members can add their memories and experiences of 1989 and the hype.

And if older members can remember anything else get it down!

[DocLathropBrown]

I was 2 in 1989, so I don't remember much from the actual year of release, but I remember the little bit of hype that remained.... barely.

In 1990, the local Fox affiliate was still airing the re-runs of the Adam West show, and that's how I got my start on Batman. I vividly remember the commercials for it, along with learning to look for "Batman" in the TV Guide. It was the first word I learned to read.

I remember going down to the liquor store a block down with my older siste,r to buy the Topps trading cards. Those, I remember most of all. Never did all all of those suckers until years later.

We had the VHS, and in the years before I went off to Kindergarten I would literally watch the film just about every day. Playing with the Toy Biz figures, the Batmobile with the Sheild Shell (Still the coolest thing out of any Batman toy, I think. To remember to include the Shields... Still probably one of my most favorite Bat gadgets ever. What a neat idea the Shields were!), I even had Bob the Goon! I remember using a Barbie we had lying around (for some reason) as a stand-in for Vicki Vale. And then, when my sister got the Captain Power toys (remember them? The Soldiers of the Future?) I used the female commander (Whatever her name was...) as Vicki, then. I didn't like how Barbie was so much taller than Batman. 

As a stand-in for the Cathedral (By far, and still to this day, my favorite sequence/set from B89, if not all of Batman), I used milk crates that my father had lying around. I wasn't dumb enough to think they actually LOOKED like the set, but I suppose it tapped into the idea behind them hanging from the parapet at the end of the film, which scared me silly as a child. The idea still chills me to this day. Hanging from all the way up there, being assaulted by the Joker. But yeah, the Milk crates... I remember mainly using it for the heigth you could get out of a couple of them, and have Batman Vicki and the Joker hanging by the edge of it. I'm still kind of sad that Kenner or Toy Biz never made a Cathedral playset.

Man, the memories are flowing back now. I remember the third act has always been my favorite of the film, and I always loved to recreate the Batwing sequence. And crashing the Batwing was always my favorite part. Yeah, I had the Toy Biz Batwing, too. I didn't have a Batcave until the Kenner TAS one, though. But I never fell for it. I knew the design of it was based on the first film, and that the back side was Axis Chemicals, so I used it as such. Kenner wasn't fooling me. I'd recognize that Batcomputer and costume vault anywhere. And years later, I was proven right, I now know that it was made for release under their "Dark Knight Collection" banner for the first Keaton film, but was held over to be released under their "Batman Returns" banner the following year. I mean look at the thing, it's obviously the '89 Wayne Manor, Batcave and Axis Chemicals.

Speaking of Axis Chemicals, I always loved the blowing-up Axis part too. That playset wasn't big enough for the full sequence, but my favorite part was when it turns out Batman was remote-controlling the Batmobile to do it. Simply awesome.

Well, that's all that's '89 specific, and least, pre-BR-release. Even though I cheated by mentioning the TAS-edition Batcave, but I used it was is was designed... to recreate scenes from B89!