Rank the 8 batman films

[The Dark Knight]

I'm coming to a new appreciation of the Schumacher flicks. I'd be the last one to argue their artistic superiority to basically anything but at the same rate I have to applaud the guy for having the cojones to use stylized visuals and a sense of vastly heightened reality. If the Nolan films taught me nothing else, it's that Batman is as much OF the comics as any other character... and arguably more so than most. No, Schumacher didn't quite deliver Batman as I've always thought of him but there's a lot of eye candy in those movies. Whether or not it's always appropriate to Batman... well, there's no accounting for taste in these things.

I can see where you're coming from in regards to Schumacher's movies proving a clear comic book world, in terms of the look and the situations. I quite like some of the things they did - see my post in the 'what BF got right' thread.

They sort of replicate the breezy feeling of the Burtonverse, but among other things Schumacher's take on Batman feels too much like a regular superhero for my tastes, eg. his entrance and introduction to Chase in BF. In comparison, a scene I do like quite a lot more from the same movie is the following: Dick fighting the neon gang. Batman is standing at the top of a building, motionless like a gargoyle. The head thug yells out his name and everyone scatters as Batman descends. The power of the name and what he represents. I preferred that type of thing and wish we got more of it.

As time passes, they can't be considered a threat in the same way, and I think that does help. If you like big and bright things, that's provided in spades. It's always there if you ever want to watch it or feel in that particular mood. Though there's a feeling of BF and B&R having its cake and eating it too with the 'serious' scenes.

[greggbray]

They sort of replicate the breezy feeling of the Burtonverse, but among other things Schumacher's take on Batman feels too much like a regular superhero for my tastes, eg. his entrance and introduction to Chase in BF. In comparison, a scene I do like quite a lot more from the same movie is the following: Dick fighting the neon gang. Batman is standing at the top of a building, motionless like a gargoyle. The head thug yells out his name and everyone scatters as Batman descends. The power of the name and what he represents. I preferred that type of thing and wish we got more of it.

I have to concur here.  Though the aesthetic of the neon gang was perhaps a bit too bright for my tastes (though to be fair in 1995 it was right up my alley for a hallucinogenic moment) the thug reaction to Batman's appearance is exactly what it should have been.  The 'let's run like the dickens' reaction.  It recalls the urban legend set up from the first film, where the two thugs discuss Johnny Gobbs. 

Some of the deleted scenes work for me--in particular the red book sub plot.  It doesn't fix all of what ails BF, but it feels like a good edit could have added some quality and resonance to the film. 

[The Dark Knight]

I have to concur here.  Though the aesthetic of the neon gang was perhaps a bit too bright for my tastes (though to be fair in 1995 it was right up my alley for a hallucinogenic moment) the thug reaction to Batman's appearance is exactly what it should have been.  The 'let's run like the dickens' reaction.  It recalls the urban legend set up from the first film, where the two thugs discuss Johnny Gobbs.

Mhmm. It's a good little scene. I don't usually like Batman being out in plain view ala his public introduction at the start of BF. I just don't like that sort of thing. I can accept it much, much easier in the 60s show. But if it's a bunch of criminals seeing Batman ala the neon gang, I'm cool. They can go back and say they've seen the Batman. People can either believe or disbelieve them. In BR, Batman glides off the building and people see him. But he's surrounded by bats, and that only heightens the mythical nature of him. A Batman surrounded by his kind. Quite scary, eh? And when he's chased by the angry mob, they only catch a glimpse of him before he's locked up good and tight in the Batmobile.

[riddler]

I completely understand why some of you are purposely refusing to rank the Adam West film. It's too far removed and even if you don't like the silly tone it reflected the tone of the comics at the time. They gave the fans what they wanted at the time, we can't really fault them for putting out a film which would not be reflective of batman 25-50 years later. The adam west show made no secret of the fact that it was intended for the kiddies. Contrast that to The Schumacher fans which went for a target audiences in reverse order of age; Burton films for adult, Forever more of a family film and Batman and Robin being for kids.

[ElCuervoMuerto]

A lot of films are tied for me, but my number one is by a long margin:

The Dark Knight
Batman/Batman Begins


The Dark Knight Rises/Batman Returns (In a sense this two films are equals for me, I have a bit of issues with both films, and think that both take too much of a departure from "my" Batman. But I can objectively view both and admit that they are well made films.)



(big gap)



Batman Forever
Batman and Robin

As for '66, I'll leave it separate since it's a different tone and take on the character, but if you accept it for what it is it is an enjoyable campy comedy. But I don't really think I can rank it with the others (although I certainly enjoy it more than the Schumaker films).

[Bobthegoon89]

While I am so pleased to read such a great liking for Burton's films on here at top of the lists I do hope we're all not being totally biased in rejecting/complaining about the Nolan movies like those fools on imdb lol

I geniunely love the Nolan films too. They brought Batman back to the screen after those "wilderness years" and felt like the good ol days of Michael Keaton. So I'd be happy to see either of them ranked highly.

I really think Dark Knight Rises is no more a masterpiece than Howard the Duck however. Seriously. It was great. I don't think it comes any close to the original Keaton Batman however. And before you scream "what about in script/characters terms???" well yes I suppose. But wasn't the story merely borrowed from Ra's Al Ghul's Begins scheme and a few Batman graphic novels like The Cult? No different than Burton taking elements of The Laughing Fish in my book. But in terms of design Anton Furst is still the master. Then you have the epic Elfman music. Keaton (the definitive Batman for me). Nicholson as The Joker (right down to makeup lifted from the comics). The coolest ever Batmobile. The fact basically that it was the first one (and don't they say original is always best?). Yep sorry Batman 89 is still the mightiest. It's also the most important still. Thousands if not millions of new fans such as myself discovered the character through this one little summer movie. Including those who have turned against it and refuse to rank it their best ever. I'm not that foolish lol

My other ranking?

Batman Returns
Batman Begins
Batman Forever    (Yes really! It truly was "the greatest show on earth" in the summer in 1995! And it had bleedin Robin for jimminy jellikers sake!)
The Dark Knight
Batman 1966        (Again, yes really! How can you not love the rubber shark and that submarine fight at the end? lol)
The Dark Knight Rises
Batman and Robin

[thecolorsblend]

My problem with rankings and/or ratings for Batman movies is that they bring different sensibilities about the character to the screen. Batman's a dynamic character and the movies bring that across. Good for him but it doesn't easily lend itself to comparative rankings. The Adam West movie has endearing qualities so part of me might want to give it a 7.5/10. But I could actually picture scoring TDK at 7.5 too even though I'm not sure it's accurate at all to say I like them equally.

While I am so pleased to read such a great liking for Burton's films on here at top of the lists I do hope we're all not being totally biased in rejecting/complaining about the Nolan movies like those fools on imdb lol

My beef there is, yeah, those obnoxious fans have kind of ruined the Nolan films for me. I mean, I was never going to be a devotee to begin with but I might've been more hip to them if the douchebags hadn't constantly been trolling the Internet telling all and sundry they're the greatest movies to ever be filmed and any opinion to the contrary will include the gusher questioning your genetic ancestry, your personal hygiene and the nature of your relationship with your own mother while opening your most probable destination in the afterlife up for speculation... and urging you to make peace with it because your life will very shortly be coming to an end if they have anything to say about it.

Apart from pointing out that I own guns, am a great shot and live in a stat where self-defense has a pretty broad meaning (so bring it, hipster), there's not much I can contribute to that kind of "discourse".

That all of the above comes at the expense of all other adaptations, particularly the 1989-1997 franchise without which the Nolanverse wouldn't be possible, is also bothersome.

To bring this all back to more worthwhile discussion though, my recent viewings of the Schumacher films has given me a whole new appreciation for what he was attempting with BF and B&R. There are certain indefensible things but then that same accusation can be leveled against BB (idiotic one-liners), TDK (swiss cheese plot), TDKRises (where's Batman?!), B89 (Elfman's score is occasionally buried in the mix, some sound effects sound kind of generic) and BR (being shot completely on a soundstage does little to create the illusion of a large, outside world) so maybe it's better to not sweat the small stuff... particularly about movies that make no pretense of being anything other than fun action movies.

[riddler]

My problem with rankings and/or ratings for Batman movies is that they bring different sensibilities about the character to the screen. Batman's a dynamic character and the movies bring that across. Good for him but it doesn't easily lend itself to comparative rankings. The Adam West movie has endearing qualities so part of me might want to give it a 7.5/10. But I could actually picture scoring TDK at 7.5 too even though I'm not sure it's accurate at all to say I like them equally.

While I am so pleased to read such a great liking for Burton's films on here at top of the lists I do hope we're all not being totally biased in rejecting/complaining about the Nolan movies like those fools on imdb lol

My beef there is, yeah, those obnoxious fans have kind of ruined the Nolan films for me. I mean, I was never going to be a devotee to begin with but I might've been more hip to them if the douchebags hadn't constantly been trolling the Internet telling all and sundry they're the greatest movies to ever be filmed and any opinion to the contrary will include the gusher questioning your genetic ancestry, your personal hygiene and the nature of your relationship with your own mother while opening your most probable destination in the afterlife up for speculation... and urging you to make peace with it because your life will very shortly be coming to an end if they have anything to say about it.

Apart from pointing out that I own guns, am a great shot and live in a stat where self-defense has a pretty broad meaning (so bring it, hipster), there's not much I can contribute to that kind of "discourse".

That all of the above comes at the expense of all other adaptations, particularly the 1989-1997 franchise without which the Nolanverse wouldn't be possible, is also bothersome.

To bring this all back to more worthwhile discussion though, my recent viewings of the Schumacher films has given me a whole new appreciation for what he was attempting with BF and B&R. There are certain indefensible things but then that same accusation can be leveled against BB (idiotic one-liners), TDK (swiss cheese plot), TDKRises (where's Batman?!), B89 (Elfman's score is occasionally buried in the mix, some sound effects sound kind of generic) and BR (being shot completely on a soundstage does little to create the illusion of a large, outside world) so maybe it's better to not sweat the small stuff... particularly about movies that make no pretense of being anything other than fun action movies.

I generally omit the Adam west film from comparisons. I know it has the same time interval from 1989 as 89 does from the dark knight rises (23 years). It would be poorly received if they made a batman film like that now but simply put it was the best way to make a batman film at the time; fans wanted it to be fun and silly and they didn't have anything close to the technology to make it look credible and dark (plus they wouldn't have done that anyhow with West in the lead). They gave the fans what they wanted at the time, it just doesnt happen to be what the current fans want.


I did start posting again on the IMDB batman boards for a short time again. I wont touch the Nolan boards but posted a bit on the Batman, Batman Returns boards. Normally I hate trolling but just couldnt resist here.  I made a post asking why Nolanites felt from 2005-2008 that Burton had no business killing the joker yet Nolan can kill Ras Al Ghul, Two face, Talia and Bane. No surprise the Nolanites are now not only denying the criticism of the Joker's death but now claiming it's logical since all heroes kill their villains (which is not true, roughly half live and half die in the movies). By the way for those counting at home; 4 out of Nolan's 6 villains died (assuming you count Ras al ghul as dead, only the Joker and scarecrow survived). In the original series, 3 of the 8 died. Now granted I kind of played with the odds a little bit, I counted Catwoman as a Burton villain because she does fight Batman and plot against him but I didn't count Catwoman as a Nolan villain since her only antagonism is stealing Martha's diamonds at the beginning. Also add the fact that Nolan more or less killed BATMAN


Okay anyhow Nolan rant aside, I have the same hate for the dark knight many do. I wont say it's worse than Batman and Robin but it suffers from the same fate; taking itself way too seriously and going way over the top with what it wanted to do. The dark knight rises went way too far trying to evoke chaos and fear. The freeing of the prison wasn't needed, I get that selina needed to be released but other than that it was mainly done to prove a point which didnt need to be made- freeing prisoners creates chaos. And of course the entire bomb plan was overdone as well. Also i found it very reminiscent of the joker boat hijacking in the dark knight. Batman and robin obviously suffers from too much comedy. The dark knight rises would have been better as a shorter film, batman and robin would have been better with fewer jokes.

[Azrael]

My beef there is, yeah, those obnoxious fans have kind of ruined the Nolan films for me. I mean, I was never going to be a devotee to begin with but I might've been more hip to them if the douchebags hadn't constantly been trolling the Internet telling all and sundry they're the greatest movies to ever be filmed and any opinion to the contrary will include the gusher questioning your genetic ancestry, your personal hygiene and the nature of your relationship with your own mother while opening your most probable destination in the afterlife up for speculation... and urging you to make peace with it because your life will very shortly be coming to an end if they have anything to say about it.

Picture this. You upload a video about the Batwing which has nothing to do with Burton vs. Nolan comparisons, just B'89 footage, a little tribute to something you like. And, some guy jumps in to say how this showcases the difference between the "old" and the "new" Batman, and how "silly" the '89 Bruce was in his design for the Batwing, and how he wasn't able to hit the Joker etc. etc. Then you say something like "it's movie vehicles, it's their design and not their supposed functionality that really counts, they couldn't exist anyway" and that "this new Bat is just a prop hanging on a crane, it's how good it looks on screen that matters", and you receive 40 negative votes. Can't win with these people, my guess is that some see it like football, you either support Liverpool or Manchester United, you can't both, LOL.

[illgetdrivethrough]

My faves to watch;

Forever
89
Begins

May watch again for the novelty in a few years;
Returns
Batman 66

Will probably never watch again;
B&R
TDK

Jury is out;
TDKR