Is it weird...

[JokerMeThis]

Is it weird that I like this movie and even Batman & Robin better than Nolan's Batman? Is anyone else willing to admit they feel the same way? Or am I just going to be here all alone with egg on my face? 

[johnnygobbs]

Is it weird that I like this movie and even Batman & Robin better than Nolan's Batman? Is anyone else willing to admit they feel the same way? Or am I just going to be here all alone with egg on my face? 

It's not weird, although I can't say I feel the same way.

For me the order goes:

Batman '89 > The Dark Knight > Batman Returns > The Dark Knight Rises > Batman Begins > Batman Forever > Batman: The Movie > Batman & Robin

I prefer the 60s Batman TV show to Batman: The Movie, the plot of which was too goofy even by the 60s standards.  On the plus side however, Lee Meriwether was sexier as Catwoman than either Julie Newmar or Eartha Kitt from the TV show.

I'm not counting the animated films, but if I was I guess Batman: Mask of the Phantom would objectively top them all.  But since I still prefer live-action performances to animation I'd most likely place B:MOTP below Batman '89 and TDK.

I wonder where Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad and Ben Affleck's solo Batman movie will rank.

[JokerMeThis]

Here are my ratings:

1. Batman Returns

2. Batman '89

3. Batman Forever

4. Batman & Robin

5. Batman movie from the 1960's

6. The Dark Knight

7. Batman Begins

I've never seen Mask of the Phantasm but I like Batman: The Animated Series. I'd put it up there with my top 3 choices. Much better than Nolan's overly serious and bland Batman.

Lee Meriwether is hot. Hot as Catwoman and hot in an episode of the original Star Trek series. She seems very nice too.

I didn't care for Man of Steel and I think Ben Affleck looks stupid as Batman. I doubt I'll have any interest in his movie.

[thecolorsblend]

Is it weird that I like this movie and even Batman & Robin better than Nolan's Batman? Is anyone else willing to admit they feel the same way? Or am I just going to be here all alone with egg on my face? 

No disrespect to the Nolan fans but I'm with you. There's an energy to both Schumacher movies, especially Batman Forever, that I just don't sense about the Nolan trilogy. It's got imagination and a visual flair that Batman has never had before and arguably hasn't had since. It's not saying Nolan's movies suck or anything. I'm not trying to say that. But there's a lot to love about BF and B&R and they're more in line with what I want from Batman these days.

[riddler]

I really can't say enough bad things about the dark knight rises. Had Nolan stopped at two films I'd perceive them much better. Burton and Schumacher made their second films different enough from their first to give each individual film a sense of identity. Nolan made a unique enough film with the Dark Knight but TDKR felt half Batman Begins, half the dark knight rises. His entire trilogy feels redundant and overdone.

My rankings would be as follows
TDK > 89 > BF>BB>  BR> TDKR > B+R

If I were to rank on re-watchability I'd put 89 over the dark knight and batman and Robin over the dark knight rises. 

For all the slack batman and robin gets, it keeps the pace rolling, keeps it fun, entertains the audiences and lets the hero triumph. Nolan bored audiences to tears especially with his 3rd film, had to be dull and boring and the only one with an upbeat ending where 'the good guy wins' was Batman Begins.

[Dagenspear]

I really can't say enough bad things about the dark knight rises. Had Nolan stopped at two films I'd perceive them much better. Burton and Schumacher made their second films different enough from their first to give each individual film a sense of identity. Nolan made a unique enough film with the Dark Knight but TDKR felt half Batman Begins, half the dark knight rises. His entire trilogy feels redundant and overdone.

My rankings would be as follows
TDK > 89 > BF>BB>  BR> TDKR > B+R

If I were to rank on re-watchability I'd put 89 over the dark knight and batman and Robin over the dark knight rises. 

For all the slack batman and robin gets, it keeps the pace rolling, keeps it fun, entertains the audiences and lets the hero triumph. Nolan bored audiences to tears especially with his 3rd film, had to be dull and boring and the only one with an upbeat ending where 'the good guy wins' was Batman Begins.

The ending to both TDK and TDKR is very upbeat. Good triumphs in TDK. And the city is saved and the hero lives happily ever after in TDKR.

[JokerMeThis]

Schumacher's Batman movies at least are colorful, fun, energetic, positive and have happy endings. The Dark Knight is none of those things. Even Batman Begins ends on an ominous note because of the revelation about the Joker. Are they well-written and acted? Sure. But they just take themselves too seriously and lack fun.

[johnnygobbs]

The ending to both TDK and TDKR is very upbeat. Good triumphs in TDK. And the city is saved and the hero lives happily ever after in TDKR.

I feel like you've got a bit of stick here lately so I'm going to stick up for your opinion and say I totally agree.

What I love about the endings of TDK and TDKR is that they're bittersweet.  Bruce Wayne does the honourable thing in the second film by upholding the city's integrity by taking the rap for crimes committed by Gotham's 'white knight'.  That to me is an upbeat ending, in the same way Elsa and Rick Blane's parting at the end of Casablanca is an upbeat ending.  They might not necessarily be 'happy' endings but they're endings in which the protagonist makes a personal sacrifice for the greater good and you can't get much more inspiring and life-affirming than that IMHO.

Likewise, TDKR is a bittersweet ending in which Bruce finally gets to live a 'normal' life, even if it means leaving behind his family legacy and his best friend and surrogate father, Alfred, in Gotham.  Maybe I'm the only one here who feels this way, but the brief scene in Florence where Alfred shares an unspoken moment with Bruce almost brought a tear to my eye; it's even more poignant and powerful if one perceives the moment simply as a figment of Alfred's imagination, and that Bruce is possibly dead or MIA, although I guess that wouldn't be such an 'upbeat' ending.

[Dagenspear]

The ending to both TDK and TDKR is very upbeat. Good triumphs in TDK. And the city is saved and the hero lives happily ever after in TDKR.

I feel like you've got a bit of stick here lately so I'm going to stick up for your opinion and say I totally agree.

What I love about the endings of TDK and TDKR is that they're bittersweet.  Bruce Wayne does the honourable thing in the second film by upholding the city's integrity by taking the rap for crimes committed by Gotham's 'white knight'.  That to me is an upbeat ending, in the same way Elsa and Rick Blane's parting at the end of Casablanca is an upbeat ending.  They might not necessarily be 'happy' endings but they're endings in which the protagonist makes a personal sacrifice for the greater good and you can't get much more inspiring and life-affirming than that IMHO.

Likewise, TDKR is a bittersweet ending in which Bruce finally gets to live a 'normal' life, even if it means leaving behind his family legacy and his best friend and surrogate father, Alfred, in Gotham.  Maybe I'm the only one here who feels this way, but the brief scene in Florence where Alfred shares an unspoken moment with Bruce almost brought a tear to my eye; it's even more poignant and powerful if one perceives the moment simply as a figment of Alfred's imagination, and that Bruce is possibly dead or MIA, although I guess that wouldn't be such an 'upbeat' ending.

I don't know what you mean by stick. But I like these movies. I just don't like seeing one get trashed because people just happen to like another. I like the Schumacher films quite a bit. I don't bash Burton for them. And I like TDKT. But I don't want to belittle the Burton films, because they weren't this. I criticize Batman's negative decisions in those movies, but I don't attack the films.

[johnnygobbs]

I don't know what you mean by stick. But I like these movies. I just don't like seeing one get trashed because people just happen to like another. I like the Schumacher films quite a bit. I don't bash Burton for them. And I like TDKT. But I don't want to belittle the Burton films, because they weren't this. I criticize Batman's negative decisions in those movies, but I don't attack the films.

Maybe I got the wrong idea, in which case, I'm glad you're not being made to feel unwelcome for your opinions. 

I've just seen it on some other sites where people get bashed for praising the Burton films and not the Nolan ones so I don't want to see the same thing but in reverse happen here.  But if that's not the case, great!

Hopefully we're all accepting of one another's preferences here.