Batman (1989 film)

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Template:Infobox Film Batman was released in U.S. theaters on June 23, 1989 by Warner Bros. and soon became the highest grossing movie of the year. It was directed by Tim Burton and starred Michael Keaton as Batman, Jack Nicholson as the Joker and Kim Basinger as photojournalist Vicki Vale. Although Keaton played the nominal hero of the film, Nicholson received top billing in the film's main credits (Keaton, however, got top billing in the end titles).

This movie helped usher a return to the darker roots of the Batman of the original comics and away from the campy 1960s Batman television series and cartoon Super Friends. Like many film versions of comic book heroes, the Batman movie told its own version of his origin, and how The Joker figured in that origin.

Many people who recognized Batman from the 1960s television series reprehended the film for being too solemn and humorless; however, it should be noted that the character's original tone was serious-minded and not comedic or mirthful. Another complaint, one that long plagued the Batman films made between 1989 and 1997, was that the films tended to focus too much on the villain and not enough on Batman himself.

Numerous comic book fans were displeased to learn that Michael Keaton (who was better known for his comedic roles at the time) was cast as the title character, and assumed that it was a sure sign of the production taking the same tone of the 1960s television series. The producers hurriedly released a teaser trailer to prove they were treating the character faithfully. The marketing move was successful and since the film's successful release, most fans consider Keaton the best actor to have played Batman in a live-action film.

The film score was written by Danny Elfman and the soundtrack was written and performed by Prince.

Two animated series (Batman: The Animated Series and The Adventures of Batman and Robin) were created in the wake of the film's success, and three sequels --Batman Returns (1992), Batman Forever (1995), and Batman and Robin (1997)-- were produced, and known collectively as the Batman Legacy. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm a spin-off of the animated television series, was released in 1993. Batman Begins, a successful restart of the saga (but often mistakenly called a prequel), was released in 2005. A new 2-disc special edition collection of the first four films were released on Tuesday, October 18, 2005. All movies include commentary by directors Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher along with a slew of other special features.

The film aired on the U.S. Cartoon Network on Saturday, November 19, 2005 during Toonami as part of the network's "November Month of Movie Premieres" at a rating of TV-14V for violence. This marked the first time Cartoon Network has ever aired anything above the TV-PG rating outside of Adult Swim.

Contents

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Plot summary

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Image:Jokermovie.jpgThe main story of the movie is that of Jack Napier, an arrogant hitman working for Boss Carl Grissom. Grissom assigns Napier to break into Axis Chemicals to destroy legally incriminating files, but it turns out to be a set-up. Jealous of Napier's affair with his girlfriend, Grissom hires the corrupt Lt. Max Eckhardt of the Gotham City Police Department to kill Napier.

Napier kills Eckhardt, but Batman has learned of the break-in and confronts Napier at Axis Chemicals to make sure he is arrested to testify against Grissom. While trying to kill Batman, Napier's face is disfigured by his own richochet bullet causing him to fall off the catwalk. Batman grabs his hand in an attempt to save him, however, his hand ultimately slips, and he falls into the vat. The chemicals ingrain him with permanently discoloured skin and surgical reconstruction leaves grotesque features, which change his appearance to something resembling a clown. Naming himself The Joker, he tracks down and murders Grissom and takes over the criminal gang. The violent takeover attracts the attention of both Batman and newspaper reporter Vicki Vale and photographer Alexander Knox. The rest of the film involves Batman trying to stop the Joker, Bob the Goon and their henchmen from terrorizing the city with shootouts, assassinations, and a deadly chemical which poisons its victims with uncontrollable laughter that eventually leads to death. To the Joker's frustration, Batman is able to stop his schemes which prompts him to challenge the superhero to face him openly.

Ultimately, Batman/Wayne remembers his own past, and is able to identify Napier as the man who murdered his parents. (although, in the original and most current origin story lines, it's Joe Chill that's the central figure in Batman's past). This leads to a final confrontation between the Dark Knight and the Clown Prince of Crime. The fight takes place high upon the Gotham Cathedral rooftop. Joker appears to be winning, leaving Batman clinging to the edge. Joker leaves Batman to his fate and attempts to escape in a helicopter that has come to pick him up. However Batman climbs back up and, using a bolas mechanism, ties Joker's leg to a statue as the helicoptor takes the villain away. Joker is pulled from the helicoptor by the large statue and he falls to his death on the streets of Gotham far below.

At the epilogue, Vicky decides to leave Gotham and a lover too committed to his crusade to abandon it. In addition, Batman sends a note saying that he will come to help the city if its ever threatened. To that end, Batman provides the Bat-signal to the police as a means to summon him. The film ends with Batman on patrol seeing the signal lit as his war on crime continues.

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Cast

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Response and legacy

Batman was the most successful movie of 1989, earning $251,188,924 domestically and over $160 million abroad. As a result, the movie spawned all sorts of merchandise: action figures, t-shirts, beach towels, trading cards and even a cereal. The movie received mostly positive reviews, with Erik Preminger of San Francisco's KGO-TV hailing it as "the movie of the decade". Jack Nicholson was widely praised as ruthless thug Jack Napier and the even more ruthless Joker, while Michael Keaton, better known as a comedic actor at the time, won over many viewers with his portrayal of a conflicted Bruce Wayne and Batman. Danny Elfman's score received positive feedback, leading to nominations in various institutions (although not for an Academy Award). The film was criticized, though, for its dark, grisly nature in comparison with the campy 1960s TV show, and for a Prince-dominated soundtrack which was seen as an obvious marketing tie-in. While applauded for its efforts to return to the staid nature of the character, the movie was attacked by many comic book purists who claimed that the film took too many elective liberties with the original character's established backstory and ideals, most notably in Batman's lethal tactics in the film.

And while Jack Nicholson's performance was widely praised by even the most ardent comic book fans, there were still dissenting voices that his character was too over-the-top and lacked the psychological depth of the comic book character.

In fact, Burton was accused by several fans of taking the character of Batman and making him a supporting character in his own film and ultimately bending the source material to his style. Several notable fans including filmmaker Kevin Smith were displeased by the film and thought it was not faithful enough to the comic books.

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Trivia

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Casting

  • Adam West, star of the Batman TV series, wanted to play Batman, but Michael Keaton was given the role after getting the nod from Bob Kane.
  • Ricky Addison Reed was cast as Robin when the character was part of an earlier story treatment. Robin was eventually dropped, and Reed lost the role.
  • Robin Williams was considered for the role of The Joker; he would later be considered for The Riddler in Batman Forever. Jack Nicholson got the role of The Joker but demanded top-billing and a lucrative deal that gave him royalties on all merchandise.
  • Billy Dee Williams appears as Harvey Dent, who in the comics became Two-Face. Williams took the role with the expectation that he would be brought back to play Two-Face and reportedly had a contract clause added reserving the role for him. During casting for Batman Forever (1995) Warner Bros. decided they would prefer Tommy Lee Jones and bought out Williams' contract.
  • It is claimed that Adam West was offered a cameo as Bruce Wayne's father but turned it down, though West denies being offered the part.
  • Sean Young was originally cast as Vicki Vale, but broke her collarbone while filming a horse-riding scene with Michael Keaton. The scene was subsequently written out of the script.
  • Alec Baldwin, Charlie Sheen, Bill Murray, Pierce Brosnan and Tom Selleck were rumored to be considered for the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman.
  • Willem Dafoe. David Bowie, James Woods and John Lithgow were all considered for the role of The Joker
  • According to a Playboy interview with Robin Williams, Jack Nicholson was offered the role of Joker first. When Nicholson kept delaying his answer, Williams was offered the role. The producers immediately turned around and informed Nicholson that Williams was considering the offer, and Nicholson accepted. Williams has remained bitter about being "used as bait." See trivia for Batman Forever (1995).
  • The Special Edition DVD features a vignette of an unused storyboard where the Joker, being chased by Batman, would drive through a circus presentation featuring the Flying Graysons, where he sets fire to the tightrope and kills them. This would set up Robin for the sequels. The voices used for the vignette are those from Batman: the Animated Series.
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Production Design

  • Set designer Anton Furst deliberately mixed clashing architectural styles to make Gotham City the ugliest and bleakest metropolis imaginable.
  • The plastic surgeon's weird surgical tools are believed to be originally from another Warner Brothers production, Little Shop of Horrors (1986). They were the dentist tools owned by Orin Scrivello.
  • The Batman costume weighed 70 lbs.
  • The Batman symbol on the costume in this film is slightly different than the version seen in the comic books. It has two extra "points" on the bottom of the black bat emblem. However, the teaser poster and other such promotional materials for the film depict the logo just as it appears in the comics, for copyright purposes (because that specific look for the logo is what DC Comics had copyrighted). The Batman costume was slightly modified for Batman Returns (1992) and sported the comic version of the symbol.
  • Heavy security surrounded The Joker's makeup.
  • The throne that the Joker sits on when he spreads money over the citizens of Gotham may be a replica of the "Silver Throne", the Royal Throne of Sweden which the King of Sweden used until 1974 at the opening of the Swedish Parliament.
  • The painting that the Joker spares during his vandalism spree is Francis Bacon's Figure with Meat.
  • The design of Gotham City is based on the work of architects Antonio Gaudi, Otto Wagner and Shin Takamatsu.
  • Scenes of the Wayne Mansion were filmed at two English stately homes: Knebworth House for exterior scenes, Hatfield House for the interiors.
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Other Trivia

  • Tom Mankiewicz was first contracted to write a Batman script for Warner Bros. in the early 1980s following his work on Superman: The Movie and Superman II.
  • Michael Keaton worked out for two months to prepare for the role, and learned kickboxing from his stunt double, David Lea. Though hard to spot, many of the fights are just about evenly split between Keaton and David Lea in costume. Keaton, however, went on to perform all of the fights himself for the sequel Batman Returns.
  • It made an estimated additional $750 million in merchandising alone.
  • Executive producers Benjamin Melniker and Michael E. Uslan sued Warner Brothers for forcing them into accepting a net profit agreement rather than the gross profit one that was set up for other parties like Jack Nicholson. Warners then claimed that, although "Batman" at the time was the 5th biggest grossing film ever, it was still technically in the red, and offered the two producers a $1 million out-of-court settlement. They naturally rejected this.
  • Corto Maltese (where Vicki had been taking pictures) is the name of a popular European comic character, starring in the adventure comic books of Italian Hugo Pratt. Corto Maltese is also an island country in Frank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, one of Burton's inspirations for Batman.
  • This was the first film to ever get a "12" rating in Great Britain. The rating was created to prevent young children from seeing the film. It had been in place up until 2002, where it was updated to "12A" for the live-action Spider-Man (2002) movie.
  • Kim Basinger is only a few inches shorter than Michael Keaton. To make Keaton appear taller, she wears flat heels or is in stocking feet in all the scenes in which they are standing next to each other.
  • In the Globe office, an artist hands Knox a drawing of a bat dressed like a man, poking fun at his belief in Batman. The drawing is signed "Bob Kane." Kane himself was originally planned to play the artist.
  • Jack Nicholson received a percentage of the gross on the film, and due to its massive box-office took home around $60 million. As of 2003 it is still the single-movie record for actor's salary.
  • The flag of Gotham City closely resembles the state flag of Indiana. It can be seen briefly in Harvey Dent's office.
  • When the Tom Mankiewicz script was in development, the directors associated with the project included Joe Dante and Ivan Reitman. Producers wanted an unknown to play Batman and the cast wish-list included William Holden as Commissioner Gordon and David Niven as Alfred, Bruce Wayne's faithful butler.
  • The movie's "Vicki Vale" is partially based on 1970s Bruce Wayne girlfriend Silver St. Cloud, a name deemed too silly for a movie character. However, in the comics there was a character named Vicki Vale, who was a reporter and appeared in the comics throughout the 1940s and 1960s.
  • The character of Alexander Knox (Robert Wuhl) was a character created for the movie. In the first draft of the script, the character was killed during the parade scene.
  • When Alfred receives Vicki Vale's message, a portrait can be seen in the background, some believe it to be a portrait of Thomas Wayne, Bruce's father.
  • For its first video release, the film was graded slightly lighter, as cinema audiences had complained that it was filmed so darkly that they could hardly see what was going on.
  • Anton Furst's designs for Gotham City were partally incorporated into the comics during the early 1990s.
  • In a newsroom scene, Vicki Vale and Alexander Knox examine a map of Gotham City which has been marked with Batman sightings. The map is actually a map of Vancouver, British Columbia.
  • The film was the first live-action movie to be played on Toonami.
  • One scene in the film includes the destruction of a priceless painting when one of joker's goons places his hands on the painting (leaving red hand prints.) But later in the scene we see that the hand prints are mysteriously gone.
  • Screenwriter Sam Hamm was annoyed at the filmmakers over certain changes made from his original drafts. The most notable would be making The Joker the killer of Bruce Wayne's parents, and Alfred Pennyworth letting Vicki Vale into the Batcave. Hamm himself said that he was able to keep Burton from making these changes until a writer's strike which permitted him from being with production.
  • In Sam Hamm's original draft, Alexander Knox was a more serious character who has romantic rivalry between Bruce over Vicki. Knox was also able to figure out Bruce's secret identity, but would later be killed in the climax.
  • In the book Hit and Run, author Kim Masters writes that Tim Burton's original vision for the film was much, much darker, but producers Jon Peters and Peter Guber vetoed the idea.
  • The Nicktoons villain, Evil Jimmy , a clone of Jimmy Neutron may resemble Nicholson's portrayl of The Joker.
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On DVD

Image:Batman2disc.jpg

Batman was given a "bare bones" DVD release when the medium was introduced in 1997-98. However, in 2005, the newest feature film, Batman Begins, spurred Warner Bros. to release a Two-Disc Special Edition set of all four Burton-Schumacher films in Batman: The Motion Picture Anthology 1989-1997.

Features of the original Burton film include:

  • Digitally Remastered Anamorphic Widescreen Transfer
  • English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Track
  • English DTS 5.1 Surround Track
  • Audio Commentary with Director Tim Burton
  • Legends of the Dark Knight: The History of Batman Documentary
  • Shadows of the Bat: The Cinematic Saga of the Dark Knight Parts 1, 2 & 3
    1. The Road to Gotham City
    2. The Gathering Storm
    3. The Legend Reborn
  • Beyond Batman Documentary Gallery Including:
    • Visualizing Gotham: The Production Design of Batman
    • Building the Batmobile
    • Those Wonderful Toys: The Props and Gadgets of Batman
    • Designing the Batsuit
    • From Jack to Joker
    • Nocturnal Overtures: The Music of Batman
  • "Batdance", "Partyman" and "Scandalous" Music Videos by Prince
  • The Heroes and The Villains Profile Galleries
  • Batman: The Complete Robin Storyboard Sequence
  • On the Set with Bob Kane Featurette
  • Batman Theatrical Trailer
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External links

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See also

Template:Batmanmovies Template:Tim Burton Filmsde:Batman (film) de:Batman (film es:Batman (película) fr:Batman (film, 1989) ja:バットマン pt:Batman (filme) ru:Бэтмен (фильм) sk:Batman (1989 film) sv:Batman (film)

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