Batman (1989)
Directed by Tim Burton
Starring:
Michael Keaton - Batman/Bruce Wayne.
Jack Nicholson - The Joker.
Kim Basinger - Vicki Vale.
Pat Hingle - Commisioner Gordan.
Billy Dee Williams - Harvey Dent.
Budget - $48 million
Gross Revenue - $411,348,924
After Tim Burton's big success with his previous film 'Pee-Wee's Big Adventure', Warner Bros. immediately brough him on as director for 'Batman'. However after reading the script for the movie, he felt it to be too campy so he had his girlfriend at the time Julie Hickson write a new 30 page treatment. Then with Burton's second huge success with 'Beetlejuice', Warner Bros. put 'Batman' into production. Once fans found out that Burton was directign with Michael Keaton set to star, they were in a complete uproar and all that came to mind was 'Pee-Wee's Big Adventure'. Apparently, the studio was pressuring Burton into casting an action star in the role of Bruce Wayne, suggesting names such as Mel Gibson, Kevin Costner, Charlie Sheen, Pierce Brosnan, Tom Selleck and Bill Murray, but in the end Tim and producer Jon Peters both settled on Keaton
Burton had this to say at the time on the main theme of 'Batman':
"The whole film and mythology of the character is a complete duel of the freaks. It's a fight between two disturbed people." He continued, "The Joker is such a great character because there's a complete freedom to him. Any character who operates on the outside of society and is deemed a freak and an outcast then has the freedom to do what they want... They are the darker sides of freedom. Insanity is in some scary way the most freedom you can have, because you're not bound by the laws of society."
'Batman' opened in theaters on June 23rd, 1989 and grossed $43 million in 2,000 theaters in it's opening weekend. The film went on to gross $252 miliion in North America and another $160 million internationally and was the highest grossing movie based on a DC comic book until 2008 when 'The Dark Knight' was released.
Overall 'Batman' was said to be "too dark" and many movie-goers noticed that Buton had focused more on the Joker then Batman. Comic Books fans were in an outrage over the plot having the Joker being the one who killed Bruce's parents.
Overall Tim Burton's 'Batman' revieved mainly good reviews from critics, and fans may have been upset about the casting of Michael Keaton but after the movies release, the complaints were few. People were extremely impressed with the films design, production, and some felt that Jack Nicholson stole every scene he was in. So for the most part 'Batman' was a huge hit with critics and fans alike, and clearly from the dollar amounts the film raked in it was a success, and it will forever remain in the minds of comic-book fans everywhere.
While it may not live up to the same standards set by Nolan's version of Batman, Tim Burton's vision for 'Batman' was amazing for the time period, it got rid of the stereotype left by Adam West's campy version of Batman from the 60's. It's a timeless classic, the solid black with the bright yellow chest emblem, and of course that classic Batman theme featured throughout the movie, I still find myself humming it from time to time.
Batman Begins (2005)
Directed by Christopher Nolan
Starring:
Christian Bale - Batman/Bruce Wayne.
Michael Caine - Alfred Pennyworth.
Liam Neeson - Ra's al Ghul.
Gary Oldman - Jim Gordan.
Katie Holmes - Rachel Dawes.
Budget - $150 million
Gross Revenue - $372,710,015
In January of 2003 Warner Bros hired Christopher Nolan to direct their then untitled Batman film, two months later David Goyer signed on to write a script. Nolan decided that his Batman would be one people could believe actually would exist, a Batman grounded in reality. Nolan also felt that the previous Batman films focused too much on style and flash rather than the drama and depth of the characters and said his inspiration for 'Batman Begins' as being the 1978 'Superman' film in the sense that the film would focus on the characters development.
Filming began in March 2004 with Nolan trying to keep most of the filming being done in England. Nolan has said that he used the cult-classic 'Blade Runner' as inspiration for 'Batman Begins' describing the film as "an interesting lesson on the technique of exploring and describing a credible universe that doesn't appear to have any boundaries".
When I first saw it in theaters I was blown away, it was amazing, Nolan's choice to use CGI as little as possible really helped make his Batman universe more realistic and believable and in my opinion looked amazing on screen and the film wouldn't have been nearly as good without it.
One of the biggest changest this film made would have to be of course, the batmobile which we're introduced to in this film with the name "The Tumbler" which was a complete reimagining of the classic batmobile most movie-goers were famliar with, and the redesign came with mixed feelings. Some fans were in love with the the new design and the realistic back story of it originally being built as a military bridging vehicle, and others were in complete disgust with what had happened to their precious batmobile.
'Batman Begins' got mainly positive reviews upon it's release with many critics giving credit to Nolan and Goyer giving us a back story of Bruce Wayne, showing us who he really is, what drives him, how he got to the point of becoming the symbol of fear and justice known as the Batman. The film was extremely well written, the dialogue between any two characters at a given point is just as interesting as any of the action scenes, there are no appropriate bathroom breaks during this movie.
'Batman Begins' opened in theaters on June 15th, 2005 and opened in 3,858 theaters across the United States and Canada and brought in $49 million it's first weekend and after five days had brought in $73 million
I think overall, both Batman films were loved by comic-book fans, and non-comic-book fans alike. It's easy to say Tim Burton's Batman movie did a lot better in theaters when you consider the margins between the budgets of both films, and what the ended up bringing in at the box office. Whether you prefer Burton's 'Batman', or Nolan's 'Batman Begins', it goes without saying that both films will forever remain close to the hearts of Batman fans around the world.
Well there you have it, my first 'Comic-Book Heroes, Then & Now'. For my next editorial I'll be comparing the 1989 Dolph Lundgren movie 'The Punisher', to the 2004 Thomas Jane version of 'The Punisher'.