Search - Batman on DVD

MPAA Rating: PG-13 Content Advisory: Violence, Questionable for Children, Adult Language Movie Release: 1989 DVD Release: 03/26/1997 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV,Pan and Scan - Closed Captioned Edition: Restored/Remastered Audio Tracks: English, French Subtitles: English, French, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 2 hrs 6 mins Studio: Warner Home Video Members Wishing: 1 Genres: Action, Superhero Film, Master Criminal Films See Also: Batman, Batman [UMD for PSP], Batman [Widescreen/Fullscreen], Batman [Blu-ray], Batman [20th Anniversary Special Edition] [Blu-ray]

Behind the black cowl, Gotham City superhero Batman is really millionaire philanthropist Bruce Wayne (Michael Keaton), who turned to crimefighting after his parents were brutally murdered before his eyes. The only person to share Wayne's secret is faithful butler Alfred (Michael Gough). The principal villain in Batman is The Joker (Jack Nicholson) who'd been mob torpedo Jack Napier before he was horribly disfigured in a vat of acid. The Joker's plan to destroy Batman and gain control of Gotham City is manifold. First he distributes a line of booby-trapped cosmetics, then he goes on a destruction spree in the Gotham Art Museum while the music of Prince blasts away in the background, and finally he orchestrates an all-out campaign to win the hearts and minds of the Gothamites, hoping to turn them against the Cowled One. Meanwhile, reporter Vicki Vale (Kim Basinger) becomes the love of Batman's life-which of course plays right into the Joker's hands. Photographed by Roger Pratt, designed by Anton Furst, and scored by Tim Burton's favorite composer Danny Elfman, Batman was a monstrous box-office hit, making $100 million in the first ten days of release--$82,800,000 in North America alone. Incidentally, Billy Dee Williams' comparatively small role as DA Harvey Dent was originally designed to set up the sequel, wherein Dent was to convert into master criminal Two-Face; but by the time the producers got around to that character in 1995's Batman Forever, Two-Face was played by Tommy Lee Jones. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Michael Keaton - Batman/Bruce Wayne
Jack Nicholson - Joker/Jack Napier
Kim Basinger - Vicki Vale
Robert Wuhl - Alexander Knox
Pat Hingle - Commissioner Gordon

While there are some good things to be said for Warner Bros' DVD release of Batman, one of those things is not how it makes full use of the DVD format. Aside from a handful of production and cast notes, and some film recommendations, the DVD has no extras. The disc includes both full-frame and widescreen versions of the movie. The widescreen version is an anamorphic transfer preserving the original 1.85:1 aspect ratio of the movie. The transfer is very crisp and clean, with no sign of grain, and minimal compression artifacts and edge enhancement apparent throughout. The print used is very clean and shows no degradation. Colors are accurate and vivid throughout (while the scenes that are required to look grey and forbidding achieve a respectably sullen coldness) with no smearing or blending, and blacks are nicely solid and detailed. Earlier video transfers of this movie tended to push the luminance levels too high, leaving darker areas a kind of ugly grey-green. The soundtrack, originally Dolby Stereo, has been remastered to Dolby 5.1. The resulting track is clean and clear, with good dialogue separation, but is somewhat lacking in dynamics and does not make particularly good use of either the subwoofer channel or the surrounds (there is some surround work, mainly for ambience, but the majority of the soundstage is across the front). The French-language track is the original Dolby 2.0 track, with levels pushed to the wall. The voice cast seems a bit odd, but the dubbing is adequate. The disc has 31 chapter stops and is packaged in a cardboard snapper case. ~ Steven E. McDonald, All Movie Guide