Search - Batman on DVD

MPAA Rating: PG-13 Content Advisory: Violence, Questionable for Children, Adult Language Movie Release: 1989 DVD Release: 10/18/2005 Format: DVD - Color,Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Edition: Dual Layered Audio Tracks: English, French Subtitles: English, French, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 2 Number of Discs: 2 Run Time: 2 hrs 6 mins Studio: Warner Home Video Members Wishing: 20 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

It has taken almost a decade for Warner Bros. to finally release a deluxe edition of Tim Burton's first mega-successful blockbuster Batman flick, so now that it's here, how does it stack up? Could it possible live up to expectations? The answer is a resounding and joyous "Yes!" This two-disc special edition release is just what any film geek ordered -- the transfer is stunning and the bonus materials deliver hours of drool-inducing material. Despite all its bells and whistles, though, at the heart of this release lies the 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. It's a crying shame that the folks at WB didn't update the presentation of this film sooner. The previous edition is an utter failure by today's standards and, needless to say, the digital picture remastering and combination of 5.1 Dolby and DTS tracks make for a truly new experience for the viewer. The movie disc comes complete with a Tim Burton commentary that finds the filmmaker scatterbrained as ever, but it's a solid and insightful commentary nonetheless. The real goodies come in the form of the documentaries and featurettes, adding up to over two hours of material dedicated to the various departments of this colossal production. Possibly the most interesting tales are those that present the film's decade-long road to production, spearheaded by a professor who happened to be the first to teach a comic book course at a university (just one of the little-known facts that abound on the bonus disc). Also included is a 40-minute special on the Batman mythos in the comic books that features interviews with past and current creators including Frank Miller and Alex Ross. Packed into the rest of the edition are three music videos from Prince, some smaller featurettes on each main character and character creator Bob Kane, and a surprising storyboard scene that features an early appearance by Robin that was cut (made even cooler by the vocal stylings of Mark Hamill and Kevin Conroy doing the voices of the Joker and Batman, respectively). It's a bit of a disappointment that the discs don't include the heavily rumored deleted scenes, but you can bet that they're being saved for some kind of "Ultimate Edition" down the road. For now, you can't get any better than this release, compounded by the similar treatments done to all three later Batman films and, of course, Batman Begins, which was obviously the marketing strategy for waiting so long to finally unleash these stellar editions onto the scene. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide