Batman Begins: The Thread

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EVERYONE (with sense and taste) thinks "Batman Returns" is better than "Batman"!

The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 16:30 (eighteen years ago) link

Michelle Pfeiffer in PVC > THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSE (especially if you were 14/15 when that movie came out) (like I was)

Huk-L, Wednesday, 22 June 2005 16:32 (eighteen years ago) link

I haven't seen this movie yet so I'm not really reading this thread, to avoid spoilers, but I just wanted to say that the new Batmobile toy is one of the greatest accomplishments in mankind's history.

nickalicious (nickalicious), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 16:35 (eighteen years ago) link

I'm Batman.

TOMBOT, Wednesday, 22 June 2005 16:36 (eighteen years ago) link

Further backtracking...I think the little boy is more likely Jason Todd than Dick Grayson.

Huk-L, Wednesday, 22 June 2005 16:38 (eighteen years ago) link

The Penguin was really good in Batman Returns too! Danny D-V actually did a good job being freakish, and I still remember that scene where he sinks into the water bleeding from the nose.

Jordan (Jordan), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 16:39 (eighteen years ago) link

i also felt the batdance was not used very effectively in this movie.

s1ocki (slutsky), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 16:41 (eighteen years ago) link

Ha ha!
YES.
Y'know who the only person who could match DDV's ability to simultaneously pull the sympathy/loathesomeness factor of the Penguin (or a few other Bat-Villains) is the previously mentioned Ricky Gervais.

Huk-L, Wednesday, 22 June 2005 16:41 (eighteen years ago) link

fuck syntax.

Huk-L, Wednesday, 22 June 2005 16:44 (eighteen years ago) link

Batdance = Worst thing Prince has ever done. EVER.

Allyzay knows a little German (allyzay), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 17:21 (eighteen years ago) link

Have you heard "Dolphin"?

The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 17:27 (eighteen years ago) link

Were it only the case, Ally.

xpost

Huk-L, Wednesday, 22 June 2005 17:27 (eighteen years ago) link

The video for "Batdance" was amusingly insane, though. Prince as Joker and Two-Face combined.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 17:29 (eighteen years ago) link

This is much worse than Batdance (and the entire Batman soundtrack was actually pretty good, and "Batdance" was sort of an overture of the whole work...with movie dialogue):
http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drf000/f036/f03646gwqe4.jpg

Huk-L, Wednesday, 22 June 2005 17:30 (eighteen years ago) link

Okay now Huk is talking the crazy talk.

The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 17:32 (eighteen years ago) link

Well, the cover art is actually pretty cool.

Huk-L, Wednesday, 22 June 2005 17:34 (eighteen years ago) link

We could get Matos in here (as he would agree with Huk...).

Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 17:35 (eighteen years ago) link

That would be too much crazy! Anyway it's been proven by science that "Jughead" is the worst piece of music Prince ever put his name to (where "proven by science" implies "I hate that fucking song").

The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 17:37 (eighteen years ago) link

OK whatever so it's not the WORST thing he's ever done but it's in the top ten. I mean the man has released approximately 80 trillion songs so sometimes it's difficult to keep a list.

Allyzay knows a little German (allyzay), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 17:41 (eighteen years ago) link

IT's OKAY BATDANCE, I STILL LOVE YOU!

Huk-L, Wednesday, 22 June 2005 17:43 (eighteen years ago) link

Daft Punk "The Bat Track"

Bat Man
I Am
Bat Man
I Am
Bat Man
I Am
Bat Man
I Am
Bat Man

...

I Am
Bat Man
I Am
Bat Man
I Am
Bat Man
I Am
Bat Man
I Am
Bat Man

TOMBOT, Wednesday, 22 June 2005 17:55 (eighteen years ago) link

Andrew WK: "I am Batman"

I am Batman, Batman I am Batman, Batman I am Batman, Batman I am Batman, Batman I am Batman, Batman I am Batman, Batman I am Batman, Batman I am Batman, Batman I am Batman, Batman

Huk-L, Wednesday, 22 June 2005 18:00 (eighteen years ago) link

To this day my husband hates Prince solely because of "Batdance" and the Batman soundtrack.

Leon C. (Ex Leon), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 18:01 (eighteen years ago) link

"Batdance" was the first Prince song I knew! It's beautiful, sold me on his genius at a wee age (plus it was about Batman and I was 9).

In hindsight it's clear the best Batman movie was Adam West's.

miccio (miccio), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 18:04 (eighteen years ago) link

[quote]If you'll remember, people only got freakout vibes from people whom they identified as menacing.[/quote]
Uh, that was [b]everyone[/b] except for the kid. The only reason Holmes didn't haul ass away from her protector (Batman) when doped up was because she was unconscious and then trapped inside the bat-tank.

[quote](Also, have you never seen knocked on their ass by an initial rush, followed by wandering around semi-coherent in some altered state? Because that's basically what happened to her.)[/quote]
But it wasn't being knocked on her ass by the initial rush - she was 'about to die,' the superdose was overwhelming her brain (Scarecrow's words), etc.. Logically, she should have been out cold and twitchy until the antidote was administered.

[quote]milo have you never had a hallucinogen before? cuz their effects vary according to people's psychology, they vary in intensity over time, affect people differently, etc. This is a strange "continuity cop" tack for you to take.[/quote]
Except that every last person was immediately terrified of whatever was in front of them - this being Gotham, that's not a shock - except for the kid (who served as a device to make Holmes more of a heroine and throw out some 'I knew Batman would save us' lines).

Real-life 'set and setting' hallucinogen rules didn't apply - it was a weaponized drug that caused terror in everyone we saw use it, except for one convenient character. Otherwise how would the assassins' plot have worked? They needed everyone to go batshit and attack each other - if terror wasn't an inherent consequence of exposure, maybe everyone would have just stared at the wall for a few hours and not destroyed the city.

milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 18:15 (eighteen years ago) link

Listening to "Batdance" for the 40th time > watching Burton's Batman for the 40th time.

Huk-L, Wednesday, 22 June 2005 18:16 (eighteen years ago) link

FWIW, I'm not arguing that Burton's Batmans were better, the only things I remember from either are Nicholson grinning and Pfeiffer's leather outfit.

milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 18:18 (eighteen years ago) link

Dude, you really should watch the movie again. Everyone is dazed after they're hit with the drug until either:

A) Scarecrow menaces them, causing them to wig out;
B) Unknown people lurch towards them like zombies, causing them to wig out.

Also, the kid WAS wigging out, or did you think that Scarecrow's horse was actually breathing fire at that point?

The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 18:47 (eighteen years ago) link

Scarecrow, Lord of the Nazgul.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 18:51 (eighteen years ago) link

He was wigging out, but not at Holmes, who should have been (by all rights) just as scary. The horse didn't attack him either, it was just there.

Everyone is momentarily dazed and then goes insane with terror. The only individual shown without this reaction to all stimuli is the kid (so that his role as a plot device can be fulfilled).

milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 18:52 (eighteen years ago) link

But even in the big mob scenes, everyone isn't afraid of everyone else around them! People start banding together and going after commonly frightening images (the various mob vs mob face-offs; everyone dogpiling on Batman, etc). You're making up a rule that isn't supported by what's shown by the film and then marking the film down for not following it.

The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 18:56 (eighteen years ago) link

Holmes (as D.A. Dawes) cannot be scary, even to tripped out Gothamites, because she is pure of heart and bold of nipple.

Huk-L, Wednesday, 22 June 2005 18:57 (eighteen years ago) link

He was wigging out, but not at Holmes, who should have been (by all rights) just as scary.

HAHAHAHA!!!

Eric H: not a troll, with one exception (Eric H.), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 18:58 (eighteen years ago) link

ahahaha! "bold of nipple"

Shakey Mo Collier, Wednesday, 22 June 2005 18:59 (eighteen years ago) link

All of the reviews that talk about how this is the only true, serious Batman film and the only one that gets Batman "right" make one thing very clear: Batman Begins is the rockist's choice for best Batman movie.

I'm tired of comics fans who hate the Adam West Batman because it's not reverent enough and doesn't show the proper respect for the seriousness of the comic book form.

Let me open myself up to further ridicule by making a wild and poorly thought out analogy:
Batman TV show = Drunken Master
Batman (1989) = Shaolin Soccer
Batman Begins = Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon

I venture that if you knew someone's opinion of one set of those three films relative to each other, you could predict their reaction to the other set of three.

walter kranz (walterkranz), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 19:05 (eighteen years ago) link

In the big mob scenes everyone who's been drugged is afraid of everyone around them from what I could tell. They start attacking (and biting/chewing, for one shot) everyone around them, I didn't see any kind of zombie-gangs starting to form. That for a shot or two individuals weren't attacking three people at once doesn't equate to not being terrified of the others.

It's not like this was the downfall of the movie (that would be, uh, just not really adding up to much), just a convenient plot contrivance (like Holmes' last speech) that stuck out to me. They needed to show Holmes acting heroic and maternal and then have the kid say "see, Batman will save us!" setting up the "I'm not really a spoiled billionaire playboy, I'm a bat" moment.

milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 19:08 (eighteen years ago) link

How does Crouching Tiger compare to Hero? At least Batman Begins wasn't as boring as that one.

milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 19:09 (eighteen years ago) link

The only reason Holmes didn't haul ass away from her protector (Batman) when doped up was because she was unconscious and then trapped inside the bat-tank.

OK everyone else is already like going at you for this hallucinogen madness BUT I have to make the point that at this point in the movie Rachel Dawes would have no idea that Batman was there protecting her, hence Batman would appear as a menacing, unknown figure. The little boy, OTOH, had already been with Dawes before the water main break AND had already met Batman, making neither an unknown or menacing figure to him. Although xpost roffles ok yr argument is worth it for that playboy v. bat comment.

ALSO xpost
Let me open myself up to further ridicule by making a wild and poorly thought out analogy:
Batman TV show = Drunken Master
Batman (1989) = Shaolin Soccer
Batman Begins = Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon

Yes you can open yourself up to further ridicule. A) I don't think anyone here so far has hated on Adam West Batman??? B) CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON IS ONE OF THE MOST UNBEARABLE MOVIES I HAVE EVER SEEN.

Allyzay knows a little German (allyzay), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 19:10 (eighteen years ago) link

Hero is less boring than CTHD.

Take that as you will.

Allyzay knows a little German (allyzay), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 19:13 (eighteen years ago) link

Yeah (unlike some people on this thread! Ooh! Ha!) I didn't fall asleep during Batman Begins.

TOMBOT, Wednesday, 22 June 2005 19:14 (eighteen years ago) link

Batman Begins is the rockist's choice for best Batman movie

If we're using "rockist" as "purist-to-be-pandered-to", this doesn't hold up, as in the comics, it's pronounced (though it's actually never really pronouced) RAYz Al Ghul, not RAHZ Al Ghul, and Batman thinks girls are icky.

Huk-L, Wednesday, 22 June 2005 19:15 (eighteen years ago) link

Though FWIW movies that extensively utilize "fight" sequences consisting of people suspended on wires floating around doing heavily choreographed semi-ballet, but pretending to actually bother doing anything with swords, are like my mortal enemy. Give me 40 hours of disjointed shots of Russell Crowe stabbing barbarians any day of the week over that.

xpost I fell asleep the first time I saw CTHD. So I was forced to watch it, again. Ugh.

Allyzay knows a little German (allyzay), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 19:16 (eighteen years ago) link

You know, if I was told, you could either choose between watching CTHD one more time and then watching whatever you wanted for the rest of your life, or ONLY being able to watch Gladiator and no other movie over and over for the rest of your life, I'd have to seriously sit down and think about my decision.

Allyzay knows a little German (allyzay), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 19:17 (eighteen years ago) link

A) I don't think anyone here so far has hated on Adam West Batman???

It's implicit in the argument that Batman Begins is the best portrayal of Batman because it's the most serious. The idea is that Adam West (and by extension Burton's movies) don't capture the true spirit of Batman because they are silly, flamboyant and ridiculous while Batman begins has believable characters and an authentic looking city.

Hero is less boring than CTHD.

I almost put Hero in there instead. The analogy works either way. Batman Begins, like CTHD or Hero is widely praised by critics and people who generally find superheroes or kung-fu films to be silly and beneath them.

walter kranz (walterkranz), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 19:22 (eighteen years ago) link

The analogy works either way.

Or not!

walter kranz (walterkranz), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 19:24 (eighteen years ago) link

I think instead of "works either way" you should have said maybe "actually that comparison blows ass to both the east and west"

TOMBOT, Wednesday, 22 June 2005 19:26 (eighteen years ago) link

I see Batman Begins as more of a Kill Bill 2 than Hero. Genre movie with pretensions to something else/something greater, but not above its genre. Whereas Hero just had a massive 'swordplay ballet is so wonderful I'm giving you NOTHING ELSE' stick up its ass.

milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 19:27 (eighteen years ago) link

Batman Begins, like CTHD or Hero is widely praised by critics and people who generally find superheroes or kung-fu films to be silly and beneath them.

Um, hi, I'm still here refuting your lazy and wildly OffTM assertions. (Also you should have looked at the companion thread linked upthread on I Love Comics before forming your theory.)

The Ghost of I Didn't Like It, Therfore REAL FANS Shouldn't Like It; Is That Rea, Wednesday, 22 June 2005 19:27 (eighteen years ago) link

by not above its genre, I mean that the director/film doesn't look down upon the source material or similar movies, whereas I get the feeling that Hero is ashamed of its b-movie roots.

milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 19:28 (eighteen years ago) link

Adam West (and by extension Burton's movies)

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y298/hukl/getout.jpg

Huk-L, Wednesday, 22 June 2005 19:30 (eighteen years ago) link


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