What's your opinion on Batman?

[doliest]

I am, in this case, speaking of the 1960s movie, starring Adam West and Burt Ward. In my opinion, I consider it the BEST Batman movie of all time just because it's so funny. I mean anyone who has seen this knows what I'm talking about, throw in some of the best actors for the group of four villians and I'm more than willing to say this is better than Dark Knight.(which ranks second for me)

[Freshmeat]

I prefer the more serious Batman.

Of course, the exploding shark stil cracks me up to this day.

[snoopy13a]

I prefer the more serious Batman.

Of course, the exploding shark stil cracks me up to this day.

It is a good thing that Batman always carries Bat Shark Repellent in his utility belt :smallbiggrin:

I like the Adam West movie and I do like the campy Batman. I'm not sure which version I prefer as I do like both campy Batman and serious Batman.

[chiasaur11]

I am, in this case, speaking of the 1960s movie, starring Adam West and Burt Ward. In my opinion, I consider it the BEST Batman movie of all time just because it's so funny. I mean anyone who has seen this knows what I'm talking about, throw in some of the best actors for the group of four villians and I'm more than willing to say this is better than Dark Knight.(which ranks second for me)

They're both great, but the comic where Superman tries to get Batman burned as a witch competes well with both.

[kpenguin]

I enjoyed it as a movie. However, while it was enjoyable to watch, the effects of the film (and TV series) on Batman were long lasting. Batman has managed to pull back from its days of camp, but it always remains as a shadow over every bit of Batman media.

[doliest]

I enjoyed it as a movie. However, while it was enjoyable to watch, the effects of the film (and TV series) on Batman were long lasting. Batman has managed to pull back from its days of camp, but it always remains as a shadow over every bit of Batman media.

I never understood why Batman has to be so dark and realistic, I mean when you get right down to it, he's still a guy in a batsuit.

[MeklorIlavator]

With serious financial and technological backing. Saying that he's only a guy is a bat suit is like saying Iron Man's just a drunk playboy with delusions of grandeur.

[doliest]

With serious financial and technological backing. Saying that he's only a guy is a bat suit is like saying Iron Man's just a drunk playboy with delusions of grandeur.

The difference is:

A.Iron man is a guy in a mech suit flying around, destroying small armies.
B.While Batman is a guy in bat-tights which, no matter how technologically grounded, still make him look like a bat.

[snoopy13a]

I never understood why Batman has to be so dark and realistic, I mean when you get right down to it, he's still a guy in a batsuit.

Dark and realistic seems to sell more comics and movie tickets. I like the campy Batman and I wouldn't mind it resurfacing but I'm almost certainly in the minority. If most people agreed with us then they would probably go back to the campiness.

[turkishproverb]

Dark and realistic seems to sell more comics and movie tickets. I like the campy Batman and I wouldn't mind it resurfacing but I'm almost certainly in the minority. If most people agreed with us then they would probably go back to the campiness.

Camp batman? Only in a controlled environment. Less Grimdark batman? Cool.

[BrotherMatthew]

I've never liked the old Adam West Batman. I rather enjoy the dark, gritty Batman of the comics and new movies. But the appeal of Batman to me is that while he exists in a world with super powered super heroes like Superman and Green Lantern, he is just a 'normal' human who wins by wit, strategy and technology.

[Jibar]

Yeah, a perfectly normal, un-super powered guy...
Who can heal a broken back, perform incredible acrobatics, beat up people he shouldn't even hurt and take blows that send Superman flying without even a scratch.
Yeah. No powers at all. :smallannoyed:


It is a good thing that Batman always carries Bat Shark Repellent in his utility belt :smallbiggrin:


Oh no, that was the best part.
It wasn't in his utility belt. No. That would be silly. Why would he need that on a day to day basis?
It was in his helicopter. Because whenever he takes to the skies, there is always the threat of shark attack.
:biggrin:

[BrotherMatthew]

Well normal in a DC comics sort of way.

[Jerthanis]

The 60s Adam West/Burt Ward Batman movie is by far my favorite Batman movie if you don't include animated ones, and even then it might beat out Mask of the Phantasm, fantastic as that one is.

You see... Adam West is no less faithful to the comic book Batman than SERIOUS BUSINESS Batman is, and Tim Burton's movies were just Tim Burton being Tim Burton at us. Tim Burton's Batman is just Edward Scissor-hands as a superhero.

And then there's the fact that Adam West Batman is hilarious and full of memorable quotes and moments.

Someday, when they decide to make a movie based on Batman, I might change my mind. Until then, Adam West is in the best movie with "Batman" in the title.

[Occasional Sage]

Batman? Who's Batman? :smallbiggrin:

[Ascension]

I <3 Campy!Batman.

I don't mind a more serious Batman every now and then, I liked Kingdom Come Batman and I enjoyed The Dark Knight Returns, but I thought TDK was only okayish-to-good, not the masterpiece everyone and their cousin said it was.

The current Batman film series is in serious need of a Robin to inject a bit, if only a tiny bit, of light into all the GRIMDARKness.

[Mr. Scaly]

I wonder why Campy Batman and Serious Batman can't coexist? In both Begins and Dark Knight Bruce Wayne is such a ham around other people that I think that should count. And of course we've seen only a couple of villains out of the entire rogues gallery. Not all of them are out to kill everything and bring down society.

[kpenguin]

I really loved the BTAS Batman. It was dark, at least for a cartoon, but it also had its campy and lighthearted moments. Christmas with the Joker, for instance, was very campy.

Part of my disappointment with the New Adventures of Batman was that they turned Bruce into someone far too cold-hearted.

[Lord Tataraus]

Personally, I never really cared for the camp Batman, the movie was ok, but nothing that great. As for the new Begins and Dark Knight, I loved them, I like Batman to be gritty, dark and realistic. I hate it when they put him in with superheroes.

[kamikasei]

Batman? Who's Batman? :smallbiggrin:

Oh come on man, don't make us say it.

[Irenaeus]

The current Batman film series is in serious need of a Robin to inject a bit, if only a tiny bit, of light into all the GRIMDARKness.Noooooo!

Ahem.

Noooooooooooo! Please not.

[Jerthanis]

Noooooo!

Ahem.

Noooooooooooo! Please not.

The Batman Family is the most interesting part of the Batman mythos. Also, Robin was introduced within a single year of Batman's original inception... I believe Batman gained his prohibition against using guns after Robin's introduction, so I love it when people talk about how Batman's essential character is as a loner, or that they like "original" Batman before including Robin, because that implies Batman's essential character is one who shoots people with guns.

Richard Grayson/Nightwing is cooler than Batman these days anyway, and Tim Drake/Robin 3 is following in his footsteps pretty well.

[kamikasei]

Richard Grayson/Nightwing is cooler than Batman these days anyway, and Tim Drake/Robin 3 is following in his footsteps pretty well.

While I like them both, hasn't Nightwing been getting screwed over pretty badly by the writers recently?

I agree that the extended Bat-clan is an important part of the mythos these days, and provides lots of interesting material. However, I'm very doubtful about how well they could be carried over to a movie - they may work much better in an episodic format where you can tell mini-stories centering on individual members or relationships. There's also the question of how to go from "Batman alone" to "the Bat-clan" in something like the Nolan movies. Remember, to start the whole process off, you have to have Bruce Wayne making what was described in another thread as "the single dumbest move in the history of childrearing". Then past that, you also have to include multiple independent costumed heroes all functioning in Gotham, and being accepted by the Bat, too...

I don't think you could do it in a movie or a series of movies. It needs a show. And it's pretty much been done in a show via TAS, though missing Jason Todd, Oracle, and Cassandra Cain. And including a really awful-looking Nightwing.

[Irenaeus]

The Batman Family is the most interesting part of the Batman mythos. Also, Robin was introduced within a single year of Batman's original inception... I believe Batman gained his prohibition against using guns after Robin's introduction, so I love it when people talk about how Batman's essential character is as a loner, or that they like "original" Batman before including Robin, because that implies Batman's essential character is one who shoots people with guns.

Richard Grayson/Nightwing is cooler than Batman these days anyway, and Tim Drake/Robin 3 is following in his footsteps pretty well.I have no romantic idea of that the Batman I prefer is the original, or more old school in any way. But I know quite well which version I prefer.

Older is not neccesarily better. Especially when dealing with comic book heroes.

I don't really mind guns (though I would not really prefer it), but I do mind Robin. There has been plenty of campy Bats to go around. This incarnation can easily do without it in my opinion. But it is just an opinion.

Edit: Oh, and I like the West version quite a bit, though mostly for laughs.

[Da'Shain]

I'm a big fan of Robin. He draws bullets away from Batman with his ridiculous bright red costume, after all.


Anyway, I love the Adam West movie, especially the ten-minute long bomb scene which made me literally fall out of my chair, wheezing. But that's not my real Batman. My real Batman is the serious character that strikes fear into criminals from the shadows in a world where crime runs rampant and the good people can't help themselves.

I'm actually not too big a fan of Batman having to fit in with all the other superheroes in DC (although of course I like it that he holds his own with all the other ridiculously superpowered heroes in creative ways); I prefer it when he exists on his own, so a world like the Nolan Batman's admittedly appeals to me deeply.

[Surrealistik]

How can you not love the bat? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBsxqQIu_5s)

[Lord Tataraus]

Ugh...I hate HATE Robin, Batman should be a loner, that one reason I never really got into him much, stupid Robin. Anyway, at least it is almost certain that neither he nor Batgirl will be in any of the new movies since Batgirl is ~6 years old in Dark Knight and Robin is younger than Batgirl.

[BizzaroStormy]

Yeah, plus something about an adult running around with a young boy in tights just doesn't sit well with me.

[kpenguin]

I like Robin.

While I can see Batman as a loner, the partnership and bond with Robin brings him closer to human. If Batman were truly a loner, he would have dismissed Alfred a long time ago.

However, I can see I'm in the minority.

[Jerthanis]

I have no romantic idea of that the Batman I prefer is the original, or more old school in any way. But I know quite well which version I prefer.

Older is not neccesarily better. Especially when dealing with comic book heroes.

I don't really mind guns (though I would not really prefer it), but I do mind Robin. There has been plenty of campy Bats to go around. This incarnation can easily do without it in my opinion. But it is just an opinion.

Edit: Oh, and I like the West version quite a bit, though mostly for laughs.

Robin =/= Camp. Robin is Batman's humanity, his tether to the world around him and his hope for a better tomorrow. Batman without Robin is a sadsack schizophrenic with no friends who spends all his time moving so he doesn't have time to feel pain. With Robin he's a sadsack schizophrenic who spends all his time moving so he doesn't have time to feel his pain... but who also has someone around who understands him.

And I agree there's no way to reconcile Nolan's Batman with Robin or Batgirl or anyone else from the comic books really... which is why I'm sort of okay with the idea of Nolan's story being done at this point. If there's no third movie, if it is just Batman Begins and The Dark Knight as the extent of this story, I'm fine with it. They were both good movies, but there's nowhere to take them from here really. I'm cool with this being it for Batman, then in 10-15 years, they can come out with another "Batman #1" and start another movie continuity, and maybe this time not be completely phobic of making it a comic book movie.

[kpenguin]

Robin =/= Camp. Robin is Batman's humanity, his tether to the world around him and his hope for a better tomorrow. Batman without Robin is a sadsack schizophrenic with no friends who spends all his time moving so he doesn't have time to feel pain. With Robin he's a sadsack schizophrenic who spends all his time moving so he doesn't have time to feel his pain... but who also has someone around who understands him.

I'm kpenguin and I support the preceding post.:smallsmile:

[Irenaeus]

Robin might not equal camp, but he is most certainly a frequent offender, and he is certainly a more campy character by concept than Bats himself.

I am aware of how several writers have tried to make Robin work in such a fashion as you describe, and I am glad that it apparently has worked for someone (or even many), but I has rarely worked well for me. Also, that is but one element of the Robin character, another (and for me a far more defining one) is that he exemplifies the whole spunky, teen sidekick tradition. And we have seen far more of this side of him on the big screen so far, than any other. At least as far as I am aware.

Quite simply, I'll gladly pass. Part of it is probably due to the lingering mental scars from Batman & Robin, but most of my negative impressions of him and stories involving him are from the comics.

As you point out, our disagreement is probably a highly academic one, as Nolan probably has no interest in such a character, and the movies so far doesn't really fit well with it.


I'm cool with this being it for Batman, then in 10-15 years, they can come out with another "Batman #1" and start another movie continuity, and maybe this time not be completely phobic of making it a comic book movie.They have a guy dressed up as a bat and fighting crime. It is completely silly enough by its very concept to have to try very hard. I think "completely phobic" is an unfair accusation.