"state something completely random time!"

[Tanegashima]

EDIT: this is better...no reading
I can't believe I voted for this guy...

[MrMatthews]

Batman & Robin (and, to a lesser degree, Batman Forever) was Joel Schumacher's passive-aggressive way of declaring war on all fans of the comics.

I still don't think Arnold would have made a horrible Mr. Freeze, with some decent direction.

[TheEdge]

HEY! Am I the only one who liked Batman Forever?!??! Val Kilmer! Come on

Also I don't understand why everyone is so pissed at Batman & Robin? It was suppose to a rehash of the Adam West series which was a comedy for adults and an action for kids.

[MrMatthews]

HEY! Am I the only one who liked Batman Forever?!??! Val Kilmer! Come on

Also I don't understand why everyone is so pissed at Batman & Robin? It was suppose to a rehash of the Adam West series which was a comedy for adults and an action for kids.

Oh, I'm not pissed. Batman and Robin is not worthy of that or any other emotional response.

[TheEdge]

Oh, I'm not pissed. Batman and Robin is not worthy of that or any other emotional response.

lol, remember the rubber ice on the cop car that started moving back and forth in one scene?

Its so blatantly trash but its suppose to be like that.

[MrMatthews]

lol, remember the rubber ice on the cop car that started moving back and forth in one scene?

Its so blatantly trash but its suppose to be like that.

Who the hell did Schumacher think he was, changing the Batman movies like that? Tim Burton's "serious" take on Batman was incredibly well-received and made it fashionable to make superhero movies again.

Why in the hell did Schumacher think audiences would appreciate taking the series back to the trashy, campy style of the Adam West series?

Flatliners was the only good movie that kraut made, anyway.

Hmm... I guess I AM pissed

[TheEdge]

Dam you Schumacher!!!

May you be buried alive underneath the unsold copies of your movies!

[j_factor]

Who the hell did Schumacher think he was, changing the Batman movies like that? Tim Burton's "serious" take on Batman was incredibly well-received and made it fashionable to make superhero movies again.

Tim Burton took a lot of flack at the time from critics who complained that his version of Batman was "too dark" and not kid-friendly enough. Ebert said "superheroes and film noir don't go together", in reference to Batman Returns. I kid you not.

It was only after Batman & Robin came out, when people saw what an overly kid-friendly, non-dark, non-noir Batman movie looked like, that they realized the other way was better. Personally, I thought Batman Returns was great.

And by the way, it's not really Schumacher's fault; the "lightening up" and injection of campiness into Batman & Robin was the decision of the studio, not him. He just implemented their crappy decisions. The overall plot was kind of crap to begin with, too.

[MrMatthews]

Tim Burton took a lot of flack at the time from critics who complained that his version of Batman was "too dark" and not kid-friendly enough. Ebert said "superheroes and film noir don't go together", in reference to Batman Returns. I kid you not.

It was only after Batman & Robin came out, when people saw what an overly kid-friendly, non-dark, non-noir Batman movie looked like, that they realized the other way was better. Personally, I thought Batman Returns was great.

And by the way, it's not really Schumacher's fault; the "lightening up" and injection of campiness into Batman & Robin was the decision of the studio, not him. He just implemented their crappy decisions. The overall plot was kind of crap to begin with, too.

I'm inclined to disagree with a number of your points. I was only 8 or 9 when the first movie came out, but I certainly remember a number of complaints that it was too violent and too dark.

At the same time, I remember what a smash it was, and how refreshing everyone thought it was to have a comic book series treated with such respect in its movie translation, especially since the movie was a reaction to the more serious direction the comics were taking.

Jump ahead to Batman Forever: I was old enough to pay attention to details like Tim Burton's and Danny Elfman's absence. Joel Schumacher said in an interview that he had never seen the previous two films and made it clear that Forever was his own imagining of the franchise.

Forever wasn't bad, but Batman & Robin exaggerated the campy elements that were a bit more subtle the first time around.

It wasn't a matter of the original Batman being respected more in retrospect; the movie set a bar against which the future installments would be measured.

[Rusty Venture]

I like Ah-nuld and I like his campy action movie one-liners.

I didn't like his Mr. Freeze lines.

[TheEdge]

Tim Burton took a lot of flack at the time from critics who complained that his version of Batman was "too dark" and not kid-friendly enough. Ebert said "superheroes and film noir don't go together", in reference to Batman Returns. I kid you not.

It was only after Batman & Robin came out, when people saw what an overly kid-friendly, non-dark, non-noir Batman movie looked like, that they realized the other way was better. Personally, I thought Batman Returns was great.

And by the way, it's not really Schumacher's fault; the "lightening up" and injection of campiness into Batman & Robin was the decision of the studio, not him. He just implemented their crappy decisions. The overall plot was kind of crap to begin with, too.

Screw Ebert! Burton did a great job resurrecting Batman since the Adam West days. My parents said the same thing though. "Too Dark" but they are a bunch of sissies. Batman is suppose to be dark. Hes a bat and they are nocturnal. Duh! Thats the reason why the animated series was such a success. It mixed the edgy-ness of the dark gritty violence with the good principles that Batman embodies.

Also Micheal Keaton played an amazing part considering he was in mostly comedy roles (Johnny Dangerously).

Also that girl who played vickie vale was cool and her goofy reporter friend was funny.

Dam you Ebert!

EDIT: I think Ebert also said the movie "Krull" was bad as well. What a bunch of jerks.

[MrMatthews]

Also that girl who played vickie vale was cool and her goofy reporter friend was funny.

"That girl" would be Kim Bassinger and Robert Wuhl is her reporter friend (who writes jokes for the Oscars, incidently)

[Rusty Venture]

I respect the fact that Tim Burton gave Batman respect again, but Burton's art direction in *ALL* of his movies from that era are just silly.

"Batman" maybe not so much, but "Batman Returns"......more specifically The Penguin, makes me cringe at how goofy and over the top (both the character and his designs) are.

The movie would have been absolutely wonderful if it had just been Batman and Catwoman.

[MrMatthews]

All of the Batman villians after Burton's original film had the "Joker Syndrome," in that they all felt they had to be comedians to be memorable. Why is it that only the animated series got The Penguin, The Riddler, and Mr. Freeze* correct?

*Mr. Freeze was an undeveloped character until the animated series

[Rusty Venture]

"The Animated Series" was the awesome.

The only thing that puzzled me about it was how come Batman had a jet car while everyone else drove 1940's cars.

I know there were jet engines in the 1940's, but nothing good enough for what Batman required.