Best Batman Movie

Bobic

New member
Nov 10, 2009
1,532
0
0
Quaxar said:
Batman Forever!

No, but really... the original Batman is great. Jack Nicholson as the Joker does a wonderful job of being an insane villain.
Of course I don't count any animated films here since there are far too many and I have only seen a fraction.
That was not the original batman

This was the original Batman (maybe, it was earlier than Burton anyway)


And that's my answer for best Batman movie. Obviously.
 

Thespian

New member
Sep 11, 2010
1,407
0
0
Uhm, not to be all my pretentious but I can only pick from a host of Animated movies. I liked Batman Returns and Batman 1989 but not as much as, say, Mask of the Phantasm or Under the Red Hood.
 

Hawkolf

New member
Mar 14, 2012
68
0
0
I really can't choose between Mask of the Phantasm, Under the Red Hood and Year One... But if you put a gun to my head and force me to choose I would go with Mask of the Phantasm for the nostalgic value. I watched it all the time as a kid. Finnish Joker was actually pretty darn good.
 

shrekfan246

Not actually a Japanese pop star
May 26, 2011
6,374
0
0
Shanicus said:
Batman and Robin.

What? I like Mr.Freeze and puns, and that movie had both of those in spades. George Clooney was a horrible choice for Batman though - for best-acted Batman, I'd say either 'Return of the Joker' or The Dark Knight.
More OT:


Forever and & Robin were campy as all hell, but that's why I liked them. Hell, they were only moderately more campy than Burton's Batman. Schumacher's films were like a middle-ground between Burton's Batman and the 60's Adam West Batman.

Now, actually seriously:


Probably tied with The Dark Knight for me.
 

Tsaba

reconnoiter
Oct 6, 2009
1,435
0
0
Batman Returns, best group of villains.... and just so much darn good fun to watch.
 

Thaliur

New member
Jan 3, 2008
617
0
0
Quaxar said:
Batman Forever!

No, but really... the original Batman is great. Jack Nicholson as the Joker does a wonderful job of being an insane villain.
Of course I don't count any animated films here since there are far too many and I have only seen a fraction.
I agree on Jack Nicholson being by far the best Joker in all the Batman films.

Tim Burton's is not the original one, though, the original is the old Adam West movie, with the second-best Joker.
 

Sexy Devil

New member
Jul 12, 2010
701
0
0
Oh whoa, a Batman thread on the Escapist that didn't turn into a "NOLAN'S BATMAN SUCKS" argument within two posts. Impressive.

Semitendon said:
Out of the movies, I am going to have to say TDK. I admit a bias on my part, as a comic fan, the Joker is essentially my favorite villian of all time. Ledgers Joker may have had a few details wrong ( war paint instead of actual bleached skin, ect) but the personality and thought process was virtually an exact match to the best of the Joker's appearances in the comic books.

As for the best Batman from a film standpoint, I'd say probably Batman Begins.

I've noticed several people referencing the Animated Series (and its spin off) as being the best movie, notably the Mask of Phantasm. I don't disagree with the assessment of the Animated series and it's movies being awesome, but for the purposes of this thread, I have kept my answers to live action movies.
The warpaint was totally worth it just for that prison scene where it was all faded and smudged and just generally looked disturbing as hell.

Can't decide which I like more between BB and TDK, personally. Really didn't care for the Burton stuff though (probably because it's older than me and the effects and stuff just haven't aged well).
 

BehattedWanderer

Fell off the Alligator.
Jun 24, 2009
5,237
0
0
Under the Red Hood and Dark Knight Returns, maybe. Ledger's One Bad Day Joker is iconic, and there's none of the flushing out of motivation that Begins lacked, and the characters fill themselves out wonderfully. That perfect Batman/Joker duet is seen here better than other places, and I really feel that that's where the man dressed like a bat shines brightest. Or possibly darkest. Whatever.
 

Gitty101

New member
Jan 22, 2010
960
0
0
My personal favorite has to be Burton's Batman Returns. I just really dig the Gothic atmosphere and style of the movie. Plus, Danny DeVito as the penguin was pure genius.

For my runner up though, I'll have to go ahead and say ALL of the animated Batman movies. They're ALL so good.
 

Lovely Mixture

New member
Jul 12, 2011
1,474
0
0
Shreder55 said:
Mine would be "Under the Red Hood'

I love the ending confrontation and its really dark opening.
malestrithe said:
Batman: Under the Red Hood.

It was the only time I ever felt like Batman was important to his own movie.
-Drifter- said:
I really seem to have Batman on the brain right now, so in the interest of continuing that trend I ask you: What do you think is the best Batman movie?

For me, it's a toss-up between Batman Begins and Batman: Mask of the Phantasm. The action in Begins is definitely better, but I find Phantasm's Bruce Wayne to be a lot more interesting. Plus, the scene where he puts on his mask for the first time is - for lack of a better word - epic, despite or maybe even because of how subdued it is. The Dark Knight was a good movie, but the more I thought about it the less it seemed to make sense, and then of course there's the voice... [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmyYKnymT4E] What's weird to me is that only TDK seems to have this problem, since Batman sounded fine in BB.

I saw the 1989 Tim Burton movie too and didn't care for it. It was a while ago, though, so perhaps I should give it another chance.

All these really.

Under the Red Hood has great action scenes and for the most part merely implies what Batman is thinking up until the end which I feel is the sign of good direction.

I went into Batman Begins thinking it would be ok, but it made me interested in Batman and superheroes in general after a long period of being bored with both Marvel and DC. That movie has raised the bar for origin stories. I would only disagree on the action scenes in Begins, I felt TDK improved those.

Mask of the Phantasm really looks at Batman realistically, almost scarily so.

If you allowed me to stretch, I would include the recent "Justice League: Doom" animated film since its focus is primarily on Batman.
 

JoesshittyOs

New member
Aug 10, 2011
1,965
0
0
The one that makes me seem like a boring person. But this has gotten me amped up enough to watch the animated movies.
 

rob_simple

Elite Member
Aug 8, 2010
1,864
0
41
Elmoth said:
Batman begins is the best? Excuse me?

So yes, up untill now I will say The Dark Knight is the best one. By no means a perfect movie, but it is the best executed Batman movie up untill now. Though the Dark Knight Rises is looking fantastic.
There are these things called 'opinions', you know; you should read up on them.

OT: Much like picking my favourite Bond, I don't think I could because my favourites are all good for different reasons.

I know this doesn't really count, but in terms of plot, I thought that Arkham City was one of the best Batman stories in recent memory, and showed a wonderfully dark, almost sociopathic side to Batman's character (I think it was the first time I'd seen Batman like that since the 'I'm counting on it' scene in TDK) and the final scene after Bats defeats the Joker was strangely powerful to me.
 

idodo35

New member
Jun 3, 2010
1,629
0
0
while i didnt read all the animated features and the second to fourth instilations of the 90s siries' my favorate one is the dark knight
its a close one with batman begins but the joker just makes the second one the better film if ull ask me... he just gives me chills in every single scene...
 

Darren716

New member
Jul 7, 2011
784
0
0
Batman & Robin, it has the Govenator singing I'm Mr. Snow you can't go wrong with that. Also there's the bat credit card!

Ok seriously I like Dark Knight the best.
 

TheGauntman

New member
Dec 8, 2011
99
0
0
Supercereal said:
Shreder55 said:
Mine would be "Under the Red Hood'

I love the ending confrontation and its really dark opening.
Joe Dimaggio did an unbelievable job as the voice of the joker and you are right the ending was wonderful
I hate to be that guy, but the voice actor's name is John Dimaggio. Joe Dimaggio was a baseball player.

OT: for me The Dark Knight wins easily. It captured the essence of what makes Batman an intriguing character. His constant doubt and conflict about whether he is actually doing any good; the public's vacillating opinion of him; and the text's questioning what it means to be 'heroic'.

Also, Heath Ledger knocks it out of the park as The Joker. Seriously great performance.
 

PsychedelicDiamond

Wild at Heart and weird on top
Legacy
Jan 30, 2011
1,923
745
118
Batman Returns. Batman 1 was good but lacked focus and while Nicholson played him well the Joker didn't work. He loses his appeal once we know his backstory. And the fact the movie was more about him than about Batman himself didn't help. Batman Forever and Batman and Robin were just weird (and not the good kind of weird), Batman Begins and The Dark Knight... well, they were fantastic movies but i just don't find Chris Nolans style appealing.

Returns on the other hand was pretty much perfect. It looked great, it had Denny DeVito as Penguin, Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman and Christopher Walken as Christopher Walken as Max Schreck and it was full of interesting visuals. I really love it.