Batman Returns (DVD)

Few things are as difficult in movie Show-biz, as launching a film that demands a sequel, and then producing a sequel feature that is as good or even better than the original, and here, with BATMAN RETURNS, Director Tim Burton pulls it off spectacularly.Here, in this review I'm recommending the two-disc Special Edition, though I have the show on a DVD tape, only because this movie is one of the very best examples of the comic book hero genre there is, and has never been surpassed. Whatever form you find it in, treasure and enjoy it.Beginning at the bottom in a list of superlatives, with overall design and set, viewers will find that this is the best expression of that historical Deco or Moderne style prevalent in the late '30s, when the Batman figure debuted. The buildings express the Neo-Nazi worker hero iconography of Rockefeller Center, as you see it even today in architectural sculpture over the doors and in the open spaces -- as well as in the famous lobby ceiling murals. Its a take-off from the Worlds Fair of '33 and the murals and illustrations of Jon Vassos. And Burton's design team nails it, for though it is in color, it feels nightmare black and white, which is the way people dreampt, back then. The vehicles of the heroes, The Batmobile as well as Penguin's Killer Rubber Ducky are like the toys of the period. The period costumes of all the characters are excellent and hotter, even, than those from older movies and strips.CHRISTOPHER WALKEN: He plays not the principal villain, but an unsavory one, with a brilliant sociopathic timing that cannot be adequately described. In fact, if one were to review all the many villains large and small that Walken has created on screen, one would have to say these freaks and misfits are his professional specialties, and maybe you'd think creating them is easy to do. Not so. Myself, I remember the first time I saw Walken play, in a revival of Tennessee Williams' SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH in New York City, at the Harkness. He played Chance Wayne against Irene Worth's Ariadne del Lago, and the effect was absolutely unconventional and sensational! Originally, the play opened with Paul Newman as the hustler-gigolo, playing against Geraldine Paige as the faded movie queen in the Mississippi Riviera hotel. Young and hugely talented as she was, Paige played it like her version of Gloria Swanson or Pola Negri, with exagerated make-up. Newman played it in white silk pyjamas, unbutoned and flashing that famous washboard belly. It was fabulous! Women went nuts! It was priceless and worth far more than your seat cost. But the flaw in the production was that anybody taking one look at Newman would realize there was no reason on god's green earth why he shouldn't be a movie star, and the play depended on his beig a failed wannabe. But in the revival, Worth played the Princess like an American actress (which she was, though expatriate) with English upper-crust manners over the soul of a gutter opportunist. Perfect! Walken played Chance Wayne like a young Elvis with a greasy pompadour and a Tupelo Mississippi accent, complete with uncouth, redneck mannerisms. It was a triumph of the actor's art. Here, the role is nothing like that, but Walken brings the same unique intelligence and sensitivity to this role, and if you watch his performance whenever hes's on screen, you'll see how extremely good he is at what he does. Always fresh.MICHAEL KEATON: He is phenomenal, not because he's super-handsome, or has a magnificent body or an arielist's agility, but because he has enough of what's required for the role -- that is, a manly persona -- and one thing extra: generosity and poise. Bruce Wane's ambivalence, sexual frustration and guilt he can and does play, but what's so good about it is that he allows his role to be the fulcrum or balance of the show, allowing his co-stars Michelle Pfeiffer and Danny DeVito to function to their advantage. Secure in his character, he never upstages them. That that's the perfect expression of Bruce's persona: He is a violent nocturnalist, but always a gentleman.MICHELLE PFEIFFER: This is one of the most beautiful women ever to appear on the screen, and she can and does out-act just about everybody in the Biz, and has for years. Here, her take on Catwoman is so rich, so rare and unusual, she puts all preceding sisters to shame, from Lee Meriwether to Eartha Kitt, to Julie Newmar; not only for sexual desirability and believability, but for pure psychotic nymphomania. And, she does it with a look that's perfect for the period, with a head topped by a cluster of blonde curls, and wearing a slinky black dress. Madonna used it in Dick Tracy. Dietrich used it in Pittsburg. But, on top of all that, it is her transformation from frowsy, cringing secretarial doormat to snarling pyromaniac in stiched black vinyl that takes the cake. It is a performance searing in its twisted, pathetic truth.And now, ladies and gentlemen, allow me to present the one, the only, the superlative DANNY De VITO: This is an actor who's been around the block for a long time. He's given many performances on film, and most of them have been good to exceptional, but he's never had the opportunity to reach for the brass ring of screen monsterdom, and here, in BATMAN RETURNS, Tim Burton gives him the opportunity. And, I must warn you, whether or not you have seen De Vito play it, with PENGUIN or Oswald Cobblepot, Danny De Vito achieves a quality of work equal to that of Conrad Veidt, Charles Laughton or even Lon Cheney, Sr. The peaks and valleys of his frenzies, his manias and perverse lusts, his outbreaks of mindless violent malice, are a sight to behold, simultaneously hilarious and hideous; both pathetic and loathsome. You might think, 'overacting,' but no; its pure Method. Watching BATMAN RETURNS yet again I believe that Burton created this film for De Vito. As good as the other actors in the cast are, and they are excellent, it is impossible to imagine any actor playing this role even remotely as well as De Vito does. It makes you think, if the man could sing, what a RIGOLETTO he would be!And that brings us down to what there is about the BATMAN opera that makes them unique. More than anything else, this is a set of ensemble pieces like a Hell's Kitchen series of American comedia del'Arte morality plays. The vitality of the show derives from the rigid confines of its convention. Sure, ambitious directors, often foreigners, attempt to pull and stretch the animated figures, to stuff them with fadistic pseudo-psychological theories of their own, but they don't work. The BATMAN shows sprang into life as action fantasies for American pre-teen boys during the years of the Second World War and are thrilling not because they are psychologically plausible -- they're not -- but because they transcend reality the way the marionettes of Palermo do when they re-enact the adventures of Frankish knights struggling against the Saracens before the walls of Jerusalem.At any rate, take my advice and give yourself the opportunity to watch the great Danny De Vito play. He is as fascinating as Milton's Satan.

BATMAN RETURNS (1992) is a personal favorite of mine. It's so quirky and EXTREMELY dark, almost to the point of being nightmarish! Tim Burton's sequel to his exciting, groundbreaking 1989 BATMAN film is a rarity in that it is a sequel that is actually at the very least GOOD! And I think it's much better than good. I like the fact that BATMAN RETURNS is almost completely different from BATMAN. While BATMAN was more grandiose, stylish and epic, BATMAN RETURNS is much more deep, dark, and scary. They really are two different films at their core. BATMAN boasted two great performances in Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson. BATMAN RETURNS ups the ante and gives us FOUR great performances! Michael Keaton returns as the Caped Crusader and this time he is joined by Danny Devito (as The Penguin), Michelle Pfeiffer (as Catwoman), and Christopher Walken (as Max Schreck). This was at a time when you could populate a film with major actors/stars and it actually turn out good! Burton's casting choices in his early films are inspired and worked to perfection.BATMAN RETURNS opens with what I think is one of the greatest openings in all of film history! We hear an ominous, downbeat score as we are drawn in to a silhouetted figure standing in a window of a mansion from a distance. Then zoom in and it is the distinguished lord of the manor, pipe in mouth, monocles on (played by none other than Paul Reubens!). Then we hear a woman (his wife) in the bedroom screaming in both agony and horror as she has just given birth to an incredibly deformed baby (we are never shown the baby, just the parents and servants horrific reactions). Months later, the parents decide to abandon the baby and during Christmastime, throw him over a bridge at the local zoo and the carriage floats into the sewers as the parents look with confusion and sadness...Then the ominous music shifts to a more recognizable score: The Batman theme, but with some slight and intricate variations from the first film and then the opening credits as we watch the baby carriage go through the sewers and ends up in a penguin lair. I think that Danny Elfmann's score from this sequel surpasses his original! Should have won an Oscar! I just love this opening. Then cut to present day Gotham City 33 years later.It is the Christmas season in Gotham City and magnate Max Schreck (played with sly, cool, wicked confidence by Christopher Walken) is angling to build a new power plant and enlists the mayor's support. During the meeting, we also meet Schreck's extremely shy and underconfident secretary Selina Kyle (excellently played by the sultry Michelle Pfeiffer). Meanwhile, there are reports of a mysterious "Penguin" figure roaming the sewers of Gotham. During a tree-lighting ceremony where Schreck is giving a speech in Gotham Square, the Red Triangle Gang crashes the ceremony and terrorizing the Gothamite attendees. Commissioner Gordon (reprised by Pat Hingle) sends out the Bat signal as Bruce Wayne (again played by the great Michael Keaton) is sitting in his study alone in the dark. He sees the signal and goes to work! Batman arrives in the city and thwarts the gang for the moment, but in the melee, Schreck is kidnapped as we learn this was all planned by The Penguin (brilliant characterization by Danny Devito), as he wants Schreck to be his conduit back into normal society. He blackmails Schreck by showing proof of his dirty business dealings. Later, Selina stumbles upon papers that prove that Schreck wants to build the power plant to suck all the power from Gotham rather than supply it. Schreck pushes her out of his high-rise office and while she is motionless on the ground, she is revived by a bunch of cats and assumes the persona Catwoman. The Penguin ends up working with both Schreck and Catwoman in different capacities as each has his/her own agenda.The chemistry among the stars is great in this. Keaton and Pfeiffer are hot together as Batman and Catwoman and simultaneously sweet when they are their alter egos Bruce and Selina. DeVito and Walken are hilarious in their scenes as they scheme to bring down Gotham City and Batman. Also, Keaton and DeVito's scenes, although few, are very emotional and powerful. The tragic irony is that both men were born rich and lost their upbringing in a normal family and that is what made them into the "freaks" that they've become. But it's like watching 2 sides of a coin as Penguin hates the world and wants it to suffer as he has, while Batman channels his anger to do good and prevent incidents that happened to him as a child from ever happening again...Fascinating!The great thing about BATMAN RETURNS is that Burton skillfully juggles the stories of 4 main characters and forms a memorable ensemble. Each characterization is unique and singular and well performed. This is a much more introspective film that it's predecessor as there are times when you really get into the characters' psyches and see what makes them tick. But, make no mistake, there is still a good amount of action (not as much as original), but the action here all feels more natural and necessary. Burton expertly places the action sequences in healthy doses throughout the film and they are all very well executed. He was underrated as a director of action. The dark, wintry setting also gives this sequel a more dire, apocalyptic tone and feel to it. The ending scenes are very tragic and sad almost to the extent of being hopeless, rather than hopeful. The film invested a lot into the actual characters, so even though they are all villains (except Batman), you actually felt bad when they got theirs in the end because they all had viable reasons for becoming evil. Well done, Mr. Burton!

Again, I just adore Michael Keaton as Batman (the best one). In this sequel he takes on the amazing & crazy Danny DeVito (he's such a good actor) as the Penguin and a beautiful villain Michelle Pfeiffer (also one the best actresses) as Catwoman. Each one of them put themselves into their characters so deeply that they seem real. The acting with them & Keaton is spell binding. Great special effects and cinematography! Keaton should never have left his character he was the absolute best. DVD sent on time and it played perfectly.

Rented it and we luv it...Thanx

I like Michael Keaton as Batman. And who can complain about M. Pfeiffer as the classic Catwoman. I live in a big city and after this movie came out....you could not believe how many women were wearing a tight fitting Catwoman outfit on Halloween for years in the metro, on the bus, walking down the street, etc...

With an all star cast like this and a director like Tim Burton, you really can go wrong. Love this movie.

Great story and cast. Michelle Pfeiffer makes a very sexy Catwoman!

Produit ok

Fajne wydanie, jakość zdjęć bardzo dobra, ładny steelbook

Als der zweite Batman-Film von Tim Burton vor 20 Jahren in die Kinos kam, war ich als damals14 Jähriger fasziniert, und nun habe ich nach so langer Zeit aus eher nostalgischen Gründendie Blu-ray bestellt.DER FILMWürde der Film heutzutage ins Kino kommen, es wäre mit Sicherheit ein Monster-Flop.Die Ausstattung und Kulissen sind sichtbar künstlich, alle Autos in Gotham sehen gleich aus,der Schnee ist wohl eher Schaum und eine Horde von Pinguinen mit Raketen auf den Rückengeschnallt.. Naja..Trotzdem ist der Film einfach kultig, ein Klassiker mit Top-Besetzung. Michael Keaton alsBatman fand ich damals schon cool, natürlich kann er körperlich nicht mit Christian Balemithalten, aber unter der Maske hat er eine tolle Ausstrahlung, auch wenn die Latex-Optikdes Kostüms wohl nicht jedermanns Sache ist - ich finds OK.Danny DeVito paßt genau in die Rolle des Pinguin, tolle Maske, toll umgesetzt.Und dann ist da noch Michelle Pfeiffer als Catwoman: Wow… genial… brillant…Für mich ist Belle Michelle die beste Catwoman aller Zeiten.In ihrem engen Kostüm ist sie eine wahre Augenweide, ihre kriminell erotische Ausstrahlungist sensationell - zum Niederknien!BILD UND TONAber hallo, da war ich aber überrascht. Für einen 20 Jahre alten Film ist die Bildqualitäterstaunlich gut. Fast durchgehend scharfes Bild, kein Rauschen, viele Details, nur vereinzelteSzenen, die etwas weicher oder leicht unscharf wirken, da kann sich so mancher aktuellerStreifen ein Beispiel nehmen. Das voll genutzte 16:9 Format wirkt sich zusätzlich positivauf die schon gute Qualität aus.Der Ton ist, nun ja, alt. Ich hatte keine großen Erwartungen und wurde deshalb auch nicht enttäuscht.Aber keine Angst, der Ton ist solide, neben mehreren 5.1 Spuren in verschiedenen Sprachen istauch eine Dolby True HD 5.1 Spur in Englisch vorhanden. Alle zusammen nicht gerade überragendaber auch ohne große Schwächen.EXTRAS- Audiokommentar von Tim Burton- Making of: Die Fledermaus, die Katze und der Pinguin- Shadows of the Bat: Die Filmsage des dunklen Ritters Teil 4- Hinter den Kulissen-Dokumentationsgalerie- Musikvideo Face to Face von Siouxie and the Banshees- Die Helden und die Schurken - Profile- KinotrailerFAZITNostalgiker, die den Film vor 20 Jahren schon toll fanden, können beruhigt zugreifen,obwohl für mich eigentlich die Performance von Michelle Pfeiffer Grund ist, den Film zu kaufen. ;)Das Bild ist für das Alter des Film erstaunlich gut und so kann es von mir nur eine Bewertung geben:5 Sterne

El Blu-ray llegó en tiempo y sin problemas