Batman Begins (2005)

Best Batman movie on dvd to date

10 thumbs up! lol
Best Batman film next to The Dark Knight. I give this one 9/10 and looks great in high-def. July 26, 2008

Grim & Gritty Version of the Dark Knight, As Bob Kane Would've Liked!

Bruce Wayne's parents brutally murdered -- Bruce comes to terms with his fears and grief and revenge to become a symbol for justice and an avenger. The Scarecrow and Ras a'Ghul come up with a plan to continue the tradition of centuries started by the League of Shadows -- eliminate Man's growth, keep him down, even if you have to kill him to do it.

The movie succeeds on several levels, thanks to the great screenplay by Christopher Nolan Memento (Widescreen Two-Disc Limited Edition) and David Goyer, JSA #40 (Justice Society of America) a cool comic book writer in his own right.

To keep this review SHORT, I liked several things about it. The cool Batmobile! The previous CEO, into power and military contracts being bought out and dismissed (More could have been done with the whole corporate evil entity thing but I digress)... Jim Gordon, (Gary Oldman, The Scarlet Letter the only guy with any decency and morality, comes out on top.

The second disc in this set is great, too. Great "making of" clips, including Christian Bale's transformation into the Bat; interesting facts and story points not in the film and a fun spoof of the movie.

I thought Katie Holmes' Pieces of April character a bit weak, although her performance with the Scarecrow as he rode in on a horse was fairly intense.

This is leagues above Batman & Robin! Batman & Robin (Two-Disc Special Edition)

Tim Burton's version was quite well done as well. Batman (Two-Disc Special Edition)

Now time for Dark Knight! The Dark Knight [Theatrical Release] July 25, 2008

"Limited Edition Gift Set" Ain't Worth It.

Of course, this review refers to the regular DVD edition, as the BD gift set of the film is apparently loaded with goodies. As it is, the only thing THIS one is good for is, once you remove all the postcards and zip drive (nice that I now finally have one, but what the heck is it doing in this?!), you can use the box to hold both the two-disc "Batman Begins" DVD and the two-disc "Batman: Gotham Knight" DVD. The latter is more of a special feature-style thing, anyway, rather than a real stand-on-its-own feature. July 24, 2008

Underappreciated film, may get another look with new DK film

I think this film has been under appreciated because it is not a traditional action film or superhero film. It is a hero's journey, as in the old times. Like most such journeys, the protagonist is thrown into the situation by circumstances beyond his control. But, the journey is of his own making.
Teens may not like it as much because it explores the broader themes of law, justice, ends justifying the means (or not), and what it really means to be good vs. evil. It does not do this just from a few tossed off lines (such as the new DK movie does), but through the story arc itself. Hopefully some will understand better the ambiguity of our governmental actions around the world and the difficulties of trying to balance safety/security against freedom/rights.
Really worth seeing. July 23, 2008

Master Your Fear

The Good Things
*Some good action scenes, especially at the end. Special effects are very unique.
*Excellent filming style and cinematography. It's a little choppy and weird, but also very detailed and vivid. Also very dark, moody, and realistic.
*Storyline is great, and makes perfect sense as long as you pay attention.
*Less emphasis on outlandish bad guys and gadgets and stuff and greater emphasis on fighting crime on the streets and doing actual police-type work.
*What gadgets Batman does have are realistically introduced. There is a logical explanation for everything he has and where it all came from.
*Characters are phenomenal. Bruce Wayne's evolution from a fightened boy to a hardened fear-inspiring crime fighter is very convincing and deep. Acting is good.
*In conjunction with the characterizations, this movie also has very strong themes about fear, destiny, and human preserverance. This film was way heavier than I would have ever thought.
*Excellent music.

The Bad Things
*A little slow for the first hour or so.
*Some fight scenes are so choppy and fastly-cut that they are hard to really see (but it is a more intense style).
*If you're looking for the classic campy Batman, this is definately not it. May be too dark and serious for some people (but this is probably more closer to what Batman was originally like).

This is the darkest, deepest, most serious version of Batman yet. It is also closer to what Batman should really be like, and above all, has some very deep meaning in the character that I would have never caught onto before (Bruce using his own fear to instill fear into others; fear is a very strong theme throughout). It is surprisingly complex, but the dialogue and acting makes it all very understandable. And of course, the plot is great and ties everything together into one complete circle. Combined with a strong visual style, this is definately one of the best superhero movies made to date.

If they keep this up, I seriously hope that they will turn the "Knightfall" comics into a movie too...

All versions of this movie have good video and audio quality (great on Blu-ray, naturally). The one-disc version has a trailer. The two-disc has a bunch of featurettes and a funny MTV movie awards skit. The Blu-ray disc has all of the same plus the first six minutes of the "Dark Knight" (filmed with an IMAX camera!). July 23, 2008

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