Review of Batman

Video

I was expecting allot from this DVD. DVD can handle blacks very well indeed and seeing as this film is set mainly at night it should be terrific. Alas . . . it isn`t. The picture quality isn`t that bad, it`s still the best you will find of this particular movie. It is just that I feel this is a missed opportunity. The dark areas can still be hard to make out and there is evidence of graining. This movie was one of the highest grossing movies of our time so the least they could have done was invest some of that money in a re-mastered DVD.

Audio

The sound fairs better although seems muffled in places. The street scenes are atmospheric but again a re-mastered soundtrack should have been provided. The highlight of the soundtrack is the music. Danny Elfman`s score (yes, he does the music for the Simpsons as well) is menacing and dark whilst there is some incidental music thrown in by Prince (he released an album called Batman at the time full of this music, it was rather good as well).

Features

Pah! Give me a break. At the time of release the public were bombarded with trailers, documentaries, interviews and just about anything movie wise you can think of. What do we get on this disc? Bloody production notes! Not even a trailler ! Pathetic.

Imagine a commentary track with Tim Burton and Micheal Keaton, then realise the chance they have passed up on.

Conclusion

I love this movie, it has to be said. The costume, the car, the gadgets, Kim Bassinger :). Let`s face it . . . there is allot to like. Micheal Keaton is great as Batman and Jack Nicholson is supreme as the quite mad Joker. However this was a landmark film that spawned a multitude of super hero imitators.

This is THE super hero movie that all others are compared to and as such this movie was crying out for a special edition. Re-mastered and loaded to the brim with extras this would have been a killer, as it is this disc falls into mediocrity.