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An alternate view on "Batman & Robin"

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An alternate view on "Batman & Robin"

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Old 10-21-05, 07:33 PM
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An alternate view on "Batman & Robin"

I just want to comment on why I feel that the 4th film in this series is not the piece of trash everyone seems to make it out to be! Now right off I'll admit that yes, it is the weakest film in the series, and Clooney was not the best Batman- However this film ,to me, most closely captures the essence of what the original Batman tv series of the 60's was like! Lets see...the acting was cheesy, the dialogue was cheesy, and yes the sets and effects were cheesy. Did'n't anyone else watch that tv series??? Well this film was like that too and to me it was like an extended version of one of those episodes
from the tv show. Definately not a piece of garbage. Just my opinion folks-
Peace ,
smurr...
as we wait for wilma here in sw florida and I cover up my DVD collection STAT!
Old 10-21-05, 07:56 PM
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The thing is, the original "Batman" series was intentionally funny, and the best episodes had a higher caliber of writing than "Batman and Robin." That movie doesn't even work as a comedy, whereas the TV show knew it was a comedy and was a fairly well-written comedy. I mean, West and Ward are funny. Clooney and O'Donnell are just embarrassing.
Old 10-21-05, 08:00 PM
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someone get this guy a pillow, i think he bumped his head.

seriously. I love the old tv show. Love it. But the film just didn't work the same way. its a different time, and place. it could have worked better as a movie on its own (think Zorro, the gay blade) but this wasn't a one shot movie it was a sequal to a movie. Audience had come to expect Batman, and Robin to look and feel a certain way.

Everyone understands what they were trying to do...but you may be the only person who doesn't understand that they failed.

but hey...at least you got AICN out of it...
Old 10-21-05, 08:06 PM
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I watch it to drool over Uma Thurman
Old 10-21-05, 08:08 PM
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Cheesy, campy Batman was fun for it's time, but that door has already closed. You can't go back and do Batman cheesy and campy again and expect people to get behind it. People want Dark Knight Batman. Even the makers of the Batman animated series knew that, and were able to deliever a Batman experience far more satisfying than Batman & Robin.
Old 10-21-05, 08:23 PM
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I'm glad someone brought this up. There were certain parts of movie I liked as well (Uma). However, I blame its failure on the director. If anything disgusts me more about this film it was that they put Bane in to be a complete retard when in the comics he was the exact opposite, a leader trying to 'break' Batman. He didnt belong there. One villian would've sufficed be it Uma or Arnold. And the whole 'neon' thing and that idiot woman reporter made me want to throw up.

Other than that I could watch it. heheh
Old 10-21-05, 08:39 PM
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The problem with this very odd theory is that in the comics of the time of Batman and Robin, Batman was getting darker. The comical Batman wasn't the socially accepted version.

Atleast at the time of the tv series, Batman was also very slap stick and whacky in the comics.
Old 10-21-05, 08:52 PM
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The question is...does the camp work. There are some elements that do...Uma I thought was quite good at doing camp, and the look of the film was gloriously over the top.

But so much didn't work as camp. Nobdoy wanted camp. And the movie just wasn't funny the way the old 60s show is. I just watched Batman The Movie from 1966 and dear GOD is that movie funny. When Batman is punching the shark that just bit on his leg...there's nothing in Batman and Robin that reaches that level of humor and absurdity.
Old 10-21-05, 09:11 PM
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Best thing about old Batman show, no bat-nipples as a part of the suits.
Old 10-21-05, 09:48 PM
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I'm going to spolier cap most of this, even though I don't think it really needs it. But since I don't feel like pissing anyone off, better to err on the side of caution. Anyway feel free to read - it's talk from the "making of the movie" part of the Batman & Robin:SE. I think you'll find it interesting...

Spoiler:
Many times during this feature, Joel Schumacher says that while he doesn't want to finger point, there were many aspects of the movie that were just out of his control - but ultimately he did sign off on everything that ended up happening in the movie. At one point, he outright apologizes, and says - "If anyone who saw Batman Forever, and enjoyed it, but then went to see Batman & Robin and was very dissapointed - I sincerly want to apologize for that. It was not my intention to make a Batman movie that peole wouldn't like."
He goes on talking about how the studio really pushed for this to be a much lighter, more 'family friendly' movie, with as much mass appeal to as many people as possible. And to be as 'Toycentric', as could be, too.
Even Chris O'Donnell says at one point in an interview - With Batman Forever, it felt like we were making a film. In Batman & Robin, most of the time I felt like I was in a toy commercial."
Schumacher also felt that the making of the movie was far too rushed. He felt like they should have waited one more year before they even started, and that after the hurried pace of filming, they only had 10 weeks to do post production.


After I heard all this, I at least had some sympathy for the guy - where as before, I didn't.

Still, the movie's a train wreck. Far too much going on. Too many villains - wasted one's at that (i.e. - Bane). Batgirl should have been held off for another movie - you just got Robin in the last picture, explore that a bit more before adding to the cast. And, for that matter, why call the film Batman & Robin (a far better title for the prior film), when you're going to spend a goodly amount of time introducing Batgirl? Ah, I could on and oh - but I won't.

Last edited by Rocketdog2000; 10-21-05 at 09:50 PM.
Old 10-21-05, 10:26 PM
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Barely an excuse. Schumacher is experienced and respected enough in the studio system to have stood his ground especially since, as he says, he signed off on everything that went into the film. I could see WB railroading a new director but come on...
Old 10-21-05, 10:59 PM
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Originally Posted by Rocketdog2000
I'm going to spolier cap most of this, even though I don't think it really needs it. But since I don't feel like pissing anyone off, better to err on the side of caution. Anyway feel free to read - it's talk from the "making of the movie" part of the Batman & Robin:SE. I think you'll find it interesting...
I listened to a little bit of Tim Burton's commentary on Batman Returns, and he strongly hinted at unhappy merchandisers being a big reason he was replaced for the third film. Obviously, pissed off parents and a disappointing box office gross(not to mention the movie itself being underwhelming IMO) also played a role, but it's interesting how both Burton and Shitmaker mention toy sales dictated the direction of the Batfranchise.

Thank God WB finally came to their senses and let Chris Nolan make an actual film instead of a toy commercial. Not to mention firing idiots like Jon Peters and Brett Ratner and letting Bryan Singer take the reigns of the Superman series.
Old 10-21-05, 11:07 PM
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First view of Batman and Robin: sucks.

An alternate view: sucks and blows at the same time.
Old 10-21-05, 11:39 PM
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In the eternal words of Hooper X

"They made your movie into a 90 minute gay joke, it was like watching 'Batman & Robin' all over again!"

Perhaps the bat nipples disturbed far too many people.


Anyway....

There is camp, there is unintended camp, and then there is "Batman & Robin".

B&R wasn't funny, it was just sad.
Old 10-21-05, 11:58 PM
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I remember seeing Batman and Robin in the theater its first night. When they activated the ice skates, I laughed hard. When Batman pulled out the "Batman Forever" credit card, I and the rest of the audience laughed really hard, but it was not laughter of comedy, it was of an "oh shit, this is bad" nature. At that moment, I and a lot of other people realized the Dark Knight was done for. The series had self-destructed right there on the spot, and we could nothing more than watch and laugh at the absurdity of what we saw. Schumacher has done some good movies, and with all of the merchandise around Batman and Robin at its time of release, I see his point. But overall, I don't buy it. His fingerprints are all over the place in this movie, and I think some of them are on Batman's ass at the beginning.

Thank God for Nolan and Goyer.
Old 10-22-05, 12:48 AM
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I still want to know who thought, "These costumes need nipples!"

It was all bad. The goal should never have been the tv show, but the comic.
Old 10-22-05, 04:58 AM
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I remember when I first read the B&R script. Around the same time, I read Steel. B&R made Steel seem like an award winning screenplay. In fact, I lobbied for our VFX company to work on Steel rather than associate ourselves with B&R. Well, we ended up doing the VFX and look what happened, we shut down the same year.
Old 10-22-05, 05:07 AM
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Old 10-22-05, 06:19 AM
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Batman & Robin is one of the few major motion pictures that I still can't seem to watch all the way through...and I have watched some awful movies in my time.
Old 10-22-05, 06:45 AM
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"Batman and Robin" is the worst movie of all time. There is no alternate view for the movie that almost destroyed the entire Batman film series. There's a reason why it took 8 years before we saw another Batman movie. Warner Bros. hoped that was long enough for Batman and Robin to slip our minds.
Old 10-22-05, 06:46 AM
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Originally Posted by Julie Walker
I watch it to drool over Uma Thurman
Me too.
Old 10-22-05, 11:21 AM
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Originally Posted by calhoun07
First view of Batman and Robin: sucks.

An alternate view: sucks and blows at the same time.
For real.

Yesterday was probably the first time i've seen it since seeing it in theatre. I forgot how bad it was.
Old 10-22-05, 12:44 PM
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I wonder how much time Schumacher and the costume designer devoted to getting the perfect nipple. Did they try everything from the tiny to the big ol' salami ones? Did they base the nipple design on the personality traits of the character? I hope these points and more are addressed in the commentary and/or documentary.
Old 10-22-05, 02:02 PM
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Originally Posted by resinrats
Best thing about old Batman show, no bat-nipples as a part of the suits.
When we saw nipples on the show, it was pure West.
Old 10-22-05, 02:02 PM
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What kind of sick bastard bases a nipple design on Batman's personality?

"He's full of revenge and justice...give him big nipples!"


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