Travis McClain

Then I definitely do feel bad for missing this at the time. I was away from this forum around that time of the year, which at least explains why I was oblivious. I hope you've been able to begin healing.

stingermck

Yeah I don't know why history looks down on Batman Forever. It is my favorite of the 4, and as stated it was huge.

It had the music tie in with the U2 and Seal videos, huge marketing ties with McDonald's, Jim Carrey at his peak, a new lead, director and Batmobile, introduction of Robin, etc etc. That movie was a monster.

Still waiting for the extended cut

Michael Corvin

I'll take the Clooney campfest over that Kilmer/Carey turd any day.

Granted I haven't seen either in years, but the two of them were awful casting choices.

iNCREDiPiNOY

Amazon has the Batcowl in stock! Andele!!!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009K45Y62

kefrank

All of the Batman movies of the last 25 years are a "product of the times" though some are much more so than others. Specifically, I think Batman Forever and Batman & Robin are especially 90s in their sensibilities and that doesn't particularly help their case when people look back on them. It also makes it easier to lump the two together.

Batman Returns, for all of its flaws, suffers from this the least in my opinion. For better or worse, it is a distinctly Burton-ian take on Batman that seems to be more of a reflection of some alternate time and place that exists in Burton's imagination than any particular societal trends of the early 90s.

It'll be interesting to see how the "grounded" approach of Nolan's trilogy holds up for critics 20 years down the line.

RocShemp

I was never interested but, if I were, at those prices, they can keep it.

fumanstan

My 90's weren't as flamboyant as Batman & Robin!

TheMovieman

Well, when that link was posted, they did have it in stock for $39.99.

The Man with the Golden Doujinshi

Tropic Thunder and Magnolia.

Supermallet

I was weak. Noticed I had a reward zone certificate, so I used it and got all three steelbooks from Best Buy. Damn my eyes!

gp1086

For those of you that buy multiple versions, how do you decide which disc to view the film on, or is it just random? I assume the quality of the film itself is identical on each blu-ray disc, even if the special features are different.

OldBoy

Netflix or Redbox is the only decision that needs to be made.

iNCREDiPiNOY

DigiBook, so I can see what's inside the book.

slop101

Nope, he's still just playing a slightly different version of himself in those as well. Good performances, but he always plays pretty much the same cocky asshole. I think Born on 4th July is his only real deviation, and even that has a lot of him in it.

iNCREDiPiNOY

okay you win.

Nick Martin

I didn't really mention it here much outside of other threads in, well, "Other". Thanks though. It gets easier, but it doesn't get better. Christmas doesn't exist for me anymore as far as I'm concerned.

With the deleted "Dick's Pain" which is still funny. Because it's crude. I loved that Batmobile. It's my second-favorite behind the Tumbler. Goldenthal's title theme, The "Panther" suit...dammit I love Batman Forever!

And Kiss from a Rose? Forget about it. That song and the Bat Signal video are awesome.

Clooney was basically Clooney in a blue Batman costume (I hesitate to use "Batsuit" for some reason in this case) but Kilmer was a great, brooding Bruce Wayne. He didn't play him so much like Wayne and Batman were two entities, though. More like two sides of the same coin...which was a total coincidence since Two-Face was one of the villains so it all worked out! Mind. Blown. Yeah.

The reason it doesn't hold up for me is not the story, the costumes, the effects...in fact it looks to me like the most 'modern' and 'sleek' of the four films, but just the fact that the entire thing looks exactly like it was filmed on an interior soundstage which it obviously was, but they weren't able to overcome that (or possibly weren't willing to). Daytime, nighttime, it all looks like a movie production if that makes any sense.

Guru Askew

I always think it's hilarious when I see people citing this as a lack of acting talent.

How many actors are chameleonic? Not many, and they certainly aren't the only good or great actors.

Cruise is no more guilty of it than any other leading man.

Supermallet

I'm all for reappraising Forever as a quality entry in the Batman franchise, but let's not go too overboard in our praise. Schumacher's neon gotham doesn't have the sense of danger that Burton's did (and feels just as much like it was shot all on soundstages, so I'm not quite sure why that criticism is leveled on only Returns), the Batmobile doesn't work for me (although I know it does for others), but by far the biggest problem is Tommy Lee Jones' performance. It's so over the top it makes Jim Carrey look like Laurence Olivier.

Why So Blu?

If they could only delete the entire films - Schumacher's Batman films are stinking piles of shit.


<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ioQiparmEns" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

/facepalm

Nick Martin

Accurately remembering the fact that Batman Forever was indeed well received isn't going overboard with praise. All I did after was point out what I enjoyed about it which wasn't any comment on the story, acting or any other element that would lend itself to a "critical" analysis.

I don't mind that Forever was shot on soundstages because they clearly did shoot on location in some areas where you could see actual natural light and sky, which made all the difference (to me) and the interior stuff was so colorful and over-the-top that it took the sting out of it feeling closed in and artificial the way Returns did. Batman was shot at a studio as well, but one with an open sky so it too did not feel closed-in and fake. It's a minor detail but (again to me) it made all the difference.

Speaking of movies from 1995, I've just learned a "Jumanji" remake is on the way. Oh joy.

nickdawgy

Batman and Robin is crap. At least Batman Forever was a tad better. It's been making the rounds on the premium channels this week, and while it's a lot worse than I remembered, come on.... "The name is Freeze. Remember it well, for it's the chilling sound of your doom!"
Pass. Don't need a cheap plastic dust collector.

Why do you (or anybody for that matter) collect so many copies of the same movie? I knew you did it with the Saw films, but what's the point? At least when people collect figurines or trading cards, they're different. So you get a few different covers and a statue or whatnot.

Not a knock on you, xage, just seriously wondering.....

Josh Z

Many have asked this question. "Because he can" is what it comes down to.

Supermallet

I just wanted to put some perspective on the lovefest.

And, personally, I think Batman Returns is the best of the pre-Nolan bat films. Soundstages or not, Burton made a really singular film that is a spot-on homage to German expressionism.

Solid Snake

Fuck that. I want to know how the fuck he can afford that shit. We all buy movies, fine. But xage takes it to a level that I want to know how the fuck he does it. None of my fucking business? Sure. Still...who is xage?! And how does he do it?!

Mr. Salty

I think you mean "who the fuck is xage?!"