Batman Forever
 

just caught forever on tv and it seemed like a movie that got better with age. the soundtrack was good too. did anyone like carrey as the riddler? the robin story was still lame.

was just thinking about the batman movies. The riddler was indeed good. still would say it's my third fav batman movie with the 1st keaton movie and the recent one being at the top.

:thumbsup: Carrey as The Riddler. I'll be so bold as to say this film is better than the follow-up. -cracker-

This has always been my favorite batman movie. With the great soundtrack, Carrey as The Riddler and I might be flamed for this but I really liked Val Kilmer as Batman.

Same here. I thought it was much better than Batman Returns and the horrible, horrible Batman and Robin.

I like Carrey's Riddler but HATED Tommy Lee Jones as Two-Face, he chewed the scenery and was horribly over the top. Just didn't fit my idea of the character at all.

I found him to be a great Batman. He made me care about the character of Bruce Wayne more than Keaton did.

Elliot Goldenthal's creative mutation of Danny Elfman's signature Batman theme was just right as well.

When I first saw it, it was because it was so different from the first two - a big screen event-type of movie, fun, colorful and exciting - that I loved it.

As for Batman & Robin, what's that?

When I got the anthology box set I recall it coming with two coasters....

Speaking of Kilmer, after watching the DVD special features for all four movies, I had a new found respect for him as he was the only one of the 3 who played Batman to do any new interviews (I can understand why Clooney didn't, though, lol). In those interviews, he seemed to take the material far more serious than anyone else within the production and he seemed to have respect for the character.

I too think that this movie, in parts, was very good. TLJ and JC made a farce out of their characters, when two-face is not that type of character. Perhaps if they made TF more serious, then it would have played better.

Kilmer was very good as Batman. Drew Barrymore was impossibly hot as Sugar.

Robin character blowed major ass.

My main problem with it is that it came off as too goofy, but it had a lot of potential - and I still like the movie. Great actors, great soundtrack.

I still have the teaser poster from this.

Nicole Kidman :drool:

That's a big amen. She always looks good, but looked especially hot in this one.

In fact, I remember when the first posters came out for the movie, she had too much cleavage showing, so they reprinted them with more of her hair draped over. I remember thinking, "Well, jeez, that was the best part of the damn picture!"

I like Batman Forever....although it does have some major suck ass things in it. I liked Kilmer as Batman, i liked the characters of both Two Face and the Riddler and thought that both Tommy Lee Jones and Jim Carrey played the parts well (especially Carrey who was the perfect Riddler). I actually liked the change of design to some extent, although i can lose the dayglow shit that Schumacher has a boner for in these films. Also Robin can go. I have never liked the character and Batman stands on his own without him. The soundtrack was good for the movie, especially U2's title track.

Its funny but both Forever and Batman and Robin are structured EXACTLY the same as movies. They both begin by showing the hero(es) gearing up and on their way to catch one of the main villains of the piece. The villain is almost caught, but escapes at the last second. Shortly afterwards we are then introduced to the secondary villain who works for Wayne Corp and who feels betrayed by Bruce Wayne. They then adopt their full villain identity. The villains both meet and agree to take on Batman. Then we are introduced to a new part of the heroes team who is young and wreckless and demonstrates it. The villains plan then goes into full swing. The young wreckless hero becomes a full member of the team. The heroes/villains fight and the film ends in Arkham Asylum showing what happened to any surviving villain. Roles running to camera in fronmt of Bat signal. Credits.

Also you can add in the obligatory Dayglow sequence and also sequence where Batmobile takes a beating.

I never understood the bad rap that Batman & Robin gets. Yes, it's a hopeless, cheesy movie. The reason it is that way is because it's a homage to the TV series. C'mon, ice-skating hoodlums? Tilted camera-angles? Bad one-liners?

The only thing missing was the "Zowie!" and "BAM!" effects hitting the screen.

That doesn't make the movie good. Oh no, it doesn't. It's still bad. But I feel it's largely misunderstood.

It always bothered me that they called Two-Face "Harvey Two-Face." Plus, I always thought it was cheesy during the circus scene when Bruce Wayne yells "Harvey! I'm Batman!". Not all that important, I know.

More serious flaws were that I don't think the Riddler and Two-Face characters worked very well together. And, as mentioned, the Robin story-line sucked big time nuts.

Kilmer doesn't hold a candle to Keaton.

It always seemed to me that Two-Face and Riddler were trying to be Joker. Forever still has the best Bruce Wayne & I did like the move a lot more before I saw Batman & Robin & when I watched Forever again, it reminded me too much of B&R, making me hate the movie.

Bale > Keaton > Kilmer > West > Clooney's Bat Nipples

Add the fact I thought Robin was useless and you my friend have nailed it on the head.

:up: I thought they got the Joker right, except when they tried to portray the Joker. They have never gotten a villain right until they finally did Ra's Al Ghul, Falcone and Scarecrow.
This has alway made me pull a big, fat :confused:
Let's see. A pudgy, baby faced comedian with the earnest conviction of an bored Albertson's bag boy. That's the Batman I alway imagined. He nailed it.

"Why do you do this?"
"...Because I can."
Wow Batman. Wow.

At least Kilmer started using some kind of agility in the fight scenes, too. Keaton's rock 'em sock 'em robot style was just sad.

And any movie that has the line "Oh No!!! Boiling acid!!!" can't be all bad.

Ultiimately I will never see any of the films from that run again, but this is the one that I hated the least.

superman, batman, superman, batman,superman, batman. hopefully dc can give us some other movies about thier other heroes than these 2. at least Marvel does more than x-men and spiderman.

You cannot include West in this. The 60s Batman was purposefully farcical. For what it's intended purpose was, he was great.

Batman Forever and Batman & Robin are equally as farcical in my book. But hell, I'll do yah one better:

Bale > Keaton > Bartram > Kilmer > West > Clooney

I lilked Val Kilmer, even better than Keaton, but his character was under-written.

Nicole Kidman was drop-dead gorgeous, but didn't care for her character.

Carrey was okay as the Riddler, but his origin, gimmicks, and riddles themselves were lame.

I've never seen any actor ham it up so badly as Tommy Lee Jones did with Two-Face. That is, until I saw Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy.

Chris O' Donnell is a good actor, but the characterization of Robin was off. I found it hilarious when he broke down and whimpered when confronting Batman after he took a joy-ride in the Batmobile

The plot was awful. The Riddler invents a device which alter people's minds and perceptions and legitimately make him billions of bucks, and all he's interested in is obtaining ATM passwords.

The scene were Two-Face teaches Riddler to punch someone was ridiculous.

Overall, it was a bit more interesting than BATMAN RETURNS, but not nearly as catastrophic as BATMAN AND ROBIN.

Bartram, wow :lol:

I like Burton's movies the most, but Kilmer was definitely good for the part, he filled Keaton's shoes nicely. Billy Dee Williams is the best Harvey Dent however and would most likely have been a great Two-Face.

Keaton's Batman was my favorite though, as Batman he felt like he was a force instead of just a tough guy in a suit, like was part of the night, a presence. He comes across as complex and smart, and he seemed twisted like a sociopath. I recall somewhere Burton said it was something in Keaton's eyes.

I'd liked Carrey and Kilmer (however, I did hate the before mentioned "Harvey, I am Batman" circus scene).

I could not stand TLJ as Two Face. They totally screwed up the character. Didn't really care the plot either. I didn't like all the neon crap either. Kidman was really hot in this movie.

Batman Begins is my favorite movie and Bale is my favorite Batman.
Keaton was my favorite Bruce Wayne, but Bale was really good to.
Batman Begins had the best plot followed by Batman 89.
Batman Begins got all the villians right. Jack's Joker was really good.

This movie never should have been made.

I always liked Batman Forever. It was my 2nd favorite in the original Burton/Sh-tmaker series after the first film.

But I'd also read the novelization before seeing the movie, so I was able to fill in the blanks left by the butcher job they did in the editing room. The whole red book subplot could've added a lot of depth to the character of Bruce Wayne if they didn't cut it out due to length. Thankfully Batman Begins finally dealt with Bruce's guilt over his parents' deaths(I love that scene where Alfred consoles him).

The biggest problem in Forever is Two-Face. It's not like Tommy Lee Jones couldn't have handled the part. But Sh-tmaker for some reason wanted him to channel Nicholson's Joker the entire time. I look forward to seeing what Aaron Eckhart and Chris Nolan do with the character.

Re: Batman Forever
 

Why is this movie playing on PBS Channel 13 tonight? Is PBS that desperate for Saturday night viewers?

I watched a bit to see how worse it dated, and yes, this film gets worse and worse.
Awful special effects...Why is Tommy Lee Jones acting like the Joker? Why does it seem like Val Kilmer is just pushed around as if he doesn't want to be in this film? I actually think Robin is the least annoying character in this film now. Nicole Kidman is actually hot in it. But god, this film is just as bad as Batman & Robin.

Re: Batman Forever
 

PBS has been playing it for a while now, I remember seeing an advert in October and it struck me as a bit weird as well. Then again, I believe Batman 89 was also on PBS.

Re: Batman Forever
 

When did PBS start playing regular non-arty films? This is sort of shocking and I have never noticed this till tonight.

Re: Batman Forever
 

I have no idea; I know they have for a while now as A Fish Called Wanda used to be on a lot. They've also shown older films like Some Like it Hot.

Re: Batman Forever
 

Can't stand the Schumacher Batman movies, although Batman & Robin is much worse then Forever. Havent seen this in a long time, so was hoping it was on Cable to see how it held up.

Re: Batman Forever
 

I always thought that Keaton made the better Batman/Bruce Wayne. Obviously he has much going against him but his talent, IMO, is what made the character.

I liked the scene where Bruce Wayne confronts the Joker in Vicki Vales apartment.
It just felt like he gave the character some intensity whereas, Kilmer, who fits the bill physically, seemed very generic.

This is what I was trying to say.

Re: Batman Forever
 

There's a fan cut of Batman Forever online (I forget what it's called) and it's much, much better. Some of the scenes are switched around and it's more tight. A lot of useless crap is cut. Put together it's best of the 90s bunch.

Re: Batman Forever
 

qft

Re: Batman Forever
 

Yeah, there's a ton of crap you could cut and add in and make it a much better film. The whole Riddler and Two-Face take the town sequence comes to mind.

Re: Batman Forever
 

I was completely on board with the news when Keaton was first cast. I thought it was creative, outside the box thinking, and it would give the character some interesting facets that no one would have expected.

But after seeing the film He didn't work for me, and it wasn't until the sequel that I figured out why- Keaton plays the character as someone from a working class background. It is imbued in the character's DNA as essayed by MK- the way he talks, the way he stands, the way he gestures.
Kilmer wasn't a home run either, but he at least put out the vibe of someone who is descended from money and has lived with that privilege all his life.

As far as the film itself, I enjoyed it more back in '95. TLJ was always weak (I don't blame Schumacher, I blame the actor who was probably on a Diva trip coming off his oscar win), Carrey was a tedious spaz, and the Robin subplot was irritating. But it was nice to see a Batman movie that wasn't afraid to try to be fun, and that didn't fizzle out in the last act the way most of Burtons films seem to. It was well paced, and for a change, Batman actually did some detective work. Also the nod to the old style death traps was fun and appreciated.

Tried watching all of these again recently and I just can't do it. After about 10 minutes I start hating myself for wasting time on these and have to watch something else. I couldn't even bring myself to spend $5 on the Blu-rays a couple weeks back.