Batman: The Movie
Batman
Batman Returns
Batman Mask of the Phantasm
Batman Forever
Batman & Robin
Batman Begins
The Dark Knight
The Dark Knight Rises.


For me it was close between Batman and Phantasm. But Batman: Mask of the Phantasm is clearly the best theatrical adaptation the character has seen. The rest range from decent to poor.

In order from favorite to least favorite:

Batman Begins
Batman Mask of the Phantasm
The Dark Knight
The Dark Knight Rises
Batman
Batman Returns
Batman: The Movie
Batman Forever
Batman & Robin

89 is my favorite, and I also really like 66, 92, and 93. The rest do little for me.

I'm gonna be re-visiting Returns & the Nolan trilogy later on this month

But as it stands now:
TDK
'89
Phantasm
Begins
Rises
Returns
'66
Forever
Robin

I consider 'The Dark Knight' to be 'The Godfather' of comic book movies, so this was a pretty easy vote for me.

This. TDK is one of all my favorite all-time movies.

Batman: The Movie - Nostalgia only. The movie and the entire series are unwatchable now.

Batman - Loved it upon first release, but it hasn't aged well.

Batman Forever - Liked it better than most people did.

Batman Begins - Excellent

The Dark Knight Rises - Flawed but still very good.

The only lousy ones are
Batman Returns
Batman & Robin

Saw them all theatrically except Mask of the Phantasm.
Batman Returns is my favorite.

When I finally saw MASK OF THE PHANTASM on DVD, I kicked myself for not having seen it in a theater when I had the chance. Excellent piece of superhero theatrical animation. The only reason I didn't vote for it was that I never saw it in a theater and, besides, I have a soft spot for the Adam West movie, which I saw with a packed audience of kids the week it opened. (It was on a double bill with THE RETURN OF MR. MOTO, with Henry Silva.)

However, I don't remember the Adam West movie being called BATMAN: THE MOVIE. I just remember it being called BATMAN. I'd have to see original ads or watch the movie again to see if it was originally called BATMAN: THE MOVIE or not. (IMDB lists it as BATMAN: THE MOVIE.)

Tim Burton's BATMAN was quite a surreal theatrical experience. It was filled with dreamlike imagery and I was just in the right mood for that when I saw it. When I came out of the theater that night, I decided to stay in the moment and walk down Third Avenue south of the theater and check out all the baroque Gotham City-type architecture in that section of Manhattan and the streams of gas and vapor rising up out of the building tops in the moonlight. I walked all the way to Grand Central in that frame of mind. Definitely an extension of the movie.

Returns is my favorite if the burton/ Schumacher era.

But favorite favorite? probably TDK. The IMAX presentation was awesome. The big chase was great to see with an audience.

The crowd i had was toally into that chase. We didnt know wtf was going to happen when the Tumbler went down. There was this quiet anticiaption as to what Bats would do next. Then we're in there with him. Emergency alarms going, Bats messing around with some stuff, the console says, "eject sequence initiated" , the left tire starts going with the car shifting its frame, the console tells him a goodbye and BOOM! He just pops out of there on the batpod. My audience cheered at that moment. From when the Tumbler went down to when Bats did that wall flip, which also blew people's minds, we didn't have a moment to relax. Then Gordon gets his proper title and so forth. This film got a lot of love from the audience.

Nolan really did good in pretty much setting up the standard of what people knew of the major characters.

Oh come on now. I like The Dark Knight, but it's nowhere near Godfather quality. Nowhere near.

There's some really stupid shit in TDK, like the boat scene. Not a single convict would blow the bomb? That's not suspending belief. That's shattering it in a million pieces.

I can kinda get The Godfather term use but this is HEAT with Batman in it. We really needed a new working on TDK cuz the non IMAX stuff is rough. The boat scene bothers me like crazy. I still think it would have been more interesting if we got Dent's finale as a whole film. Would have been like a Long Halloween type of thing is imagine based on what influence Nolan already.

Batman and TDK were almost tied.

Batman is the one (After Superman) that "Restarted" all the Super Hero movies. Loved Keaton as Batman, he gave him the off beat twist that any man wear a black cape would have.

TDK was just epic and very entertaining. Joker made the movie.
-IMAX cuts on BR are the best VQ for live action.

The Joker scared me in both movies.

You have to ignore some words in that post to see him as saying it's near Godfather quality. "The Godfather of comic book movies" does not equal "The Godfather," just like "The Mercedes of bicycles" would not equal "Mercedes."

I still think one of the ferries should have exploded.

The Dark Knight, despite Nolan's contempt for the character and medium.

I don't think that was literal.

Batman Begins, because I remember walking out of the theater and everyone was blown away. It was Batman resurrected. You could hear people whispering and talking to each other saying "Now that's a fucking Batman movie!"

It was great.

The Dark Knight.

I wanted to pick Batman Begins, and almost did, but I still think the steam machine thing was incredibly stupid as a plot device. And Ledger was just too good in TDK.

Batman: The Movie: good campy fun.
Batman: My favorite Batman film.
Batman Returns: second favorite Batman film
Batman Mask of the Phantasm: never seen it
Batman Forever: not as bad as people claim
Batman & Robin: awful but still not as stupid as The Dark Knight or The Dark Knight Rises.
Batman Begins: Pretty good reboot.
The Dark Knight: all the plot holes and all around stupidity make it where I can't enjoy it.
The Dark Knight Rises: Possibly the dumbest movie ever made. Starts out with an incredibly stupid scene and then just gets dumber as it goes.

I wish TDKR was the dumbest movie ever made. Unfortunately I've seen Ultraviolet and Resident Evil: Apocalypse.

OK, name a scene from either of those movies that is as stupid as a man showing up with three people with hoods on their heads and then waiting until they get 3000 feet in the air to take them off.

Riiiiiiiiiiiiight.

The onscreen title is BATMAN. Poking around the internet, it appears it was titled BATMAN: THE MOVIE (but only on the box) when it was released on VHS by Playhouse Video in 1985. The "cover" name has stuck with it through all American video releases (VHS, LaserDisc, DVD and Blu-Ray). CBS/FOX reissued the titled in the fall of 1989, possibly hoping customers might think it was the same movie that had been in theaters that summer. On the 1966 movie posters, the movie was called BATMAN. 1980's video releases used the same artwork, but added THE MOVIE.

As for me, I've seen all except Batman Begins, which is still sitting on the shelf, unwatched. Of the others, I'd say Mask of the Phantasm is my favorite, because, as has been stated, it was closest to the comic book version.

EDIT--AUG 2016: Finally watched Batman Begins. It's been awhile since I've seen the two movies that followed, but reading the comments and thinking back, it looks like Begins is the best of the trilogy. But do superhero movies have to spend such a looonnng time telling the origin? Phantasm is still my favorite, though.

Weird to watch Dark Knight and Dark Knight Rises but skip Begins even though you own it.

Favorite? That's a tough call, due to nostalgia and my evolving tastes over the years, but here goes.

Begins, Returns, Dark Knight, Batman '89, Phantasm, Rises, Forever, Batman '66 ... and B&R.

Man, I wish we'd get Mask of the Phantasm on Blu-ray.

It's a shame that Nolan wanted off the franchise; I don't think he really had much enthusiasm for making The Dark Knight Rises. He realized he was never going to top The Dark Knight's critical success and I don't think he really enjoys making superhero properties. I think a more motivated director probably splits The Dark Knight Rises up into two films, you split it right at the point where Batman is defeated with a broken back.