Blu-ray Review: Batman - The Movie, Special Edition

Though I wasn't born yet when the original Batman series first captivated audiences when it premiered in January of 1966 on ABC, I watched the series in the eighties whenever it showed up in syndication. Always a fan of superheroes, Batman and Superman have always topped my list of favorites. There is something about Batman, a simple human crime-fighter, that is immensely appealing.

Modern day Batman fans are probably debating who played the better movie Batman: Christian Bale, Val Kilmer, George Clooney or Michael Keaton. While my money is on Keaton, oddly Adam West doesn't even enter into the discussion. Granted, the look and tenor of West's Batman was completely different from the portrayals of the aforementioned actors more than twenty years later, but he does deserve a place in history for being the first actor to bring Batman to the masses in the fledgling media age of the 1960s.

Batman: The Movie hit U.S. theaters in July of 1966, just as the Batman phenomenon was sweeping the country. The film starred Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as the boy wonder, Robin. The actors portrayed their secret identities of Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson, respectively. With a fairly substantial budget and big ambitions, Fox brought four of the most popular villains from the series on to the big screen. Cesar Romero brought his role as the Joker to the big screen, as did Burgess Meredith as the cigarette-chomping Penguin, and Frank Gorshin joined them as the Riddler. However, Julie Newmar who originally played Catwoman in the series, was unavailable for the film, so former Miss America Lee Merriweather stepped into the role as the sexy female villainess. As they had in the series, Alan Napier portrayed Alfred and Neil Hamilton continued as Commissioner Gordon.

The film finds Batman facing the four most dangerous super-villains the world has ever known. The military has sold a surplus submarine to a man named P.N. Guin. The Penguin, Joker, Riddler, and Catwoman have come up with a plan to get rid of Batman and Robin once and for all, and take hostage nine key members of the United World Security Council. To give any more details about the plot would take away from the hilarity of the film, but suffice to say, I enjoyed every second of this105 minute campy fun fest.

Article Author: Rebecca Wright

Rebecca is a freelance writer, concentrating in the areas of film, television and music criticism. Her B.A. is in the Humanities with an emphasis in film and writing.She holds an M.A. in American and British literature with an emphasis in dystopian …

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