best Michael Keaton movie ever!

Perhaps it is because I saw the Nolan films first but I was unimpressed with the lack of plot and the mix and match thing they've got going on with the set. Keaton was decent and Nicholson a redeemer, but I maintain there was a negligible storyline and the poor pacing results in a film that is not engaging.

The most successful outing of the Caped Crusader before the 2007 smash hit Dark Knight, the 1989 Tim Burton version offers a straight up comic book movie with a crap load of action, explosions and overall mayhem. Michael Keaton stars as Bruce Wayne, a sly and unassuming businessman who by day deals with documents and contracts and who by night is a one man army, stopping crimes all over Gotham City. He forms a relationship with photojournalist Vicki Vale, played sexily by Kim Basinger, who wants to write a story about the Batman legend and crack the truth once and for all. Meanwhile, a citywide spree of madness and murder is being perpetrated by The Joker, played excellently by Jack Nicholson who is perfect for the role. Quite simply, when it comes to portraying crazy people, he is THE best. As mentioned before, the movie was in the hands of extraordinary artist Tim Burton, four years after his big screen debut with the 1985 comedy Pee-Wee's Big Adventure. The movie looks great, and the DVD quality is top-notch for a movie that is nearly 25 years old. I have to say, this movie in particular is the best looking action movie I have ever had the pleasure of seeing. However, the film does have some flaws, my biggest complaint being a sometimes cheesy soundtrack (Prince). In sum, a truly great film experience that all fans of the genre should check it out.… Expand

What do people see in this movie? I saw it when it came out when I was a little kid and hated it. Now that I'm an adult, I thought that perhaps I didn't have the ability to appreciate whatever it was that people loved about this movie, so I watched it again. And I still hate it, LOL. I don't know where to begin, frankly, because every aspect of this movie, from the completely unfaithful representation of the comic book characters to the cringingly awkward dialogue and perplexing moment to moment decisions to the stiff and contrived flow of action, made this one of the biggest wastes of time I've spent in a while. I just finished watching the scene where Bruce Wayne confronts the joker in Vicki Vale's apartment. Oh yeah, you fanboys know what I'm talking about and every one of you knows when you saw that scene even your reaction was, "And Bruce Wayne did that because....?". That reaction pretty much sums up my sentiments for almost every character in every scene in the entire movie. Don't waste your time with this movie. The new Chris Nolan ones are at least compelling and rational, even if they aren't completely adherent to the comic book themes. Stick with them and may this movie be buried for eternity at the bottom of the $5 DVD bin at your local Walmart!… Expand

Definitely one of the best looking action films of ALL time. Tim burton is god.

It's probably the best action hero movie ever made.

I've always loved batman, so i love the film. Keaton and Nicholson make this film a winner. one of my favourite films instantly!!!

It's always o'dark 30 in Gotham. Even the original comics were better lit. Once again Hollywood takes a super hero and renders him into neither.

A fantastic film, with an interesting plot, and the joker has some laughs, but the sad part is, it's only third best in terms of the top (and only) 5 Batman movies. Here, I'll give you the Batman movies in order of the best to the worst with the score I give them. 1. Batman Begins (10) 2. Batman Returns (10) 3. Batman (10) 4. Batman Forever (8) 5. Batman and Robin (3). However, I must agree on the fact that this movie does have a memorable line, "He stole my Baloons!" And, of course, who could forget the Joker's question that was answered in the other classic, Batman Begins? "Where does he get all those wonderful toys?"… Expand

I cant believe this movie even got decent reviews. It dragged on with a very dense and pointless plot and thats only the start. This had the worst filmed fight sequences ive ever seen. It made me nautious.

I love this film best batman film ever the joker's great and batman's great I don't like the new Dark knight film the joker looks terrible.

Decent, but it never quite comes together. Kim Basinger has no screen chemistry with Keaton, while the character arc is oversimplified by turning the Joker into a psychopath and while the visuals are impressive, they're not groundbreaking. Both of these points would be improved upon in Batman Returns.

Good for children and little more, Tim Burton's vision of Gotham is underwhelming. Every set is either boring or art designed to death. The score is legendary, but can't save the wooden acting of all but one cast member - Jack Nicholson, who turns in an all-time great performance as the villain, the Joker. He gleefully steals every scene he's in, and thank goodness for him. The action is overwrought and cloying. Worse, several of its plot decisions (no spoilers here) became cliches that ruined several other franchises, including this one.… Expand

This movie was probably the best superhero movie I've seen. Michael Keaton made the character of Batman a dark and menacing figure of the night which made him my favorite Batman of all time. And Jack Nicolson's portrayal of the Joker was creepy yet genius. I loved the movie all around.

First Batman doesn't have the personal moral resonance and depth of Batman begins. However, this films got another card to play...the brilliant Jack Nicholson cranks out the ultimate joker.

This film and Batman Returns are the only films to actually explore the psychology of Batman. It doesn't rely on cliche characterization of the title character or heavy handed moralizing either - just a dark and brooding Batman.

Still the best comic book ever made, one that values its villian as much as its hero, its story and characters as much as its action, and some of the best production design of recent years thrown in.

Michael Keaton is the best Batman, and the first two movies are the best in the series--the special effects fit the dark atmosphere of the film without blitzing the audience to death the way, say, Batman & Robin does.

A seven, sure. But it's still the worst baseball movie I've ever seen.

Whoa!!! A 59??? I was expecting a 88 or something...This movie is nothing less than a classic, and the sequel is even better! The last two batmans were so bad it wasnt even funny...But ne ways, this is a must-see.

A masterpiece. It makes every other bat film that has come since then (with the exception of Burton's HIGHLY under rated Batman Returns) look sub-standered.

I love Batman and I love Tim Burton...and seeing this as an 8th grader, thought it was a groovey breath of fresh comic-adaptation air, but this dark movie has not stood the test of time. It's dark, brooding, and boring with Dark Knight/Bruce Wayne taking a back seat to a cool Danny Elfman soundtrack and focus on a 1980's futuro-Gotham.

This movie can be called a superhero classic. This and the original Superman dominate all of the superhero movies. This is arguably the best Keaton and Nicholson role ever. There chemistry as hero and villain is amazaing. So sit back and watch Batman do a little fighting and see Nicholson say one of the greatest lines ever, "He stole my balloons!"

This is the superhero movie of our day and defined the genre. Burton delivered the Batman that Bob Kane envisioned when he first developed the character. Don't listen to the doubters... Michael Keaton IS Batman and Jack Nicholson IS the Joker- both actors are at the top of their game in this film.

I saw this movie when it first came out in 1989. To me, this is how action films are supposed to be done. Michael Keaton was a better Batman than even Adam West, and certainly better than Val Kilmer or George Clooney. Jack Nicholson was perfect as the Joker. He was mean, menacing, and very, very funny. Kim Basinger made an absolutely beautiful Vicki Vale. Tim Burton's visual style is astounding. If you want an action-packed film with an uncomplicated plot, "Batman" is just what you are looking for. On a scale of 1-10, this movie rates a ten, only because the scale doesn't go to 11.… Expand

The best (numero uno) superhero movie of all time. Mops the floor with Batman Begins a thousand times over. Will never be topped.

The only film to still capture every essence of my imagination.

Whether you like this 1989 blockbuster depends on if you can accept the notion of a man in a bat suit fighting a clown. This version of Batman is not quite as mythic as Superman, nor as down-to-earth as his comic boo counterpart has become. He's basically an average rich guy in a mythic costume, and if you can buy that, you buy everything else. I buy it. Keaton strikes a balance between the man and the suit, although his screen time is limited, in the fashion of too many super-hero films. Nicholson is strong as a madder-than-usual interpretation of the Joker that became the standard for all versions. The sets are great, and the pacing is strong. Burton didn't quite get it right, but he took it seriously when Schumacher made it a joke. That counts for something.… Expand

Heavy handed and cumbersome, about as fun as watching the logistics of modern war operations. Batman is a stiff, rigid, rubbersuited hero and the Batmobile has about as much glamour as a Soviet tank. Nicholson hams it up ugly with zero charm. Burton goes for schlock Wagnerianism about as inspired as Nazi aesethetics. Gothic gigantism with not an inkling of lighthearted fun.

BATMAN RULES!!

This movie, for being so old, is nicely done. The cast of Keaton, Nicholson, and Basinger really bring the movie to life.

Having seen this on AMC and just bought it on DVD, i can say with some certainty that this is one of the best superhero movies I've ever seen. Jack as the Joker is deliciously evil (could have done without the Prince music though) and Keaton captures the psychological pain of Bruce/Batman. I gave this the same rating I gave to Batman Begins because both EXCEL with strong performances and the serious atmosphere of Gotham. However, it looks increasingly that The Dark Knight will surpass both with an even better cast and a truly menacing-looking Joker (played by Heath Ledger). May Nolan continue to build on the seriousness and quality of, not only Batman Begins, but also Burton's (while maintaining his own style).… Expand

Simply the best superhero movie ever seen nothing else come close.

Not as good as Batman Begins, but a pretty great movie nonetheless. However, if Nicholson weren't there to steal the show from Keaton's dull Bruce Wayne, I would probably have given it a lower score.

I watched this movie a couple of days ago after so many years and while Batman's stiffness in his movements kind of gets in the way, the movie is still as spectacular as ever, specially the musical score.

The only flaw I can find with this movie is Micheal Keaton, his interpretation of Batman is poorly done, but Jack Nicholson's performance as The Joker easily makes up for this, he really shows the Joker for who he is, a psychotic prankster, all in all if you can put up with Keaton than you have yourself a great movie.

Batman is a truly fine superhero film. It's not just that, though - most of the film more closely resembles an action-orientated film noir, and it has a finale that appears to have been taken straight out of a Gothic horror movie. Michael Keaton is the best film Batman, no question. While I can understand his casting raised a few eyebrows, but his portrayal of Bruce Wayne is very human and sincere, and very likeable, and his portrayal of the Dark Knight is unexpectedly effective, and highly influential (Christian Bale wasn't the first to adopt a different voice for the bat and the man). His successors never reach the heights Keaton does, with Val Kilmer being too camp and George Clooney being completely lifeless. Jack Nicholson's Joker makes for an extremely entertaining, scary villain. While he will now always be compared to Heath Ledger's Oscar-winning performance, you can't avoid the fact that they're very different roles. Ledger's Joker is uncontrollable and without any clear aim - he's a rabid dog. Nicholson's Joker is a sociopathic gangster with fame on his mind, is far more calculated and aware of what he is doing, and I personally find that far more scary. Like I say, they're different interpretations of the character, and impossible to rank one above the other. Kim Basinger's Vicki Vale makes a good damsel in distress, Michael Gough makes the perfect Alfred, and Jack Palance growls through his lines as another despicable villain, crime boss Carl Grissom. It's such a shame that Billy Dee Williams never got to play Two-Face (as he really wanted to) with his version of Harvey Dent being such an intriguing, ambiguous, image-obsessed character - he would have made a really memorable villain. Like all of Tim Burton's films, Batman is a visual feast, with Gotham city presented as a murky, industrial, crime-ridden dystopian metropolis, but with a striking ahistorical mix of architecture by designer Anton Furst. Appropriately enough for a film which is so influenced by Brazil in its design, the cinematographer is regular Terry Gilliam collaborator Roger Pratt, and his steady, measured filming style marries very well with Burton's dark, focused vision. As well as being a very engaging and well constructed superhero film and crime thriller, Batman has a surprising amount of comedy in it. This isn't the campy, pun-laden humour of the Schumacher Batman films - these are clever, self-aware jokes about social convention (the scene where Bruce Wayne is having a meal with Vicky Vale across a ridiculously long dining table before Wayne admits that he doesn't think he's ever been in this particular room of his vast mansion before is incredibly funny, helped no small measure by Keaton's impeccable comic timing) and the affectionate mockery of the ridiculousness of the source material (two thugs looking over an apparently unconscious Batman wonder who he is, but rather than immediately thinking to remove his mask, one suggests that they should "check his wallet"). The addition of humour adds a lot to the film, but never at the expense of story or character. Schumacher took this too far in his films, but Burton gets the balance between humour and seriousness just right. Finally, Danny Elfman's score is among the best of his career, providing a consistent moody and mysterious tone to the film, and creating a memorable hero theme to rival even John Williams' iconic theme for Superman. Batman is a truly great superhero film. So visually striking, it looks like it was torn straight out of the comic books it was based on, and the two most recognisable characters from those pages are brought wonderfully to life by Keaton and Nicholson. The film retains the tragedy and darkness of Batman as a character and the world he inhabits, but never gets carried away with it to the extent that the film becomes depressing. The addition of a liberal dose of humour is a welcome one, and it's nice to see a decent big budget superhero film confident enough to incorporate comedy into its story (something we have seen more of recently, with Iron Man and Thor). A great superhero film, a nice call-back to film noir and Gothic horror of classic Hollywood, and one of Mr Burton's very best - Batman really is rather fantastic.… Expand

We can express how clear it is that Christopher Nolan's take on Batman (a trilogy consisting of BATMAN BEGINS, THE DARK KNIGHT, and the upcoming THE DARK KNIGHT RISES) is much better than this. This 1989 edition of Batman is often cheesy (though definitely not as much as BATMAN: THE MOVIE from 1966 or the 1960s television series it was based on), but otherwise thrilling, intriguing, and irresistibly intense. It is some of Tim Burton's very best work, though not his best collaboration with Michael Keaton (that would be BEETLEJUICE).… Expand