Dell's Pointless Lists: Batman Movies

[dell71]

10. Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero
(1998)
Directed by Boyd Kirkland
Batman…Kevin Conroy
Robin…Loren Lester
James Gordon…Bob Hastings
Batgirl…Mary Kay Bergman
Alfred…Efram Zimbalist Jr.
Mr. Freeze…Michael Ansara

Despite all the damage done by Joel Schumacher and Arnold Schwarzenegger making a mockery of Mr. Freeze just a year earlier, Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero was released direct to video in 1998. It proceeds to tell the story of Victor Fries a thousand times better than Batman & Robin. It treats the story as a serious narrative and ably conveys the desperation and sadness of our villain. In fact, this is more of a Mr. Freeze movie that just happens to include Batman. Still, it doesn’t skimp on the superhero stuff, either. Both Robin and Batgirl get ample opportunity to show their stuff. As viewers, we’re put in the difficult position of deciding whether or not we can sympathize with the bad guy. It’s not as simple as Batman beating up the bad guy then shoving him into Arkham. This is far from it.

[Senser81]

15. Batman Forever
(1995)
Directed by Joel Schumacher
Batman…Val Kilmer
Robin…Chris O’Donnell
Alfred…Michael Gough
James Gordon…Pat Hingle
The Riddler…Jim Carrey
Two-Face…Tommy Lee Jones
Dr. Chase Meridian…Nicole Kidman

Well, whaddya know? We populate the bottom of the list with both Joel Schumacher movies. Anyone even vaguely familiar with the franchise probably knew this would be the case. This was the first of the JS flicks. He was hired to lighten up the series after the macabre adventure that was Tim Burton’s Batman Returns. The results are fairly bad. The tone is uneven: dark and brooding at some points, over the top campy at others. It makes little to no sense whatsoever. As The Riddler, Jim Carrey delivers a completely unhinged performance. It’s like watching Frank Gorshin on speed. That part isn’t so bad because we kind of expect that from him. What’s bizarre is watching Tommy Lee Jones as Two-Face behave the same way. It didn’t seem to fit either him or the character. Robin is introduced, for I don’t know what reason. The pleasant surprise is that Val Kilmer wasn’t too bad as Batman.

Great summation of the movie. I thought Val Kilmer was very good, but everything else was terrible. Tommy Lee Jones was idiotic as Two Face. Instead of having two villians, they should have had 10 (include guys like Egghead and The Pharoah). That would have made the movie even more pointless.

[Goober]

Sub Zero will always hold a soft place in my heart. When I was a kid in the 90's the Saturday Morning Cartoons would have giveaways where you entered by sending in a postcard. I entered one, and won a copy of SubZero on VHS. Sadly that is just about the only giveaway I have ever won.

[MvP]

Sad to say that I owned a VHS copy of Batman & Robin and enjoyed watching it multiple times when I was 6-7 years old.

[stevsta]

Sad to say that I owned a VHS copy of Batman & Robin and enjoyed watching it multiple times when I was 6-7 years old.

I am not ashamed to say that as a kid I liked all things batman regardless of the camp. I only feel sorry for my parents who had to take me to see them (batman & robin batman forever) .

[MvP]

I am not ashamed to say that as a kid I liked all things batman regardless of the camp. I only feel sorry for my parents who had to take me to see them (batman & robin batman forever) .

Yeah I was actually on a huge Batman kick around that age. I had some comics, kids books, probably some school folders and shit. It didn't last though, today I barely know anything about the Batman universe outside of the latest films.

[dell71]

9. Batman Returns
(1992)
Directed by Tim Burton
Batman…Michael Keaton
James Gordon…Pat Hingle
Alfred…Michael Gough
Catwoman…Michelle Pfeiffer
The Penguin…Danny DeVito
Max Shreck…Christopher Walken

Of all the live-action Batman films, this is definitely the strangest. Even though he directed both movies, Batman Returns is much more a part of Tim Burton’s world than 1989’s Batman. Gotham and its inhabitants become truly gothic. Perhaps our first hint is the name of Christopher Walken’s character, Max Shreck. For those not in the know, the real Max Shreck is a horror icon for having played Count Orlock in the classic Nosferatu. Catwoman, as played by Michelle Pfeiffer is a writhing mass of fetishized femininity. She put so much into the role that for me, it’s easily the quintessential portrayal of the character. If she’s the stuff our slightly off-kilter fantasies then Danny DeVito’s take on The Penguin is something that’s escaped from our nightmares. Everything about him is delightfully disgusting, if that’s possible. By the way, the plot basically involves him trying to get elected mayor of Gotham while working with Catwoman to get rid of The Caped Crusader. There was a fallout to such a bizarre approach to what was supposed to be a mainstream franchise. Batman merchandise took a hit as McDonald's actually dropped all merchandise related to the movie from their Happy Meals. A number of parents were up in arms over the film. Of course, there was also that whole ‘let’s get Joel Schumacher in here’ thing after all that stuff happened.

[dell71]

8. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
(1993)
Directed by Eric Radomski and Bruce Timm
Batman…Kevin Conroy
James Gordon…Bob Hastings
Alfred…Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.
Andrea Beaumont…Dana Delaney
The Joker…Mark Hamill
The Phantasm…Stacey Keach

By now we realize that a generous portion of Gotham’s citizens have ties to organized crime. A mysterious masked and caped figure has started killing them off. Of course, Batman has to find out who this is and stop them if, for no other reason, he’s being blamed for the murders. We also get some flashbacks to our hero’s earliest days as a crime-fighter which also coincides with a very serious relationship with Andrea Beaumont. She’s just come back to town and stirs up all sorts of emotions in Bruce. This is probably the best handled love story among any of the features. You can see the twist coming a bit, but the rest of the movie is so enjoyable it doesn’t bother you. Many rank this as the best Batman animated feature and some would put it right at or near the top on this list. I’m not quite in that camp, but it’s quite good.

[Goober]

The thing that ruined Batman Returns from the start is the fact that Batman is blatantly killing people left and right without a second thought.

[CCBrink]

The Best Batmobiles


3. Vintage Batmobile (1966)


2. The Tumbler (The Dark Knight Trilogy)


1. Batman, 1989

Please follow this up by ranking the Batsuits and themes

[Tailback U]

I loved Batman Returns. I was around 7 when it came out and I probably didn't really start to enjoy it until I was around 10 because I was a little more mature.

I enjoyed the darkness of it and how scary it was. I watched Batman a bunch of times, so I felt like it was a nice sequel because it made me feel some emotion and gave me a better idea of how evil gotham city is and how important Batman is.

[Blade]

Batman Returns was just too damn supernatural for me. Selina Kyle eats it and then turns into have 9 lives because the kitties in the alley are licking her face?!?! WTF? The Penguin wasn't supposed to be disgusting blob of filth, next to Riddler he's supposed to be the smartest criminal in the world. I actually woulda ranked this move in the bottom 5, I was absolutely dissapointed with this movie. Also the way Keaton acted in this movie, made me think he wanted to get it over with.

The analysis on Batman Forever is spot on, in fact I think I would rank Val Kilmer's Batman Third behind Bale and Keaton (Batman (1989)) The rest of the movie......uGH.

I disagree with how low you ranked Batman Beyond: Return of Joker, maybe it's because I have seen the original cut. Not sure if you saw that or a cut version.

[seaplus]

love the list so far. 1989 while always be my favorite movie

[Senser81]

Also the way Keaton acted in this movie, made me think he wanted to get it over with.

LOL...isn't that the way Keaton acts in every movie?

[Blade]

LOL...isn't that the way Keaton acts in every movie?

Touche