Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Batman: The Movie (1966)

 

Batman, the movie is essentially a longer (just over an hour and a half) version of one of the very campy 1960s TV series episodes. It was actually filmed between seasons one and two of the show. It is basically a team-up between the series' villains, Joker (Cesar Romero), Penguin (Burgess Meridith), Catwoman (Lee Merriweather, who took over for an unavailable Julie Newmar), and Riddler (Frank Gorshin). Of course, they try to lure Batman into a trap, part of which includes kidnapping Bruce Wayne. Like the TV show, the movie is very campy and tongue-in-cheek. The two most memorable scenes are probably Batman running around trying to dispose of a huge bomb without endangering anything from puppies to nuns (my Torts professor in law school could have easily made an exam question out of that), and the shark repellant scene. Of course, the 60s series is totally different from any recent versions of Batman which make the character very dark and violent. But, given the time in which the show aired, that is what they could get away with and they were not going to change the tone of the movie to be inconsistent with the show.

For those who get the special edition Blu-Ray, the extras include two commentary tracks on the movie. One by the screenwriter, and a great one with Adam West and Burt Ward, who are pretty hilarious. Then there are a series of featurettes, the main one titled Batman: A Dynamic Legacy, which is a 30-minute retrospective on the impact of the series. Then there are separate features on the heroes and the villains of the show, and a feature on the Batmobile. It also includes the featurette from the original 2001 DVD release that contained interviews with the surviving cast members. So, if you like watching the extras, there is a lot there for you.

Overall, you have to go into this knowing what it is and what it is not. If you are not a fan of the 60s TV show, then watching this is going to be a waste of time. It has the same cheesy, campy tone, and the plot makes as much sense (or does not) of any of the plots in the TV episodes. It is funny in parts, eye-roll inducing in other parts, and you have to know you are not getting anything close to "The Dark Knight" version of the character. While the movie does look and sound pretty good in HD, I would not say it got an over-the-top restoration like some older movies have, so really the main reason to get the Blu-Ray over streaming it is for the extras, because you have the tv series on disc, and/or just a preference for physical media. If you are in one of those categories, it is a good pickup.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Batman: The Complete Television Series (Limited Edition)

 

This review is for the limited edition Blu-Ray box set of the 1966 Batman TV Series starring Adam West as Bruce Wayne/Batman and Burt Ward as Dick Grayson/Robin. Chances are most people reading this have seen at least some of the series either because they are old enough to have watched its original run on TV, or, like me, watched it in re-runs back when it aired in syndication on a regular basis. If you do not fall into one of those categories, this is the classic show that is pretty much the antithesis of what Batman has become in the more recent animated series and movies. It is not remotely dark, either visually or in tone, and is at times very, very, silly. But, it was a product of its time and worked in the mid-1960s. The episodes were very repetitive. Pretty much every episode was a two-parter. At the end of the first part, Batman and Robin were usually in some life-threatening situation, and in the second part, they would catch the bad guy (only for said bad guy to be released (or escape) from prison a few episodes down the line and return to do the whole thing over again). And, of course, nobody figured out who Batman and Robin were despite the fact that they went out in broad daylight, and never did anything to disguise their voices. So, it is something that you just have to go with and accept that it is not going to make a ton of sense or be even remotely realistic. The series did have a ton of great guest stars including Cesar Romero (who hilariously refused to shave his mustache to play The Joker), Julie Newmar/Lee Merriweather/Ertha Kitt whom all played Catwoman, Burges Merideth as Penguin, Frank Gorshin as The Riddler, and even had Bruce Lee on the show when the stars of the show Green Hornet crossed over.

Where the set really shines is the bonus content. There are some physical collectibles like a hot-wheels version of the Batmobile, some replica trading cards, and a booklet that serves as an episode guide. As far as the Blu-Ray extras go, they are pretty much all included on the last disc and include about three-hours worth of featurettes that range from focusing on Adam West's life and career to featurette in which various celebrities discuss their love of the series. Unfortunately, there are no episode commentary tracks which would have been nice because I am sure Adam West and Burt Ward would have recorded them if they had been asked to.

Overall, this is a great set. The Blu-Ray remaster looks great. All of the colors (and there are a lot of them) really pop, and the audio track, while they are not in the category of Dolby Atmos, sounds fine. There is an issue with a couple of the discs missing content from episodes, but Warners did a disc replacement program to allow you to swap out those discs. The show was one of the more successful superhero shows, getting a decent series run on a major network (of course, the CW and the WB did not exist when the series aired). It is not as good as the Nolan movie trilogy, Tim Burton's movies, or even Snyder's movies (assuming you like the darker, brooding version of Batman). But, for what it is, it is a fun series and is definitely worth the pickup.