Batman DVD (Batman - Special Edition (DVD))

Member Name: adamdavid

Product:	Batman - Special Edition (DVD)
Date:	16/05/01 (47 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great film

Disadvantages: Special features of little real interest

The best Batman film (in my opinion) comes to DVD. Tim Burton's inspired direction provides a darker and more brooding vision of the caped crusader, laying to rest the cringe-inducing campness of the Adam West/Burt Ward TV series.
Sam Hamm and Warren Skaaren's screenplay give Tim Burton plenty to work with and he directs a strong cast in this wonderful film.

Michael Keaton is superb as Bruce Wayne (alias Batman) and he play the role with a wit and charm that really brings the character to life. Kim Basinger positively sizzles as Vicky Vale, a photographer assisting Robert Wuhl (Alexander Knox) in his search for the mysterious Batman.

Inspired casting sees Jack Nicholson steal the show as The Joker. If ever there was a role that was made for Jack Nicholson, then this is it.

For an older film, the transition to DVD is remarkably good. The picture is sharp and clear and the colours are bright and clean. The sound (in Dolby Digital 5.1) is clean and does what it's supposed to.

Extras on the disc include cast biographies, production notes and scene selection as well as subtitles in English and Arabic.

I doubt that there can be many people who haven't seen this film, but I'll just give a quick run down of the story. When he was a child, Bruce Wayne watched as his parents were killed during a mugging. He inherited his parents fortune and grew up to be a fine upstanding citizen of Gotham City. Years later, while fighting crime he drops Jack Napier (Nicholson) into a vat of acid. Napier survives and becomes The Joker, intent on wreaking havoc on the good people of Gotham. Caught between the hero and the villain is Vicky Vale. Suffice to say, good triumphs ultimately.

This film has just about everything you could want and since it is available for about twelve quid, it's definitely worth getting. Put simply, it's a great film with a great cast and there isn't really a reason
not to get it.

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