Happy Birthday Batman!

[Ack]

To add to what Gameforlife was saying, I think every Batman film is an accurate portrayal of that generation's rendition of the character. Batman was goofy and campy in the 1960s, as were the comics, mainly because certain individuals in the 1950s had gone on a tirade about comics and had claimed Batman was a homosexual pedophile for Robin. So DC did the smart thing and made it as ridiculously over the top as they could.

By the 1980s, Batman had become a darker character again, though one that was still reasonably close to his campy '60s days. I thought Burton hit the mix of campy action and more adult attitudes well.

But by the time we get to the 2000s, the days of campy Batman is gone, and the character has become considerably darker. He's had to deal with far more adult issues which appeared in the late 1980s or early 1990s, and the character has developed accordingly. Yes, if you look hard enough, the campy nature still comes through from time to time; it is a comic book with a long history that's seen many changes.

The Joel Schumacher years don't match though, as they shoot to be too campy at a time where that was no longer the character (yet keep some bizarre choices for sexuality, like the nipples thing). If anything, the character was completely misunderstood, by both the director and the actors. Clooney has said that he thought Batman was a homosexual and played him accordingly, while Schumacher has admitted that he was planning on rebuilding a character for the fans if he'd been allowed to make his third proposed Batman film. We'll never know if he would have been successful.

Oh, as for the Joker, I consider all three of the live action Jokers to have been quite good for their times.

[Jrecee]

My favorites

1 Batman Begins
2 The Dark Knight
3 Batman 89
4 Batman Returns

And here's what Tom Hardy might look like as bane. Not bad but I hope they give him some lifts or something.

[BurningDoom]

My ranking:

1. The Dark Knight
2. Burton's original Batman
3. Batman Begins
4. Batman Returns

Keaton was the best Batman. Nicholson and Ledger were equally good as Joker. Ledger just gets more props because he had more material to work with and the fact that he died

Burton really captured Batman's Iconic nature as well as the lunacy of Batman, Gotham and all of it's villains(and maybe comic books in general). I find the romances more enjoyable in Burton's Batman movies as well. I'll take Catwoman and Vicki Vale over Rachel Dawes any day.

Nolan gave us deeper, more memorable storytelling and a grittier, dirtier and more realistic Gotham....along with the stupidest Batman voice I've heard, poor casting choices for Rachel Dawes in both films and a rather pathetic version of R'as Alghul

EDIT: And Adam West Batman was awesome. You all know it's true

I completely agree with everything you said. Nice explanation. And while Batman Begins is often a very tedious film...we can all agree that these four are leaps and bounds better than Batman Forever or Batman and Robin (shudders at the thought of Clooney's bat-nipples). Those films wish they could strike that perfect camp/action balance of the 60's TV series.

Totally agree. Batman Forever and Batman and Robin didn't work for me at all. The 60s show was fun though. I think people often forget that even in the comic book world Batman wasn't always such a dark character so the 60s tv series doesn't bother me. I think if you look at a lot of older comic book shows or fantasy/sci fi shows you will see that campiness was sort of a normal thing. I will always love those silly Batman fight scenes. Classic stuff

And it was a problem that Batman wasn't always a Dark character. He was supposed to be a dark character. Bob Kane created him as a dark character. He was a dark character in the Golden Age. It wasn't until that damn show that he got campy. Yes, he did get some out there stories in the 50s, like fighting aliens from flying saucers. But he still wasn't outright campy until that show. And after the influence from that era wore off, he went back to being dark again. (Which this happened in the 70s, thanks to Neal Adams, not the 80s like someone else said. The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller was a very gritty take on Batman which may be what that poster was referring to. However that particular tale is not part of Batman canon, it's a what if story.)

That show set comics back for decades because the average person who didn't read comics thought that comics were like that show. I hate it for what it did to comics' reputation as a whole.

[brunoafh]

That show set comics back for decades because the average person who didn't read comics thought that comics were like that show. I hate it for what it did to comics' reputation as a whole.

I agree with this very much.

[Gamerforlife]

It's all in how you look at it. That 60s show was extremely popular and featured many celebs, some of whom got more exposure because of it

The way I see it the 60s show just made Batman popular, probably made more people aware of comic books and paved the way for the Batman animated series, which made many references to the 60s show, and also paved the way for Tim Burton's movie. I am very grateful for what that 60s show did to keep Batman in the popular culture. It was a boon, not a setback

EDIT:Green Hornet was played straight and only lasted one season before it was cancelled. So maybe the Batman campy approach wasn't such a bad idea

EDIT 2: Oh yeah, it helped Bruce Lee too. The show led to the creation of Green Hornet, which didn't do well here, but made Lee a star in Hong Kong. So a lot of good came from that campy Batman show

[BoringSupreez]

It's all in how you look at it. That 60s show was extremely popular and featured many celebs, some of whom got more exposure because of it

The way I see it the 60s show just made Batman popular, probably made more people aware of comic books and paved the way for the Batman animated series, which made many references to the 60s show, and also paved the way for Tim Burton's movie. I am very grateful for what that 60s show did to keep Batman in the popular culture. It was a boon, not a setback.

Yes, even if you don't like the 60's show and movie, would Batman really be as popular today if it had never existed?