For those of you that know me well, you know that I am a HUGE Batman fan. I'm obsessed with pretty much everything Batman (except the lame 1950s TV show). So it was basically only a matter of time before I bought the anthology, and I'm a little surprised I held out as long as I did.
As I'm sure many of you are, I'm weary of buying Special Edition DVDs (especially when I already own the basic version) but the Batman Anthology just seemed too good to miss.
Well, it was.
It is probably one of the top 10 things I've ever bought in my life.
There are so many features in this anthology, that there is no way I can list them all, but here are some of the greatest features:
The Box: The box looks awesome, pure and simple. Weird to say, but it really c
aptures the mood of the Batman saga.The Movies: Sure, I've seen them all before, and I only really like two of the four (Batman & Batman Returns) but it's a collection, and there are things I like about all of them, and I wanted to own the update, restored, digitally rendered versions of all of them. Not to mention Batman was ten times better with the improved picture and sound.
The Menus: Seeing as though the original Batman was one of the first movies to come out on DVD, the quality was questionable, and the menus were nearly unusable, it was a chore just to get the movie started. The new menus are terrificly simple.
Director's Commentaries: Each movie has a complete director's commentary. It's terrific. Tim Burton really gives some great insights into the first two films, and it's interesting to hear what the hell Joel Schumacher was thinking when he made Batman Forever and Batman & Robin.
Other awesome features include 9 music videos, 18+ hours of special features, 50+ documentaries and featurettes, and more.
Ok, so like I said, there is entirely too much for me to describe to you, so you're just going to have to go out and buy the anthology for yourself, or at least go out and get the special editions of Batman and Batman Returns.
If you're a Batman fan, you're guaranteed to enjoy this collection.
- The Desert Rat.
2 comments:
So does Joel Schumaker appologize on either of the commentaries for Batman And Robin or does he just think his crappy movie was misunderstood?
Actually, a little bit of both.
He defends a lot of his decisions, but he explains that Warner Bros. had gotten a lot of letters from parents angry about how dark and violent Batman and Batman Returns were, so basically WB forced him to make a more kid-friendly Batman. They said if he didn't, they would hire someone who would.
Also, he said he was against the product placement, but it was the studio's decision, and he couldn't stop it. He also said that things such as the toy-like qualities of things like Mr. Freeze's car, the Batmobile, and Robin's motorcyle were the result of toy companies putting pressure on WB, and WB therefore pressuring him to make the movie more "toyetic" as he said, meaning that the movie had to be made in a way that a lot of toys could come out of it.
Schumacher has said that he actually wanted to do a movie based on Frank Miller's Batman: Year One (which is the where Batman Begins actually came from) and he wanted to make it in the same style of Burton's Batman, but WB controlled the projects, and he was forced to make a lighter, more comical set of movies.
Personally, I gained a lot of respect for him because of this, and he pointed out that his films tend to be darker; such as A Time To Kill and 8mm.
So in some ways he defends himself, but he also admits the movies were less than what he desired. Basically he said that he made the best movies he could with the script and the restrictions WB gave him.
He also wanted Val Kilmer to reprise his role as Batman, but Kilmer wanted to do The Saint, so he had to settle on Clooney.
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