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Re: The BATMAN Thread
My guess is the director's cut deal is probably just a gimmick to try to sell more Bluray/DVD sets.
I remember in 2006, Universal basically forced Michael Mann to do a "Director's Cut" with additional footage for the Miami Vice film, and so everyone turned around and thought it was gonna be "Miami Heat" with a shitton of added footage and more padding... and Mann basically had to come out and say Universal cut the whole thing, he didn't know what the fuck they were talking about, and that the version that was on theater screen WAS the Director's Cut.
George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead was another one, that had a 138-minute extended version that was sold as a "Director's Cut" for years. Finally Romero cleared it up and said that it was a 'workprint' with library music that got thrown together to be rushed into some film festival in France I think.
So for an artist like Christopher Nolan... it might just be a studio gimmick -- "Director's Cut".
- tejastech08
- Rep: 194
Re: The BATMAN Thread
BD rips have been floating around the net for a few days. I caved in and downloaded one of them. Video quality is going to be fucking awesome if the rip I downloaded is any indication. I downloaded a heavily compressed 1 gig, 720p file and it looks pretty damn good on my 46 inch HDTV, especially the IMAX scenes. Can't wait to see the Blu-ray with a 40 gig, 1080p file.
Meanwhile, the movie gets better and better for me with repeat viewings. Watched it twice this weekend and love it more and more now. There is a lot of really great shit in this film. Is it perfect? No, but neither were BB/TDK. Meanwhile, Avengers did not hold very well for me on Blu-ray compared to the theater. With that film, the audience reaction played a big part in making it a great experience. At home, you don't have a huge crowd of people laughing their asses off at the Hulk smashing Loki or punching Thor.
With TDKR, I can sink my teeth into the characters more with repeat viewings at home. I just love the acting from everyone involved. I love the conflict between Bruce/Alfred and Gordon/Blake. I love the Bane character so much. He is an incredible villain and Tom Hardy gave an amazing performance. Ann Hathaway's Catwoman is awesome too. I love her chemistry with Christian Bale. Speaking of Bale, there is a passion in his eyes that was SEVERELY lacking in TDK (except for the final scene with Two-Face). Bale really gave it his all this time around and I am very grateful to him for it. This was a return to Batman Begins form by him. And what can you say about Michael Caine? Dammit, that graveyard scene gets me emotional every time even knowing the final outcome is different. It is haunting imagery for a Batman fan like me and Caine's performance is heartbreaking to watch.
Re: The BATMAN Thread
Been waiting for the torrent too. Going to the movies is not a big thing here in the summer so I actually haven't watched any of them in a theater.
Despite some good stuff I'm pretty disappointed. BB was a small film, but it felt fresh and it had that old Nolan look. TDK wasn't as well directed, but had tons of great characters. This one appears to have lost both.
Bane is very good and the best part about the film, right up until the point we find out he's doing it all for some broad. Gordon Levitt was alright too. Apart from that it doesn't got a whole lot going for it.
I don't feel I'm in Gotham City, I feel like I'm in New York. And the daylight overkill doesn't help it either. Batman is a nighttime character. Most of the focal scenes in this movie take place in daylight, which is ironic, considering it apparently only takes 15 minutes to get dark in NY here. I gotta say I'm starting to appreciate Burton's Gotham a lot more.
Don't buy that Wayne would be that devastated over a girl. Bale has always played him passionate but strong, this just doesn't fit.
I don't buy Kyle either. Who is this woman? Apparently a world class burglar and martial arts fighter. She likes to wear a ridiculous costume on the job though, so of course everybody knows who she is and is out to get her. Her motivation is to find a fantastic deus ex device that will just delete your name from every record on the planet. I guess all those detectives who are on her case right now will just go home when her name mysteriously disappears from their computers. How about just using a fake name? Like normal known criminals do when they apply for a job at a billionaires house. Pfeiffer can continue to sleep easy. Now that's a great performance.
Overall the silliness in this movie was just too much. Police will not care about the money when the stock exchange gets taken over by terrorists. Stock brokers are the real evil. When billionaires go broke they get to keep their house but not enough money to pay the electricity bill. It's seemingly not a huge task for a terrorist to kidnap New York and its 12 million inhabitants for 5 months just because he says he's got a bomb. Batman does have autopilot, but he's going to let the people he care about think he's dead first. Yeah, yeah, we know you did it just to jolt the audience. It's called lazy writing.
That being said it's not terrible. I certainly wasn't bored sitting through it and it's probably the only other blockbuster besides Skyfall that I've enjoyed this year. But compared to BB and TDK it was a huge letdown. And I think it's time to cut the crap about this series being so dark and gritty. Burton's films are far more heavy than this.
- tejastech08
- Rep: 194
Re: The BATMAN Thread
And I think it's time to cut the crap about this series being so dark and gritty. Burton's films are far more heavy than this.
Not really. They're both dark and silly in different ways. I do prefer the look of Burton's Gotham, but I think he dropped the ball on the Bruce Wayne and Jim Gordon characters. Nolan improved the franchise in those areas immensely. The Bruce/Alfred dynamic was improved a lot as well.
I don't buy Kyle either. Who is this woman? Apparently a world class burglar and martial arts fighter. She likes to wear a ridiculous costume on the job though, so of course everybody knows who she is and is out to get her. Her motivation is to find a fantastic deus ex device that will just delete your name from every record on the planet. I guess all those detectives who are on her case right now will just go home when her name mysteriously disappears from their computers. How about just using a fake name? Like normal known criminals do when they apply for a job at a billionaires house. Pfeiffer can continue to sleep easy. Now that's a great performance.
None of your criticism in this paragraph has anything to do with her performance. You're criticizing the writing in the script, so I'm surprised that you then compare TDKR's script with the actual performance in Batman Returns. How about an apples to apples comparison? Besides, if you want to go down silly plots involving Catwoman, it doesn't get any sillier than dropping her off a 50 story building and having her come back to life from cat bites. I personally thought Hathaway did a great job filling some very big shoes. Pfeiffer's performance was the best of the Burton films, so it is a tall order to try to match it or top it.
Re: The BATMAN Thread
He did a great job on Gordon who's nothing more than a throw in for Burton. Bale is a good Wayne but Keaton is also good Batman. I prefer Bale as an actor, but not sure if I think one or the other plays bw/bm better.
And sure, Burton's also had a bunch of silliness, but they didn't pretend anything else either. Pfeiffer turning into Catwoman by a bunch of licking cats kinda just made sense in that atmosphere. Caine's Alfred and Freeman's fox are great additions, but underused/misused in this movie. Same goes for Gordon. Kinda feels like Nolan phoned it in a little here.
Think I'd rank the 2 franchises something like this:
Returns
TDK
BB
Batman
TDKR
None of your criticism in this paragraph has anything to do with her performance. You're criticizing the writing in the script. I personally thought Hathaway did a great job filling some very big shoes. Pfeiffer's performance was the best of the Burton films, so it is a tall order to try to match it or top it.
No, she's not bad from a technical standpoint. I just didn't think it was great. Maybe she could have a done better with a jucier script, but as it stands it is what it is, a bland character. If that's her fault or the writers is irrelevant, I'm there to enjoy a movie.
- tejastech08
- Rep: 194
Re: The BATMAN Thread
My ratings...
BB - 8.5
B89 - 8
TDKR - 8
TDK - 8
BR - 8
And if you throw in Mask of the Phantasm, it comes in just slightly behind BB with the same 8.5 rating. Those two films are at the top of my superhero film list.
1. Batman Begins - 8.5
2. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm - 8.5
3. Batman (1989) - 8
4. Superman: The Movie - 8
5. X2: X-Men United - 8
6. Iron Man - 8
7. The Dark Knight Rises - 8
8. The Dark Knight - 8
9. Batman Returns - 8
10. X-Men: First Class - 8
6 Batman movies in the top 10. I'm a biased motherfucker. 
- A Private Eye
- Rep: 77
Re: The BATMAN Thread
I'm always puzzled why people rank BB over TDK, for me BB and TDK are on a par with the exception that TDK contains one of the all time great villain performances, which elevates it as the superior film.
- tejastech08
- Rep: 194
Re: The BATMAN Thread
I'm always puzzled why people rank BB over TDK, for me BB and TDK are on a par with the exception that TDK contains one of the all time great villain performances, which elevates it as the superior film.
For me it comes down to caring more about Batman as a character. BB did a far better job of this. The character felt overshadowed by Joker/Dent in TDK. There are a lot more iconic Batman moments in BB than there are in TDK.
Re: The BATMAN Thread
Might be because BB is a smaller, more focused film. I also think Nolan had more freedom, or less pressure to try some new things. It feels more personal. For me it's clearly a superior film, but Ledger's Joker is so great that I'd rank them equally.
