...campy and cheesy...and highly recommended for fans.
Video:
Sometimes the world of high definition can be cruel to a catalog title. There were a few instances where the Blu-ray release of "Batman: The Movie" was just that. From very early on when the clothes line used to animate the shark was clearly visible, the relatively low technology used to film the picture was betrayed by the AVC/MPEG-4 Codec (mastered at 27 MBPS). The film is presented in the original 1.85:1 widescreen aspect ratio and detail is good, but the colors of the film are where this transfer really excels. "Batman" was all about colorful costumes and brightly colored sets and the film perfectly captures the vivid palette with perfect saturation and contrasting. Detail is good, but only marginally better than DVD. There are minor amounts of film grain, but the source materials hold up nicely. The stock footage used for the Polaris missiles is another betrayed element. Black levels are good, but the lower resolution and thin sheen of grain does hinder the shadow detailing some. This is still a more than passable transfer for the film, but is hardly a stellar example of what Blu-ray can do.
Audio:
The film is presented with a DTS HD 5.1 Master Lossless Audio mix that is mostly contained within the front channels, but does allow for some bleed into the rear surrounds. This forty year old film sounds in line with what is expected for many old mixes that have been bumped up to six channels and while the sound is limited, it is in line with expectations. Bass response is not very deep with "Batman" and the high notes hit sound tinny and harsh. The well-known and loved score by Nelson Riddle sounds quite good, although it is treble heavy. Rear surrounds contain a few sounds here and there, as does the .1 LFE channel, but the front three speakers do the vast majority of the work. Dialogue is good and you will never miss a cheesy joke because of the digital mix. The original English Mono mix is also provided for campy pleasure and a French 1.0 mono mix is also included. Subtitles are provided in English, Spanish, Cantonese and Mandarin.
Extras:
The features begin with three additional audio tracks. The Commentary by Actors Adam West & Burt Ward is very good as Ward and West sit together and watch the film together. One could complain that the two spent a little too much time watching the film and reminiscing about the movie instead of commenting about it, but I found it quite fun to watch the movie with these two gentlemen. They still sound just like their characters. The second Commentary by Screenwriter Lorenzo Semple, Jr. is far more technical and far drier. It is still a decent commentary track, but I certainly had more fun just sitting back and enjoying the film with Batman and Robin. The third track is an Isolated Score Track. This provides only the Nelson Riddle score and no sound effects or dialogue.
The documentary Batman: A Dynamic Legacy (28:29) looks at the impact of the campy classic "Batman" television show and film on culture and finds many various personalities talking about how the fun show changed their lives and affected their own artistic futures. This was interesting and showed how the short-lived television show was a tremendous fad at one point in the annals of television history. This documentary also touches heavily on the film and decisions made in making the big screen adaptation of the television show. Caped Crusaders: A Heroes Tribute (12:29) looks at the colorful costumes featured in the show that heavily borrowed from the comic book page and ushered "Batman" into the age of color television and at the two actors that donned the capes and tights; Adam West and Burt Ward. Gotham City´s Most Wanted (15:51) crosses to the other side of the law and looks at the villains of the movie.
A couple other supplements move away from the cast and focuses on other aspects of the production. The 2001 Featurette (16:47) was a twenty-fifth anniversary production that brought back Burt Ward and Adam West. Oddly, the featurette inhabited only about a sixth of the screen and was located in only the upper left hand corner of the screen. The feature was quite nice, but the presentation on Blu-ray was horrible. The Batmobile Revealed with George Barris (5:47) looks at the Lincoln Futura concept car through the eyes of its creator and offers up many juicy nuggets about the car.
The features become a little more interactive. The Batmobile Interactive Tour continues looking at the iconic car and allows the remote control to do the navigation around some of the notable features of the Caped Crusader´s Lincoln. This did not function particularly well on my Samsung player, but performed at a higher level on the Playstation 3. They were interesting to play with and gives an example of what Blu-ray can offer. Batman on Location: Mapping the Movie shows a graphical map with factoids, photos and directions that can be selected while viewing the film. You could only select a menu option when something was available, but I felt this was pretty spiffy. The Holy Trivia Track, Batman! provides popup windows while watching the film. Finally, the Original Trailers and some Galleries are also included.
Closing:
I grew up watching syndicated re-runs of the old "Batman" television series when the show had already been fifteen years old. However, I had never had the opportunity to watch the film until years later when I worked at the location Giant grocery store. I laughed at how campy and cheesy the film was, but I enjoyed it because it was a perfect example of what made the old television show so much fun. This isn´t exactly the most captivating and adventurous film, but it is so much fun that it is hard not to enjoy. The new Blu-ray release features good video that shows the great colors of the production and sometimes exhibits very good detail. The sound is limited, but no worse than expected. Supplements are numerous and quite good. This is a very good package for this forty-plus year old film and highly recommended for fans.
Sometimes the world of high definition can be cruel to a catalog title. There were a few instances where the Blu-ray release of "Batman: The Movie" was just that. From very early on when the clothes line used to animate the shark was clearly visible, the relatively low technology used to film the picture was betrayed by the AVC/MPEG-4 Codec (mastered at 27 MBPS). The film is presented in the original 1.85:1 widescreen aspect ratio and detail is good, but the colors of the film are where this transfer really excels. "Batman" was all about colorful costumes and brightly colored sets and the film perfectly captures the vivid palette with perfect saturation and contrasting. Detail is good, but only marginally better than DVD. There are minor amounts of film grain, but the source materials hold up nicely. The stock footage used for the Polaris missiles is another betrayed element. Black levels are good, but the lower resolution and thin sheen of grain does hinder the shadow detailing some. This is still a more than passable transfer for the film, but is hardly a stellar example of what Blu-ray can do.
Audio:
The film is presented with a DTS HD 5.1 Master Lossless Audio mix that is mostly contained within the front channels, but does allow for some bleed into the rear surrounds. This forty year old film sounds in line with what is expected for many old mixes that have been bumped up to six channels and while the sound is limited, it is in line with expectations. Bass response is not very deep with "Batman" and the high notes hit sound tinny and harsh. The well-known and loved score by Nelson Riddle sounds quite good, although it is treble heavy. Rear surrounds contain a few sounds here and there, as does the .1 LFE channel, but the front three speakers do the vast majority of the work. Dialogue is good and you will never miss a cheesy joke because of the digital mix. The original English Mono mix is also provided for campy pleasure and a French 1.0 mono mix is also included. Subtitles are provided in English, Spanish, Cantonese and Mandarin.
Extras:
The features begin with three additional audio tracks. The Commentary by Actors Adam West & Burt Ward is very good as Ward and West sit together and watch the film together. One could complain that the two spent a little too much time watching the film and reminiscing about the movie instead of commenting about it, but I found it quite fun to watch the movie with these two gentlemen. They still sound just like their characters. The second Commentary by Screenwriter Lorenzo Semple, Jr. is far more technical and far drier. It is still a decent commentary track, but I certainly had more fun just sitting back and enjoying the film with Batman and Robin. The third track is an Isolated Score Track. This provides only the Nelson Riddle score and no sound effects or dialogue.
The documentary Batman: A Dynamic Legacy (28:29) looks at the impact of the campy classic "Batman" television show and film on culture and finds many various personalities talking about how the fun show changed their lives and affected their own artistic futures. This was interesting and showed how the short-lived television show was a tremendous fad at one point in the annals of television history. This documentary also touches heavily on the film and decisions made in making the big screen adaptation of the television show. Caped Crusaders: A Heroes Tribute (12:29) looks at the colorful costumes featured in the show that heavily borrowed from the comic book page and ushered "Batman" into the age of color television and at the two actors that donned the capes and tights; Adam West and Burt Ward. Gotham City´s Most Wanted (15:51) crosses to the other side of the law and looks at the villains of the movie.
A couple other supplements move away from the cast and focuses on other aspects of the production. The 2001 Featurette (16:47) was a twenty-fifth anniversary production that brought back Burt Ward and Adam West. Oddly, the featurette inhabited only about a sixth of the screen and was located in only the upper left hand corner of the screen. The feature was quite nice, but the presentation on Blu-ray was horrible. The Batmobile Revealed with George Barris (5:47) looks at the Lincoln Futura concept car through the eyes of its creator and offers up many juicy nuggets about the car.
The features become a little more interactive. The Batmobile Interactive Tour continues looking at the iconic car and allows the remote control to do the navigation around some of the notable features of the Caped Crusader´s Lincoln. This did not function particularly well on my Samsung player, but performed at a higher level on the Playstation 3. They were interesting to play with and gives an example of what Blu-ray can offer. Batman on Location: Mapping the Movie shows a graphical map with factoids, photos and directions that can be selected while viewing the film. You could only select a menu option when something was available, but I felt this was pretty spiffy. The Holy Trivia Track, Batman! provides popup windows while watching the film. Finally, the Original Trailers and some Galleries are also included.
Closing:
I grew up watching syndicated re-runs of the old "Batman" television series when the show had already been fifteen years old. However, I had never had the opportunity to watch the film until years later when I worked at the location Giant grocery store. I laughed at how campy and cheesy the film was, but I enjoyed it because it was a perfect example of what made the old television show so much fun. This isn´t exactly the most captivating and adventurous film, but it is so much fun that it is hard not to enjoy. The new Blu-ray release features good video that shows the great colors of the production and sometimes exhibits very good detail. The sound is limited, but no worse than expected. Supplements are numerous and quite good. This is a very good package for this forty-plus year old film and highly recommended for fans.
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[release]23424[/release]