Favorite Batman theatrical film?

[Coin Biter]

For me, Batman Begins: probably the only Batman non-animated film I've seen in which I find Batman himself to be a compelling character.

In some ways, I think Batman '89 and The Dark Knight share the same problem: the villain overpowers the movie, and is more compelling, interesting, and charismatic than the main protagonist. They're good Joker films - whether you prefer Joker as a psychotic gangster or as an agent of chaos, respectively - but not great Batman films. (The Dark Knight, in addition, is hampered by the preposterous Bat Voice.) That's true of some of the other Bat films IMO - Batman Returns and Batman Forever, both entertaining films with good villains (Jones' misfiring Two Face aside) - although oddly enough not true of Batman and Robin, although that's purely because Ivy, Bane and Freeze are so catastrophically bad

Part of the reason, I tend to think, is that visually Batman as a character works wonderfully in the comic and in animation, but nowhere near as well in the non-animated movies.

Batman '66 I find didn't capture the magic of the series, and I haven't seen The Dark Knight Rises.

[dancj]

I think for the most part this is a generational thing on which movies you like best. Depending on which movie you saw as a kid will determine which one you like best (for the most part).

Not in my case. I was 17 when Batman 89 came out, and I really tried to like it. In the end it was merely okay. Batman Returns was better (mainly due to Danny DeVito), but it wasn't until Batman Begins that we got a Batman film I really liked.

[dancj]

Really on these threads what I see is people claiming "Nicholson's Joker was just Jack being Jack." I think that is insulting to his work. It's like they need a gimmick voice for it to be acting. Was Brokeback just Heath being Heath? It's like they are saying Chinatown, The Shining, The Departed, As Good As It Gets, Mars Attacks, Anger Management, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Prizzi's Honor, or Terms of Endearment is just Jack being Jack.

It's insulting maybe, but not inaccurate.

I haven't seen Brokeback, but Heath Ledger was completely different in the three films I've seen him in - because he was an actor with a good range.

Jack Nicholson was basically the same in Chinatown, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and The Shining - and his Joker was basically the same with a bit of Ceasar Romero thrown in.

For what it's worth, Nicholson was completely different in A Few Good Men so he can have more range when he tries.

[dupersuper]

Was the 60s Batman movie not theatrically released?

[Hilden B. Lade]

Was the 60s Batman movie not theatrically released?

It was, I think its omission was just oversight on the OP's part.

[Vidocq]

It's insulting maybe, but not inaccurate.

It's very innacurate. The fact that it was perfect casting does not diminsh one bit how great his transformation was.

[SpideyZERO]

The Dark Knight Rises for me. Awesome and very emotional

[t hedge coke]

It's very innacurate. The fact that it was perfect casting does not diminsh one bit how great his transformation was.

Or that, clearly, even if his Joker is close to - or reminds us of - how the actor comes off in normal life, he's still very deliberately choosing which gesture, which inflection, his pacing and posing and articulation, for each and every moments. It's not like they just followed him with a camera and he happened to do and say these things.

I don't think his Joker behaves or comes off very much like his role in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest or many of his signature roles. No more so than most Johnny Depp roles are attractive men with odd voices and a schtick, or Dustin Hoffman tends to play short men who are a little ambivalent to start but really have something eating at them.

Not all acting is affecting an accent, or putting wig and makeup. An awareness of pacing, a sense of how to react in scene, and comfort with material are all just as important, as tools, as facepaint or a face nose. Burying themselves in a role, is nowhere near as important, to me, as selling the scenes, selling the person. I believe in Jack Nicholson's Joker. There are movies where, even being outlandish, Jack Nicholson (or Cary Grant, for another example) are the realest thing on screen, despite not layering themselves under a collection of affected tics.

[Lorendiac]

Was the 60s Batman movie not theatrically released?

It was, I think its omission was just oversight on the OP's part.

For that matter, there were two "Saturday serials" in the 1940s which each featured Batman and Robin. But I don't think the OP ever said, "I'm trying to list every theatrically-released Batman movie that ever existed, no matter how old-fashioned and corny it might seem to fans living in the 21st Century." I simply took it for granted that he knew about the two from the 1940s and the one from the 1960s, but chose to disregard them as not belonging on his Poll the way he conceived it. If I'm right about his reasoning, then it wasn't an "oversight" -- just a "judgment call."

[Speed Force League Unlimited]

Why did no one vote for Batman & Robin?
If anyone really considers it the favorite, don't shy away, it's not wrong to say it
I seriously love that movie

But my favorite movie of all time -still- is the 1989 Batman. And the Elfman theme? Perfect sweetness

[lancerman]

I think The Dark Knight is far and away the most enjoyable one to watch. It's paced really well so it doesn't drag much if at all. The acting all around is top notch. No offense but Nicholson's Joker wouldn't even come close to being one of his best acted roles, while Ledger's Joker was arguably the best acted character of that year, and the most memorable. Add in Bale, Freeman, Oldman, Eckhart, Caine, and even some of the lesser characters like Eric Roberts version of Sal Maroni. The stunts are incredible, that truck flip was awe inspiring, and the whole Batpod chase was probably the best vehicle sequence in any Batman movie. The plot was far and away the most inspired of any of the films, most were just generic Batman vs random plot. The stakes felt higher than in any film. The cinematography was far and away leagues ahead of any Batman film that preceded it. That's in a league of it's own for a film.

Going down the list, my biggest issue with Begins is that it gets to cheesy at the end. It sets up this great premise with the building up to Batman, then we get kind of a less inspired terrorist wants to destroy Gotham for generic psychopath reasons. It was still really well done, but the latter half of the plot was a decline from the start of the film.

Rises was well very by the numbers and it hits a huge snag in the middle after Bane puts Batman in the prison. It's like another whole hour of set up again. The set pieces were fantastic but it was a film that desperately needed editing to be better, and some things happened a little to conveniently to be satisfying.

Batman 89' even as a kid I thought it dragged like crazy in the middle. It was still my favorite of the Burton/Schumacher series, but that was mainly because the early stuff and the end stuff were great. Also unfortunately like the rest of the series it makes too many of it's characters caricatures for my liking. Which is a shame because they made the two leads very complex, so I don't know why they needed the supporting cast to be cardboard cut outs. Also too many questionable creative decisions for me to put it up there at the top, Joker killing Batman's parents was purely an unnecessary plot point to tie the discovery of Batman's origins to the Joker and justify Batman having a giant vendetta against him (which they didn't need). Aside from that the film did some pretty great things.

Batman Returns had too cheesy a plot. Suffered from some of the same issues of Batman 89' creatively. Atleast it didn't drag in the middle. But they amplified the problems with creating a world with a wonky supporting cast and this time the villains were also caricatures so it didn't help much. It kept a really good atmosphere for most of the film, and the action was pretty great though. Some of the hero villain interactions were great as well. Still there was too much jumbled up pointless weird questionable developments in the film.

Batman Forever was good at the beginning. Then got really cheesy, then dragged forever, got cheesier, added Riddler and a horrible main plot. Fell apart right after Dick Grayson started living with Bruce. And it was all downhill after.

Batman and Robin so bad it's good. The less dissection of it the better.

[The Kid]

It was, I think its omission was just oversight on the OP's part.

Yep, sorry but forgot about it

[Goldarmy]

Batman (1989)
The Dark Knight Rises
The Dark Knight
Batman Begins
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
Batman Returns
Batman Forever
Batman (1966)
Batman & Robin

1989 Batman, because damn you nostalgia
It is really a shame for George Clooney. He would have been a great batman in a better movie. Though I imagine him for a live action Dark Knight Returns.

[Phalanx33]

9) Batman and Robin: Dear god...I can't even imagine a redeeming aspect of this movie...the awful portrayal of Bane....ivy...freeze...batgirl....none of them done well. Clooney was an uninteresting Batman. Bad storyline. Corny lines throughout....even as a child I didn't enjoy this one.

8) Batman 66: Never really got into this movie either. It isn't awful but I don't really enjoy this era of Batman which makes it tough for me to judge the movie impartially.

7) Batman Forever: I actually thought Val Kilmer made a good Batman/Bruce Wayne. Nicole Kidman was great. Chris O'Donell was meh neither impressive nor awful. The villians though were the worst part of this movie for me. *Did love Robin's "Holy rusted metal Batman!" comment though*

6) The Dark Knight Rises: Some parts of this movie where killer, some not. I found it it be very predictable and less fun than the previous Nolan movies. I did relaly enjoy the performances of Hathaway and Hardy however. I know Tom was working with limited material but what he did with what he had was awesome IMO.

5) Mask of the Phantasm: This animated film had it all...no complaints here. Truthfully, had this been in live action it may be the best but I prefer some of the live action films more.

4) Batman 1989: The Batman I grew up on. Awesome performances by Nicholson and Keaton here. Great suit, theme music, and story. Going back after seeing the Nolan films I even find myself enjoying some of the campier scenes as this movie does well incorporating them while still portraying a dark Batman.

3) The Dark Knight: Obviously Ledger was the man here. The reason I rank this here and not #1 is I felt like this wasn't really a Batman story. No wayne manor, I don't remember a single Bat-arang being thrown, and a suit that looked perfectly functionable but less like Batman than I enjoy. I also despised Rachel in this movie. Obviously these are little criticisms make no mistake I love this movie....just isn't my personal #1

2) Batman Begins: What I loved about Begins more so than the Dark Knight is I get those Batman vibes, those early scenes where Bruce is in the suit for the first time with Falcone's thugs ARE Batman to me. The twist with Ra's, the awesome breakdown of the suit, the suit itself looked incredible, awesome portrayal of scarecrow. The bit of detectiveness we see where batman is figuring out the plot (elements which lacked in the following two Nolan movies) all combine to make this movie my favorite of the Nolan films.

1) Batman Returns: I knoww it's campy at points. I also know Batman probably murdered at least 1 thug with dynamite. However, Catwoman and Penguin were amazing. This movie combines the campyness with dark elements that I love for the perfect cocktail. I thought Keaton was amazing and really developed Batman. I was 5 when this movie came out so I am sure theres nostalgia there but I truly love this movie and for me personally cant ask for more in a batman movie.

[Baggie_Saiyan]

The Dark Knight Rises
The Dark Knight
Batman Begins
Batman Forever
Mask of Phantasm
Batman '89
Batman & Robin
Batman Returns.