Big screen versions of the Waynes' murder

[Coal Tiger]

I'd like Nolan's version more if Thomas didn't linger around. I'd like Burton's more if it was Joe Chill that did it.

[ReverseReverseFlash]

I prefer the Burton version. It's more atmospheric, and I like how it treats the Waynes as equals. It always bothered me how they focused on Bruce's relationship with his father in Begins, but not his mother. Then again, I don't really need/want anything more from the Waynes in a story than to just die and get on with the rest of it anyway.

"Yes, father, I shall become a bat"

His mother never factored into it much. This is truer to the comics. The Burton version is okay, but it doesn't represent Batman properly.

[Mister BoMan]

The Burton version for me.

[Kensei]

Good responses, everyone. Personally I agree with those who like elements of both scenes and don't really have a favorite. I do like how in both versions Thomas is shot while trying to prevent Martha's pearls from being taken. Especially in "Batman Begins," where he is handing over his wallet no problem and saying "It's fine, it's fine." But then when Chill says "I said jewelry" and reaches for the pearls, Thomas is like- NO, not those. I just gave her those!

[Jim Kelly]

There's a fatherly theme that's built up in BEGINS. That's why Thomas is more important in the scene than Bruce's mom. We'll see other father figures throughout the movie and how Bruce interacts with them. The whole movie climaxes with Bruce having to destroy one of his "fathers."

That's why self-contained movies are different from open-ended comic books. In a movie, the writer and director want to work with elements that create a balanced whole--and exclude any elements that detract from that. Comic book fans want everything to be included, regardless of whether it fits the theme of the movie or not. BEGINS tells the origin that works for its story--and BATMAN ('89) does the same for its story.

[Bradley]

I generally think that the Burton films are better than the Nolan films, but the "Have you ever danced with the devil in the pail moonlight?" device bothers me, mostly because the Joker claims he always asks that of his victims, but we don't hear him ask that question for the first hour or so of the movie. It only comes up when the plot requires Batman to figure out that the Joker killed his parents. Of course, the Burton movies aren't going for realism, but it seems to me that that's a revelation that might be hinted at earlier in the movie.

[toddx77]

I liked the Nolan version better. I am looking forward to see how Gotham does theirs.

[lancerman]

I generally think that the Burton films are better than the Nolan films, but the "Have you ever danced with the devil in the pail moonlight?" device bothers me, mostly because the Joker claims he always asks that of his victims, but we don't hear him ask that question for the first hour or so of the movie. It only comes up when the plot requires Batman to figure out that the Joker killed his parents. Of course, the Burton movies aren't going for realism, but it seems to me that that's a revelation that might be hinted at earlier in the movie.

Things like that are precisely why I find significant flaws with that movie. It always feels like they added little arbitrary things because they felt the film needed it. Like I'm pretty much convinced at this point that the only reason they had Joker kill Bruce's parents was because they felt it was problem that Batman was going to kill the Joker after he was responsible for his creation. So they balanced it out with this whole "I made you and you made me" thing. Which was unnecessary because they also went out of their way to give Joker a criminal origin, because once again they felt they needed it for the character to make sense, which already took out any sympathy you needed with the character.