George commented that he was only used to seeing Batman serious and dark. When this came out, this WAS serious and dark. For 30 years prior to this, our only live action Batman was Adam West. This was a radical departure from what we knew. 35 years later, looking back, yes it's a little corny compared to the more modern iterations of the character. But in 1989, this was IT. EDIT: This came out before the creation of the Harley Quinn character. She came from Batman The Animated Series. This movie paved the way for that show.

Guys, you have to understand that when this movie came out for the vast majority of people, their only image of Batman was the comical campy tv show from the 60s. This version of Batman was completely new, and radically different.

I saw it in the theater opening weekend, and when he said "I'm Batman" the entire theater started clapping and cheering. It's hard to explain to someone younger who has been bombarded by superhero movies most of their lives, how big a deal this was. Kinda like being a kid and seeing Star Wars when it came out in 1977, and experiencing something new and incredible for the first time.

Vicki Vale is one of the older Batman characters she was from the late 1940s. She was pretty popular in the silver age not so much in the last 30 years or so and was many of Bruce Wayne’s love interest over the years.

Harley Quinn first appeared in the Batman cartoon in 1992, 3 years after this movie came out. Whether her civilian designed was based on this actress, I dunno

people forget that *THIS* was the original dark & gritty Batman.

Jack Nicholson is *very* much like how The Joker was in the comics around this time. Probably the best realisation of a comic book Joker in film.

Vicki Vale is a DC Comics character who is a journalist and reporter for the Gotham Gazette. She is often depicted as a love interest of Bruce Wayne, Batman's alter ego. Vale first appeared in August 1948 as Batman's equivalent to Lois Lane. She is often romantically attracted to Batman and Bruce Wayne, and she eventually proves that they are the same person in the story Bruce Wayne: Road Home.

Harley literally didn't exist at this point. She was created for Batman: The Animated Series which was created in the wake of the Tim Burton movies.

In 1989 - this WAS our "dark" on screen Batman. Hard to gather I'm sure, but this is where we were - and Tim Burton and the screenwriters nailed it. I was obsessed with this as an 11 year old. Which means a lot of us over the age of 40 will always love this movie. I can understand though that for younger generations used to the Nolan trilogy - it isn't really going to cut the mustard. Very much enjoyed the reaction though - :)

Visually Burton went for a more timeless aesthetic pulling heavily from the 1930s mixed with the 1980s from fashion, vehicles, weapons, and technology. Gangsters with Tommy guns, Death of the Waynes everyone is wearing 1920s to 1930s clothes. This is heard in the sound effects as well such as the bullets sounds, very 1930s noir film. Gotham itself was designed by Anton Furst who gave it a very timeless Art Deco meets Gothic Revival designs. In return giving Gotham a very Deco Punk look and feel. This style was also captured in the Batman: Animated Series (1992) but they dived deeper into the timeless aesthetic by having more 1930s to 1940s elements such as people driving around in retro 30/40s cars to blimps flying across the Gotham skyline. The Animated Series was also more Art Deco, dubbing it Dark Deco and using the Chicago World Fair as inspiration, A world where the fair never ended. Funny enough for the Superman: Animated Series also used Art Deco but they gave it a more 1950s retro-futurism look to showcase Metropolis being the city of tomorrow. The cars for example were very 1950s retro-futuristic like a mix of Fallout and even some 1980s sports cars. While people dressed like a mix of the 1950s to the 1990s. This was something the Nolan films lacked for me. Begins featured a cool art deco-like tram system and the narrows looked cool but Dark Knight (Love the film) just looked like Chicago while Dark Knight Rises was just New York City. The city lacked any personality for the sake of Nolan wanting to showcase that “Gotham could be any city” which just removes any uniqueness from this amazing city. Thankfully The Batman (2022) captured Gotham pretty well with heavy amounts of Gothic Revival being filmed in the UK within Liverpool and more importantly Edinburgh a VERY Gothic-looking city. Combined with Chicago as well but edited enough with unique Gothic and Art Deco skyscrapers so it doesn’t just look like Chicago.

I can't explain to you how excited we were when this was first announced, and how confused we were that Beetlejuice was playing Batman.

Vicki Vale was Bruce Wayne's love interest in the early 1940s. She was basically Lois Lane, constantly trying to prove Bruce was Batman.

With all respect to Heath Ledger and Joaquin Phoenix, Jack didnt have to immerse himself or study nonstop to become the Joker. He just had to show up.

It can't be overstated how huge this movie was when it came out - I'm not really talking about box office (though it was the highest grossing domestic film of that year) - I'm talking about culturally. As others have said, the superhero landscape was pretty barren after Superman. But like Supes, Batman was (and is) one of those iconic fictional characters that transcended every medium - everyone on Earth knew him. To have such an iconic character appear on screen for the first time was massive. You literally only needed the logo to advertise. It was a movie that was able to bridge the gap between the campy live action 60s Batman everyone knew and the grittier, gothic tone of then-contemporary batman comics. Having someone like Michael Keaton - a popular actor many thought was miscast - play the lead only added to the allure. Finishing it off by featuring a top-billed, Oscar caliber actor like Jack Nicholson was the cherry on top. All the stars aligned. Batman merchandise was literally everywhere - you couldn't take two steps without seeing that logo on hats, belt buckles, happy meals, toys etc. Prince's songs charted on Billboard. Posters, art, etc. were plastered on every surface that summer. When I was little, this was the first film in my area that theaters used to test raising ticket prices, and no one cared. The closest comparison in terms of hype/awareness at the time would probably be Jurassic Park. Obviously, when we look back, it doesn't compare with modern day blockbusters - but at a time with no social media and no internet, this was a real pop culture "moment."

Not only did Prince make songs for the movie, but he also made a song to promote the movie "Batdance". It went to number one on the charts for one week in 1989.

Back then, making a serious movie about a comic book was considered ludicrous.

Tim Burton's "Batman" films still has best atmosphere there is. Music, gothic-horror style, color palette added with Danny Elfman's intense theme. Never fails to give me goosebumps. Also, not just a Jack Nicholson dance routine, a Jack Nicholson dance routine set to a Prince song. This movie is gold.

"Vicky Vale" was created to be Batman's equivalent of Superman's "Lois Lane".

Nolan's Trilogy may be "realistic" (in tone, if not in concept or plot execution), but Burton's two films are unsurpassed when it comes to sheer gothic mood and personality. This film manages to be both a fun superhero film, and take itself seriously with some pretty subtle work and acting when it comes to Bruce's trauma. And Jack Nicholson's Joker is supremely quotable. Also, the acclaimed animated series was clearly founded on Burton's vision. So it deserves a lot of props.

“I am the terror that flaps in the night, I am the fingernail that scrapes the blackboard of your soul.” - DarkWing Duck

For many of we older fans the 60's TV Joker was Cesar Romero. He refused to shave of his trademarked pencil mustache and so they just powdered over an obvious mustache. That's how camp it was.

I love to see young people trying to wrap their brains around these classic movies. I was 26 when this movie came out and the whole world went Batmania. The younger generation not having lived it and experienced it at the time need to understand that they will never understand how monumental this movie became in 1989. Even though I do love the Nolan Batman trilogy, Batman and Batman Returns will always have a special place in my heart.

In one of his interviews, Jack Nicholson said that Batman is one of his favorite films because the studio and the director had no influence on him and he just had fun and got drunk until he lost consciousness. Nicholson was drunk in all scenes of the film.

Joe Chill is historically the murderer of the Waynes not the Joker. Nolan uses the character in his first movie and how he portrays him is typically how is portrayed, as a desperate street level crook. Burton was probably aware of the character but wanted to make the story in his film a little more self contained and also more dramatic.

When this film was first released, fans were supremely excited. Theaters were PACKED. Then, when the Batmobile was first shown, audiences all gave a loud "OOHHHH WOW!" It was magnificent!

Fun fact. The in lore reason for the bright yellow bat symbol is to draw gunfire to the most armored part of his suit.

I really cannot explain just how popular this was when it came out. I finished an exam, caught a bus, went downtown, and waited in line for my friends to see it. They even handed out free comic books at the theatre and I just remember our minds being blown away by this! Still one of the best cartoon-themed comic book movies ever!

I think the main reason for Batman not showing a lot of martial arts stuff was that Keaton literally couldn't do it in the suit. As a massive rubber monstrosity it looked great, but seriously limited mobility. (Nolan's Batman is the first live-action one to get full movement of his head, and even that took more than one movie to get right)

When it was announced that Michael Keaton was going to be Batman, fans were furious because he was just in Beetlejuice and they couldn't see him as Batman. But that's what makes it so genius, Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne, I would believe it if someone said he was Batman. Keaton's Bruce Wayne would be the last person I'd suspect of being Batman.

In the comics, Batman's parents were killed by an ordinary criminal called Joe Chill. The movie decided to switch it to Joker for the "I made you? You made me!" symmetry. Fyi, they were killed on the way home from the cinema, having just watched The Mask of Zorro. Clark Kent was also at the same cinema that night with his parents, but they watched To Kill A Mockingbird. Don't forget to also give a react to the 1966 Batman: The Movie. It's what these four movies are in opposition to, and the Clooney one purposely leans back towards it. For thirty plus years, to the general public, this was Batman.

On the original Nintendo Entertainment System(NES), there is a Batman game. Also Batman, Batman Returns, Batman Forever and Batman and Robin were originally one universe. There was supposed to be a Batman vs Superman movie and Nicholas Cage was Superman. He had long hair like in ConAir and wore both the blue suit and the black suit. Then there was supposed to be a Batman Arkham Asylum movie with Scarecrow and all the villains capture Batman and put him on a conman led court trial. And Batman even was supposed to see Joker via the Scarecrow toxin. The plans for the 2 movies were cancelled after Batman and Robin didn't make as much money as the studio expected.

It's important to remember for context that at the time this was the first onscreen depiction of Batman since the campy Adam West version. By contrast, this was dark and a novel approach. I saw this at the theaters when I was 7, so this is the definitive version of Batman for me.

You two should definitely watch Batman Mask of the Phantasm and Batman the Animated Series. Both feature Kevin Conroy as my favorite Batman and Mark Hamill as my favorite Joker.

14:22 For a long time I didn't think that Vicki Vale existed before this movie, but apparently she existed in the comics all the way back to 1948. I believe she's always been portrayed as a journalist in one way or another and usually centered around investigating Batman. This apparently isn't even the first time she appeared on screen. The character was in a Batman adventure serial back in 1949 called "Batman and Robin."

Canonically, Joker didn't kill Bruce's parents. A thug named Joe Chill did. The chemical company is named Ace Chemicals, no Ajax

This film plays so differently now compared to when it came out. In 1989, superhero TV and movies had mostly been pitched at kids. The Christopher Reeve Superman wasn't a kids film really, but it was definitely kid-friendly and wholesome. Then Burton came out with this film, which had a far darker edge to it, and more complicated themes. It wasn't "adult" in the sense of an R rating, but it was pitched for adults moreso than kids. So yeah, it's definitely got its campy side and its humor... but it was a new thing in its maturity, and it was both a huge hit and had a good bit of critical acclaim. The later films in this series (culminating with Batman and Robin) leaned more and more into the campy side, which turned them into jokes in the end (as George rightly calls out). I think after that bombed, the lesson was learned that people didn't need so much of the silliness to enjoy the films, and that they could lean into the more serious tone. So now that we've had Nolan and Bale and Ledger and Phoenix, the dark and gritty side is completely ingrained for us. But this was completely surprising and different at the time.

Simone's love of her own intros is always my favorite. She has pure joy over the chaos of it all.

This was the first great bat suit. Everything before this it was basically blue spandex. By far the best car as well. This pretty much set the stage for all the movies to come.

Keep in mind that in terms of lore, there's been like 30 years of Batman stories since this film came out. They went with more of the classic, very early Batman. Early on, there was not much said about Bruce's family or Gotham. That was not a prominent part of stories. In fact, Arkham Asylum didn't get invented till '74. As for Batman, my understanding is that he's supposed to be in his 20s when he dons the cape, but Michael Keaton - as is often the case with actors - is about 10-15 years older than he should be to be playing the role. They always want a leading man with gravitas, which virtually always results in hiring an older actor, like Maguire's Spider-Man, who once again was about 15 years older than the character he was portraying. Vicki Vale's first appearance was in 1948. The Jack Napier identity for Joker was invented for this movie, but the vat of chemicals origin is classic lore. Also, Batman's abilities and tech have been greatly leveled up in the last few decades. For the first few decades, he used to wear a cloth suit that was getting ripped all the time. Now he's like Iron Man, and he doesn't even bother to dodge bullets. Originally, he didn't really have the ability to glide, and mainly was just running around at street level in his cape and sometimes swinging from a batline that was thrown, not a powered grappling hook. He did have the full set of vehicles early on, and he did have the bat cave. His early martial arts training was along the lines of some boxing and judo. Early on, your average person could get the drop on him and knock him out.

Billy Dee "Lando Calrissian" Williams took the small roll of Harvey Dent because he understood what villain he'd become. Unfortunately Burton never did more than 2 Batman movies and Williams never got the chance. He did get some redemption by voicing Two-Face in the Lego Batman movie (which many unironically consider to be one of the best adaptions of Batman to the big screen).

Anybody who says this is too cartoonish or campy, you GOTTA look at what Batman had been before this came out: the Adam West TV show, and Super-Friends. That was it! That was all the exposure the general non-comic reading public had to the character. Given what had come before, this was mind-blowing at the time.

I went on my first date to this movie when I was 14 We were both so nervous that shortly after finding our seats she spilled the popcorn, and I spilled our drinks. Fortunately the theater was nice enough to replace everything. I remember the theater was the old Richmond Square Famous Players cinema beside the mall in my home town of Richmond BC.

I watched this in the cinema and audiences were so freaked out! We’d never seen anything like it.

Supposedly, Jack Nicholson loved playing the Joker. He seemed to put a lot into the character, so the feeling that things seem forced is probably either a bit of 80s humor not quite landing for you or a purposeful character choice to complicate his personality. Joker is, after all, born out of a real person who probably didn't like losing himself to madness. It's an interesting idea, that Napier is still in there somewhere, fighting against losing himself.

Michael Keaton surprised me, I was so used to his comedic roles, I didn't think he would make a good batman. I saw this and he killed it. He is the best Batman to date.

6:26 Harley Quinn actually didn't exist yet at this point in time! She was not introduced until an episode the animated series a few years after this film

Harley Quinn didn't exist yet as a character at this point. She was created for the Batman animated series that started around the time of this movie's sequel. She was an original character for that series.

In this version Batman is more detective. I watch another video that points out that Jack becoming Joker didn't change him. It just made the outside match the inside and be himself. Also Bruce is more of a confident person as Batman implying Batman is the real him.

The Wayne family are one of the founding families of Gotham. The reason many people aren't aware of Bruce Wayne is because comic book-wise, the lore is that after his parents death, he travelled the world learning criminology, hunting/tracking, martial arts, etc., so people don't really know much about him or what he does because his family name was out of the public eye for many years. Also, in the comics, it was a common criminal known as Joe Chill (same as in the Nolan movies) that was responsible for the Wayne's murder.

The Waynes being a big famous family is new canon. In the original Batman origin, you never know who the killer of his parents was.

I think this movie was just the right balance between gritty realism and comic campiness. It came out about when the generation that watched the Adam West Batman had grown up and wanted something more serious and adult. But it still acknowledges that a guy dressing up as a bat and fighting crime at night is very unrealistic.

Jack Palance, who plays Joker's boss, was one of the great old-Hollywood villain actors. Iconic.

Vicky Vale debuted in Batman #49 in 1948. And Harvey Dent comes back in Batman Forever played by Tommy Lee Jones.

If you wanted a Disney reference, you could have gone with "I am the terror that flaps in the night. I am the bubble gum that sticks to your hair. I am... Darkwing Duck!"

Batman is a comic book hero. It is supossed to be unrealistic and with unexpected gadgits. What doesn't make sense is trying to make him into a "serious" character, like the later movies do. Enjoy it, it is a fun trip! You don't go to roller coaster ride and complain that it can't take you to your job.😊😊😊😊

Simone’s Batman Returns story was very innocent and wholesome. I’m sure I would have had the same experience in my youth if my Grandma didn’t own the first one on VHS and all I saw was the poster for Batman Returns when my family and I went to Red Robin every weekend.😂 Now I’m stoked for George to witness Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman. He will be appropriately SCROUSED when he sees her. Maybe Penguin too, who knows…

Nolan’s “Bat Man” was so grounded in reality and plausibility, to the point where it was more of a straight-up crime thriller than a superhero movie, and the idea of The Penguin was considered too silly to be considered as a future villain. This Batman universe had fantastical elements to make it more dynamic and comic bookish.

It's crazy how much Tim Burton was my childhood, with this and "Beetlejuice". Not only do I remember how phenomenal the trailer and ad campaign were but the moment my dad told me that we were going to see this. Batman was everywhere in 1989. You can imagine how much an 8-year-old little guy just loved every minute of this movie.

Fun fact: the surgical props used in joker's facial reconstruction are the same props from the dentist in little shop of horrors Bob kane who created batman personally viuched for castingnjack Nicholson as the joker Michael ketonn hated the batsuit because it set off his claustrophobia, but bith he and burton decided it would help his performance (which isnwhy he looks so uncomfortable) The last act in the cathedral was tacked kn last minuet by producer jon peters behind burtons back. The film was filmed in london with many ofbthe extras actually being british. Sean young (rachel from bladerunner) was originally cast as vickie vale but was injured in a horseriding accident just before filming so had to drop out The film was released on the 50th anniversary of the day that the first comic depliction of batman was released. The axis chemical plant was the same disused powerstation used to film aliens, and even still had then hive set inside During filming kim basinger split from her husband and hooked up with producer jon peters resulting in jack Nicholson calling her out for showing upmlate because she was "f#*king the producer" When vicki and knox are exploring the mannor and looking at the armour the jokes were all adlibed The famous "I'm batman" line was adlibbed by keton. In the script he says "I'm the knight" Keton being cast as batman was on purpose because he looked the least likely to be batman Originally batman's parents were killed by a random thug, when the creator saw the film he kicked himself for not thinking of it himself calling it genius. For a while it was batman lore among other people over the years, but officially it was joe chill

Mark Hamill has the best interpretation of Joker, but he probably benefits from getting so much material to work with in tv, animated movies, & video games as opposed to just a single movie for most others.

Kevin Conroy is my Batman... Mask of the Phantasm (1993), yo'.

When actual good comic book movies equaled SUPERMAN and SUPERMAN II from 1979, getting this ten years later was an absolute delight. The world went BAT-NUTS. I'm not exaggerating. Billboards, teeshirts, music....Batmania broke heavy into mainstream and has been since that moment.

The Juaquin Phoenix Joker is an alternate universe, not canon. A speculative "what would a realistic human Joker be like?" film.

“That’s why you don’t get your surgeons from Wish”. 😂 That was a good one George.

As a Batman fan, I knew Jack Nicholson could portray the Joker once I saw him in The Shining.

12:46 "Could you pass the salt?" "Sure. Go long."

This movie made Nicholson HUGE cash. He took a small fee for the roll in exchange for a percentage of the backend (all toys, collectables, t-shirts...everything).

Fun fact. Some of the surgery tools used by the guy who worked on Joker are the same props used by Steve Martin's dentist character in Little Shop of Horrors.

Jack Nicholson isn’t short (5’10), Jack Palance was decently tall (6’3)

while the toxic-waste-burned joker origin (1951) first appeared a full decade after his debut (1940), this movie was the first to put the joker behind the trigger that killed bruce wayne's parents. canonically, the waynes' killer was a nameless stick-up man, who was eventually given the name joe chill in 1948, as seen in the nolan version.

So, how much German Expressionism do you want in your sets and costumes? Tim Burton: Yes

Bruce Wayne and fame.... You need to remember that in the 80s there was no internet. There was no ability to google someone and find out their entire life history. Unless you read the newspaper at the time, you were unlikely to have known anything about Bruce Wayne's parents and nothing about him as a person at all if he didn't advertise himself or get himself in the papers alot. The whole "Bruce Wayne is a multi-billionaire and could buy half the city" is a reasonably new thing and the story works better if he is "just" a multi-millionaire. Once you start get billions then he could do far more to help the city through direct funding and support than running around beating up badguys where as a millionaire detective with gadgets it makes sense that he does what he does. Great reaction, can't wait to see Batman Returns here!

I graduated high school when this came out, and the movie was EVERYWHERE. The soundtrack from Prince was just icing on the cake.

this movie's Joker is probably the most accurate to comics (at least the ones I've read). He's psychotic and scary but still really funny, I love all of the joke-themed gadgets that he uses.

Even though the actor could not turn his neck, I think the Keaton cowls are a lot cooler-looking than what we'd get in later films.

the music from this movie has become THE batman theme, it was the theme of the animated series that came after this for years.

"Were those cabbages?" "Is this Avatar?" - two questions I did not expect in Batman. :D :D :D :D

I'm so happy you're watching the ORIGINAL version, because now they re-released the movie with a blue filter and added new sound effects, especially on the guns and the punches, removing all the noir aesthetics. It's a totally different movie now

I grew up with this Batmobile in my uncle's warehouse. It was won by someone from my hometown in an MTV contest and subsequently stored many years. Pretty cool when you are a teenager and anytime you go see your uncle at work you get to see the Batmobile again.

This WAS the most serious and grounded Batman we'd gotten at that time. :)

A thumbs up for Simone's "Pew. Pew. Pew." joke! 🤣

Great reaction, and really great comments. This Batman was much closer to the comics of the 50s and 60s where everything was over the top with giant props and big fights. And the first Batman was a 1930s movie serial (like Buck Rogers) which is fun. The Batmobile was a 1936 Buik lol.

Here is something funny, if you time from joker called the chooper til it finally arrives, it takes exactly 10 minutes just like joker asked

That small effect of Joker wiping his forehead to show the white underneath was an incredibly difficult effect to pull off. If you’re interested definitely check out some of the behind the scenes features.

Vicky Vale does appear in the comics as a side character and occasionally love interest for Bruce. However her most prominent appearances beyond this film were arguably in the classic Fox Batman the Animated Series from the 90’s. In that show she was actually a tv news reporter and basically appeared any time Bruce or other characters were watching the news on the show.

22:15 FUN FACT: When the designers showed Tim Burton the design for the Batmobile, Burton replied "Great! Where's the door?". The top opening up was a last-minute edition that proved to be affective.

When this movie came out my brother and I spent 5 hours in line to see it the day of its release. I can remember the lineup for it went around the block. It was insanity.

Mark Hamill is my Joker... Mask of the Phantasm (1993), yo'.

The Dark Knight trilogy is amazing, but Keaton will always be my Batman

Vicky Vale's first appearance was in 1948. Harley was a character created for the animated series that would debut a few years after this movie. Most continuities, the Waynes are killed by Joe Chill or someone nameless. Being killed by the Joker is a rarity.

lol. Nice bit for the ad. I appreciate that y’all had fun with it!

“I thought Jack Nicholson was a big guy” - it’s easy to look small next to Jack Palance. He was 6-4, and a Western movie legend, most famously as the villain in the movie “Shane.” (Well, his most famous role now is probably “City Slickers,” for which he won an Oscar, but in terms of classic Westerns.)

This was halfway between silly, campy 60's Batman and serious, gritty 21st century Batman in every sense.

Having young Jack kill the Waynes was something Burton did for the movie. As far as I can recall, this was the first live action superhero presentation where the character wore a molded muscle suit. All superhero characters had some variation on the concept afterwards. Even Henry Cavil's Superman suit had some padding. I think I recall hearing in the news that Prince was paid $2M to do the soundtrack. I loved Simone's "Pew pew pew" joke!

OMG, I was looking away when the commercial started and I totally thought that was an ad from KZfaq. It took a second for me to go "wait, that sorta sounds like...". 😂 Killer job. Now I'm already smiling before the movie starts

I remember getting the VHS for this for my birthday from my dad, I watched it soo much that it wore out the tape in the cassette. I would run around my living room with a batman mask and cape a act out the scenes with my dad. LOOOOVE THIS MOVIE and best Joker tied with Dark Knight.

When this film came out in 1989, the only other superhero films around were the Christopher Reeve Superman films, which were made in 1978, 1980, 1983, and 1987. Batman was much darker and felt very serious and gritty in comparison.

I was a senior in HS when this came out, and, for a comics geek, it was absolutely astounding! The thing about this film, as opposed to the Nolan movies, or the Snyder-verse, or that dreck starring the sparkly vampire boy, this movie was/is like a Batman comic come to life!

Jack Palance saying, "You're my number one guy" is iconic. You both need to check out the '60s Batman with Adam West! Yes, there was a movie made in 1966. Yes, it's called Batman. So complete the reverse chronological order, dang it!