Keaton will always be MY Batman. Tim Burton’s vision of Gotham is crazy

I'm an old fan (58) and I remember the reaction in fandom when Keaton was cast. Until that time, Keaton was known mostly as a brilliant comedic actor. Everyone liked him, but as Batman? As is usually the case, while I had reservations, I was content to wait and let the movie speak for itself. Within the first five minutes, all our fears were dispelled. We were hooked, and Keaton instantly became Gen-X's Batman.

"Where does he get those wonderful toys?" Fun Fact: This movie was released the year of the character's 50th anniversary. Casting Notes Fact: The Vicki Vale role bounced between Sean Young and Kim Basinger. The Joker role bounced between Robin Williams and Jack Nicholson. Jack Nicholson convinced the filmmakers to cast his close friend Tracey Walter as Bob the Goon. Automobile Enthusiast Fact: The Batmobile was built on the chassis of a Chevy Impala, and incorporated the engine of an Impala, the tail lights of a Ferrari, the fuel caps of a London bus, and jet engine parts from a Harrier Jump Jet. The sliding cockpit was also inspired by that of a Harrier, with the slim windows of a gun emplacement. Art director Terry Ackland-Snow added the headlights of a Honda Civic to the vehicle after noticing them on his wife's car. Lost In Adaptation Fact: The name of the Joker's alter ego, Jack Napier, was created by the filmmakers. In the comics, the Joker was never given a real name (his anonymous status is often crucial to the plot) and whatever real name he has is yet to be definitively revealed. The name Jack Napier is intended to be a play on the word "jackanapes" (a medieval English term for a foolish fellow who resembles an ape) as well as a reference to Alan Napier, who played Alfred in the television show Batman (1966). Practical Make-Up Effect Fact: In the film, the Joker has to mask his chalk-white face by painting himself flesh-colored. In the script, it was specified that the Joker would have to take the flesh-colored make-up off to reveal the white skin underneath, meaning that the make-up effects team had to find a way to take one layer of make-up off and leave another intact. Make-up designer Nick Dudman came up with the solution: they painted Jack Nicholson with the white PAX paint that they always used, and then put a thin layer of food-grade silicon oil, which nothing sticks to, on top of it. They then took flesh-colored greasepaint and painstakingly painted it to where it was literally sitting on top of the oils. They then airbrushed and faded it in to make it look natural. After soaking the Joker's handkerchief in isopropyl alcohol, Nicholson was able to wipe at his face and it would strip off the greasepaint, but leave the white PAX paint intact.

Nicholson was fantastic as the Joker. He played that perfect mix of unhinged humor and maniacal violence. He wasn't tragic, he wasn't overly aggressive. He was just criminally insane. The timing and delivery of the lines was perfect. Most of all, he was a believable comic book villain, not a 'real life' villain like in later films. Jack will always be my #1 Joker, followed in a very close second by the voice acting of Mark Hamill in the various animated series.

If you really think about it, Keaton’s version of “Batman” is probably the most hard-core of any film. He kills a guy by throwing him down a bell tower and also blows up a chemical plant with a bunch of henchmen still inside. Crazy.

I love how they used this movie theme for Batman the animated series. I feel like if we didn't get this movie, Batman TAS wouldn't have been the same

Batman '89 is so cool. The "Bat-mania" back then was hard to avoid; being 12 at the time, I got swept up in it, even though I didn't really read the comics. After this one, my favorite movie of them all is Batman: Mask Of The Phantasm.

'Batman Returns' should absolutely be next - the two are natural companions; you can see how much more leeway Burton was given as a director, and how much his style had subsequently evolved. Also, 'Batman: Mask of the Phantasm' is seriously great, especially if you like the animated series.

Everything about Batman 89 is awesome. I remember watching the trailers on TV and being so excited to watch it. Michael Keaton is my top Batman and I’ve also been collecting Batman figures and die cast models for years 😊

The actor, Garrick Hagon, who played the dad that gets mugged at the film's beginning was in the original Star Wars from 1977; he played Luke's friend, Biggs Darklighter. I was 18 when Batman came out and I absolutely loved it. I grew up watching the series with Adam West in re-runs and that series had its own charm as well. Michael Keaton and Christian Bale were both outstanding as Bruce Wayne/Batman, but, of the two, Bale is my favorite. And Danny Elfman's score for this movie is one of my all-time favorites. My favorite scene is Batman taking Vicki to the Batcave. The way it was shot and the music for that scene were just plain outstanding.

"It's so comic book-y!" EXACTLY!

Joker: "I've got to get you to the church on time." It's taken from My Fair Lady's "Get Me to the Church on Time."

Jack Palance was a famous film actor. He has a big history in movies.

One of the best movie experiences of my life was seeing this in theaters in 1989.

"When your evil boss asks for a gun, don't give him a gun." Man, I love both of you guys.

The KZfaq algorithm knows I’m obsessed with super-heroes and comic books, so naturally dropped this video in my feed. I’ve also been mildly obsessed of late with first-time-watching reaction videos and really enjoyed yours. So, subscribed. Yes, you should definitely move right to Batman Returns next. I also feel like it might help your channel blow up to do some reacts to the original 1966 Adam West Batman series, either the full-length movie or (perhaps better) any of the individual episodes. That’s the ultimate in “comic-booky.” Also, if you’re up for suggestions (and have not yet seen them), here are a few movies (and one series) that I personally am always up for watching reaction videos on: 1. FIREFLY (2002 space cowboy series, 14 episodes), 2. SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE (1978 reason super-hero movies even exist), 3. 12 ANGRY MEN (1957 legal drama), 4. SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (1998 World War II movie), 5. GLORY (1989 Civil War movie), 6. 1776 (1972 historical musical), 7. HIS GIRL FRIDAY (1940 screwball comedy), 8. THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION (1994 prison drama), 9. THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE (1962 western) 10. SIGNING IN THE RAIN (1952 musical)

I was 5 yrs old when this movie came out, definitely one of my favorite Batman movies, Michael Keaton did an amazing job! Also, I think Jack Nicholson was an awesome Joker! This movie was kind of ahead of its time. When I saw the new Flash movie, and saw that they used Michael Keaton’s version of Batman, I went nuts, especially when he jumped out of the Batwing and then heard the Batman theme song from 1989!

This is my mom’s all-time favorite Batman film! She watched it in theaters with her parents when she was eleven.

2:00 Fun Fact: Gotham City is often times referenced to be in, if not nearby to, New Jersey!

My favourite part of this film? (Aside from all of it) is how Vicki Vale randomly eats popcorn before the joker shoots Bruce. 😂💖

25:04 That actor with the joker smile was fantastic. :)

Before this film, kids my ~age only had reruns of the 1960s TV Batman. There were no live-action Batman productions from '68 to '89. That's 20 YEARS! I was 11 when this film came out, so I loved it; despite not being into the whole superhero/Marvel/DC thing.

Jack Nicholson enjoyed that role so much. And it was very lucrative. He did get i think it was two millions plus a small percentage of merch income. Around 2010 Nicholsons earnings from the first Batman Movies are around 60 millions or so. Even now when you buy a Blu-ray of the movie Jack gets a few cents from that money.

Definitely watch Batman Returns, but for animated i think Mask of the Phantasm is still one if the best Batman films of all time. Btw, parts of NYC are referred to as Gotham, and the original writer Bill Finger would make notes as he traveled around the city for inspiration.

Speaking of the animated batman series of the 90s, the movie Batman Mask of the Phantasm is a good watch if you haven't seen it before. It's in that animated series universe so the same actors reprise their voice roles in the movie. Fun fact, it was the only animated Batman movie released in theaters up until The Killing Joke in the late 2010s.

Batman Returns is a worthy follow-up

It's always fun to see new fans react to the first Batman movie I ever saw in a cinema, back when I was six years old. 😊 For further viewing 'Mask of the Phantasm' is one of the best Batman movies ever made, and it's part of the superb '90's Batman Animated series, so it looks amazing. Also, there are some really fun fan-made Batman shorts out there that are incredible. 'Batman - Dead End' features the most perfect-looking Batsuit ever put to film. I won't spoil anything else in the short film, but it's wild stuff! 'Batman - New Times' is a terrific project made by the graduating class of the DAVE School, an animation and video game development school. Long before Lego Batman, 'New Times' is a short film animated to look like it is made using Minimates figures and C3 Construction blocks. The voice cast is incredible, especially for what is basically a student film. Keep up the good work!

Jack Nicholson is the best joker I've ever seen... Actually scary and a true crazy lunatic

When I was 5 years old in 1966, I received a Batman t-shirt as a gift along with a plastic utility Bat belt. They could not make me take the shirt off. I wore it until it was only a rag.

I grew up in the 70's watching Adam West in the old 60's reruns. When I first heard that Michael Keaton, who I had just watched in "Beetlejuice" was going to be the new Batman, I thought, there was NO WAY that was gonna work...NOW??? Nobody has done it better since.

When I was a kid as these films came out, I got to see the screen used Batmobile's from the first two movies in person, and yes, it was about as awesome as you can imagine. I also got to see Penguin's ducky.

The car is still around, it was sold last year for $1.5 million. Fun fact: It actually has an electric motor, not gas.

Batman Returns is my favorite of the earlier films, so I look forward to seeing your reaction to that one.

Batman returns! Everyone was on point in that film

It was so cool to see this Batman back in a recent movie.

Watching people watch my favorite movie for the first time is awesome! I'm old!

The drawing given to Knox by the newspaper cartoonist is signed Bob Kane ( One of Batman's creators)

Great reactions guys to my favourite batman movie Hope you do batman returns

02:02: Metropolis is New York City by day, Gotham is New York City at night.

Before this film, Michael Keaton was known for comedic roles. There were plenty of people saying he was a bad choice for Batman, but he proved them wrong. 🤣 At that time, the world was more familiar with Jack Nickolson's performances in films such as One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) and The Shining (1980), so his creepiness in this outdid the campiness of the film. To modern audiences, I guess he seems more goofy than scary. Jack Palance, who played Grissom (the old crime boss) was a big star for decades prior to this. His voice & breathing were always like that. It wasn't a creative choice. Without going way back, the one film of his I'd recommend to you is City Slickers (1991). It's a comedy-drama-western I wouldn't mind seeing a reaction to. 😉

Hands down one of Danny Elfman's GREATEST film scores. My favorite by the composer, right up there with "Edward Scissorhands", "Beetlejuice" and "Nightbreed".

I was 5 when I saw this in the theater. I had never seen The Shining, but even then, I was aware of it. I remember when my family was getting ready to go to the movies to see this, my cousins kept reminding me that the Joker was the dad from The Shining. They were trying to scare me, and it worked. I remember walking into the theater, being very nervous. The only Batman anyone had known was the 60's TV show, so this felt very different. Dark, disturbing, but so cool and so fun. Still love it.

Michael Keaton was always one of my favorite old 90's days versions of Batman since my childhood. Just as Kevin Conroy Val Kilmer and George Clooney was too.

The sound effects with scenes is perfect

1:30 in and I’m dying to see Chandra react to Prince's “Bat-Dance” music video! 🤣🤣🤣 (I assume Jordan has already seen it)

Great reaction! This is my second favourite Batman movie, i'll shortly watch your reaction to my favourite, Batman Returns (my favourite largely thanks to Michelle Pfeiffer lol). As an 80s kid in England i loved watching the 60s Batman tv show before school, which was broadcast weekdays at about 8am.

Love Seeing Your Reactions To This Great Classic Movie, Guy's

Great watch. Grew up in the 90's myself, and this is my Batman movie. No one in live-action has matched Keaton's portrayal of Batman, the music is iconic, and Tim Burton even with limited creative control was able to flex hard. The marketing blitz for this film was crazy, and legit unescapable when it was coming out. Hope you guys get around to watching Batman Returns.

Grew up watching this on 📼 & up until this day Michael Keaton remains the Best Batman of All. I Loved the Reaction

Good reaction. Fun fact: This version you saw was the new remaster, in this remaster they altered the color palette and added a horrible blue tint. They also modified the sound of the gun shots. All of these changes were not approved by Tim Burton. If you ever want to see Tim Burton's original version, you need the first Blu Ray or DVD.

First "Batman movie I ever seen. I even eaten the cereal. I love this "Batman. Michael Keaton's the G.O.A.T

I distinctly remember being in the theater & when the Batwing crossed in front of the moon, the whole theater cheered & laughed in the best way. It’s still awesome

33:32 It was a product you used to be able to buy...possibly still can, it's called "A Bag o' Laughs"

Imagine a world without superhero movies. Then as a kid you get the Superman movies. You saw the Batman TV show. Everything else cartoon...until this came out. It was by far the best superhero movie up to that point by a long shot.

When this came out it took over the zeitgeist by storm. People went back to watch it over and over.

It was so impactful in 1989 movie theater coming from only watching reruns of the 1960s series

Tim Burton Gotham is how I always envisioned Gotham as a kid. I really like how watching this, I felt like I was watching the Animated Series with Kevin Conroy.

Nicholson was pissed that his face was obscured for Chinatown, and this didn't help. It made his part in Wolf kinda funny. He wanted this to be him.

36:40 It's only natural to jump straight into "Batman Returns" since it's in the same universe.

Batman returns was first movie i saw in theaters when i was 3. Loved batman ever since. I like it slightly more than 89

The part where he was shooting the guy multiple times in the chair was actually all Nicholson's idea. He just made all those poses for the heck of it because originally in the script he was supposed to only shoot him twice but he said that's just not what joker would do though so he went to town on him lol

I Have All The Batman Movie's & The Entire Complete Animated Series,But This Is My All Time Favorite Batman Movie, Classic

And the soundtrack is recorded by the greatest musician of all time 💜

When she said, “I love it when films look like comic books!” I became a fan.

It’s called a “bag of laughs”. You used to be able to buy them at novelty stores around that time.

michelle keaton talked about how back then in his suit he couldn't turn his head. that's why he looked weird. y'all also please react to batman returns 1992, and then The flash(2023) coz he returns in this film after 30 years! 🤩

My always keaton Batman 1989. Favorite movie always.

Great Performances By Everyone In This Movie 😊

I am shocked she hasn't seen this! Michael Keaton will always be my Batman. Admittedly, although this is considered by most to be the better of the Burton Batman films, Batman Returns is my favorite Batman movie. I hope y'all give it a watch. The zany performances in that film and all the heightened Burton touches are a blast.

I’m there with ya man this Batman is the ultimate Batman

After filming Batman and Batman Returns, Tim Burton stated in an interview that he wasn't interested in directing musicals, and to that I say "shut the f*ck up, Tim Burton". This movie wanted to be a musical so badly, he even snuck in music number's, except with Prince singing the songs. And that entire church segment at the end had "Phantom of the Opera" vibes all over it. Add in all the murder Batman committed, and this is the best Batman movie ever made, 10/10.

The scene from Nolan's the dark knight when Batman is speeding head on towards Joker with his motorcycle is a nod to the Joker vs Batwing scene from this movie.

I like how this brought Batman back to his dark roots, instead of the silliness from the prior show. But MAN I wish it held up better. The next one starts to get silly again, and then the Shumacher movies? Arrrgh... 🙄 But as for you two - Great job! See you on the next! 😉👍

This was my intro to batman 35 years ago im still a fan to this day. I read the comics frequently and to me the dark knight trilogy batman is how i picture him talking. The raspy voice which micheal doesn't really have. But he is a fantastic Batman. (also fun fact: according to DC, they revealed Burce Waynes age to be 28 in the current comic world). As for Joker, i feel Jack fit the 1940 Joker. In the 60s he become silly and comedic. Then in 1972 he become scary though still comedic. In 2011 he became horrifying. He lets a villian named doll maker cut his face off (which he said felt good) then later he steals his face back from the police station and wears his decaying face. No joke this all happened in the new 52 series

Batman 1989 was and still is my favorite Batman Movie my favorite Batman and Joker Batmobile Gotham and Music Score

The original Batmobile is in the Flash movie where Michael Keaton reprises his role

New video let's gooo 🎉🎉 & I remember watching this with my mom when I was little & Jack Nicholson such a good actor

This is still my favorite Batman movie. I’ve met Billy Dee Williams a couple times and he is a very quiet person to his fans and doesn’t talk much. He is kind. He plays Harvey Dent. Lando Calrissian in Star Wars. Did you know Mark Hamill does the voice of Joker in the 90s cartoon series and Batman Arkham games as well. He retired his voiceover for Joker a few years ago. Mark Hamill plays Luke Skywalker in Star Wars as well. Luke Skywalker original name was Luke Skykiller. George Lucas changed it to Skywalker instead. In Star Wars episode Vll the Dark Side the base is called Skykiller base. JJ Abrams is a huge Star Wars fan. That is why he called it Skykiller base. The Alfred actor who plays in this film is still my favorite Alfred. The Flash movie sucked but the best part was seeing Michael Keaton as Batman again. Jack Nicholson played Joker so well in this film too. My favorite role of Jack Nicholson is One Flew off The Coo Coo’s Nest, As Good as it Gets and The Departed. The Departed is an amazing film if you never seen it. That be a good reaction video for you guys. If you seen it nevermind lol also Michael Keaton real name is Michael Douglas. He couldn’t use that name because there was another Michael Douglas actor. He liked Diane Keaton acting so much he changed his last name to Keaton. Back in 2004 they were filming Batman Begins. Where they did the Batman chases scene with the cops was on a road in Waukegan Illinois and at the end of the road they built an imaginary Bat Cave and did the jump scene. The cave was built in a studio. That same road was also used in for the film Groundhog Day. I lived and grew up in Gurnee Illinois. Waukegan was 20 minutes away and Chicago was 45 to an hour away. In 2005-2006 I worked for a security company and got to work on the tv show Prison Break. I met all the actors on the show. All were amazing people. In Gurnee Illinois at Six Flags Great America they have Batman the Ride that was made in 1991. They have a replica Batmobile still there and the ride is still there. It is an amazing amusement park and such a huge park for rides.

Definitely check out Batman Returns next.

Tim Burton's Batman movies made Batman so badass. Michael Keaton is and always will be the absolute best Batman. He owns that character completely. You can tell Jack Nicholson had a blast playing The Joker. Besides Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger no one else has done that character justice.

The original Batmobile from the film can be seen on the Warner Bros. Studio tour. Takes you behind the scenes with all the secrets and ends with a cool museum of items from WB movies. Located in Burbank CA

Great movie, my fav BM 🦇, great reaction too 👏🏻👍🇬🇧

Not only does the Batmobile from this movie still exist but it was used in the Flash movie that came out. There’s a feature in the bonus features that shows them picking it up out of storage in England. It’s so cool.

25:36 Alfred took her to the Batcave because Vicki already figured it out and thought there's no reason denying it.

2:00 Gotham City is actually a New Jersey stand in because Metropolis which is just across the water is really New York.

BTW, the original Batmobile as of this posting is on display at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.

Ah yes, the late 80's/early 90's. Big shoulders! Bigger hair! Ninjas EVERYWHERE!! SO MUCH SCREAMING!! Jack Nicholson playing himself! (Seriously, he wasn't acting, I'm 99.9 percent sure that was just how he actually was/is and all Burton had to do was cut the leash and follow him around with a camera)

In the comic book adaption, he had his face on the money he threw in the crowd.

The tools the healing guy worked on the Joker was also used n the Little Shop of Horrors musical movie.

They should still have the 1989 Batmobile at the Orlando six flags. One of the six flags down here in the south has it displayed outside. I got to sit in it when I was a kid.

I remember seeing this in the theater when I was 10. It was alot of fun and the audience cheered and clapped through the whole movie. I this movie alot , however the greatest Batman movie ever made is Batman Mask of the phantasm from 1993. Rest is Peace Kevin Conroy.

Not sure if anyone else has said it, Jeff Dunham has the 89 batmobile and a copy of the 60's one as well.

The batmobile is at the Peterson automotive museum in California.

I’m 95 baby and I can still say this was my Batman. Behind Kevin Conroy( Rest Well). But that’s not live action so Keaton is my live action Bats. After him is Christian Bale. My 4-6 year old self would say I loved Kilmer and Clooney 😂. Kilmer was a good Batman/Bruce Wayne though. He almost reminded me of TAS Batman. His voice is close to Kevin’s. Not as deep but it’s close.

I kind of like the fact that he couldn't turn his head, it forced him to put all his attention into an attacking enemy 💪 not to mention he's batman so it really didn't matter lol he was going to win

BATMAN RETURNS. DEFINITELY.

A great comic book style movie is Dick Tracy. The 1990 movie has an awesome design and feel to it. Certainly, an underrated movie.

Definitely go to Returns and then just do the rest in order. And maybe throw the animated movies in between the live action ones. I also love this movie. In fact, I like it better than Batman Returns, but that's just a personal reason rather than the movie being bad in the technical sense. If that makes any sense. I saw both movies on VHS when I was a kid.

Batman returns by far is bestand Michelle Pfeiffer role wow Danny Devito amazing

As a kid I watched the old, campy Batman tv show with Adam West and Burt Ward in syndication, that did not give me a good impression. Then in 1986 I got Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns graphic novel as a Christmas present and it changed my world... I finished it within an hour. Later, Batman: Year One, also by Frank Miller, was released. If you read just those two graphic novels you'll see references from those books in every Batman movie from Michael Keaton all the way through Ben Affleck in Batman Vs. Superman 30* years later, that's how influential they were. This one is still my favorite though.