Batman
The Dynamic Duo faces four super-villains who plan to hold the world for ransom with the help of a secret invention that instantly dehydrates people.
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- Cast:
- Adam West , Burt Ward , Lee Meriwether , Cesar Romero , Burgess Meredith , Frank Gorshin , Alan Napier
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Reviews
If you don't like this, we can't be friends.
It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.
Blistering performances.
All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.
First I gave this an 8, but I was worn down in concession to give it a 10 realizing that I was being too in-the-box, and movies like this are so wildly ridiculous as to be genius. The Joker, Riddler and Penguin were superb, my personal favorite being Frank Gorshin as the Riddler. The shark scene in the beginning purposely sets the intended tone. There are some really subtle gags, if you pay attention, even a Pontius Pilate quotation... This film would absolutely have been a 0, except the weight of the cast, takes it over the fine line, as Napoleon said, "From the sublime to the ridiculous there is but one step."
For those of us who were there for the first Batman TV episode, this is the logical conclusion. For the disappointed fanboys, you eventually got your movies. This is silly fun with Adam West and Burt Ward just doing their thing. It's comedy. It's situational mayhem. It's funny lines and preachiness. There is not much plot, nor should there be. Batman was genuinely funny and full of sight gags. The villains were not the psychotic beings they are in the newer versions. Batman has a paunch and Robin is clueless. They manage to throw the whole works into the fray and the result is just what they wanted--a totally non-serious bunch of confrontations that ultimately save the world.
We've got so used to the idea of the character of Batman being portrayed as a troubled dark character, it can now be easily forgotten that it wasn't always so. The more serious interpretation of the character was first introduced in the 80's when Frank Miller's influential 'The Dark Knight Returns' was released and the rest, as the saying goes, was history. Well, if we go back to the 60's we can see a diametrically opposite version of the character who appeared on our screens, which reflected the more simplistic and child- friendly comics of the time. This movie was an off-shoot of a popular TV series and seems to have been made in the same vein. And that approach is to tackle the material in an unashamed comic manner. The film is full to the brim with funny dialogue, campy humour and hilarious performances. It is, in my humble opinion, one of the funniest films ever made.It is typified by a superb cast who all perfectly understand how to approach the material. Batman and Robin are portrayed by Adam West and Burt Ward, respectively. Both actors put in hilariously straight-faced performances, where they deliver ridiculous lines in a totally deadpan manner. Their adversaries are four super-criminals - the Joker (Cesar Romero), the Catwoman (Lee Meriwether), the Riddler (Frank Gorshin) and the Penguin (Burgess Meredith). All of them chew up the scenery at every given opportunity and are highly amusing in these absurd over-the-top roles, with the added additional advantage of Meriwether being very sexy as the feline villainess.There's really no point whatsoever detailing the plot here but suffice to say that the ultra-camp baddies implement various elaborate schemes along with their half-witted underlings and the Dynamic Duo thwart them at every turn. In amongst all this there are numerous entertaining moments, most famously the truly hilarious shark attack and disposing-of-a-bomb scene; while the big finale has the characters fighting on top of a submarine replete with big on screen sound effects like 'Pow!'. But really, there are dozens of laugh-out-loud moments in this one. It's really a kid's movie that remains immensely entertaining for adults, on account of the intentionally funny dialogue and performances, knowingly absurd sequences and its colourful 60's look and feel. On top of all that it even has a great iconic theme tune. From start to finish this is unadulterated entertainment pure and simple. Where the later films tended to be either dark or oh-so-serious, this one categorically is not. Instead it is a comedy classic and for me, quite easily the most entertaining Batman movie ever made.
Batman (1966) The Movie is based upon the popular TV show that came around the 60's and it was a huge success. Listen i don't have any problem with people who actually loved this but my god was this movie unfunny, stupid and bad? Batman The Movie is a disappointing first try in order to make a Batman film i see now why Joel Schumacher's Batman Films were mediocre. Riddler was actually Joker in this movie, Joker had a mustache, The Penguin trained Rocky Balboa and Catwoman was annoying. But the worst thing about it is the Dynamic Duo i mean Clooney and O'Donnell did a much better job than this guys. Adam West's portrayal of Bruce Wayne A.k.a Batman was way wrong this is a guy who saw his parents get murdered in front of him and he gets dressed like a bat in order to scare his enemies and not saving cats or running with a bomb in his hands. The acting was bad, the villains were bad and the movie is pretty mediocre you know that your film is meh when you make Batman & Robin look like a masterpiece. Also the dumbest scene in the movie is when The Penguin tried to force Batman and Robin to take him in their cave so they could test him i mean why would they even need to test him that's clearly Penguin the Umbrella, the walk, his voice everything gave him a way but i guess the director tried to put some more humor. Also another annoying thing with this film was every time when they said something with the name 'Bat' in it like Bat-Ladder, Bat-Phone, Bat Gadget, Bat this, Bat that seriously? And Batman also says in his enemies what he is going to do with them that's new. Anyways if the Critics really want to see Ben Affleck's Batman doing crappy things like that then sure they could always watch this movie but for the rest of us the Dark Knight is not a joke and if he has to kill people in order to prove that then do it already. Thank God that Adam West didn't reprise his role in Batman 1989.