Thanks for the memories!

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Blistering performances.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

It's true:1. Batman should probably exercise some more. 2. The batsuit doesn't look very good. 3. Robin is too old. 4. The batmobile is a regular car. 5. Hey, that's a stuntman, right? 6. Wayne Manor looks horrible. 7. A lot of it doesn't make any sense.But it doesn't really matter. It's still a very good superhero serial. Morally good, that is. Batman, together with Robin, fights for truth and justice. The villains are clearly evil. There's no bad language, nudity or unnecessary violence in it. And in the end, good triumphs over evil. It's a harmless old movie the whole family can watch together (The Wizard could be a bit scary for the younger viewers, though). Instead of making those new, violent and depressing Batman movies, they should just clean up the sound and picture on this one and and re-release it in theaters!

When I was a kid, back in the dark ages, I used to go to the cinema every Saturday morning. There were sing-a-longs, cartoons, news stories, feature films and, best of all as far as I was concerned, serials. They ALWAYS ended with a cliff-hanger, which was slightly changed at the start of the next episode, but no-one cared about that. This one had some interesting bits. Not much was known about radioactivity back then, so when Batman had the ransom money sprayed, so that he can track it, it didn't seem wrong that it burst into flames when it fell on the floor. The crippled Wizard suddenly being able to walk was a bit of a puzzler, too. Now, I am over 70, and have a small collection of the old serials. This is one of the best of the genre.

Where to begin...? Lowery as Batman takes a solid shot to the jaw from a stuntman during one fight scene, yells, "That HURT!" and promptly returns the favor. (While this appears to be intentional- the blow doesn't seem to actually LAND-, it's more fun to imagine it was a gaff.)The middle-aged Duncan (who's 30 if he's a day) drops down out of a tree, clearly injures himself, and hops up to literally limp offscreen. Lowery tilting his head back so he can see through the eye holes cut in his mask, which clearly wasn't tailored to his needs. The costume, which clearly wasn't tailored to Lowery's contours, sagging in all the wrong places at all the wrong times. Lowery producing from under his cape a blowtorch complete with gas tank. Duncan as "The Boy Wonder" going prematurely bald as the serial rages... Ad infinitum. So Bad it's GOOD, BATMAN AND ROBIN rates a solid 7 for sheer Entertainment Value.

This set of serials was incredibly low budget as were all the serials. The dialogue was sort of stilted, but this film was truly Batman Begins. I mean think about it, its the first version with Vicky Vale of Picture Magazine, The first Bat signal, first commissioner Gordon. It wasn't the campy cheese product of the 1960s. It wasn't the far fetched plots of the 1990s movies. Lets face it this serial was incredibly low budget but somehow its still better than every movie 1990s batman live action movie except Batman (1989). The remote control machine is a bit dated, but I'm thinking that the idea has something to do with the fact that TV-the televiewer- and the remote control machine- your remote- were new items in the households of millions and so even the idea of radio waves stopping transportation and electricity isn't that far off. Its far more believable for instance then that horrible mind reader that was on Batman Forever. So if you want ****ty batman flicks watch the dreadful returns, forever, and robin flicks. If you want a good evening of entertainment and good fun watch the New Adventures of Batman and Robin.