Batman and Robin: the Twentieth Anniversary
The Blind Eternities forum
Posted on Jan. 19, 2017, 10:41 p.m. by DemonDragonJ
This year is the twentieth anniversary of Batman and Robin, the fourth film of the Tim Burton/Joel Schumacher Batman film franchise. Many people regard that film as not only the worst film of that series, but also one of the worst films ever made. However, being that this year is its twentieth anniversary, I still wish to make a thread to commemorate and discuss that milestone.
I was ten years old when this film was released, and, at the time, I enjoyed it, because I had had little experience with movies at that time. As time passed, I realized how corny and campy that movie was, and tried to forget about it. However, not long ago, I re-watched it, and found that I still enjoyed it, despite its ridiculousness, as the movie is simply so entertaining that I cannot dislike it, although nostalgia is certainly playing a role in that feeling, as well. Obviously, it is still the worst Batman film ever made, but it fits into the category of "so bad, it's good," a way to provide entertainment when one needs to relax from a stressful day. Also, as a side note, Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins was an example of "darker and edgier" executed well, while Batman versus Superman: Dawn of Justice simply goes too far in that direction, making it the polar opposite of B&R, which may seem to be a good thing, but is not. The fact that the film reduced Bane into a mindless minion was horrible, and Arnold Schwarzenegger was not an ideal choice to play Mr. Freeze, but at least Schwarzenegger was entertaining in his role, and his suit was certainly awesome. Also, Michael Gough, the only actor to appear in all four Burton/Schumacher films, was absolutely perfect as Alfred, and his performance one was of the factors that helped to save the movie from being completely horrible, in my mind.
There was supposed to be a fifth film following this one, entitled Batman Triumphant, which supposedly would have returned to the darker tone of the first two films, but the poor reception of B&R doomed any chances that the franchise had of continuing, and it would not be until nearly a decade later that the Batman film franchise was revived by Batman Begins.
What does everyone else say about this? What are your thoughts and opinions on the twentieth anniversary of this film?
So my dad actually has a story about this film. Batman and Robin came out when he was just starting film school, and he was actually able to watch it before it came out. Of course, this was film school, so they had to take notes and such, but they were able to learn some cool stuff about the making of it.
For example, there's a scene where Mr Freeze is walking down a flight of stairs, and as he walks, the camera zooms in on his face. However, during filming, they couldn't get the camera to zoom in far enough. So, they filmed the whole scene backwards. In other words, Schwarzenegger had to walk backwards up the staircase as they slowly zoomed out.
So yeah. That's my tidbit on this movie. Pretty cool that it's turning twenty this year. It's a great movie to watch and laugh about with a group of friends, as it crosses the threshold of "So Bad it's Good."
-Fulcrum says... #2
I honestly forgot this film existed. If you want to watch a campy Batman movie that's actually good, I recommend Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders. It's an animated film starring Adam West and Burt Ward and it's a return of sorts to the classic '66 series. Completely ridiculous and a lot of fun, worth the hour and a half investment.
Additionally, I recommend reading Tomasi's run on Batman and Robin in the New 52. I've read 3 volumes thus far and it's great.
January 20, 2017 6:40 a.m.