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| BATMAN |
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Batman:
The Movie |
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1966
Director: Leslie H. Martinson |
DVD, Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen
Not Rated
Twentieth Century Fox
ASIN: B00005LOUK |
$19.98
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Cast List
Adam West ... Batman/Bruce Wayne
Burt Ward ... Robin/Dick Grayson
Lee Meriwether ... Catwoman/Kitanya Irenya Tatanya Karenska Alisoff:
'Kitka'
Cesar Romero ... Joker
Burgess Meredith ... Penguin
Frank Gorshin ... Riddler
Alan Napier ... Alfred Pennyworth
Neil Hamilton ... Comissioner Gordon
Stafford Repp ... Chief O'Hara
Madge Blake ... Aunt Harriet Cooper
Reginald Denny ... Commodore Schmidlapp |
DVD Features:
Commentary by Adam West and Burt Ward
Tour of the Batmobile
All-new Batman featurette
Behind the scenes still gallery
Full-screen format
Other Formats:
VHS, VHS subtitled in Spanish |
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Holy camp site, Batman! After
a fabulously successful season on TV, the campy comic book adventure hit
the big screen, complete with painful puns, outrageous supervillains, and
fights punctuated with word balloons sporting such onomatopoeic syllables
as "Pow!," "Thud!," and "Blammo!" Adam West's wooden Batman is the cowled
vigilante alter ego of straight-arrow millionaire Bruce Wayne and Bruce
Ward's Robin (a.k.a. Dick Grayson, Bruce's young collegiate protégé)
his overeager sidekick in hot pants. Together they battle an unholy alliance
of Gotham City's greatest criminals: the Joker (Cesar Romero, whooping
up a storm), the Riddler (giggling Frank Gorshin), the Penguin (cackling
Burgess Meredith), and the purr-fectly sexy Catwoman (Lee Meriwether slinking
in a skin-tight black bodysuit). The criminals are, naturally, out to conquer
the world, but with a little help from their unending supply of utility
belt devices (bat shark repellent, anyone?), our dynamic duo thwarts their
nefarious plans at every turn. Since the TV show ran under 30 minutes an
episode (with commercials), the 105-minute film runs a little thin--a little
camp goes a long way--but fans of the small-screen show will enjoy the
spoofing tone throughout. Leslie H. Martinson directs Lorenzo Semple's
screenplay like a big-budget TV episode minus the cliffhanger endings.
--Sean Axmaker
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| BATMAN |
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Batman |
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1989
Director: Tim Burton |
DVD, Color, Widescreen, Dolby
Rated: PG-13
Warner Studios
ASIN: 0790729652 |
$19.98
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| Thanks to the
ambitious vision of director Tim Burton, the blockbuster hit of 1989 delivers
the goods despite an occasionally spotty script, giving the caped crusader
a thorough overhaul in keeping with the crime fighter's evolution in DC
Comics. |
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| Michael Keaton
strikes just the right mood as the brooding "Dark Knight" of Gotham City;
Kim Basinger plays Gotham's intrepid reporter Vicki Vale; and Jack Nicholson
goes wild as the maniacal and scene-stealing Joker, who plots a takeover
of the city with his lethal Smilex gas. Triumphant Oscar-winning production
design by the late Anton Furst turns Batman into a visual feast, and Burton
brilliantly establishes a darkly mythic approach to Batman's legacy. Danny
Elfman's now-classic score propels the action with bold, muscular verve.
--Jeff Shannon
Cast List
Michael Keaton ... Bruce Wayne/Batman
Jack Nicholson ... The Joker/Jack Napier
Kim Basinger ... Vicki Vale
Robert Wuhl ... Alexander Knox
Pat Hingle ... Commisioner James W. Gordon
Billy Dee Williams ... Harvey Dent
Michael Gough ... Alfred Pennyworth |
DVD Features:
Production notes
Soundtrack remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1
Full-screen and widescreen anamorphic formats
Other Formats:
VHS |
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| SUPERMAN |
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The
Movie
Special Edition |
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1978
Director: Richard Donner |
DVD, Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby
Rated: PG
Warner Home Video
ASIN: B000059Z8J |
$19.98
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| Richard Donner's
1978 epic about the Man of Steel showed how a film about a superhero could
be a moving and romantic experience even for people who long ago gave up
comic books. |
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Beginning on
the icy planet Krypton, the story follows the baby Kal-El, whose rocket
ship lands in Smallville, Kansas. He is found there by a childless couple
and raised as the shy Clark Kent (the young Kent is played by Jeff East).
The film is perhaps most touching in these sequences, with expanses of
wheat fields blowing in the wind and with a young man who can't figure
out what part in destiny his great powers are meant to play. The second
half, with Reeve taking over as Clark/Superman, is bustling, enchanting
(the scene in which Superman flies girlfriend Lois Lane--played by Margot
Kidder--through the night sky is great date material), and funny, thanks
largely to Gene Hackman's sardonic portrayal of nemesis Lex Luthor.
--Tom Keogh
Cast List
Marlon Brando ... Jor-El
Gene Hackman ... Lex Luthor
Christopher Reeve ... Superman/Clark Kent
Ned Beatty ... Otis
Jackie Cooper ... Perry White
Glenn Ford ... Pa Kent
Trevor Howard ... First Elder
Margot Kidder ... Lois Lane
Jack O'Halloran ... Non
Valerie Perrine ... Eve Teschmacher
Maria Schell ... Vond-Ah
Terence Stamp ... General Zod
Phyllis Thaxter ... Ma Kent
Susannah York ... Lara
Jeff East ... Young Clark Kent
Marc McClure ... Jimmy Olsen
Sarah Douglas ... Ursa |
DVD Features:
Production notes
Theatrical trailer(s)
Incorporates Added Scenes
3 Behind-the-Scenes Documentaries:
The Magic Behind the Cape (Special Effects)
Making Superman: Filming the Legend (Production and Release)
Taking Flight: The Development of Superman (Preproduction)
Feature-Length Audio Commentary by Director Richard Donner and Creative
Consultant Tom Mankiewicz
Superman, Lois Lane, & Ursa Screen Tests
Audio Outtakes: Alternate Scoring for 8 Sequences
2 Deleted Scenes
TV Spots |
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Other Formats:
VHS |
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Additional features
Filled out with about eight
minutes of additional footage, this deluxe Superman almost doubles Marlon
Brando's screen time with added scenes on Krypton and in the Fortress of
Solitude and fills out the early life of Clark Kent, contributing to a
more mythic portrait of America's greatest hero. There is also more disaster
footage during the earthquake climax, and Lex Luthor's "Gauntlet of Death"
sequence (seen on network TV broadcasts) is reinstated.
The commentary by director
Richard Donner and "creative consultant" Tom Mankeiwicz lacks the focus
and detail of a filmmaker really grappling with his work (it has been almost
25 years, after all), but it's full of interesting asides, casting trivia
(Goldie Hawn as Miss Teschmacher?), and the good-humored byplay of two
old friends.
The three documentary featurettes
hosted by Marc McClure (Jimmy Olsen) are essentially chapters of a comprehensive
behind-the-scenes study, full of illuminating interviews (Donner and Mankeiwicz
are more revealing here), special-effects tests (including all the failed
attempts to make you believe a man can fly), and the bizarre true story
of the unceremonious firing of Richard Donner after he had turned Superman
into a worldwide smash and shot about 70 percent of the sequel.
A separate supplement features
screen tests for Christopher Reeve and five different Lois Lanes (including
a giggly Leslie Ann Warren and a snappy Stockard Channing), and two legendary,
delightfully demented scenes featuring Lex Luthor's snarling "babies" (also
seen on TV broadcasts) are featured in the gallery of Deleted Scenes.
--Sean Axmaker |
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| SUPERMAN |
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Superman
II |
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1981
Directors: Richard Donner, Richard Lester (credited) |
DVD, Color, Widescreen
Rated: PG
Warner Home Video
ASIN: B000059XUI |
$19.98
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| Director Richard
Lester (A Hard Day's Night) took over the franchise with this first sequel
in the series, though the film doesn't look much like his usual stylish
work (Superman III is far more Lesteresque). Still, there is a lot to like
about this movie, which finds Superman grappling with the conflict between
his responsibilities as Earth's savior and his own needs of the heart.
Choosing the latter, he gives up his powers to be with Lois Lane (Margot
Kidder), but the timing is awful: three renegades from his home planet,
Krypton, are smashing up the White House, aided by the mocking Lex Luthor
(Gene Hackman). The film isn't nearly as ambitious as its predecessor,
but the accent on relationships over special effects (not that there aren't
plenty of them) is very satisfying.
--Tom Keogh
Cast List
Gene Hackman ... Lex Luthor
Christopher Reeve ... Superman/Clark Kent
Ned Beatty ... Otis
Jackie Cooper ... Perry White/Dino
Sarah Douglas ... Ursa
Margot Kidder ... Lois Lane
Jack O'Halloran ... Non
Valerie Perrine ... Eve Teschmacher
Susannah York ... Lara
E.G. Marshall ... The President
Marc McClure ... Jimmy Olsen
Terence Stamp ... General Zod |
DVD Features:
Theatrical trailer(s)
Widescreen anamorphic format
Other Formats:
VHS |
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