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Directed by |
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Starring |
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Specs |
- Widescreen 1.85:1
- 16:9 Enhanced
- Dual Layer (RSDL )
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Languages |
- English: Dolby Digital Stereo
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Subtitles |
Hebrew, Czech, Polish, Hungarian, Portuguese, English - Hearing Impaired, Turkish, Icelandic, Croatian, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish |
Extras |
- Teaser trailer
- Theatrical trailer
- Audio commentary - Actors Adam West and Burt Ward
- 2 Featurette - Batman Featurette, Batmobile Revealed
- 2 Photo gallery
- Animated menus
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Batman the Movie (1966) |
20th Century Fox/20th Century Fox .
R4 . COLOR . 101 mins .
PG . PAL |
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Contract |
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Holy caped crusader criminal conundrums! The Dynamic Duo hit the big screen in this movie which followed on from the first series of the television show. Originally planned to precede the TV series, it ended up being made after a wave of first season success, but served overseas audiences well as an introduction to the fabulously campy and absurd world of Gotham City, its super hero Batman (Adam West), his young offsider Robin (Burt Ward) and the fiendish phalanx of fanciful felons they’re faced with foiling on alarmingly regular occasions. And when you have the big screen, and a bigger budget, to play with, why not up the stakes a bit? Our masked heroes aren’t simply faced with one nefarious ne’er-do-well here, as four of Gotham’s most mischievious mayhem-makers team up as a united underworld. There’s the cigarette holder chomping Penguin (Burgess Meredith), the maniacally grinning Joker (Cesar Romero), the conundrum coining Riddler (Frank Gorshon) and she who seemed to be every little boy’s fantasy, the fabulously feminine feline-like Catwoman (played here by Lee Meriwether, as the first TV Catwoman, Julie Newmar, was busy making a film at the time). "Penguin, Joker, Riddler and Catwoman too? Some of the angles of that rectangle is (sic) too monstrous to contemplate..." |
After a (hilarious) run-in with a rather rubbery exploding shark, our courageous warriors against crime are faced with a missing yacht, its missing Commodore Schmidlapp and its missing cargo – a device which totally dehydrates whatever it happens to be pointed at. Aim it at a human and they turn to a pile of dust – just add water and they reappear. Now, this just could be a handy little doohickie in the hands of a quartet intent on seeking that inevitable old chestnut of world domination now, couldn’t it? Especially if they are able to infiltrate the United World Security Council in New York. But first, the annihilation of a certain bat-like man is on the agenda and so the plot is hatched, kidnap millionaire Bruce Wayne with the help of Catwoman’s seductive ways and subsequently lead Batman to the rescue... hmm, now we all know what’s amiss with this plan, don’t we? Armed with all manner of devilishly clever toys, all labelled clearly in a Letraset frenzy and with the prerequisite ‘Bat’ prefix – from the big and mobile like the Batmobile, Batcopter and Batboat to the more portable such as the Batrope, Batladder and a personal fave, the Batarang – the Dynamic Duo will surely save the world yet again from falling into the hands/claws of their nemeses, won’t they? After all, as well as being armed with all of those delightful toys they do have those super secret weapons up their tights-legs – more ‘POW!’s, ‘WHAP!’s, ‘THWACK!’s, ‘BIFF!’s, ‘ZWAP!’s and even ‘BAP!’s than you could poke a freaking out spell checker at...
Video |
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Contract |
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A mid-sixties low-ish budget film on DVD, visually it’s going to look dodgier than one of The Riddler’s riddles, yes? Well, holy wrong answers, Batman – as this sure as heck looks almost miraculously fabulous! Presented in its cinematic ratio of 1.85:1 and anamorphically enhanced, it would appear that all stops were pulled out to make this look as exciting and vibrant as possible. A big part of Batman’s appeal was the cartoon-like colour palette, featuring any hue you could name in the most vivacious shade possible. All of these come up wonderfully here without going too far, in what is a devilishly detailed presentation that illicits excitement from every single Bat-angle. Blacks are perfectly black, shadow detail is quite startling for a film this old and the only grain present is within some stock footage of Polaris missiles that pops up occasionally. The only real let downs are the black and white specks that appear at odd times, but really in the big scheme of things they aren’t much bother at all. The layer change occurs quite early on in the film, and it’s so well placed that I completely missed it the first time around, and only really noticed it due to a brief gap in the commentary track. All things considered this is a near purr-fect visual transfer.
Audio |
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After such brilliant treatment of the video, you would be forgiven for thinking that the audio must also hold a treat in store. Unfortunately it’s a case of holy almost, Batman however, as all we get is the original mono track shunted into Dolby Digital stereo format. Still, it is basically how the film was made, and its job is done well in so far as most all of the dialogue is perfectly clear. There are some instances of hiss to be heard on occasions, and things can also have a tendency to be a little screechy at times, however the best way to sum it up is that this is probably the best the film has ever been heard. Musically, Neil Hefti’s immortal na-na-na-na na-na-na-na Batman theme is present on a number of occasions, interspersed amongst fabulously funky and infectious ‘60s beat music provided by Nelson Riddle that's sure to get your toes tapping.
Extras |
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Overall |
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Contract |
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Anybody who ever thought that the ‘60s Batman was simply silly and stupid just didn’t get it. Filled with wickedly clever writing, delivered in delightfully deadpan style by the entire cast it may be silly, yes – in fact it revelled in it - but it certainly wasn’t stupid. Any Bat-fan worthy of their wings should rush out and grab this fabulously presented DVD as soon as possible – it’s absolutely Bat-tastic! And if your store doesn’t have it, then perhaps a few ‘BIFF’s, ‘WHAP!’s and ‘THWACK!’s are in order?
LINK: http://www.dvd.net.au/review.cgi?review_id=1522
Send to a friend.
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And I quote... |
"Holy sudden super surprises, Batman! Caped crusaders, fiendish phalanxes of fanciful felons, vivaciously vivid vision and extremely exciting extras - gosh, this disc sure as heck has it all!" - Amy Flower |
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Review Equipment |
- DVD Player:
Pioneer DV-535
- TV:
Sony 68cm
- Receiver:
Onkyo TX-DS494
- Speakers:
DB Dynamics Eclipse RBS662
- Centre Speaker:
DB Dynamics Eclipse ECC442
- Surrounds:
DB Dynamics Eclipse ECR042
- Subwoofer:
DTX Digital 4.8
- Audio Cables:
Standard RCA
- Video Cables:
Standard Component RCA
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