Tim Burtons 1989 take on the Dark Knight is an amazing gothic comic brought to life. His visual flair is truly gob-smacking, as his sets drip feed the menace of the later additions to the comic book. Keaton also is a great caped crusdaer, bringing a perfect balance of damaged goods and light heated humor. But this is Nicholson's movie and he is just amazing as the Joker, and steals every scene. Basinger is a little light weight as the love interest Vicky Vale.
But the films real problem lies with a messy script that makes little or no sense, but what would anybody expect when a film goes into production when the script is not completed. The story for what it is is a matter of ideas splashed across the page, and hopefully some stick, but most don't. This fault with the story does not spoil the fun, as there is so much to enjoy in this dark brooding gothic adaption, and although the film cannot stand up to the brilliant Batman Begins or the sequel The Dark Knight, in scope, story or scale, it still is brilliant fun, and far, far superior to the poor Batman Forever and the pathetic train wreck of Batman and Robin.

I remember queuing for 3 hours outside a small cinema in August 1989, just to see what Tim Burton had made of this much loved comic book hero, and I wasn't dissopointed. Together with the great performance of Keaton and Nicolson, who cares if Nicolson was over the top, he's the Joker for gods sake! Also the quality music score from Danny Elfman adds to the excitement all the way through.
Now don't get me wrong, I like Batman Begins, but I just didn't come out the cinema with the same feeling of joy, knowing that I had seen a film I loved in everyway. In my opion the origins of Batman as shown in Batman Begins are best left to the views imagination.
The special edition is a great buy, its crammed with extras which should of been included first time round on the original DVD. Also check out Batman Returns, it nowhere near as good, but it sure is better than Batman Forever and the dreadfull Batman & Robin.

this batman film is one of the most important batman films ever made. Before this film was made, the public opinion of batman had been greatly influnce by the camp 60's tv show, which was a mockery of the batman lengend. This film is far closer to bob kane's gritty and dark early stories. micheal keaton is excellent as the dark knight of gotham. tim burton's vision of gotham city is excellent as well. the city look like hell has came to earth.

however there are some flaws with the film. jack nicholson isn't playing the joker, he is playing himself, only that he is cover in clown makeup and he is way too over the top with his performance.
another flaw is that batman is not given an orgin story and there is no futher depth added to him in this film.
however despite these flaws, Batman is a very good film and it is a must have for any batman fans, it not the best batman film( batman begins is the best bat film), but it show the public there is more to batman, than that awful 60's tv show.

This is Batman.

None of that boring, no fun whatsoever Begins nonsense. Michael Keaton even has winglike eyebrows in an inspired piece of casting and is the best Batman and Bruce Wayne yet. He's relatable you see, and that makes a big difference.

This movie also inspired (my word of the day) the Batman Animated Series, and so in my opinion makes this film a monumental classic. Like the animated series, this captures the perfect feel of Gotham, Batman, the villains, everything. And of course Nicholson dazzles as the psychotic Joker - creative license ties Batman and the Joker closer together in this film but that just makes things more dramatic and less laboured. Excellent.

Returns is also worth watching but ignore Forever and especially Batman and Robin. The upcoming Dark Knight should prove interesting also, and is heavily tied to this film thanks to the central villain.

I'm Batman! Thank God for this film. It;s dark, it's moody, it's Burton! My favourite Hero has come to life in the proper way.

This is the best Batman in my opinion. Tim Burton did a brilliant job on it giving it a dark gothic look and feel which it needed. Keaton was great as Batman and Nicholson stole the show as the psychotic Joker. There's awesome action and dark humour through out,. The batmobile was a beast and great music from Elfman who really captured the feel of the film. Just a really well made comic to film.

Before the release of the awesome 'Batman Begins' the original 1989 Tim Burton movie reigned supreme in its stunning portrayal of the Dark Knight. Fresh from Beetlejuice Michael Keaton seemed like a strange chice to play the Caped Crusader but amazingly seemed perfectly suited to the role playing Bruce Wayne as an outsider whilst maintaining a sense of wonder and mystery. The sets were quite simply amazing with Gotham City taking centre stage as a character in its own right. Kim Basinger was adorable as possible love-interest Vicky Vale and as for Jack Nicholson....well, who else could have played The Clown Prince of Crime with as much style, sophistication, wit, malice and sheer manic energy? At times you feel it should have almost been renamed Joker: The Movie (featuring Batman) such is his screne-stealing turn. Looking back the film still entertains enourmously, positively dripping with Gothic grandeur and noir sensibilities but also astounding with awesome action and FX. Yes, the film does feel a little dated at times - mainly due to Prince's terribly 1980's soundtrack (I think Simon Pegg put the album to best use in 'Shaun of the Dead'!) and the effects are certainly showing their age here and there. But Burton still delivered a class act - a fantastic comic book adaptation that brought the Dark Knight to the silver screen in inimitable style. What ARE you?...I'm BATMAN...