Batman

Details

Gotham City is drowning in corruption, crime and violence, with organised gangs effectively running large parts of the city. Rumours have begun circulating about a mysterious vigilante known only as "Batman", a dark figure who appears from the shadows to terrorise criminals before disappearing back into the night.

When the police receive a tip-off about illegal activity at the Axis Chemical plant, they attempt to arrest one of crime boss Carl Grissom's most trusted lieutenants, Jack Napier. The operation quickly spirals out of control when Batman intervenes, and during the confrontation Napier falls into a vat of toxic chemicals.

Napier miraculously survives the fall, but the chemicals leave him permanently disfigured with a grotesque frozen grin. Driven insane by the accident, he reinvents himself as the Joker - a flamboyant and deadly criminal mastermind who quickly begins spreading chaos throughout Gotham City.

As the Joker's reign of terror escalates with bizarre and theatrical crimes, Batman finds himself locked in a personal battle with the man he inadvertently created. Meanwhile reporter Alexander Knox and photographer Vicki Vale attempt to uncover the truth behind the mysterious Dark Knight, bringing them dangerously close to both sides of the conflict.

Picture & Sound

The dark and gothic imagery of Gotham City is a wonder to watch and the DVD presentation holds up surprisingly well. There are no obvious signs of artifacting or outlining and the transfer remains stable throughout. A few picture imperfections are visible, which is hardly surprising considering the age of the film, and there is a slight amount of grain during scenes filled with smoke or steam. Nevertheless the overall presentation is impressive and does a fine job of capturing the film's moody atmosphere.

The wonderfully haunting Danny Elfman score, a trademark of Tim Burton collaborations, really envelops the viewer and makes excellent use of the surround channels. There's also a welcome slice of late-eighties pop courtesy of Prince (or whatever name he happens to be using these days), whose music features prominently in several scenes - and it is well worth checking out the Batman soundtrack album too. While the score dominates much of the soundstage there are still plenty of directional effects across the channels, with clear dialogue in the centre channel. The only slight disappointment is the relatively subdued use of the subwoofer.

Menu & Extras

The only real disappointment is the lack of extras, with little more than some production notes and cast biographies included. To Warner's credit the production notes are fairly detailed and include some nice still images from the film. Unfortunately the menus themselves are static and silent, and navigation feels a little clumsy.

Overall

It's hard to believe that this massive box office hit reportedly made little or no profit. The reason? Thanks to some very crafty - albeit perfectly legitimate - contract negotiations by the A-list cast. Jack Nicholson in particular secured a lucrative deal which included a percentage of both the film's profits and merchandising revenue, ultimately netting him something in the region of a cool $60 million.

The first film in the franchise is still arguably the best, with Jack Nicholson completely stealing the show as the Joker. His performance is so perfectly suited to the role that it almost feels as though the part was written specifically for him.

Tim Burton's dark and gothic interpretation of Gotham City was also something of a turning point for comic book films. Instead of the colourful camp of earlier adaptations, Burton created a far more atmospheric and stylised world which helped redefine how these characters could be presented on screen. Combined with Danny Elfman's superb musical score it remains a memorable and highly entertaining film, even if the DVD itself is somewhat lacking in extras.

Special features

• Production Notes
• Cast and Crew Biographies