Batman became popular after he first appeared in Detective Comics. After that, he ended up being in a television show and several movies, some better than others. In 1966, Batman: The Movie was released after the very successful first season of the television show. I only recently saw this movie for the first time.
Batman and Robin race to the rescue when they learn that Commodore Schmidlapp, along with his latest invention, is in danger on his yacht. When they arrive at the yacht, they discover that it was an elaborate hoax designed as a diversion to hide the kidnapping of the Commodore. Batman and Robin figured out that four super villains, Catwoman, the Joker, the Penguin, and the Riddler, were working together and behind what happened with the yacht. The four were working together to take over the world using a dehydrator that would turn people into piles of colorful dust. Batman had to deal with the fact that he was attracted to Comrade Kitanya Irenya Tantanya Karenska Alisoff (Kitka), who was really Catwoman, while working to stop the four villains.
Originally, the idea was for a Batman movie to be released to help launch the television show. Things worked out differently and the television show was started before the movie. The movie was released after the first season aired and helped to launch the show in other countries. I really hadn’t watched any of the television show before watching this movie. Reruns use to be on one of the stations I get and I did catch a few minutes of episodes here and there. I never really knew what was going on and at that point I wasn’t really interested in Batman at all. I don’t think there was any kind of plot carried over from the series, but I could be wrong.
Batman: The Movie jumped right into the action without any time taken to introduce any of the characters. No back stories were provided for any of them, so there was no explanation for how Bruce became Batman or how he started working with Robin/Dick Grayson. Within the first few minutes, Batman and Robin were racing off to rescue the Commodore. The plot was very straightforward and really didn’t add mystery to the movie since it was made clear very early that the four villains were working together. Even though there wasn’t mystery or suspense in the movie it was still entertaining.
My first introductions to Batman were the newer movies that were darker, though Batman & Robin tried to included humor but failed. Batman: The Movie was extremely campy, but it worked. The movie didn’t take itself seriously and it made for a fun, entertaining movie. Anyone wanting to see a darker version of Batman probably won’t want to watch this movie. Certain things in the movie, like the shark that attacked Batman early in the movie, were just downright silly. Just about everything in the Batcave, as well as some things in other locations, were labeled with signs. It was very clear what a few of the things, like a closed circuit tv, were but the signs were still there. That did make me laugh a bit. Several things made me laugh throughout the movie and I enjoyed it overall even though it was rather silly at times.
There was a bit of action added throughout Batman: The Movie. Most of it happened later in the movie when Batman and Robin were fighting all four villains plus their henchmen. The few fights that were included really were violent. Silly sound effects, like the ones used in the television show, were added during the fights along with words like pow and bam being displayed across the picture. That was silly but again it worked for this particular version of Batman. The effects weren’t anything special and some, like the shark, were just cheesy. It was so obvious that the shark was fake.
Batman/Bruce was very attracted to Kitka when he first met her. At that time, he was answering some questions as Batman. Later in the movie, he had the chance to spend some time with her as Bruce. There was a bit of sexual tension between them and a few minor sexual situations that really just involved kissing. Kitka used her sexuality to her advantage many times without the movie getting too graphic with that type of thing. Even though Bruce was very interested in Kitka, Batman didn’t share that interest in Catwoman. It was made known to the audience that Kitka was Catwoman, but even if it hadn’t been, I think I would have figured that out.
Bruce and Dick spent most of the movie doing things as Batman and Robin. Dick was barely shown as himself while Bruce had a bit more to do out of his secret identity. I really don’t know if that is how it tended to work in the television show or not. Adam West and Burt Ward handled their parts well. They both had some really bad lines to deliver that they managed to say in a serious manner. Both of them also did some overacting. That just fit in with the overall campy mood of the movie.
Catwoman also turned up as Kitka in several scenes. She was a very sensual woman no matter which identity she was using. When she was dressed as Catwoman, she made a lot of cat noises, even sort of purring at times. That fit with the character even though it was a little odd at first. Lee Meriwether was really good in both versions of her part. Meriwether replaced Julie Newmar for this movie because Newmar couldn’t get out of a commitment to another project to appear in this movie.
The Penguin, the Joker, and the Riddler didn’t turn up in their other identities during the movie. The Penguin did impersonate someone else once. The three men came up with some rather goofy ideas for how to deal with Batman, including exploding sea creatures. They were all good villains even though they didn’t seem as dangerous as the villains in other superhero movies have been. Burgess Meredith, Cesar Romano and Frank Gorshin were very good in their parts. Gorshin had a laugh that fit the character perfectly. Commodore Schmidlapp wasn’t in that much of the movie though he was important to the plot. Commissioner Gordon and Chief O’Hara also turned up in a few scenes throughout the movie. Alfred didn’t get much to do either, though he did drive the Batmobile at one point.
Main Cast
Reginald Denny - Commodore Schmidlapp Frank Gorshin - The Riddler Neil Hamilton - Commission Gordon Burgess Meredith - The Penguin Lee Meriwether - Catwoman/Comrade Kitanya Irenya Tantanya Karenska Alisoff (Kitka) Alan Napier - Alfred Stafford Repp - Chief O’Hara Cesar Romano - The Joker Burt Ward - Dick Grayson/Robin Adam West - Bruce Wayne/Batman
Leslie H. Martinson - Director
DVD Information
Batman: The Movie was released on DVD in 2001. I first saw most of this movie when it turned up on AMC. I recently found the DVD for $5 and decided to add it to my Batman DVD collection. The DVD has the widescreen version of the movie and a few extras. The Batman Featurette had Burt Ward and Adam West talking about making the movie and the television show. There was also an audio commentary, tour of the Batmobile, a still gallery, and a trailer and teaser for the movie.
Batman: The Movie was very campy but still managed to be fun and entertaining. It is worth watching, though people who are more familiar with the darker versions of the characters may not enjoy this movie as much.
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