Keaton’s Batman came off the closest to insane which is how I like my Batman. You can tell that even though he believes in what he’s doing, deep down the main reason he’s Batman is because HE needs it. And he’s constantly justifying it to himself. He just loves being the g-damn Batman.
Summer of ‘89, Batman fever. I was 8 years old. Epic film, the dark streets, Danny Elfman music, toy action figures. It set the bar going forward. Keaton IS THAT BAR!!
I grew up with Kevin Conroy voice on the animated series…. But I got introduced to Batman by watching Michael Keaton’s version I was born in 92…. And I still watch Both 89 and Batman Returns pretty much as many times as I watch the Dark Knight Trilogy
I turn 40 soon and I can tell you this Batman changed movies forever Michael Keaton will always be the true movie Batman it's just hard to explain to people who didn't live around the late 80s or early 90s just how good this was everything was changing for the better.
The reason Keaton was great as batman is...he could sit in a chair with the cowl on and look amazing just sitting there. Look at the scene where he's riding through the streets and spying on penguin making his list.
Keaton and Bale were by far my faves. I loved Keaton's genuine charisma and mystique. Bale made me believe that this person could exist. 2 of my fave actors period
Keaton understood character very well. Bruce Wayne looked out placed like this who I am. Keaton did that was based on comics when his purpose was being batman. Keaton still always be best ever batman put on cawl. It was masterpiece in every single way. It was definitely close to comics like other batman didn't including affleck batman wasn't SVB JL na we all know wasn't close. Trying to copy of keaton version batman.
And it communicated everything necessary to hype up the movie. No one had seen a poster like that before. At least I don't know of any that were just the logo.
Was 14 when it came out, was living in Regional Australia and my Grandad drove me 3 hours to Perth so I could see it. Forever grateful to my Grandad. Then 3 years later I drove myself to watch Batman Returns, Grandad let me drive his car, I re-paid by crashing it. To his credit he wasn’t that upset, but he did make pay for the repairs (which I didn’t argue with, was my fault after all). Iconic movies, thanks Grandad helping me get to see them.
That was a brilliant reaction by Keaton. Hes a great actor, one of my favourite actors. Kevin us right on, Keaton is the best Batman. Defo my favourite. I remember i was in 9th grade and my mate Rob and i went to see Batman, twice😅 great summer. Everything was Batman. We bought comics, watching Batman 66 on tv. Getting figures, posters 👍🏻 I miss those days.
LUCKY! I was so young when I saw it. Mostly on VHS. 1986-1993 is my favorite era of this character. Look how much great stuff that came out in 7 years. The Dark Knight Returns (1986), Batman: Year One (1987), The Killing Joke (1988), BATMAN (1989), Blind Justice (1990), The Dark Knight Collection by Kenner Toys (1991), BATMAN RETURNS (1992), and Batman: Mask Of The Phantasm (1993).
Keaton and Bale are the only Batman movies Ill watch over and over!! Micheal Keatons Batman was the reason I got into the whole story. Those stories didn't focus in on the villain so much....
I'm not the biggest fan of Kevin Smith but he is so right about his take on Michael Keaton Batman He's just so awesome as Batman and embodies everything that is the Dark Knight! It's like his Bruce Wayne only lives to be Batman
Tim Burton was a genius..... He knew Keaton's potential in being able to take the role as Batman.... Which was something none of us knew since beetlejuice was the only movie we saw of him before Batman.... He also wrote a good script showing how Bruce Wayne should act.... A good director is someone who knows his actors well..... KUDOS TO TIM...
I completely agree with his points. I watched Batman Returns first, shortly it was released on VHS. After that, the Animated Series came out which I loved then I finally got to see Batman 1989. As a 4 or 5 year old kid, I liked the cartoonish world of the Animated Series but I liked that the characters in the 1989 movie felt like real people instead of comic book characters coming to life. Bruce didn’t look like Arnold Schwarzenegger until the suit came on. He wasn’t the outgoing billionaire playboy. I mean, he tried but he’s so mentally damaged and so focused on being Batman that he cannot get himself to properly execute the Bruce Wayne persona. So cool on all counts and it’s what I’d expect from Batman rather than the traditional comic version. In Returns, yeah it felt like a movie revolving around misfits but so what? The real world has its freaks and some highly disturbing personas, both literally and visually. It had more of a fantasy spin to it but that’s okay. The Batman universe isn’t always a very realistic world.
I remember when the trailer came out for the first film and I didn't know the look and the feel of it would be so dark and exciting. At that time I had only known of Batman from the Superfriends cartoon show and hadn't read The Killing Joke or The Darknight Returns yet.
Burton gave the Penguin and Catwoman pathos. No comic writer had been able to do that up until then. Frank Miller made Catwoman a prostitute. That's about it.
Keaton was so good at playing an aloof, distant, loner Bruce Wayne as opposed to the playboy everyone else did. Also he could convey the intensity and danger of Batman just with his eyes and mannerisms.
We need Cacophony , widening Gyre and (part 3) I can’t remember what it’s called, Walt was talking to me about it ages ago but we need a live action Keaton Batman Trilogy by Kevin smith.
Since James Gunn coming into the works will there be a few added hints throughout the credits to hint certain movie spinoffs Keaton 71 now maybe hint Batman Beyond movie in his universe.
I think Val Kilmer played the Bruce Wayne part well. Yeah I know everybody hates Kilmer now. Fuck that Kilmer is an amazing actor (just wasn’t the best Batman) He is my 2nd favorite Batman. But it will always be Keaton to me as the best. Keaton is a great example of a person who can mesh comedy & drama together without throwing off the movie.
Michael Keaton is the only person who played Bruce Wayne in a way you believed he was as insane as the villians he was after, which Bruce/Batman sort of is.
This is NOT what Kevin Smith was saying in the Q and A. Maybe he was just having beef with Tim Burton at the time. I think I remember him saying the opposite of "he was so close to what we had in the comics".
Yep, it was definitely beef at the time as to why he said it. It was over the unmade Nic Cage Superman movie "Superman Lives". Allegedly according to Kevin Smith, he wrote this script (I've never read it so I don't know how good or bad it was) for the film and Tim read it and they had creative differences about it. Nic Cage was hyped to play Superman. He was at costume fittings and everything so I'm inclined to believe you would have gotten a Superman with a Burton influence. There's this documentary that you should watch about why the film never got made called "The Death Of Superman Lives: What Happened" Here's a link to it on youtube ruclips.net/video/LaR36c3oHR8/видео.html&ab_channel=JuanIgnacioMonz%C3%B3n Tim Burton, Kevin Smith and many others are interviewed in it and we see all the behind the scenes footage and concept art that would have made for a very cool movie. Bottom Line: Kevin was salty, so was Tim, but Tim was reading the comics and the film reflected the early comics (pre-Robin) and "The Killing Joke" and "The Dark Knight Returns" because of their relevance in the mid to late 80s. Batman historian and producer, Michael Uslan (who's the one responsible for making Batman into a film franchise in the first place) gave him those early comics and the film was written by Sam Hamm (guy who wrote "Batman: Blind Justice").
Michael Keaton's Batman is personally my favorite and I prefer him to Bales, but it must be said that Bale was a superb Bruce Wayne. It also has to be said, like it or not (and I'm not a massive fan of the new film), Robert Pattinson is an excellent Batman.
Even tho Keaton is my Batman 89 will always be my o g Batman nothing against returns but I didn’t feel the same about returns as much as I do for the 89 movie no matter what anyone thinks about Keaton he will always be the better Batman out of all these newer movies and yes Adam west was the best in the Time as well as the one before him but keatons Batman hands down done it better no matter how much updated movie tech there is this was simple and done right. Story could’ve been a bit better but no matter what this is Batman to me. 3 1/2 years old when I saw it and surprised to have remembered that
Kids have no idea how big that movie was. It was completely different that anything that ever came out before that. It was comparable to star wars It was a big f’ing deal.
Kevin was full of sht when he said that. He was just salty with Tim Burton over "Superman Lives" plus ruclips.net/video/OnDdNewiwcM/видео.html Blows that accusassion out the door.
I was 19 when Batman 89 came out and a comic collector since 1983 and ya I got caught up in the mania of the moment but Keatons Batman does not feel or definitely look anything like what I've seen in comics. Go back and look at his size he's tiny...Keaton is lucky if he's even 5'9...he's not bigger than Joker and go look at him compared to Viki Vale he's not even much bigger than her. He's not intimidating at all when you rewatch because I honestly can't get over how he had no physical presence....hes small in or out of the costume period and that does not fit what i have read in Batman comics!! Don't get me wrong I like Keaton but man he's just not the Batman when you really look at the big picture. Also his version or should I say Burtons version has no real relationship with Gordon. You don't see them doing detective work together like in the comics. I would say this is Tim Burtons version of Batman but not what Bill Finger originally wrote the character as...he was a detective at his core and definitely had a more physical presence than little ol Keaton!! Sorry Keaton is a good actor but he has no physical height or build of Batman from the pages of Detective Comics!!
Batman Begins is the best batman movie with the best batman voice Bale does of the 3 movies. Yes, the villains stole the show in The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises. Batman (as depicted by Nolan/Bale) became both a passenger and irrelevant in his own movies. His vocal performance in those two movies is so ridiculous it's in the Meme Hall Of Fame.
@@thesentinel5523 I think Bale couldn’t pull off being Bruce Wayne. He always looked and sounded angry like Batman. For me Bale was over the top. Keaton was the greatest Batman. The Dark Knight was the best written movie of them all but Burtons set design and taste for images makes me love the original the most.
Keaton was the most mysterious and theatrical which is what I like about his Batman.
Keaton’s Batman came off the closest to insane which is how I like my Batman. You can tell that even though he believes in what he’s doing, deep down the main reason he’s Batman is because HE needs it. And he’s constantly justifying it to himself. He just loves being the g-damn Batman.
89 and Returns are both masterpieces 🙌🏻
Exactly
Johndoe-tm9wz your a smart man
LEGIT!
Still my favorite Batman movies for the last 32 years I've been alive
2 years before I was born
Summer of ‘89, Batman fever. I was 8 years old. Epic film, the dark streets, Danny Elfman music, toy action figures. It set the bar going forward. Keaton IS THAT BAR!!
Still the GOAT all these years later.
“He’s out there right now, and I gotta go to work”.
EPIC.
"Some people think you're as dangerous as the Joker."
"He's psychotic."
"Some people say the same about you."
"What people?"
I grew up with Kevin Conroy voice on the animated series…. But I got introduced to Batman by watching Michael Keaton’s version I was born in 92…. And I still watch Both 89 and Batman Returns pretty much as many times as I watch the Dark Knight Trilogy
I turn 40 soon and I can tell you this Batman changed movies forever Michael Keaton will always be the true movie Batman it's just hard to explain to people who didn't live around the late 80s or early 90s just how good this was everything was changing for the better.
He seat the blueprint for the 90s cartoon series.
The reason Keaton was great as batman is...he could sit in a chair with the cowl on and look amazing just sitting there. Look at the scene where he's riding through the streets and spying on penguin making his list.
Modern kidos don't understand how iconic this Batman was.
Keaton basically opened the door and made this character what it is today.
Keaton and Bale were by far my faves. I loved Keaton's genuine charisma and mystique. Bale made me believe that this person could exist. 2 of my fave actors period
Keaton understood character very well. Bruce Wayne looked out placed like this who I am. Keaton did that was based on comics when his purpose was being batman. Keaton still always be best ever batman put on cawl. It was masterpiece in every single way. It was definitely close to comics like other batman didn't including affleck batman wasn't SVB JL na we all know wasn't close. Trying to copy of keaton version batman.
Batman 89 was my introduction to the character in 2005 before Batman Begins.
EVERY bus stop in 1989 LA had a Batman poster. Just the LOGO. It took over.
And it communicated everything necessary to hype up the movie. No one had seen a poster like that before. At least I don't know of any that were just the logo.
Was 14 when it came out, was living in Regional Australia and my Grandad drove me 3 hours to Perth so I could see it. Forever grateful to my Grandad. Then 3 years later I drove myself to watch Batman Returns, Grandad let me drive his car, I re-paid by crashing it. To his credit he wasn’t that upset, but he did make pay for the repairs (which I didn’t argue with, was my fault after all). Iconic movies, thanks Grandad helping me get to see them.
That was a brilliant reaction by Keaton. Hes a great actor, one of my favourite actors. Kevin us right on, Keaton is the best Batman. Defo my favourite. I remember i was in 9th grade and my mate Rob and i went to see Batman, twice😅 great summer. Everything was Batman. We bought comics, watching Batman 66 on tv. Getting figures, posters 👍🏻 I miss those days.
🤣🤣 never caught that penguin double take
Omg I'm so glad I wasn't the only one who noticed that small reaction Batman had to almost being killed by penguins in Batman Returns😂
I noticed it too! That's just one of the things that makes Keaton and Batman Returns a great Batman movie.
i waited in line from 10am till show time for this batman, it was incredible.
LUCKY! I was so young when I saw it. Mostly on VHS. 1986-1993 is my favorite era of this character. Look how much great stuff that came out in 7 years. The Dark Knight Returns (1986), Batman: Year One (1987), The Killing Joke (1988), BATMAN (1989), Blind Justice (1990), The Dark Knight Collection by Kenner Toys (1991), BATMAN RETURNS (1992), and Batman: Mask Of The Phantasm (1993).
Keaton and Bale are the only Batman movies Ill watch over and over!! Micheal Keatons Batman was the reason I got into the whole story. Those stories didn't focus in on the villain so much....
I'm not the biggest fan of Kevin Smith but he is so right about his take on Michael Keaton Batman
He's just so awesome as Batman and embodies everything that is the Dark Knight!
It's like his Bruce Wayne only lives to be Batman
Exactly
Tim Burton was a genius..... He knew Keaton's potential in being able to take the role as Batman.... Which was something none of us knew since beetlejuice was the only movie we saw of him before Batman.... He also wrote a good script showing how Bruce Wayne should act.... A good director is someone who knows his actors well..... KUDOS TO TIM...
I wouldn’t go as far to say no one knew Michael Keaton except from Beetlejuice.
Mr. Mom
two best Batman movies combination of Burtons gothic visuals and Keaton. Also the cast was all A list Nicolson Pfeiffer Vito Basinger etc
I completely agree with his points. I watched Batman Returns first, shortly it was released on VHS. After that, the Animated Series came out which I loved then I finally got to see Batman 1989. As a 4 or 5 year old kid, I liked the cartoonish world of the Animated Series but I liked that the characters in the 1989 movie felt like real people instead of comic book characters coming to life. Bruce didn’t look like Arnold Schwarzenegger until the suit came on. He wasn’t the outgoing billionaire playboy. I mean, he tried but he’s so mentally damaged and so focused on being Batman that he cannot get himself to properly execute the Bruce Wayne persona. So cool on all counts and it’s what I’d expect from Batman rather than the traditional comic version.
In Returns, yeah it felt like a movie revolving around misfits but so what? The real world has its freaks and some highly disturbing personas, both literally and visually. It had more of a fantasy spin to it but that’s okay. The Batman universe isn’t always a very realistic world.
89 Batman is too fucking good!!!
Watching Michael Keaton's Batman on The Flash movie made me feel like a kid again. He is Batman.
Keaton is the best Batman in my book as well. I hope Kevin gets a kick out of his return in the upcoming Flash movie.
Still love you Kev!
I remember when the trailer came out for the first film and I didn't know the look and the feel of it would be so dark and exciting. At that time I had only known of Batman from the Superfriends cartoon show and hadn't read The Killing Joke or The Darknight Returns yet.
Nobody tops his Batman. Nobody.
I was born July 23rd 1989. A month after this masterpiece was exposed...I knew this Batman was always special. Est.1989 #MasterBruce
Returns is just more compelling as a film.
Burton gave the Penguin and Catwoman pathos. No comic writer had been able to do that up until then. Frank Miller made Catwoman a prostitute. That's about it.
@@thesentinel5523 yuuup
Michael Keaton and Kevin Conroy are the best
because he's batman!!!
Could not agree more. Michael Keaton's Batman is the the only Batman that makes sense to me. I love those movies.
He-Man stupidity aside, Smith knows his comic books.
There's no other Batman but Keaton...
Alternate Universe Batman: Nope! Fuck this, I’m outta here! Alfred, I’m heading back, this is somebody else’s problem now!
Im a gen z but I had 89 Batman and Returns on VHS so I grew up on them. I also had Batman Forever and Batman and Robin on VHS.
Totally agree
Keaton was so good at playing an aloof, distant, loner Bruce Wayne as opposed to the playboy everyone else did. Also he could convey the intensity and danger of Batman just with his eyes and mannerisms.
Kevin Smith gets it. 💯
Keaton's Batman was a badass who wasted the bad guys. He didn't have some lame code about not killing them. He just took them out like a boss.
I love Bale,Affleck and even Pattinson but Keaton set the bar. His Batman is the very best.
Actually I Google it internet was January 1st 1983 but I get the point I'm with you Keaton is my favorite to
We need Cacophony , widening Gyre and (part 3) I can’t remember what it’s called, Walt was talking to me about it ages ago but we need a live action Keaton Batman Trilogy by Kevin smith.
Since James Gunn coming into the works will there be a few added hints throughout the credits to hint certain movie spinoffs Keaton 71 now maybe hint Batman Beyond movie in his universe.
I think Val Kilmer played the Bruce Wayne part well. Yeah I know everybody hates Kilmer now. Fuck that Kilmer is an amazing actor (just wasn’t the best Batman) He is my 2nd favorite Batman. But it will always be Keaton to me as the best. Keaton is a great example of a person who can mesh comedy & drama together without throwing off the movie.
Bale can act crazy. And he’s very good at it. Keaton didn’t have to act. Not even fair.
full video please?
Michael Keaton is the only person who played Bruce Wayne in a way you believed he was as insane as the villians he was after, which Bruce/Batman sort of is.
This is NOT what Kevin Smith was saying in the Q and A. Maybe he was just having beef with Tim Burton at the time. I think I remember him saying the opposite of "he was so close to what we had in the comics".
Yep, it was definitely beef at the time as to why he said it. It was over the unmade Nic Cage Superman movie "Superman Lives". Allegedly according to Kevin Smith, he wrote this script (I've never read it so I don't know how good or bad it was) for the film and Tim read it and they had creative differences about it. Nic Cage was hyped to play Superman. He was at costume fittings and everything so I'm inclined to believe you would have gotten a Superman with a Burton influence. There's this documentary that you should watch about why the film never got made called "The Death Of Superman Lives: What Happened" Here's a link to it on youtube ruclips.net/video/LaR36c3oHR8/видео.html&ab_channel=JuanIgnacioMonz%C3%B3n
Tim Burton, Kevin Smith and many others are interviewed in it and we see all the behind the scenes footage and concept art that would have made for a very cool movie.
Bottom Line: Kevin was salty, so was Tim, but Tim was reading the comics and the film reflected the early comics (pre-Robin) and "The Killing Joke" and "The Dark Knight Returns" because of their relevance in the mid to late 80s. Batman historian and producer, Michael Uslan (who's the one responsible for making Batman into a film franchise in the first place) gave him those early comics and the film was written by Sam Hamm (guy who wrote "Batman: Blind Justice").
Michael Keaton's Batman is personally my favorite and I prefer him to Bales, but it must be said that Bale was a superb Bruce Wayne. It also has to be said, like it or not (and I'm not a massive fan of the new film), Robert Pattinson is an excellent Batman.
I guess Kevin stopped shit talking this movie.
Even tho Keaton is my Batman 89 will always be my o g Batman nothing against returns but I didn’t feel the same about returns as much as I do for the 89 movie no matter what anyone thinks about Keaton he will always be the better Batman out of all these newer movies and yes Adam west was the best in the Time as well as the one before him but keatons Batman hands down done it better no matter how much updated movie tech there is this was simple and done right. Story could’ve been a bit better but no matter what this is Batman to me. 3 1/2 years old when I saw it and surprised to have remembered that
Kids have no idea how big that movie was. It was completely different that anything that ever came out before that. It was comparable to star wars It was a big f’ing deal.
Keaton, afleck, pattinson, bale,
Cant go wrong with any of these actors as batman
He's the best Bruce Wayne. Everyone dwells on pulling off Batman but Michael pulled off Bruce Wayne.
Kevin Smith used to make fun of this film, saying it shows Tim Burton never opened a comic book
Kevin was full of sht when he said that. He was just salty with Tim Burton over "Superman Lives" plus ruclips.net/video/OnDdNewiwcM/видео.html
Blows that accusassion out the door.
Didn't Kevin Smith make an entire commentary track criticising this movie for not being close enough to the comics?
89 batman forever and the Nolan films and ben affleck are BATMAN
I was 19 when Batman 89 came out and a comic collector since 1983 and ya I got caught up in the mania of the moment but Keatons Batman does not feel or definitely look anything like what I've seen in comics. Go back and look at his size he's tiny...Keaton is lucky if he's even 5'9...he's not bigger than Joker and go look at him compared to Viki Vale he's not even much bigger than her. He's not intimidating at all when you rewatch because I honestly can't get over how he had no physical presence....hes small in or out of the costume period and that does not fit what i have read in Batman comics!! Don't get me wrong I like Keaton but man he's just not the Batman when you really look at the big picture. Also his version or should I say Burtons version has no real relationship with Gordon. You don't see them doing detective work together like in the comics. I would say this is Tim Burtons version of Batman but not what Bill Finger originally wrote the character as...he was a detective at his core and definitely had a more physical presence than little ol Keaton!! Sorry Keaton is a good actor but he has no physical height or build of Batman from the pages of Detective Comics!!
I thought Smith hated Batman 89'?
But Kevin conroy is the true voice of Batman!
Heath Ledger is the only great thing about The Dark Knight Trilogy
Batman Begins is the best batman movie with the best batman voice Bale does of the 3 movies. Yes, the villains stole the show in The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises. Batman (as depicted by Nolan/Bale) became both a passenger and irrelevant in his own movies. His vocal performance in those two movies is so ridiculous it's in the Meme Hall Of Fame.
@@thesentinel5523 I think Bale couldn’t pull off being Bruce Wayne. He always looked and sounded angry like Batman. For me Bale was over the top. Keaton was the greatest Batman. The Dark Knight was the best written movie of them all but Burtons set design and taste for images makes me love the original the most.