Batman Begins Anyone feel the same way...?

[DocLathropBrown]

Does anyone aside from me feel almost like Begins didn't happen? I mean, like the film never was released, like we're still waiting for a new Batman film.

To put it differently... I'm watching the film right now, I love it, masterpiece. But the marketing for BB was so.... silent, so low-key, that, compared to previous Batman films where everyone and his mother knew, nobody knew a new Batman film was coming out until practically the last few weeks before it's release! I was continually bringing it up in conversations and people would say; "What?" And then I'd have to explain the fact that WB was working on a new Batman film. And they'd be totally surprised!

Since the marketing was so low-key, the window where Begins came out and left theaters almost rushed by like a fever dream, and now, it's so easy to forget that it even happened. And I was with the production from the moment Jett announced it was truly happening (And long before!), and I still sometimes can't believe it.

Anyone else feel this way, or do I just sound crazy?

 

[Anita18]

I dunno, I'm usually so out of the loop (in college with no TV) that I usually hear about new movies from my friends or from the internet. My friend told me about BB coming out (she's into comics) and showed me the Tumbler photos, and that's how I learned about BB. Was definitely intrigued from the start, LOL...

 

[The Kid]

There wasn't really a huge hoopla made about begins was there... not like spiderman or king kong or star wars and such stuff.

Well I know the cool toys came pretty late and maybe it was still smelling some of the fart from batman and robin.

The hype around here when it came out was insane though. Flamewars, dying babies, it was an incredible life-changing experience for many batfans.

Personally I didn't like begins so much. The editing was crazy and I better shut up. I love the acting. perfection perfection perfection, even katie holmes, she's my fav out of he entier film.

Well it sorta feels like that to me too. yeah.

 

[batadz]

I dont know bein a brit, we prety much had loads o advertising but maybee thats coz the yanks got it first so evry issue of a film magazine a picked up had bb on it or rumours of it at least so I coulnd wait!!! Remember the hype for the original? where people were just grafitying walls with the symbol? Well that one symbol was left in stockport for about ten years on a small wall untill the councel decided to bleedin cover it up. but the hype for bb was compleatly different so i also know what yer gon on about.

 

[Doctor Octopus]

No it felt like it happened alright.

It just wasn't as great as all the hype made it out to be IMO.

 

[Two-Face]

No it felt like it happened alright.

It just wasn't as great as all the hype made it out to be IMO.

WHy did you this thread back?

 

[Doctor Octopus]

WHy did you this thread back?

Because I wanted to reply to the topic.It was only on the second page

 

[The Batman]

Well, fanboys wanted an mature, adults only batman movie and it was treated as such

 

[Shpati]

Does anyone aside from me feel almost like Begins didn't happen? I mean, like the film never was released, like we're still waiting for a new Batman film.

To put it differently... I'm watching the film right now, I love it, masterpiece. But the marketing for BB was so.... silent, so low-key, that, compared to previous Batman films where everyone and his mother knew, nobody knew a new Batman film was coming out until practically the last few weeks before it's release! I was continually bringing it up in conversations and people would say; "What?" And then I'd have to explain the fact that WB was working on a new Batman film. And they'd be totally surprised!

Since the marketing was so low-key, the window where Begins came out and left theaters almost rushed by like a fever dream, and now, it's so easy to forget that it even happened. And I was with the production from the moment Jett announced it was truly happening (And long before!), and I still sometimes can't believe it.

Anyone else feel this way, or do I just sound crazy?

After all these years, this post holds 110% truth. Imagine how much less attention it would have received if The Dark Knight and the Dark Knight Rises were never released? Batman Begins as a standalone movie is very quiet, yet still the best movie in its franchise.

I was looking through old threads, and I just had to bump this.

 

[Anno_Domini]

This actually holds a lot of truth. I really can't remember a stir around BB's release at all. But again, it really goes back to BB also being the very first real reboot and how Nolan started that trend...it was under the dark until the film actually came out and the trend of reboots continues to this day.

 

[Elevator Man]

It's funny. I've bought advanced tickets for all three films in Nolan trilogy a week before each release. I think I got BB a week or week in a half in advance. I remember asking for tickets for opening day (06/15/05). The young lady at the booth was searching on her computer for the movie. And then asked me "what day it comes out again"? I was shocked. I mean it's a batman movie for crying out loud. One of most anticipated movies of the summer of '05'. The movie was coming out in a week or so. And she worked in a theater, which I'm sure had BB posters and such everywhere. Though I can't be sure of that b/c BB was the first movie I saw in the theaters that year. I got the feeling it was the first time the woman heard of the movie. Not to mention me and my brother were probably the first to get advance tickets of BB at that particular theater anyway. So the hype for BB was definitely the smallest of the TDK trilogy and by comparison of the previous quadrilogy.

 

[BatLobster]

BB is definitely like the "indie" film of the Batman movies. I mean, it's obviously still a huge studio movie, but you had a young Chris Nolan bringing some of his indie sensibilities to it, and you had WB kind of unsure how to market it which led to it creating something of a cult following.

It was weird having a Batman film not be the center of attention in the movie world, but there was some trust that needed to be earned there. It was a fun time as a fan, felt like you were in on something great. It was very satisfying to expose people to that movie on DVD in the following years and see their reaction.

 

[TruerToTheCore]

Batman Begins is still the best Batman movie. I've recently rewatched the trilogy and to be honest, it feels totally different than The Dark Knight. Of course, it's more of a "generic superhero movie" and they wasted the Scarecrow but the tone just fits.

Couldn't stand "The Dark Knight" and "The Dark Knight Rises" at all! I've liked them in cinema but at home I lost attention at the middle. They felt more like a "string of ideas" instead of real movies. Even Batman 89 entertains me more.

 

[the last son]

Begins is easily the best batman movie, second comic book movies still weren't booming but really just starting. I didn't even see it until it came on FX one day. I hated it and thought it was boring. Back then I knew not much about batman. As the years pass I liked it more and more and it eventually became the best in the trilogy for me.

 

[BH/HHH]

Batman Begins is still the best Batman movie. I've recently rewatched the trilogy and to be honest, it feels totally different than The Dark Knight. Of course, it's more of a "generic superhero movie" and they wasted the Scarecrow but the tone just fits.

Couldn't stand "The Dark Knight" and "The Dark Knight Rises" at all! I've liked them in cinema but at home I lost attention at the middle. They felt more like a "string of ideas" instead of real movies. Even Batman 89 entertains me more.

I agree on Begins been the best Batman film, by a country mile to be honest. They should have really kept the tone for the sequels.

The Dark Knight and Rises are great films but TDK I think I've watched way too many times and I've always felt it was about 29 mins too long. I do really like Rises but there's way too much that doesn't sit right with me.

 

[Anno_Domini]

29 minutes too long? Lol, just can't say an even 30?

 

[RustyCage]

BB is definitely like the "indie" film of the Batman movies. I mean, it's obviously still a huge studio movie, but you had a young Chris Nolan bringing some of his indie sensibilities to it, and you had WB kind of unsure how to market it which led to it creating something of a cult following.

It was weird having a Batman film not be the center of attention in the movie world, but there was some trust that needed to be earned there. It was a fun time as a fan, felt like you were in on something great. It was very satisfying to expose people to that movie on DVD in the following years and see their reaction.

This! Exactly this feeling. There was a tinge of sorrow from it being under-appreciated, but it also felt like the most awesome secret to be able to share with people. Like, 'dude, you don't even know what Batman is, you need to see this, I'm serious'.

I still remember a friend of mine (who I got to watch it like a year late) telling me how it changed his outlook on life. 'It's not who you are underneath, but what you do that defines you' seems like a hokey cliche to a number of cynical fans now, but it was powerful the first time through for many. Including me. I saw the film during a rough patch of my life, and it's themes helped give me direction.

It set the stage for the future of Batman in such a perfect way - and I think, in some respects, it still hasn't been succeeded. The tone and storytelling were groundbreaking.

It's amazing how much more hype The Dark Knight got comparatively. Like, after Begins, the Batman floodgates flew open. lol

I guess it was people catching Begins late on DVD coupled with the Joker virals that were so popular (as well as the revealed concept for the Joker, it was controversial at the time). Then later, of course, Heath's passing.

Gonna be honest.. as much as I love TDK, Inception, and TDKR, I missed the more intimate 'indie' feel from Nolan's earlier work.

Also, I need to blurt this out since my mind has wandered to it: The Prestige was awesome.

 

[RustyCage]

Couldn't stand "The Dark Knight" and "The Dark Knight Rises" at all! I've liked them in cinema but at home I lost attention at the middle. They felt more like a "string of ideas" instead of real movies. Even Batman 89 entertains me more.

Spoiler

 

[titansupes]

I'm coming from the opposite end here:

I liked Batman Begins, but in the lead up to it everyone was raving about "Nolan is is this great innovative director, he;s bringing realism and scale to the movie, it'll be serious" etc. and I thought "Oh man, that sounds incredible.

Then it comes out, and as I said, I liked it...but it was small. Small thematically and story-wise, small visually. I didn't like the shot-in-studio look and feel of it, and I certainly didn't like all the smoke/steam around the place, which contributed not only to the loss of big backgrounds, but in making the movie feel 'out of time'. The whole thing...felt like something that would've been made in the late-90's. Nolan hadn't yet 'modernised'. The first half is almost what I was hoping for, but still not shot quite right for my liking. For everything he was going for, Nolan didn't really have the ability to pull off modern, big scale cinema on a visual level yet. But there was promise there.

The Prestige is when I really took notice of Nolan. THAT was something else. Visually it was still '90's sensibleness Nolan', but everything else was incredible. The characters and the way they effected the plot and story, and vice versa. Dealing with consequences of each action, moralistic battles both internal and external. These were things I'd hope he'd carry into The Dark Knight and he did.

Then The Dark Knight came, and WOW. Incredible writing, the structure, the pace, the characters...everything. And FINALLY, he and Pfister became visually modern. Big open frames, clear crisp colours while maintaining the 'real' feel of film (not video-ish digital of many modern movies), real locations...it was a sight to behold, truly. Prior to this, I never had a favourite movie. My default was The Empire Strikes Back, but I never really locked it in place. TDK took the spot with furious gusto. I consider TDKR very nearly equal to it, and even better than it in many regards...so basically they share top spot in my mind. I found TDK a bit more 'tense', which I enjoy in movies, so that puts it a hair ahead. Since I was little, there have been SO many things I wanted comic book movies to do, boundaries top push, both superficially and story wise that TDK and TDKR finally managed to do.

So yeah. I consider BB a very solid but disappointingly pedestrian opener, with potential for a lot of great things to come...that, thankfully were delivered on and then some.

 

[BH/HHH]

29 minutes too long? Lol, just can't say an even 30?

I was meant to say 20 I'm fricking useless with this iPad keyboard

 

[RustyCage]

Spoiler

I'm coming from the opposite end here:

I liked Batman Begins, but in the lead up to it everyone was raving about "Nolan is is this great innovative director, he;s bringing realism and scale to the movie, it'll be serious" etc. and I thought "Oh man, that sounds incredible.

Then it comes out, and as I said, I liked it...but it was small. Small thematically and story-wise, small visually. I didn't like the shot-in-studio look and feel of it, and I certainly didn't like all the smoke/steam around the place, which contributed not only to the loss of big backgrounds, but in making the movie feel 'out of time'. The whole thing...felt like something that would've been made in the late-90's. Nolan hadn't yet 'modernised'. The first half is almost what I was hoping for, but still not shot quite right for my liking. For everything he was going for, Nolan didn't really have the ability to pull off modern, big scale cinema on a visual level yet. But there was promise there.

The Prestige is when I really took notice of Nolan. THAT was something else. Visually it was still '90's sensibleness Nolan', but everything else was incredible. The characters and the way they effected the plot and story, and vice versa. Dealing with consequences of each action, moralistic battles both internal and external. These were things I'd hope he'd carry into The Dark Knight and he did.

Then The Dark Knight came, and WOW. Incredible writing, the structure, the pace, the characters...everything. And FINALLY, he and Pfister became visually modern. Big open frames, clear crisp colours while maintaining the 'real' feel of film (not video-ish digital of many modern movies), real locations...it was a sight to behold, truly. Prior to this, I never had a favourite movie. My default was The Empire Strikes Back, but I never really locked it in place. TDK took the spot with furious gusto. I consider TDKR very nearly equal to it, and even better than it in many regards...so basically they share top spot in my mind. I found TDK a bit more 'tense', which I enjoy in movies, so that puts it a hair ahead. Since I was little, there have been SO many things I wanted comic book movies to do, boundaries top push, both superficially and story wise that TDK and TDKR finally managed to do.

So yeah. I consider BB a very solid but disappointingly pedestrian opener, with potential for a lot of great things to come...that, thankfully were delivered on and then some.

So you didn't like Batman Begins because it didn't feel 'modern' enough to you, but your default favorite film at the time was Empire Strikes Back??

'Modern' doesn't dictate the quality of a film for me personally. Especially if your definition of modern is stylistic cliches of the time. Thank god Begins did it's own thing in that case.

 

[Baramos]

I can kind of relate. I didn't even see Batman Begins in the theater. I saw it on DVD first and went, "Holy smokes, why wasn't this hyped in the media?" But yeah, zero hype. A film this big being a sleeper is surprising, but yeah, I agree.

The only explanation I have is that comic book films had reached a nadir at the time--between Catwoman and Elektra, there were a few years there where total crap had just been released that no one wanting to talk about the upcoming Batman movie made sense.

 

[titansupes]

So you didn't like Batman Begins because it didn't feel 'modern' enough to you, but your default favorite film at the time was Empire Strikes Back??

'Modern' doesn't dictate the quality of a film for me personally. Especially if your definition of modern is stylistic cliches of the time. Thank god Begins did it's own thing in that case.

Maybe modern was the wrong word, I don't know. But in any case, Begins felt claustrophobic aka studio set and fuzzy/smokey. Both those things remind me of the 'gritty' stuff of the 80's/90's (like Darkman, off the top of my head) and I've never been into that look or feel. The TDK and TDKR became these big, clean frames of real locations Obviously they used their share of stages, but whatever happened that changed their shooting style carried it off easily. It's like the difference between New Hope and Empire, or Terminator and T2.

While the word 'modern' (which again, I may have used inappropriately) may not dictate quality of the film to you, there's no doubt that a films look is almost, if not as important as the plot, its characters (ALL of which were hugely improved in the sequels mentioned) and is a big factor to the overall quality of a film.

EDIT: Wait, I 'didn't like Batman Begins'? I like Batman Begins just fine. Solid as hell, I'm always more than satisfied when I watch it. I just felt like there was better to come.

 

[BatLobster]

I have to agree. From a fan standpoint, Begins holds a special place. A VERY special place. But I always felt that it set itself up to be easily surpassed by sequels, and I think it definitely was. The filmmaking just went to higher and higher levels and became so much more commanding and epic. The sequels felt "bigger" in all the right ways.

Just a great trajectory for the whole series. But I understand why some fans still love Begins the most or have the most sentimental attachment to it completely.

And I love how much more important Begins feels after Rises too.

 

[RustyCage]

Maybe modern was the wrong word, I don't know. But in any case, Begins felt claustrophobic aka studio set and fuzzy/smokey. Both those things remind me of the 'gritty' stuff of the 80's/90's (like Darkman, off the top of my head) and I've never been into that look or feel. The TDK and TDKR became these big, clean frames of real locations Obviously they used their share of stages, but whatever happened that changed their shooting style carried it off easily. It's like the difference between New Hope and Empire, or Terminator and T2.

While the word 'modern' (which again, I may have used inappropriately) may not dictate quality of the film to you, there's no doubt that a films look is almost, if not as important as the plot, its characters (ALL of which were hugely improved in the sequels mentioned) and is a big factor to the overall quality of a film.

EDIT: Wait, I 'didn't like Batman Begins'? I like Batman Begins just fine. Solid as hell, I'm always more than satisfied when I watch it. I just felt like there was better to come.

It seems I misunderstood you then.

The smokey/noir stuff is something I've always wanted more of in Batman, so we're on stark opposite ends of the preference spectrum there.

I didn't like how Gotham became visually sterile and more of a generic NYC-clone feeling place as the films progress.