Batman Year One The Animated Movie

[Polaris23]

So the DVD isn't out today? For some reason I had it written down on my calender as it being released today... damn it, more waiting.

 

[Two-Face]

October 18th for USA.

 

[Wesley Dodds]

October 18th for USA.

This is an October release too?!

So between this, Green Lantern Blu-Ray, Arkham City, DCU Online and the new Tom Waits album, I'm pretty much gonna be livin' on Tins of beans all the way through November!

 

[Tatsumarushinob]

Well they must be protecting this one very well. I usually find excellent quality DVD rips around the net about two to three weeks before release and haven't found it. I'm definitely buying this one in particular though.

 

[Travesty]

Well they must be protecting this one very well. I usually find excellent quality DVD rips around the net about two to three weeks before release and haven't found it. I'm definitely buying this one in particular though.

I don't know if I'll be buying this or not. Every time an animated DC movie comes out, I normally buy it, and then it's on Netflix to stream about a month later.

 

[theMan-Bat]

On October 3rd, Harry Knowles, founder of aintitcool.com, tweeted, "Starting BATMAN: YEAR ONE - see you on the otherside!
BATMAN: YEAR ONE best superhero film ever... holy **** awesome sauce! Man, I kind of just want to watch it again. dude - Commissioner Gordon... ****ING AWESOME! The fights... BRUTAL FLUID BEAUTIFUL. The tone of this is just so dead on. As you watch the pitch perfect animation, you dream of the David Fincher (director of Seven) Live-Action version.
Now watching @Paul_Dini 's CATWALK (1995) from BATMAN THE ANIMATED SERIES as one of Timm's Picks extra on BATMAN: YEAR ONE."
http://***********/#!/headgeek666
Also on October 3rd, Harry Knowles tweeted, "Watching @Paul_Dini 's CATWOMAN showcase on BATMAN: YEAR ONE Blu!"
Paul Dini replied, "Oh, man! Lucky! I haven't even seen it yet!"
Harry Knowles replied, "That's ridiculous! Someone needs hangin!"
http://***********/#!/Paul_Dini
Harry Knowles tweeted, "Animation on this is beautiful. I would love it so much if Anne Hathaway would perform what Catwoman just performed in @Paul_Dini 's DC SHOWCASE of CATWOMAN."

Frank Miller was asked at the San Diego Comic-Con if he had seen the Batman: Year One film and if he had any thoughts on it, but Frank Miller had not yet seen it. "I have not seen it," was Frank Miller's reply.
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?p...ticle&id=33550
I'm sure Frank Miller will love it. According to Bruce Timm's DVD commentary for the "Legends of the Dark Knight" episode, which adapted a segment of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, when Bruce Timm asked for permission Frank Miller said something along the lines of "Go ahead, I'm in good hands." On the commentary of "Legends of the Dark Knight" and in the Modern Marvels book Bruce Timm said Frank Miller's response was that he called back three times, leaving three messages, each were raving about that episode, and each were longer than the previous. Saying things like "That was great!", "Watched it again, you did a good job!" and "Lynn (Varley) saw it; she went 'Hey, that's Carrie Kelley!'"
Tasha Robinson: "Were you happy with the episode of Batman: The Animated Series that used your Dark Knight character designs?"
Frank Miller: "Oh, that was wonderful! [Laughs.] It was hilarious, yeah. Bruce Timm called me up, the animator, and asked if it was okay if he did a little bit of Dark Knight in the show. And I said, 'Absolutely, you're Bruce Timm!' He said, 'Do you want to see a script?' I said, 'No, you're Bruce Timm! I just want a videotape.' The videotape came, and I watched it about three times in a row, laughing out loud. It's spot-on. He even got my Robin right."
http://www.avclub.com/articles/frank-miller,13748/
In November, 2010, Frank Miller was interviewed by Christopher Irving and Frank Miller told him, "'I'm talking to animators, and I would rather do it animated,' Frank reveals when I bring a hypothetical Dark Knight Returns movie up."
http://www.nycgraphicnovelists.com/2...k-knights.html
On July 22nd, 2011, at the San Diego Comic-Con, Bruce Timm announced that the animated Batman: The Dark Knight Returns two-part movie is releasing next year.
http://www.worldsfinestonline.com/ne...llnews&id=1086

 

[Assassin32]

They better make each Dark Knight Returns Blu-ray worth it with a ****-load of extras if they expect me to buy it twice. And I mean a ****-load.

 

[Avengers-Report]

Already saw this at Comic-Con, trust me you guys are going to love it.

 

[theMan-Bat]

Another clip from Batman: Year One featuring Batman versus the corrupt and heavily armed Gotham SWAT team.
[YT]UylcK0FHzfU[/YT]
Impressively faithful to the book. Great to even see the cat, Selina Kyle and Holly there exactly as in the book. Very impressive. And Bryan Cranston as Gordon is perfection. Awesome.

 

[Tatsumarushinob]

Jesus H. Christ that was a beauty. I like the grunt when kicks through the wooden pillar.

 

[craigdbfan]

The animation is perfection.

 

[Bathead]

Definitely getting this.

 

[The Joker]

Another clip from Batman: Year One featuring Batman versus the corrupt and heavily armed Gotham SWAT team.
[YT]UylcK0FHzfU[/YT]
Impressively faithful to the book. Great to even see the cat, Selina Kyle and Holly there exactly as in the book. Very impressive. And Bryan Cranston as Gordon is perfection. Awesome.

That was amazing. I love the animation and designs of the characters. Perfection.

 

[Hunter Rider]

When is this released in the UK?

 

[DaRkVeNgeanCe]

God I cannot wait for this!

 

[EliteF50]

Look what I saw at Best Buy (Canada) today:

Told them that it releases next week, they took them off the shelf and thanked me. Now I'm thinking I should have bought a copy THEN told them... :\

 

[The Joker]

You could have gotten yourself an early copy of Year One and you didn't?

I wouldn't have told them anything and grabbed a copy lol.

 

[Travesty]

Ha, you messed up big time.

 

[EliteF50]

Yeah, I was there to pre-order Arkham City and it caught my eye on the shelf.

Now I'm thinking I 'dun goofed. But it would have shown up on the computer when scanned anyway.

 

[spideyguy16]

i dont think the five-finger discount involves any scanning

 

[EliteF50]

Would Batman steal a movie? No. And that's the rule I live by. "Would Batman ______?"

 

[The Joker]

LOL Batman has broken the law in much worse ways than stealing a movie

 

[spideyguy16]

 

[EliteF50]

LOL Batman has broken the law in much worse ways than stealing a movie

I'm sure he always had a better reason than "I want to watch a movie!"

Exactly.

 

[Drz]

My Blu-ray of Batman: Year One arrived today and I've now watched it alongside the special features. This is a straight adaptation so i don't see the point of spoiler tags.

Batman Year One:
There's close to nothing to say about the story because this is the most straight up adaptation done, if you've read the comic you can enjoy the comic literally coming to live in almost 100% accurate way. I'll just say I love how atmospheric and timeless feel the movie has, despite obviously giving it a very 80s feel as well. You will see old computers and VHS rental stores, but still i love the atmosphere Gotham has in here, after all Frank Miller's Gotham is the city of corruption, it is an personal hell and chaos incarnate, with Jim Gordon and Batman being the beacons of hope.

Say what you want, but this is truly Jim Gordon's story and he gives receives the top credit. Bryan Cranston's voice acting is great, it's very human, you can feel his worries as he talks about his wife and raising the family in Gotham, how he's pretty much the only good cop out there. Jon Polito also sounds very disgusting and very corrupt, a great performance for commissioner Loeb. Still i just love every scene with Gordon, the voice acting from Bryan gives such confidence to the character, i just love how he beats up Flass and ever since that scene just has this very laugh-like mocking tune towards Flass. He really nails the hard cop element, i can't stop praising this man, it's what really sells the movie and makes the audience interest to the story and character.

Benjamin McKenzie as Bruce Wayne is awkward, troublesome and hopeless, this is a shell of a man, he's worried he's insecure, he's missing an element, he starts to sound more confident when he takes his thug look and starts walking down the ****e streets you can feel his anger and confidence build up as he begins fighting criminals and eventually meets the woman he will fall in love with: Catwoman. (I'll talk about her later) One of my utter disappointments was the lack of monologue of "I shall become a Bat" which just caused me a small nerd rage. The scenes showing the Wayne family murders is so iconic well done and the Bat crashing thru the window and Bruce just gasping as the Bat flies and lands on Thomas Wayne's statue is so great, but he only says "Yes Father" and that's it. So that was disappointment to me as a fan, because it's one of my 2 favorite scenes of the book. Luckily my other favorite scene which is Batman giving warning to Loeb, Carmine and the Mobster in general, the execution is perfect, from Batman sneaking and taking down the guards, taking the lights out and throwing the bomb, walking softly talking how they've eaten Gotham's wealth, it's spirit and the close moment when Batman says "None of you are safe" you feel confidence, you feel that now Benjamin's Batman is Batman. The most badass scene in the movie is obviously Batman vs. Gotham's SWAT team. Christopher Drake's soundtrack plays it's strengths most here, and Batman's sonic gizmo to summon bats comes truly alive in a very terrifying way, but i do wonder how the general audience will take this scene, will it be remarked as silly or a "lol clearly a Batman Begins" ripoff. Just something i thought of. I also love the way Benjamin delivers the "I know pain. Sometimes i share it with someone like you" he really does come off as Batman, but it's the Dark Knight Batman.

Alex Rocco as Carmine "the Roman" Falcone is terrifying, you really feel like he's the Kingpin of crime and the line he delivers about "when you become a father, you're never truly free" is utterly terrifying, this man is not a Jokester, this man is a rough mobster who will kill you. I also had forgotten how important scene Harvey Dent has in this movie, it's very minor but Robin Atkin Downes does a solid performance on him. Jeff Bennet is also in this movie as none other than Alfred Pennyworth! He brings the wit that Miller's Alfred always has, alongside the compassion.

Eliza Duhsku voice acts Catwoman in this movie, but she doesn't have that much screen time and her voice performance comes much better alive in her own Catwoman short movie that's included. She sounds sexy, confident, commanding and powerful. Her action scenes alongside Batman's are very well animated, and man she comes off very sadistic when she wants to make a name for herself.

Ultimately what makes this movie great is the personal human story that Lieutenant James Gordon and Batman go thru, they're humanized and we see their struggle against the major enemy of Gotham, it's not a space alien or some clown, it's corruption, pure and simple. The ending with Bruce cracking a smile as he and Jim Gordon become partners is a great scene, because there is hope in Gotham, it has Batman and Jim Gordon, so criminals beware.

With Commentary:
I don't think this was anything special really. I would have wished if it had been Frank Miller and Bruce Timm talking about the project, but it's pretty much Sam Liu, Andrea Romano, Alan Burnett & Mike Carlin discussing Batman: Year One the comic, but you do receive some creative process what made into the film and how some things we're done, so it's mostly on the positive side easily.

Catwoman:
This 14 minute movie shows everything you need to know about the character. She's sexual, she's powerful and she is the most self-assured woman out there, she is Catwoman. She has the damn biggest animated hips out there too for crying out loud, there's one scene which i bet all feminists will cry and complain about insulting Paul Dini as an Misogynist pig, but i didn't feel this was offensive, because this is what Catwoman is, she does what she wants and she is very sexual as well. It's a pretty straightforward action story and a certain someone special makes a cameo at the end and a sweet kiss of love is done, but not the cameo you might think nor what i mean by the kiss. It's a very great movie and definitely re-watchable over and over.


Justice League: Doom Sneak Peak:
From what i can gather Vandal Savage summons Metallo, Bane, Star Sapphire, Cheetah, Mirror Master and Ma'alefa'ak because each of these heroes has an personal vendetta against an Justice League member. Alan Burnett says the idea of adapting the Tower of Babel has been tossed around for years and it's finally done. Bruce Timm and Andrea Romano talk excitedly how this movie shows Batman as a true loner, as the master paranoid planner and Andrea even argues that Batman is one of the villains in the movie more or less. The movie will open with the Justice League fighting against the Royal Flush Gang.

Tim Daly talks so relaxed about being Superman and thats just so sweet, because after all Superman being the most powerful guy out there, he should be relaxed.

The film is done by TMS which is one of the oldest animation studios from Japan, and they talked very excitedly about this, i didn't see the big deal, but I guess the fighting animation will be super sweet?

I found it strange they didn't have a single reference that Dwayne McDuffie wrote this and he's passed away now, but still i'm really glad they're getting Kevin Conroy, Nathan Fillion and other popular DCAU voice actors, as Dwayne's last movie i really want this movie to do well money wise, i really want this to be dedicated to his honor.

Heart of Vengeance: Returning Batman to his Roots:
This is pretty much a short information run given by Greg Rucka and Dennis O'Neill about how comics changed due to O'Neill's writing and later on as an editor, i really enjoy that because alot of people seem to only give credit to O'Neill as an writer, while he was an incredibly important editorial person as well, theres only a very small segment given to the Comic Book Authority code and thats a bit shame, because the interview almost gives the idea DC comics just went with campy Batman stuff for no reason and stopepd having Batman fight human criminals. I also learned that Batman comic sales tanked once the Adam West show ended, i never knew that. It's pretty standard information on Frank Miller and Batman comics in general.

Conversation with DC Comics: 2011 Batman Creative Team:
Scott Snyder, Michael Uslan, Dan Didio & Dennis O'Neil join together and talk about how they got into Batman, the multiple versions of Batman and it's just pure fangasm to us comic nerds. Newcomers might be confused of all the classic stories they talk about like "Night of the Stalker", "Night of the Reaper", Batman Year Two and the Adam West show alongside how Frank Miller changed Batman. Dan Didio talks about a good way to test a writer is to write a Batman story, as Batman's so popular, if you can't get Batman you "can't get comics". Dennis O'Neill also talks about his writing and editorial duties, but Michael Uslan really wins with his mass amount of Batman information, wow just wow. It's so appreciated this hardcore fan is the man who is the executive producer of the Batman movies, he's even titled in the specials as "executive producer of the Dark Knight Rises" and Scott Snyder gives his good insight on what makes Batman a Batman and those childhood instincts and fears. Snyder also gives good insight on both the Cult and Year Two how Batman is put into a situation where he decides to use a gun, now granted in Cult it was a tranquilizer gun, but yeah i understand what Snyder is saying, i bet he loves what Batman did in Final Crisis. Frank Miller's impact is brought up a lot alongside how the days of 1980s Comics we're finally getting away from the witch hunt days, which was touched a bit upon the Frank Miller segment. They talk about how Year One influenced things and how then Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins influenced the film industry.

Scott Snyder is asked a very good question how would he enhance or well change the origin of Batman, and he talks about how the parents' death is not just about the idea of children being alone, but also about the feeling of being powerless to stop these crimes and that takes Batman to his heart. There's talks about how there's a DC Year One template with origins and on how books like Batgirl it worked really well. Dan Didio talks how difficult it would be to make another Batman origin, but no reference was made to Batman: Earth One. Still for a comic nerd such as myself this was really fun to listen to and nice points we're given to many sides of Batman.

The BTAS episodes chosen by Bruce Timm are "Catwalk" and "Cult of the Cat" for those curious. Also #1 of Batman Year One can be read digitally for those curious about the comic. New printing of the Deluxe edition comes May 2012.

Rating: 93/100 This is a great package for what? 20€ or less? I got it for around 18€ via the Internet, it comes with a whole movie, a very faithful adaption, the commentary is all right, the Catwoman short is wonderful and the special features sneak peaking the next movie is hype building, the Frank Miller stuff is informative and the Bat-fan discussion is entertaining and intriguing to any Batman fan in my humble opinion. Worth every darn penny!