BB vs B89

[kooguy911]

Now that BB has moved into the past, what with all the news of TDK and all, now maybe we can rate it as it really is. Which is better, B89 or BB? Remember that your opinion matters, but so does other opinions, so don't bash anyone for their opinions. Just your experience and understanding of the bat-films.

This comes up alot, but heres another good discussion about which is better. I personally am going to vote B89, only because it was a large part of my childhood and remember it as a great film. Don't get me wrong, BB was great, but B89 is better to me. Whats your thoughts?

I left batman returns/batman forever on the poll in case someone enjoyed those better.

 

[DX]

BB for me.

 

[Darkest Knight]

Don't get me wrong, BB was great, but B89 is better to me. Whats your thoughts?

Is it? Or is it because you self admitted that you grew up with it, so therefore you have a natural bias towards it? I do it like this, BEGINS is the superior movie. B89 has a more monumental emotional attachment.

 

[The Joker]

I can see this thread degenerating fast

 

[Cyrusbales]

Batman, although I consider BR on a par also.

 

[SHADOWBAT69]

oh god, we do not need another one these threads.

 

[Cyrusbales]

oh god, we do not need another one these threads.

I thought we had to have a new one every month?

 

[blind_fury]

It has been at least 2 months since the last one.

 

[Two-Face]

Batman Begins, without a doubt.

 

[Kevin Roegele]

I can see this thread degenerating fast

You think? t:

 

[Kevin Roegele]

Batman Begins is like a video guide on How To Become Batman in Twelve Easy Steps. It removes all the mystery essential to the character. It's Nolan convincing himself that Batman could plausibly exist. For example, Nolan feels the need to explain the Batmobile, he thinks he needs to sell it to the audience. Wrong. The audience wants to see the Batmobile, the audience loves the Batmobile, the audience would be upset if we don't see the Batmobile.

Burton, on the other hand, understands that the mystery is part of the appeal of the character. He knows it's far more dramatic if the Batmobile just appears, without explanation, with all it's menace and mystery intact. Same with Batman.

 

[Cain]

2 different visions inspired by 2 different interpretations with 2 different styles in terms of directors (one reliant on visual storytelling and subtext the other more reliant on thematic storytelling and exposition) from 2 very different decades with different standards from comic book cinema. Yet this comparison will go on forever you gotta love it. It's like this Batman Begins is the best the when it comes to the modern day Batman and BATMAN is the best at capturing the tone and feel of the earliest Batman stories.

Both paid visual homages to the comics and both influenced the comics in their own ways. Despite their similarities their approach is just too different to the material to fairly rate. Had there not been over a decade long gap perhaps it would've been easier to gauge which is superior well not exactly true again since they're different visions. As it stands they're some the best of what could've possibly been done during their respective time periods and are both appropriate in that regard. For the sake of entertainment though I voted the third option cause while Batman Returns may not be the best out of the Batman movies, it is my favorite thanks to it's different approach to the mythos, progression from the first film and tribute to expressionist and noir cinema. I found it the most interesting out of all the live action films thus far.

 

[The Sage]

Both are great in their own ways. But in terms of which is more fun to watch, I'd say B89.

 

[Superwoman Prime]

Batman (1989) is the Batman movie for me. It never grows dull, keeps me entertained every scene, and there are always things to ponder. Batman has such depth. Even in Gotham City, which is like a living and breathing creature of darkness onto itself, Batman really stands out as the absolute MOST mysterious. While I am fond of Begins, the movie loses my attention multiple times throughout a viewing (I don't have ADHD, and this wasn't the case the first few times I watched it)... but Begins is so annoyingly cut and dry.

 

[BubbaGump]

I grew up with Batman Returns and TAS. Therefore, I like Begins.

 

[dude stannis]

Is it? Or is it because you self admitted that you grew up with it, so therefore you have a natural bias towards it? I do it like this, BEGINS is the superior movie. B89 has a more monumental emotional attachment.

I don't see how Begins is a superior movie. Sure it's more coherent. But B89 has much better dialogue, a better villain plot, better action scenes, better production value, a better love interest and a tremendous score.

 

[DocLathropBrown]

Obviously, 89.

BB was a good trial run and has things which I wished were a part of B89, but overall, BATMAN is a sprawling, thrilling adventure that takes me back to my 70s/80s Bat back-issue reading youth. BB is cut and dry in it's approach, like the modern comics. Whereas B89 askes us to examine it and come to our own conclusions. I much prefur a movie that stimulates my brain instead of explaining everything to me.

I walk away from Batman Begins feeling satisfied. I walk away from BATMAN feeling thrilled and in awe of the character, and I can't wait to see the film again. For as much as Christopher Nolan succeeded, he overshot the mark a tad. If he reigns in the explanatory element for TDK, he'll have a much more thrilling, gotta-see-it-again blockbuster.

As a Batman fan, B89 is superior to me for the elements that Tim Burton brought to the table that Nolan didn't. Nolan brought realism, but Burton kept the mythic sensibilities of the character and focused on entertaining the fans, when BB worked on convincing us. Debateably, if BB was actually the first Batman film, and it was still by Nolan, it would have been more fantasy, less reality. Realistically, the overly-explanatory Begins only happened because it needed to expound on what the audience ALREADY knew from the previous films. It actually had to fill in the gaps that were leftover. If that hadn't been necessary, it wouldn't have been an explaination-driven film. When you restart continuity, you end up mopping up the leftovers.

BB is a fantastic film, but it is overrated because fans were miffed at Burton's lack of attention to the "getting to Batman" part. Had it not been a case of "ZOMG! Finally!" BB would be criticised a little more. B89 wins my choice for so many reasons, but I think primarily because it doesn't have to be mired down by outside factors, it didn't have to mop up anything except the camp image, and that would already be handled by just being serious anyway. BB is work, B89 is fun.

And that's my final word on this subject.

 

[Bruce_Wayne29]

Batman 89.

 

[Bat Attack]

For the 1,988,382,303rd time...Batman 89.

 

[Sun_Down]

Begins for me. It was more subtle, looked better and carried more emotional weight. Nolan did go a bit overboard with explaining everything and B89 is not without a certain noir charm that I wish Nolan could tap into, but Begins is a movie I want to watch over and over.

 

[Cyrusbales]

Begins for me. It was more subtle, looked better and carried more emotional weight. Nolan did go a bit overboard with explaining everything and B89 is not without a certain noir charm that I wish Nolan could tap into, but Begins is a movie I want to watch over and over.

Not sure about the subtle part, it was spoon feeding the story all the time. The whole point of BB was that it was not subtle.

 

[Sun_Down]

Not sure about the subtle part, it was spoon feeding the story all the time. The whole point of BB was that it was not subtle.

They explained Bruce's thought processes pretty clearly, but overall it was a much less over-the-top experience than B89.

 

[BubbaGump]

Well obviously there's going to be a bias in this thread seeing as it's in the Misc. Batman Films section.

 

[El Payaso]

Well obviously there's going to be a bias in this thread seeing as it's in the Misc. Batman Films section.

Is any Batman begins fan banned from this specific board?

 

[Sun_Down]

I'm not bashing BB, but anyone who needed an entire movie to explain step by step why and how Bruce became Batman, kind of lacks imagination and doesn't sound much of a fan to me.

That's less imaginative than just saying "Poof! Here's Batman! No questions, please"?