Burton's Gotham

[Two-Face]

I watched Batman 89 & Returns last night somehow B89's Gotham seemed bigger than Returns one. Am I wrong about this?

 

[The Joker]

I noticed this, too. Most of the movie seems to center around Gotham Square. Even the rooftop views don't show much of Gotham as a sprawling metropolis.

 

[Travesty]

Yeah, I've noticed this for awhile now. Like Joker just said, it's centered around the square for the most part. Even places that were "away" form that area, always seemed to be in the same vicinity. B89, on the other hand, had more locations/landscapes that feel like different areas of the city, and not just one central hub.

I still love the Gotham from Returns, but it would have been THE best, if they switched it up a bit.

 

[akfj]

From what I remember, Batman 89's Gotham was filmed on outdoor sets, while Batman Returns' Gotham was mainly filmed on indoor sets.

 

[Two-Face]

Burton said they filmed Batman 89 at Pinewood studios in London, UK and Returns was filmed at WB's and Universal in LA, USA.

 

[Blitzkrieg Bop]

I don't like how the two Gothams look so different. It's like he moved to Metropolis in between the two movies (maybe that's what Batman actually returned to). I don't have a problem with a clean, sleek Gotham, I just want consistency.

 

[Travesty]

I don't like how the two Gothams look so different. It's like he moved to Metropolis in between the two movies (maybe that's what Batman actually returned to). I don't have a problem with a clean, sleek Gotham, I just want consistency.

That was never Burton's intentions. In fact, that's the only reason why he came back, was because they told him he could do whatever he wanted, and he didn't want to do Batman II.

 

[Blitzkrieg Bop]

A better title still could have been created.

 

[The Joker]

A better title still could have been created.

Batman Returns is much better than Batman 2, IMO.

 

[Two-Face]

A better title still could have been created.

Like what? Batman Returns suits the title just fine. Like Joker said it's better than calling it Batman 2. It's not a Spider-Man franchise anyway.

 

[Blitzkrieg Bop]

I like how Batman is the only superhero without numbered sequels, but he isn't actually returning to anything story wise. It's just a nonsense title.

 

[Two-Face]

No he isn't story wise but it's Batman returning from the first Batman. it's a sequel and batman doesn't need numbers we know it's the second movie.

 

[The Sarge]

The big difference in Gothams appearance is because the production designer of the first film committed suicide in 1991.

 

[Doc Ock]

I really liked both Gotham's but I liked Returns Gotham more because of all the snow!

 

[maenalus]

From what I remember, Batman 89's Gotham was filmed on outdoor sets, while Batman Returns' Gotham was mainly filmed on indoor sets.

Yep, '89 was filmed on a bigger outdoors set in England, while Returns was filmed inside an L.A. studio.

 

[union_jak]

In Batman we saw the skyscrapers of the business sector, the cathedral and police department and the Axis Chemical plant. We also saw the newspaper office, the art museum, the movie theatre and the seedy area with prostitutes and homeless men.

This was a broad representation of Gotham as a dirty, struggling city, with the best and the worst in full view.

In Batman Returns we saw a very claustrophobic representation, not contradictory, just alternative.

We saw Gotham Plaza mostly; the Shreck department store featured heavily, with the small independant shops around it and the Mayor's office at the end. We also saw Robinson Park, leading on to the abandoned zoo, and the sewers beneath the city. The rooftop moments, and the car chases, all take place in and around the Plaza.

Returns' Gotham doesn't have to be considered as a reimagining, just as a cross-section of one location within the city.

You could even argue that the Schumacher Gotham, within the story of the movies, developed from a 30s/40 style city into a futuristic one as a boast of its advances with power and rebellion against Max Shreck's plans to suck energy with his proposed power plant. He failed, and the city invested in modernisation. It could also be said that his power plant was built, but altered by the Riddler into that power station as seen in Batman Forever.

 

[ALP]

I like the Gotham of '89 but I feel some parts of it don't look as good as in it hasn't aged well. Batman Returns looks more timeless- always loved the winter Gotham.

 

[Kevin Roegele]

No he isn't story wise but it's Batman returning from the first Batman. it's a sequel and batman doesn't need numbers we know it's the second movie.

Batman Returns is my favourite superhero movie title. It just sounds impressive.

 

[eledoremassis02]

This is one of best Gotham shots, I think.

 

[ALP]

Brilliant shot. Besides the Cobblepots with the carriage, a few trees behind them, and the snow around them, that is all a matte painting.

 

[LightningFlash]

I have a gut feeling that we'll be seeing a Gothic seeting in the next Batman franchise...

 

[ALP]

Not necessarily. Going a very realistic way has proved to be a massive success both financially and critically. I'd love a gothic setting, but would not at all be surprised if WB hires a filmmaker who will retain a real-life aesthetic.

 

[Two-Face]

That's a beautiful sho of Burton's BR Gotham but I like B89 Gotham more. I wonder how Arkham Asylum looked liked in Burton era.

 

[Macphisto]

Sam Hamm nailed Gotham in the opening of his Batman '89 screenplay:

FADE IN:

EXT. CITYSCAPE - NIGHT

The place is Gotham City. The time, 1987 -- once removed.

The city of Tomorrow: stark angles, creeping shadows,
dense, crowded, airless, a random tangle of steel and
concrete, self-generating, almost subterranean in its
aspect... as if hell had erupted through the sidewalks and
kept on growing. A dangling fat moon shines overhead, ready
to burst.

EXT. CATHEDRAL - NIGHT

Amid the chrome and glass sits a dark and ornate Gothic
anomaly: old City Cathedral, once grand, now abandoned --
long since boarded up and scheduled for demolition.

On the rooftop far above us, STONE GARGOYLES gaze down from
their shadowy, windswept perches, keeping monstrous watch
over the distant streets below, sightless guardians of the
Gotham night.

One of them is moving.

EXT. GOTHAM SQUARE - NIGHT

The pulsing heart of downtown Gotham, a neon nightmare of
big-city corruption, almost surreal in its oppressiveness.
Hookers wave to drug dealers. Street hustlers slap high-
fives with three-card monte dealers. They all seem to know
each other...

 

[LightningFlash]

Not necessarily. Going a very realistic way has proved to be a massive success both financially and critically. I'd love a gothic setting, but would not at all be surprised if WB hires a filmmaker who will retain a real-life aesthetic.

Or WB could easily hire a director that wants to go back to the original scenery of Burton's films. I wouldn't mind that at all, really. I would actually think it would be nice, as if we get that look, then we will lose the realistic views and get Mr. Freeze done the right way.