Does it bother anyone that Batman's rubber cowls won't let him look over his shoulder

[Dr. Fate]

I was talking about this with a friend of mine, Erin, she pointed out that because the movie Batman costume has his cowls being made out of rubber they prevent him from looking over his shoulder, so he has to actually turn his whole body around to see something coming at him from different angles.

For example, in the 1989 Batman film where Batman's fighting the Joker's thugs in the alley, and he has to turn his whole body around when facing the guy with the swords as opposed to just looking over his shoulder. Okay, that's probably not the best example. Towards the end, after he's blown up the chemical factor and the Joker flies by in his helicopter and shines the light on Batman, and Batman has to turn all the way around, or when he's in the bell tower where he turns all the way around after hearing the Joker's maniacal laugh.

Okay, those examples suck, but let me know what you think.

 

[thechubbysaint]

It has gotten better through the years. The latest one being the most flexible and light weight.

 

[Two-Face]

Yeah it did bother me a lot, like you said the actor has to turn his body to see his left or right.

 

[SHF]

Just goes to show you they didnt really think about the way Batman fights otherwise they would have known his heads needs to turn in every direction to face his enemies.

 

[Bat Attack]

It used to bother me, but not so much anymore.

 

[Proximo]

The main reason that he cant turn his head is because the neck is quite thick.
And secondly, all the movie cowls from '89 to B&R was bolted down on the chest whit the emblem.
IN begins the cowl is bolted together whit cape clips through the cowl, and through the chest.. like the sonar.

To be able to move his neck, the whole neck and shoulders of the cowl have to move around, And only way to do that is dont bolt the cowl into the chest armor,and that would look even more stupid then the whole body turn IMO.

 

[El Payaso]

I was talking about this with a friend of mine, Erin, she pointed out that because the movie Batman costume has his cowls being made out of rubber they prevent him from looking over his shoulder, so he has to actually turn his whole body around to see something coming at him from different angles.

For example, in the 1989 Batman film where Batman's fighting the Joker's thugs in the alley, and he has to turn his whole body around when facing the guy with the swords as opposed to just looking over his shoulder. Okay, that's probably not the best example. Towards the end, after he's blown up the chemical factor and the Joker flies by in his helicopter and shines the light on Batman, and Batman has to turn all the way around, or when he's in the bell tower where he turns all the way around after hearing the Joker's maniacal laugh.

I never even noticed until I started to read some people saying so.

And for what you say that "he has to turn his whole body around when facing the guy with the swords as opposed to just looking over his shoulder." and "Batman has to turn all the way around, or when he's in the bell tower where he turns all the way around after hearing the Joker's maniacal laugh." I dunno. To fight some real dangerous henchman or to face someone so dangerous as the Joker I don't know a better move than to turn your whole body towards them , not just the head. If you just turn the head you give the opponent the whole advantage.

 

[Jack Napier]

The rubber cowl couldn't stop Keaton from playing the best Batman.

There's one part in the Axis Chemical plant where he looks around before throwing a smoke bomb on the ground and ascending. I'm not sure if that's how the suit prohibits his turning, but Keaton still made it look cool.

 

[The Chairman]

It doesn't bother me at all really. I frankly never even gave it any
thought until it was brought up in these forums.

 

[jusblaze21]

Not really. But it would be a lot better for the action scences if he had more movement.

 

[CConn]

I never noticed it until I joined here, so obviously it doesn't "bother" me.

Of course, you could argue that lack of moment limited what they could choreograph for fight scenes, and I guess that sucks a bit, but I'm happy enough as is.

 

[BatScot]

Yes.

 

[BatScot]

To be able to move his neck, the whole neck and shoulders of the cowl have to move around, And only way to do that is dont bolt the cowl into the chest armor,and that would look even more stupid then the whole body turn IMO.

True... at least for rubber; had they tried something other than rubber, even if only for the neck, some of these limitations might have been resolved.

 

[ZER0C00L]

sheeps have knecks and always look back sheeps are losers, sharks dont look back cause sharks dont have knecks.

 

[ChrisBaleBatman]

Yeah, Batscot- but after watching the SE features.....I dunno, it looks like rubber was the best way to go, short of tights atleast.

Honestly, no sarcasm at all.......well......maybe just a little, the neck thing didn't bother me so much. He didn't do the turn that much anyway, and when he did it....it seemed to have a dramatic effect. I had more problems with how slow he appeared, and how he just seemed to just stand all the time. The lurking, and sort of slippery style is Batman's style......Keaton was a ****ing tank though, so I guess he didn't need to move alot anyway.

 

[Clouseau]

personally, i've always been a big fan of the "Bat-turn"... like CBB said, it had a sort of dramatic effect...

my other thought is that having to turn like that sort of emphasizes his character... that is, he has to be sure of himself when he moves, which intensifies the whole "fearless, serious, battle-ready" image superheroes were originally born with...

i like the fact that the newer costume allows Batman to fight more freely, but i miss that sense of self-assuredness, if that makes sense...

 

[El Payaso]

personally, i've always been a big fan of the "Bat-turn"... like CBB said, it had a sort of dramatic effect...

my other thought is that having to turn like that sort of emphasizes his character... that is, he has to be sure of himself when he moves, which intensifies the whole "fearless, serious, battle-ready" image superheroes were originally born with...

i like the fact that the newer costume allows Batman to fight more freely, but i miss that sense of self-assuredness, if that makes sense...

Totally agree. I loved the way he did it when Is aw it for the first time.

That and your nickname makes you a cool guy.

 

[BatScot]

i miss that sense of self-assuredness, if that makes sense...

Not really... but let me put to you a different way; if all the cowls—Keaton thru Bale—had allowed for a full and free range of motion, would anyone ever had said: "If only the cowl was less flexible so Batman could turn more dramatically"?

 

[Galactical]

The best cowl for head turning was the one from Batman dead-end.

So use something like that in begins 2, nolan.

Anyway, it never bothered me. I hardly ever turn my head because my neck starts to hurt after a while so it never came up as an issue until I came here like others have said. It's noticably a problem due to the costume's design, yep, does it bother me? nope. Do I want a batman who can turn his head though? Yep.

 

[Clouseau]

Not really... but let me put to you a different way; if all the cowls—Keaton thru Bale—had allowed for a full and free range of motion, would anyone ever had said: "If only the cowl was less flexible so Batman could turn more dramatically"?

granted, but i still haven't heard that many people complaining, either, with the exception of here, so i would suppose it's just not that big of an issue to the general public, and like i said, i just have grown to like it the way it is for the effect it produces...

 

[BatScot]

granted, but i still haven't heard that many people complaining, either, with the exception of here, so i would suppose it's just not that big of an issue to the general public, and like i said, i just have grown to like it the way it is for the effect it produces...

Then again, the question was not "does it bother that many", it was "does it bother anyone"... and I just happen to be one of the more exceptional exceptions

 

[kooguy911]

thats one of the things i was ahppy about in begins for the costume

he was able to turn his head

 

[TheGrayGhost]

Yeah, it bothers me. It doesn't look right.

 

[El Payaso]

thats one of the things i was ahppy about in begins for the costume

he was able to turn his head

please, where.

 

[gotham_ente]

Yeah, you should'nt have to turn your whole body, but that was due to the fact that when keaton's mask was made it was made with the technology at that time concerning latex-rubber, so it's not that the mask got better through the years, the different grades of latex-rubber has gotten better through the years. Like in Begins the latex was really a good grade actually it was rd-407 grade the same grade I use. Here's a link to a pic of the one I made using the same stuff. www.gotham-enterprise.com/gallery.html