BvS The Batsuit Thread - - - - Part 13

[ArmsHeldOut]

Smart money is we will see the suits right before filming so that the first image of the suits will be a photo shoot and not a grainy spy pic

When does filming officially start again?

 

[roach]

When does filming officially start again?

unknown...though we do know Ben will start in May

 

[TheNextNolan22]

Gal and Ben begin filming in May I believe.

 

[BattleAngel]

Eh.

I mean, it's a cool idea...sort of, but the actual visual isn't that cool. The suit still looks like the suit, and Bale just looks bewildered, standing around with his mouth open. Oh, and his head looks huge in that shot.

I'm always amused when people say "The DARK KNIGHT Batsuit looked great in the shadows".

Which translates to "It looked great when you could see less of it". Hardly a positive for the design.

I have to agree with all of this. The visual of that clip just doesn't strike me as cool - and I'm not kidding myself. There wasn't much iconic imagery of Batman in the series imo, and most of what there was was all in BB (I'm thinking the great shots of him with the radar-activated bats, the Demon Bat, the "swear to ME" scene, etc. all of which were incredibly great) - and Bale never sported the confidence and cool I associate with Batman. I'm sure a lot of that had to do with how uncomfortable the suit was to wear.

If there were cool shots of the TDK(r) suit, for me, it was when he was paired with some other high tech gadgets - the hong kong glider scene, the bat pod, or that EMP rifle he used briefly in Rises. Otherwise, I thought it was pretty atrocious in every shot. And for that matter, all that armor-implying complication in the design made it that much more forehead-slappingly annoying when he was taken down by a knife and small arms fire. If the poses or cinematography was more dramatic, maybe it would have looked better, but with the "natural" way the 2nd and 3rd films were shot, I just never saw the suit look cool.

 

[badgrammar]

Well I disagree.

For some reason, it became cool and hipsterish for others to hate on The Dark Knight trilogy. Because of that I'll take any rants or complaints of the whole trilogy as grain of salt.

 

[regwec]

I'm not exactly a hipster, not do I hate the trilogy. I have made the criticisms I make of it now since before TDK was released, however.

 

[BatLobster]

Eh.

I mean, it's a cool idea...sort of, but the actual visual isn't that cool. The suit still looks like the suit, and Bale just looks bewildered, standing around with his mouth open. Oh, and his head looks huge in that shot.

I'm always amused when people say "The DARK KNIGHT Batsuit looked great in the shadows".

Which translates to "It looked great when you could see less of it". Hardly a positive for the design.

Eh.

It's all opinion. I might've gone a little far saying that everyone thinks it's a cool shot, but I still do. The fact that it "looks like the suit" is not a negative to me. I just posted the gif because TheFlamingCoCo mentioned up the idea of Batman emerging from the shadows and into the light wearing a comics accurate costume.

My point was just that it's a cool visual, regardless of the suit. You disagree, fair enough.

And I don't think The Dark Knight suit just looked good in the shadows. I thought it looked great in the light too, like the City Hall battle. It looked formidable. In really liked the way it reflected light in the sewer battle too. So there's a bunch of lighting scenarios where I enjoyed the look, not just the shadows.

 

[regwec]

Do you have a shot of it looking formidable at the City Hall battle? Pics from that sequence are often used to demonstrate how ugly the suit was, but it's defenders usually tell us that what we're seeing are crude spy photos, and that it looked great in the movie. There seem to be no stills to give weight to that assertion, however.

 

[BatFan1979]

Well I disagree.

For some reason, it became cool and hipsterish for others to hate on The Dark Knight trilogy. Because of that I'll take any rants or complaints of the whole trilogy as grain of salt.

I dont think its "hipsterish" to not like, or even dislike, the Batman suit that were in the last two Nolan films. I think most people thought the BB suit was a nice change from the earlier films - minus the lack of head movement - but they changed it for the next two films for no reason IMO other than toy sales. Money, money, money...

 

[The Guard]

I have to agree that there just wasn't that much iconic imagery in Nolan's franchise, especially regarding the suit. Good cinematography? Yes. Iconic imagery? Not so much. There was some, much of it in BEGINS.

Here's a shot from THE DARK KNIGHT RISES.

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...JEM&ei=tIn1Uq7kFIOgyAHuwIG4Dg&ved=0CAIQsCUoAA

Pretty much the only time it looks good is when you can't see most of it.

 

[hafizbat]

Oh c'mon. We all want a more comic-accurate Batsuit, and Nolan's was a unique take on it which most people here didn't like, but I don't think it's fair to say Batman never looked epic in the trilogy. Puzzle suit or not, there were definitely great moments in the trilogy...I agree with the poster above that it seems to have suddenly become cool to hate on the TDK trilogy.

 

[hafizbat]

And before my post gets trashed for the suit not being visible in most of the shots, I am pointing out the iconic imagery, not the suit itself. There are plenty iconic Bat images in the TDK trilogy.

 

[Astro13Zombie]

I've hated the TDKT since the very beginning.

 

[hafizbat]

Why? Surely there must be some things you liked? None at all?

 

[The Guard]

Oh c'mon. We all want a more comic-accurate Batsuit, and Nolan's was a unique take on it which most people here didn't like, but I don't think it's fair to say Batman never looked epic in the trilogy. Puzzle suit or not, there were definitely great moments in the trilogy...I agree with the poster above that it seems to have suddenly become cool to hate on the TDK trilogy.

I don't think any of those are particularly interesting, or iconic. Maybe the hospital/rubble one. Maybe.

In a lot of them Batman is just sort of standing there, or the suit is just sort of stored in the vault. Without its cape, oddly enough.

 

[BatLobster]

@regwec There are more that I can't seem to find (like the one seen in SHH! poster georgec's avatar), but

Look, I don't mean to stoke the flames and I'm sure 10 posters after me are going to explain just why this looks like crap, but the shot of Batman standing poised on top of the city hall steps is one of my favorite Batman shots in any film.

And before my post gets trashed for the suit not being visible in most of the shots, I am pointing out the iconic imagery, not the suit itself. There are plenty iconic Bat images in the TDK trilogy.

I think that in particular, the silhouette shot of him standing above the rubble is iconic. And not in the sense of "aiming" to be iconic, it's just an iconic image in pop culture, along with The Joker hanging his head out the police car.

 

[hafizbat]

I don't think any of those are particularly interesting, or iconic.

In a lot of them Batman is just sort of standing there, or the suit is just sort of stored in the vault.

Iconic images of Batman usually have him standing somewhere, yes. It's the scene around it that makes it special...I'd like to see what you would call iconic?

 

[NoLaNitE007]

Oh c'mon. We all want a more comic-accurate Batsuit, and Nolan's was a unique take on it which most people here didn't like, but I don't think it's fair to say Batman never looked epic in the trilogy. Puzzle suit or not, there were definitely great moments in the trilogy...I agree with the poster above that it seems to have suddenly become cool to hate on the TDK trilogy.

Great shots and those are just a handful of fantastic shots throughout the Trilogy. I don't understand how it is now "cool" to hate on the TDKT? Huh?

 

[The Guard]

Iconic images of Batman usually have him standing somewhere, yes. It's the scene around it that makes it special...I'd like to see what you would call iconic?

Well, I'll give you a hint.

Things like a shot of Batman just randomly standing on three feet of rubble? Not so much.

Also, this?

http://seekersofthebat.com/wp-content/uploads/63-batman.jpg

That's iconic.

Notice how the visual is focused on BATMAN and not showing off the city around him, as opposed to that weensy little Batman in the middle of a panoramic Gotham from THE DARK KNIGHT RISES.

This?

http://i336.photobucket.com/albums/n338/COMICFILMEXPERT/BatsignalBatman_1989.jpg

This is iconic.

There's a particularly visual quality to an iconic image, not just a context.

 

[Astro13Zombie]

Why? Surely there must be some things you liked? None at all?

I guess I can't say I hate the entire trilogy.
I thought begins was alright.

Was just as excited for TDK as everybody else before it came out,but it just didn't work for me when I actually saw it.

Can barely make it through TDKR

Just not a fan of them really .

 

[BatLobster]

His posture, the composition, the way the cape flows...it's like the Begins teaser poster come to life only with an icier color palette. The context of the wreckage around him and the fact that he's standing atop Rachel's remains (technically) just adds to it. The shot feels like Batman. It communicates that operatic/tragic element of the character very well.

I guarantee if that shot had appeared in a Burton movie, some people here would be salivating over it.

There's more than one way to be iconic.

 

[hafizbat]

Well, I'll give you a hint.

Things like a shot of Batman just randomly standing on three feet of rubble? Not so much.

Also, this?

http://seekersofthebat.com/wp-content/uploads/63-batman.jpg

That's iconic.

Notice how the visual is focused on BATMAN and not showing off the city around him, as opposed to that weensy little Batman in the middle of a panoramic Gotham from THE DARK KNIGHT RISES.

This?

http://i336.photobucket.com/albums/n338/COMICFILMEXPERT/BatsignalBatman_1989.jpg

This is iconic.

There's a particularly visual quality to an inconic image, not just a context.

I guess we'll agree to disagree then. I personally don't think the size of Batman in an image matters, and the city around him always adds to the imagery, IMO.

His posture, the composition, the way the cape flows...it's like the Begins teaser poster come to life only with an icier color palette. The context of the wreckage around him and the fact that he's standing atop Rachel's remains (technically) just adds to it. The shot feels like Batman. It communicates that operatic/tragic element of the character very well.

I guarantee if that shot had appeared in a Burton movie, some people here would be salivating over it.

There's more than one way to be iconic.

Thanks for putting it in a better way than I could.

 

[BatLobster]

And just to further my point...IMO one of the most iconic shots in The Empire Strikes back is this:

Nothing too fancy about it. Just two guys holding lightsabers in silhouette. But it screams STAR WARS to me.

As does a very clear silouette shot of Batman (ears, cape) in dark/tragic surroundings.

 

[BattleAngel]

I literally hate this.

Sure, this is cool (and I listed a bunch of other shots from the series I think are pretty great)- but it is mostly cool because of the silhouette, which is incredibly hard to screw up.

Your shot from Star Wars, which I will agree is "iconic," is great. The difference is that the filmmaker invented those sillhouettes - the light saber, vader's helmet, etc.

When Nolan got Batman shots right, it wasn't because of anything inventive (except for the Demon Bat, holy crap that was cool and refreshing, where was that creativity throughout the rest of the series?) - it's mostly because he obscured some of the stuff that they invented (like the puzzle suit).

I mean, it's Batman. Batman is cool.

I don't think it's "cool" to hate on TDKT. I just have a LOT of problems with it - particular Batman's kill count given that he's a guy who isn't supposed to kill. Someone on here explained it somewhat decently by saying he refuses to be an "executioner," but that he's okay with causing fatal collateral damage. The "I don't have to save you" thing is ******** when you cause the situation that requires being saved. If you're in someone's house, and you blow it up, and some of the people inside, that you knew were inside, die... they didn't die because you didn't save them... they died because *you killed them.* When you use a rocket launcher to blow up a piece of highway in front of the person you are chasing, and that person breaks their neck after falling through the hole you just created, they didn't die because of gravity doing it's thing... they died because you caused that situation. We've been through it before, but Batman kills many, many people over the course of a trilogy that treats Harvey Dent as his only official kill. That's an unbelievably huge flaw, among other huge flaws. I was massively underwhelmed by BB when it was in theaters, and I was borderline offended at the time by how the series looked down its nose at "unrealistic" comic book movies (or iterations of Batman's universe), yet had tons of sci-fi. I'm not trying to look "cool" by pointing out the many, many flaws of TDKT. I'm just explaining why I don't think it was anywhere near as "cool" as it could be.

To bring this back to the topic of the suit - for all of the so called realism of the films, I'm still trying to figure out how the hell Bruce Wayne puts on ANY of the rubber bat suits. I have the same problem with the Burton/bat-nipple era suits. How can you get that thing on without a whole team of costume people?

It's a question I'm hope is answered in this new iteration with a more realistic, simple suit, and lots of images like the following, which are my definition of "epic."

But FWIW, and for balance, Nolan shot about 3 dozen or more iconic shots of the Joker which will probably live on for decades to come.

 

[The Guard]

His posture, the composition, the way the cape flows...it's like the Begins teaser poster come to life only with an icier color palette. The context of the wreckage around him and the fact that he's standing atop Rachel's remains (technically) just adds to it. The shot feels like Batman. It communicates that operatic/tragic element of the character very well.

I guarantee if that shot had appeared in a Burton movie, some people here would be salivating over it.

There's more than one way to be iconic.

It's a Batmanesque shot, but that doesn't make it, in itself, "Iconic".

I don't really consider that a good example of his cape flowing. It's one of the crappier examples of "billowing" in the trilogy, and you can barely see the cape in that shot anyway. It looks like he's wearing a small little stunt cape or something. I'm honestly not sure why it's even billowing. Surely there isn't that much wind that close to the ground in an enclosed space. Nevermind that the cape actually hanging down would be more appropriate for the moment.

I don't really see "standing on top of Rachel's remains" as an iconic concept. Nor is he standing on top of Rachel's remains, he's standing on the remains of the building Harvey Dent was in, which is why he kneels and finds Harvey's "scarred" coin a moment later.

Within the film, it's a nice moment. It is not, in itself, a particularly iconic image for the Batman character.

Had it been Batman, in that pose, on a rooftop overlooking the carnage...with a more impressive cape and general silhouette, that would be a bit more iconic. Batman standing on what looks like a three foot high pile of rubble...just because? Not so much.