Batman Forever The Official Batman Forever Thread - Part 2

[The Caped Knight]

Gotta say I'm glad the focus is on Batman and not The Riddler for the promotional material like it was for the film release.

 

[TheGuy]

BF isn't as bad as I thought it was. Kilmer, while still wooden, is not unlikable. Carry and Jones are goofy in a good way and not irritating.

 

[Kane52630]

I still think the movie has a problem with its own identity, it doesn't know what it wants to be. At least with Batman & Robin, it knows it's full on camp.

 

[TheGuy]

I still think the movie has a problem with its own identity, it doesn't know what it wants to be. At least with Batman & Robin, it knows it's full on camp.

Yeah. The deleted scenes could have made this a better movie. Schumacher tried to delve into Bruce's psychology but it is lacking. Overall, I like this better now than BR.

 

[Kane52630]

I couldn't go that far... I still place BR over B89, Forever, and (shockingly) B&R.... with Forever being last.

 

[TheGuy]

I get that sentiment. My previous ranking actually is similar to yours, just switch BR with B89. Now having seen B89, BR and BF with B&R left to go, looks like I'll be changing #2-4.

 

[Langstrom Karlo]

BF isn't as bad as I thought it was. Kilmer, while still wooden, is not unlikable. Carry and Jones are goofy in a good way and not irritating.

His Bruce Wayne is wooden for sure, however his Batman I think is the closest (aside from Bartram) that we’ve seen in live action, to what the character should be. The voice was pretty spot on, the stern and somewhat grumpy taskmaster was definitely there. Carrey was just being himself and that’s either a bad or good thing depending on which side of the spectrum you are. Given that this movie was purposely being silly, then I could deal with his (to quote Jones) “Buffoonery”. However Jones on the other hand (terrific actor) was abysmal. It looked like he half assed the whole thing, and copy and pasted Nicholson’s Joker. Overall though, I enjoy this movie a lot, it’s campy but it’s fun and not too over the top with ridiculousness. They still try to have a story and I actually enjoy it more than Returns.

 

[TheGuy]

His Bruce Wayne is wooden for sure, however his Batman I think is the closest (aside from Bartram) that we’ve seen in live action, to what the character should be. The voice was pretty spot on, the stern and somewhat grumpy taskmaster was definitely there. Carrey was just being himself and that’s either a bad or good thing depending on which side of the spectrum you are. Given that this movie was purposely being silly, then I could deal with his (to quote Jones) “Buffoonery”. However Jones on the other hand (terrific actor) was abysmal. It looked like he half assed the whole thing, and copy and pasted Nicholson’s Joker. Overall though, I enjoy this movie a lot, it’s campy but it’s fun and not too over the top with ridiculousness. They still try to have a story and I actually enjoy it more than Returns.

Aside from your opinion on Jones we are in agreement.

 

[-JKR-]

Couldn't disagree more.
"Batman Forever" kinda works as a mid-1990s over-the-top superhero extravaganza. It has some interesting elements and I like the cast, but I don't agree that this Batman is the most Batman-like. Kilmer does a good job, but the way he's written he's nothing more than an action figure (and by action figure I mean 'plastic toys'!). I like the production design, the visual effects and its "MTV touch," but in the end it doesn't really work as it should or it thinks it does and ends up being pretty mediocre. I'm fascinated by some of its elements, but don't think it's a good movie.
It's better than "Batman & Robin," but doesn't hold a candle to Tim Burton's previous installments. "Batman Returns" is a true gem, by the way.

P.S.: Nicole Kidman is HAAAWWWT in this!

 

[StarLord]

This will always have a special place in my heart. First Batman movie I was old enough to see at the cinema.

 

[TheGuy]

 

[Tvar10]

I was 7 when this came out so it was the first Batman i saw on the big screen. Its one of my favorite childhood memories. I remember going to KB Toys and Toy Works and collecting the figures. Sure this movie is flawed and campy but but it will always be special to me. Plus Kilmer is really underrated

 

[Milk Tray Guy]

Plus Kilmer is really underrated

Absolutely agree with this. I thought he was a great Batman. And no-one has ever looked better in the suit!

 

[Herofan]

I think BF and B&R should be seen and evaluated pretty separately. BF, while with a lot of goofiness and cartooniness, also had some serious elements and overall felt pretty sincere and affectionate, having fun with the comics/cartooniness, while B&R was much more like outright disdainful mocking of the comics and almost only doing that.

It is pretty unfair that he both derides the Burton films for changing (supposedly) key aspects from the comics and, speaking for the fans overall, the Schumacher films for being too much like the old comics (and also applauds the Raimi Spider-Man films for being faithful to the comics though they were also from the old/Silver Age era). Well that does highlight that faithfulness to comics is really strange when in the comics there have been multiple versions so faithfulness really doesn't actually equate to quality (sincerity probably is a necessary element but that's not necessarily at odds with theatricality).

 

[Pfeiffer-Pfan]

A real shame to hear how difficult Kilmer was on the set. Sounds like a bit of a nightmare overall.

 

[Milk Tray Guy]

I think BF and B&R should be seen and evaluated pretty separately. BF, while with a lot of goofiness and cartooniness, also had some serious elements and overall felt pretty sincere and affectionate, having fun with the comics/cartooniness, while B&R was much more like outright disdainful mocking of the comics and almost only doing that.

Absolutely. With Batman Forever I think the baby gets thrown out with the bathwater. BF isn't perfect but it has some great parts. Kilmer looked fantastic in the suit, and made a great Batman and Bruce Wayne (Keaton and Affleck are the only other live-action actors who've pulled that off, for me). There's also some really interesting stuff that was unfortunately cut from the film. It was a massive success commercially, and I came out of the cinema very happy after seeing it. I also saw Batman & Robin in the cinema - and regretted every penny I'd spent. I came out loathing that film, and I still do. I'm happy I own Batman Forever. I will never own Batman & Robin.

 

[Frodo]

Alot of fanboys and fandom of today really don't appreciate how popular BF was with the GA in the summer of 1995 and going into 1996. The popularity of it was the closet to what happened with B89 in terms of being an event.

It wasn't this reviled thing at that time that fandom today makes it out to be. Jim Carrey had another huge hit on his belt, it helped Nicole Kidman because it was her first really big hit film, and it made Chris O'Donnell a house hold name.

The film also had one of the best songs of the decade Kiss From a rose on its soundtrack , which the soundtrack itself was a hit. This is a time when film soundtracks were a major part of marketing blockbuster movies.The videos played on VH1 and MTV round the clock as had happened in 1989 with Prince's soundtrack.

It was also seen by the general audience at that time as a at least, to have the best balance between light and dark. In the US at least, this was the mid booming economy, optimistic, Clinton era, big action films 1990s. The general audience wasn't looking for The Dark Knight Rises at that point. They were looking for an entertaining action film which was close enough to Burton's 89. The mid to late 90s were a much lighter time than the two decades that followed.

Batman and Robin was rushed into production because Batman Forever was so popular. That's why there wasn't that 3 year gap that there had been with the other films, and that's also one of the reason's Kilmer didn't return for Batman and Robin. People forget, Schumacer was given credit for reviving a franchise which was thought to have been done after Batman Returns. That's why he was asked back.

It was Batman and Robin which made him infamous , and fanboys retroactively lumped both films together , when history shows , that the films were received very differently as far as the GA was concerned.

 

[Milk Tray Guy]

Alot of fanboys and fandom of today really don't appreciate how popular BF was with the GA in the summer of 1995 and going into 1996. The popularity of it was the closet to what happened with B89 in terms of being an event.

It wasn't this reviled thing at that time that fandom today makes it out to be. Jim Carrey had another huge hit on his belt, it helped Nicole Kidman because it was her first really big hit film, and it made Chris O'Donnell a house hold name.

The film also had one of the best songs of the decade Kiss From a rose on its soundtrack , which the soundtrack itself was a hit. This is a time when film soundtracks were a major part of marketing blockbuster movies.The videos played on VH1 and MTV round the clock as had happened in 1989 with Prince's soundtrack.

It was also seen by the general audience at that time as a at least, to have the best balance between light and dark. In the US at least, this was the mid booming economy, optimistic, Clinton era, big action films 1990s. The general audience wasn't looking for The Dark Knight Rises at that point. They were looking for an entertaining action film which was close enough to Burton's 89. The mid to late 90s were a much lighter time than the two decades that followed.

Batman and Robin was rushed into production because Batman Forever was so popular. That's why there wasn't that 3 year gap that there had been with the other films, and that's also one of the reason's Kilmer didn't return for Batman and Robin. People forget, Schumacer was given credit for reviving a franchise which was thought to have been done after Batman Returns. That's why he was asked back.

It was Batman and Robin which made him infamous , and fanboys retroactively lumped both films together , when history shows , that the films were received very differently as far as the GA was concerned.

Every. *******. Word.

 

[chintai80]

Alot of fanboys and fandom of today really don't appreciate how popular BF was with the GA in the summer of 1995 and going into 1996. The popularity of it was the closet to what happened with B89 in terms of being an event.

It wasn't this reviled thing at that time that fandom today makes it out to be. Jim Carrey had another huge hit on his belt, it helped Nicole Kidman because it was her first really big hit film, and it made Chris O'Donnell a house hold name.

The film also had one of the best songs of the decade Kiss From a rose on its soundtrack , which the soundtrack itself was a hit. This is a time when film soundtracks were a major part of marketing blockbuster movies.The videos played on VH1 and MTV round the clock as had happened in 1989 with Prince's soundtrack.

It was also seen by the general audience at that time as a at least, to have the best balance between light and dark. In the US at least, this was the mid booming economy, optimistic, Clinton era, big action films 1990s. The general audience wasn't looking for The Dark Knight Rises at that point. They were looking for an entertaining action film which was close enough to Burton's 89. The mid to late 90s were a much lighter time than the two decades that followed.

Batman and Robin was rushed into production because Batman Forever was so popular. That's why there wasn't that 3 year gap that there had been with the other films, and that's also one of the reason's Kilmer didn't return for Batman and Robin. People forget, Schumacer was given credit for reviving a franchise which was thought to have been done after Batman Returns. That's why he was asked back.

It was Batman and Robin which made him infamous , and fanboys retroactively lumped both films together , when history shows , that the films were received very differently as far as the GA was concerned.

after watching it in the theaters, 15 year old me did feel, at the time, it was the best batman movie yet.
looking back, the burton batman movies are definitely better, but BF still has many good things about it.

a fun tone but with the proper amount of serious moments to it.
the action.
and kilmer in the lead - he was the closest thing to the denny o'neil/ neal adams batman at the time.

 

[Frodo]

after watching it in the theaters, 15 year old me did feel, at the time, it was the best batman movie yet.
looking back, the burton batman movies are definitely better, but BF still has many good things about it.

a fun tone but with the proper amount of serious moments to it.
the action.
and kilmer in the lead - he was the closest thing to the denny o'neil/ neal adams batman at the time.

I was 16 when it came out, and it was the first cbm film I followed the development of. I went to a comic book convention in downtown LA in 94', where the producers of the film showed slides, concept art, and talked about the new cast and what the film would be. Some people in the audience groaned when they talked about Robin being in the film.Lol.

I loved it, when it came out, and my movie going experience was the closet to B89 . Kilmer's Batman reminded me of Conroy's a bit and had adventure and stunts which at the time seemed most like the comicbook and BTAS. At the theater ,they gave us a flyer with the BTAS pictures of Batman, Robin, Two Face, and Riddler.

That summer, I listened to the soundtrack back and forth ,and saw it a couple more times.

 

[chintai80]

I was 16 when it came out, and it was the first cbm film I followed the development of. I went to a comic book convention in downtown LA in 94', where the producers of the film showed slides, concept art, and talked about the new cast and what the film would be. Some people in the audience groaned when they talked about Robin being in the film.Lol.

I loved it, when it came out, and my movie going experience was the closet to B89 . Kilmer's Batman reminded me of Conroy's a bit and had adventure and stunts which at the time seemed most like the comicbook and BTAS. At the theater ,they gave us a flyer with the BTAS pictures of Batman, Robin, Two Face, and Riddler.

That summer, I listened to the soundtrack back and forth ,and saw it a couple more times.

I kept listening to the soundtrack too.

the way they modernized robin's story for the movie, feels cheesy now, but it was good at the time.
it's like ah he's almost college age - technically of the cusp of being an adult, makes more sense than him being a 12 yr old trained by batman. lol

 

[Frodo]

I kept listening to the soundtrack too.

the way they modernized robin's story for the movie, feels cheesy now, but it was good at the time.
it's like ah he's almost college age - technically of the cusp of being an adult, makes more sense than him being a 12 yr old trained by batman. lol

Yeah , it was awkward .Lol. Val's Bruce was more like an older Brother or mentor, then a Father Figure.

Even though I loved the film , even at the time, I thought that Bruce, Chase, and Dick all looked like they were in the same peer group and generation. It was a bit like watching Friends but with Batman characters.Lol.

Kidman is actually only a few years older than O'Donnell, and Kilmer is only 11 years older than O'Donnell. Batman Forever was very much a Gen X Batman film .

 

[TheGuy]

Prime Kidman.

 

[Dede]

I prefer forever to burtons films

 

[Tvar10]

has anyone ever seen the Red Book edition? I've been trying to track it down but its no where to be found