Product Description
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4 Film Favorites: Batman Collection (4FF) (DVD) (WS)
Rev up the Batmobile! An Awesome Action Foursome. BATMAN - Batman
(Michael Keaton) vs. The Joker (Jack Nicholson) in the amazing
first extravaganza! With Kim Basinger. BATMAN RETURNS - The Bat
(Michael Keaton), the Cat (Michelle Pfeiffer), the Penguin (Danny
DeVito). And Christopher Walken, too! BATMAN FOREVER - Riddle me
this: The Dark Knight (Val Kilmer) bat-battles Two-Face (Tommy
Lee Jones) and the Riddler (Jim Carrey). With Nicole Kidman,
Chris O'Donnell. BATMAN & ROBIN - Will Mr. Freeze (Arnold
Schwarzenegger) put the world on ice? George Clooney wears the
hero's cape. Also with Chris O'Donnell, Uma Thurman, Alicia
Silverstone.
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Batman
Thanks to the ambitious vision of director Tim Burton, the
blockbuster hit of 1989 delivers the goods despite an
occasionally spotty script, giving the caped crusader a thorough
overhaul in keeping with the crime fighter's evolution in DC
Comics. Michael Keaton strikes just the right mood as the
brooding "Dark Knight" of Gotham City; Kim Basinger plays
Gotham's intrepid reporter Vicki Vale; and Jack Nicholson goes
wild as the maniacal and scene-stealing Joker, who plots a
takeover of the city with his lethal Smilex . Triumphant
O-winning production design by the late Anton Furst turns
Batman into a visual feast, and Burton brilliantly establishes a
darkly mythic approach to Batman's legacy. Danny Elfman's
now-classic score propels the action with bold, muscular verve.
--Jeff Shannon
Batman Returns
Tim Burton's sequel to his phenomenally successful 1989 "Batman"
doesn't try to top the first picture, either with splashier
special effects or with loftier pretensions to significance; nor
does it simply go through the motions, repeating the surefire
stuff with a self-satisfied air of professionalism. It's a blend
of playful novelty and reassuring familiarity-a difficult mixture
to get right. This time, the hero (again Michael Keaton) does
battle with a greedy businessman named Max Shreck (Christopher
Walken) and the roly-poly arch-criminal known as the Penguin
(Danny DeVito). And whenever Batman ventures out on one of his
nocturnal crime-fighting missions, he runs into a mysterious
woman who dresses like a cat and carries a whip. The hilariously
twisted relationship between the hero and the Catwoman (Michelle
Pfeiffer) plays like an apache dance in animal costumes, and it's
the glory of the movie. The cat clothes seem to release something
strange and wild in Pfeiffer: her performance is ferociously sexy
and uninhibitedly, over-the-top funny. As in the first movie,
Burton gives the material a luxurious ed-ball quality and a
sly contemporary wit without violating the myth's low, cheesy
comic-book origins. He's an artist who's comfortable with both
the higher aspirations and the lower instincts of his nature as
an entertainer: he and Batman are an ideal match.
Batman Forever
When Tim Burton and Michael Keaton announced that they'd had
enough of the Batman franchise, director Joel Schumacher stepped
in (with Burton as coproducer) to make this action-packed
extravaganza starring Val Kilmer as the caped crusader. Batman is
up against two of Gotham City's most colorful criminals, the
Riddler (a role tailor-made for funnyman Jim Carrey) and the
diabolical Two-Face (Tommy Lee Jones), who join forces to conquer
Gotham's population with a brain-draining device. Nicole Kidman
plays the seductive psychologist who wants to know what makes
Batman tick. Boasting a redesigned Batmobile and plenty of new
Bat hardware, Batman Forever also introduces Robin the Boy Wonder
(Chris O'Donnell) whose close alliance with Batman led more than
a few critics to ponder the series' erotic subtext. No matter
how you interpret it, Schumacher's take on the Batman legacy is
simultaneously amusing, lavishly epic, and prone to chronic
sensory overload. --Jeff Shannon
Batman & Robin
Following Val Kilmer's portrayal of the caped crusader in Batman
Forever, the fourth Batman feature stars George Clooney under the
pointy-eared cowl, with Chris O'Donnell returning as Robin the
Boy Wonder. This time the dynamic duo is up against the nefarious
Mr. Freeze (Arnold Schwarzenegger), who is bent on turning the
world into an iceberg, and the slyly seductive but highly toxic
Poison Ivy (Uma Thurman), who wants to eliminate all animal life
and turn the Earth into a gigantic greenhouse. Alicia Silverstone
lends a hand as Batgirl, and Elle McPherson plays the thankless
role of Batman/Bruce Wayne's fiancée. A sensory assault of
dazzling colors, senseless action, and lavish sets run amok, this
Batman & Robin offers an overdose of eye candy, but it is
strictly for devoted Bat-o-philes. --Jeff Shannon