Batman

As a story of a super hero goes, this Batman did not cut it, and it is not as good as Tim Burton's Batman movies. However, as comedy and something off the wall, this one has the stuff to make it.

Spoiler - Wait till you see how Batman and Robin escape the torpedo that got through Batman's utility belt defenses.

Burgess Meredith, Caesar Romero turned in great performances as the villains Penquin and Joker, and Frank Gorshin's terrific crazy laugh as the Riddler was everpresent.

Lee Merriweather tookover for Julie Neumaur as the Catwoman and played catwoman well using her charms on Bruce Wayne.

For those of us that were young at the time, it worked out to be a good ending and a good experience.

Of course, the campy Batman series of the 60s only payed lip service to the comic books, which were rarely campy.

However, taken at its face value of a show aimed to be cool to kids and funny to their parents, it succeeded very well. Its the only show I can personally remember that aired two half hour episodes per week, always with a cliff hanger threatening Batman, or Robin, or both with a horrible death at the hands of a super villain's trap.

Batman became hip to top Hollywood stars to appear on, whether as a villain or as one of the endless cameos, which included notables of such stature as Frank Sinatra.

Of course, the show is nothing if not formulaic, so it will wear thin after a time. But until it does, its great fun!

1966 was, among many other things, the year of "Batman". This campy color TV series (very) loosely based on the classic comic strip, was originally planned for a fall debut. But the ABC network which commissioned the show, had already seen several of their new programs fail dismally in the ratings. Desperate for some promising new material. they gave "Batman" the green light, and it premiered in January. Thanks to it's 'hip' humor, an eye-popping kaleidoscope of bizarre color backgrounds and a cast of "guest villains" second to none: Julie Newmar, Cesar Romero, Anne Baxter, Burgess Meredith (the list goes on and on) the show was an immediate smash. Suddenly, America became "batty" and it's popularity was so great that stars scrambled for a chance to appear on the program. Along with its ratings, success came the brilliant merchandising campaign - everything from bubble gum cards and records to underwear and cereal. Inevitably, a movie was planned, supposedly either to introduce audiences to the show (which wasn't necessary after all, because the program was picked up first) or to sell the series overseas. It's main function, of course, was to cash in on the Batmania flooding the country while it was still hot. So, with a slightly bigger budget - mainly to accommodate the construction of the batboat and the batcopter, a feature version of the show was quickly filmed between the end of the first season and the beginning of the second. By the time of the movie's release in August 1966, however, the Batman craze had already begun to fade. The critics, for the most part, dismissed the film and audiences chose to ignore it. And, in recent years, there has been some speculation as to what happened. Although it has been written that Twentieth Century-Fox did little to inform the public that this was a project made exclusively for the big screen and not (as with "The Man from Uncle") a compilation of previously seen television episodes edited into a feature. In fact, the movie was promoted both in advertising materials (trailers, posters, etc) and magazine features as being "All New, Made Especially for the Giant Motion Picture Screen". It appears that the viewing public felt that it was probably just more of the same, figuring there was no point in paying to see what they got for free at home. So, despite mass bookings in every theater available, the film came and went. But, seen today, "Batman" holds up well, capturing perfectly what was one of the biggest fads to come along in the sixties.

Adam West and Burt Ward personify the clueless but virtuous Superheroes - always ready for a challenge, and, as usual, lionized by their puny police force led by Commissioner Gordon (Neil Hamilton) and Chief O'Hara (Stafford Repp). Alfred, alter-ego Bruce Wayne's faithful butler (Alan Napier) and Harriet Cooper (Madge Blake), aunt of Robin's alter ego Dick Grayson are on hand as well. The chief delight here though, are the four Supervillains - The Catwoman (Lee Meriwether, subbing for Julie Newmar), The Penguin (a rakish Burgess Meredith), The Joker (onetime Latin lover Cesar Romero) and The Riddler (a manic Frank Gorshin). The plot, the usual nonsense involving this crew's attempt at world domination, serves as a suitable background for sight gags and pratfalls galore. Meriwether and Meredith are the Villains with the most footage, each getting to disguise themselves during the course of the story. Posing as Russian reporter Miss Kitka, and sporting a commendably convincing accent, the incredibly lovely Meriwether is (understandably) successful in a scheme to lure Bruce Wayne into a kidnapping, hoping Batman will dash to the rescue! Meredith is not quite as able, in his guise as the villain's hostage Commodore Schmidlapp, though he does manage to get into the secret Batcave. And the plot thickens...West and Ward perform their chores with appropriately deadpan dispatch, but, as usual, the devils have the best parts, with Lee Meriwether offering a deliciously different interpretation of The Catwoman, and Burgess Meredith, who was born to play The Penguin, standing out. Batman is great fun both for younger viewers (who won't pick up on the intentional parody) and older ones (who will). "Holy time capsule!" Sevaral years ago, a wide screen DVD was released. It boasts an excellent transfer, Stereo sound and many extras, including a running commentary track with West and Ward, trailers, still galleries, and new featurettes about the film, and the Batmobile, with creator George Barris. A MUST for Batfans!

I seriously hope that the director intended this film to be a comedy and didn't want the audience to actually take Batman seriously, because after a few minutes of this film, all seriousness is thrown out the window.

When I was young, I used to watch the old Batman TV series, so I kind of knew what to expect, but it has been quite some time since I've seen any of those episodes. The film was far cheesier and sillier that I expected. With all that said, I actually liked the film. I didn't think it was an excellent film, but it was worth my time.

Adam West and Burt Ward are hilarious in this film. The way they say things just cracks me up. The cast of evil-doers are quite good and funny as well: Lee Meriwether, Cesar Romero, Burgess Meredith, and Frank Gorshin. The rest of the cast pulls off a good performance as well.

I don't know that I would recommend this film to everyone, but if you're a fan of superhero films or just like old campy movies, then this is the film for you. If you do see it, I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for reading,

-Chris

A wise man once said "The 60s Batman movie is the greatest ever." I should know, because I was that wise man.

OK, it might not be the greatest movie, but it is one of the awesomest movies ever. Only in 'Batman' could intelligent writers come up with some of the most illogical situations and cheesiest dialog committed to screen.

A Yacht disappears in Gotham Harbour ("How can a yacht simply disappear... unless, it was never really there!"). On board was a 'superdehydrator', a machine that can extract the moisture from any living being, and in of the most logical displays of logic ever, Batman and friends logically come to the (correct) conclusion that the culprits are the combined forces of Penguin, Joker, the Riddler and Catwoman, apparently intent on world domination.

'Batman is scene-after-scene of pure brilliance - great situations, and the greatest dialog ever. 'Batman' is very funny, but only if you appreciate and enjoy the style, otherwise you will hate it. But only those who lack a sense of awesomeness would not like it, and who is really so un-awesome, that they can't even find the captioned fights just that little bit amusing?

8/10 - Awesome, simply awesome