comment #1

DavidF says ...

It's a good sequence.

Superman Returns had a relatively austere opening credits, recalling the original Donner film, with the flying titles.

Dark Knight and Batman Begins didn't even have credits, did they? Just the swarming bats and a cold open?

Oh, and that link is messed up somewhere.

comment #2

Colin says ...

Entirely unrelated, but I never felt so betrayed as a child as when Batman & Robin came out. I was 8 years old first time I had seen a movie alone with my Dad feeling grownup and then having Schumacher drop that on me.

comment #3

Scott Mendelson says ...

I love it too, and it partially made me the film nut I am today, as well as a hardcore Batman obsessive (there's a reason my handle is JckNapier2). But, come what may, it's success was not an entirely positive thing for the industry at large. -
http://scottalanmendelson.blogspot.com/2009/06/june-23rd-1989-twenty-years-later-how.html

comment #4

Travis Crabtree says ...

I have a hard time getting past Danny Elfman's typically over-bearing score. "More cymbals!"

comment #5

BoshBarnetWonkyDonkey says ...

Danny Elfman was good back in the late '80s/early '90s. I think he peaked with Edward Scissorhands and The Nightmare Before Christmas, and it was all downhill after that.

comment #6

lazarus says ...

Colin, some of us felt betrayed when Burton's first Batman came out.

comment #7

/3rtfu11 says ...

Waiting for LexG to bash the Burton films for their matted widesreen format.

comment #8

/3rtfu11 says ...

*widescreen

comment #9

Rich S. says ...

Still love Burton's Batman. I like Batman Returns even more. They're not perfect representations of the character - I think he was best served in the Animated Series that came out after the first movie - but they're definitely unique. I like the whole Gothic thing, which Nolan flirted with in Batman Begins, but discarded for The Dark Night.

comment #10

Chase Kahn says ...

Danny Elfman's "Planet of the Apes" title/credits song is the only redeeming quality of that mess.

Plus I think it goes without saying that his "Spider-Man 2" work is terrific.

Opening credits are becoming more and more scarce -- after watching Tony Scott's "Taking of Pelham 123", I wouldn't necessarily loathe the idea.

comment #11

Rich S. says ...

By the way, good piece, Scott. But there are two things I remember from personal experience not in your article.

First, as you point out, the movie had unbelievable legs. It was only after Warner's announced the sell-through video that people stopped coming. In the theater where I worked, we routinely sold out weekend evening shows for at least a month and a half after the movie premiered. But once the video was announced, zip.

Second, Batman was one of the first movies in my experience to use multiple prints in a single multiplex. I think Indy 3 and Ghostbusters 2 did the same. Prior to that, we would occasionally interlock one print in two auditoriums to increase the total number of seats per show.

But then the studios and exhibitors figured out that if you had multiple prints, you could spread out the showings and increase the concession take. Instead of showing it to 600 people twice a night, you could show it to 300 people 4 times a night. It made a huge difference and led directly to the creation of the megaplex.

comment #12

Alboone says ...

Great memories. Yeah it's flawed, but nevertheless great memories. Till this day it stands as the best marketed movie of all time. If anyone was around in 1989 then they would know that you couldn't walk down the street without seeing the bat symbol somewhere. It was indeed a seminal pop cultural event.

comment #13

televisiontears says ...

I was six when I saw it in theaters, and I still vividly remember the enormous line pouring out of the theater and the gentleman a few spots back wearing what looked like Batman-logo print boxers.

Also, my parents needed to explain to me afterwards that Bruce Wayne was also Batman.

comment #14

Pelham123 says ...

One of the best moviegoing experiences I ever had was seeing "Batman" on opening day in Atlanta at Phipps Plaza. The crowd, in a packed to the rafters theater, was crazed with anticipation & wildly appreciative. The crowd almost gave the movie a standing ovation when they revealed the Batmobile. The place just exploded. A real pop culture event.

comment #15

shermy says ...

I remember the commercials that simply used the Bat symbol at the end (instead of a title). The logo was also included on the theater curtains at the premiere.

It's easy to take blockbusters for granted today, because just about anything can open huge. But Batman was truly an 'event' that went beyond the type of hype films are given today.

comment #16

markj says ...

That title sequence is beautiful, especially compared to the junk title sequences we get today. Sometimes less is more.

comment #17

Scott Mendelson says ...

I vaguely remember the multiple screens bit, but I couldn't remember if Batman was the first to do that. I do remember being shocked by the early video date, but obviously, being nine at the time, I don't remember how it affected the theatrical run. Thanks for the additional insight.

comment #18

JeffK says ...

Considering how much effort it takes to make any film, good or bad, I applaud a non busy opening credits sequence that pays respect those involved. It also helps convey that this was the first film Batman that wasn't just for the 10 and under crowd.

comment #19

Mark says ...

I will easily take Elfman's post Nightmare B4 Xmas "downhill". To Die For, Good Will Hunting, A Simple Plan, Civil Action, Standard Operating Procedure. He's not breaking any historic ground, but still a huge assett to each film.

comment #20

iamjoe says ...

It was the summer after sixth grade for me, and I remember peddling past the Main Theater on my paper route with a group of five people lined up in front of it at 1pm. That line grew and grew all day long, and by 7pm was thick and snaking around the entire building. People were so excited, and that great opening credits where no one was quite sure what we were watching until the reveal just tempered that excitement. BATMAN stayed on that screen for TWO months.

(Strangely felt like Robert Evans writing that. Fun.)

comment #21

Jeremy Fassler says ...

Batman is a fun movie, in spite of everything it has going against it. I've never been able to get through Batman Returns. On one hand, the German Expressionist influence is great, but everybody in the movie is overacting to high heaven.

Kevin Smith may have the best line about Batman in his DVD, An Evening With Kevin Smith. He quotes Tim Burton in an article as saying, "Anyone who knows me knows that I would never read a comic book," to which Smith replies, "Well, that explains Batman."

comment #22

Aladdin Sane says ...

I didn't see this one in theaters...my parents were a lot more conservative with us kids in the 80s (to their credit they eased up on my younger siblings as they matured and still mature). I remember watching it on VHS though, and man, it rocked my world. There are so many seminal moments in the film, that even though it isn't my favourite of the series (I like both of the Nolan films and Burton's own sequel much better), it holds a special place in my heart. I would have been 9 (possibly still 8) by the time I saw it in 1990 (I can't remember the exact day, so therefore, age discrepancies must be allowed). Either way, it definitely is one of the reasons that the Batman is my favourite superhero!

I'm going to watch it tonight. Yes sir!

comment #23

YRG says ...

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised how many young 'uns read H-E, considering it's on the internet and all.

I was 17 when Batman came out. I had grown up on comics and had been following the progress of the movie before release. When my friends and I heard that Keaton was going to be Batman we groaned. Hearing that Nicholson would be the joker almost made up for it, along with the trust we placed in Burton to do it well. Back then his style hadn't become ingrained. He was just coming off of Pee-wee and Beetle Juice.

Also, this was the first $50 million movie, back when $50 million was a lot of money. This was before Jim Carrey was making his name In Living Color and before Julia Roberts became Pretty Woman. Stars weren't making much money back then. But after Batman broke the $50 million barrier, the tide rose on everything else-- budgets, actors salaries, ticket prices... The only other movie I remember being aghast at the budget was Titanic, 8 years later, at $200 million.

I saw the movie at midnight the day before opening night with a bunch of friends who worked in the movie theater and were checking the print before the release. When the bat wing punched through the clouds to make the bat symbol in the night sky everyone cheered. Now it seems so quaint.

It's funny, though, for the longest time I measured my life as before Batman and after Batman, because the anticipation for the film seared those days into my permanent memory.

I hope they make Frank Miller's Dark Knight for the next reboot. It's too bad Eastwood made his last film. He'd make a good old Batman.

comment #24

YRG says ...

Also -- Guber and Peters were bigger than Bay and Bruckheimer. What happened?

comment #25

MrTribeca says ...

I remember going to a midnight preview of Batman back in '89. The audience went crazy at the first shot of Gotham City immediately after the credits. At the end of the film, the applause was notably muted.