Batman (film)

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Movie
German title Batman
Original title Batman
Batman the movie.svg
Country of production United Kingdom , United States
original language English
Publishing year 1989
length 121 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Tim Burton
script Sam Hamm ,
Warren Skaaren
production Peter Guber ,
Jon Peters
music Danny Elfman
camera Roger Pratt
cut Ray Lovejoy
occupation
synchronization

Batman is an Oscar-winning film adaptation of the Bob Kane comic strip of the same name and directed by Tim Burton that was released in 1989. Batman was one of the most successful films of that time and earned millions from merchandising alone . The film opened in German cinemas on October 26, 1989.

action

The metropolitan legend of a crime-fighting, human-sized bat seems to come true when reports from Gotham City street gangsters pile up and Police Chief Gordon even has a file opened. Journalist Alexander Knox and photographer Vicki Vale also believe the story and go in search of the winged avenger. At a fundraising ball, they encounter the host multimillionaire Bruce Wayne, who is the person behind the bat costume.

The new district attorney Harvey Dent promises the frightened population to bring the underworld boss Carl Grissom to the judge. Grissom suspects that his right-hand man Jack Napier is striving to succeed him and is already having an affair with his lover, the photo model Alicia. He lures Napier into the money laundering facility disguised as the AXIS chemical plant , where Napier has to defend himself against the approaching police under the direction of the corrupt lieutenant Eckhardt. There the gangster who shoots Eckhardt meets the legendary Batman . During their fight, Napier falls from a jetty into a vat full of acid.

Napier survives and undergoes cosmetic surgery, but it is performed under very primitive circumstances. Because of his bleached skin and his mouth twisted into a rigid, blood-red grin, he now calls himself Joker . First he quenches his thirst for revenge and kills Grissom. Some leaders of the criminal syndicate who do not approve of his claim to take Grissom's place at the top also have to die.

Wayne spends a night with Vale, but he doesn't want to be distracted by his mission as Batman, so that the development of their relationship comes to a standstill. Meanwhile, the Joker leads Vale astray: He invites her to come to the Gotham museum restaurant for dinner. Vale appears believing he was invited by Wayne. In his delusional taste in art, the Joker "improves" the precious paintings of old masters in the museum with acid and neon colors, after having previously incapacitated all the guests and employees of the museum with a gas. He also presents Vale Alicia, whose face he has burned with acid. This is his form of art and he wants the photographer Vale to document his work. Then Batman appears, saves her from the museum and, after a chase with Joker's allies, brings Vale to the Bath Cave, his headquarters. There Batman Vale gives a list of products that the Joker has poisoned. This adds toxic AXIS chemicals to various cosmetic products, which has already cost several lives. However, Batman was able to identify the harmful products and prevent worse things from happening through Vale's publication in the press.

Wayne decides to reveal his nocturnal identity to Vale. Before that happens, however, they are both surprised by the Joker in Vales apartment. Wayne recognizes in the Joker the murderer of his parents, who fell victim to a robbery in Napier in his childhood, and in that careless moment is apparently shot by the Joker. Wayne, who previously had a metal serving tray under his jacket, survives unharmed and disappears from the apartment unseen after the Joker has also left. Wayne sets out to avenge the death of his parents by killing the Joker. As a result, Vale visits Wayne, where she learns that he is behind Batman.

The Joker moves through Gotham City with a poison gas spraying parade in which he attracts the people by distributing money in order to lure his adversary. Batman can destroy Joker's AXIS factory and save the city one more time with his plane, the Batwing , but the Joker crashes the Batwing and kidnaps Vale into the cathedral's bell tower, where the final battle between Batman and the Joker comes. While the Joker dances provocatively with Vale in the spotlight of the police, who have since been notified, Batman is attacked by Joker's men. However, he can turn them all off and finally put the joker. With a targeted blow, he throws the villain over the parapet of the bell tower, but this was able to save himself on a ledge and also pulls Batman and Vale over the parapet. While the two desperately cling to the abyss, the Joker tries to bring them down with a laugh. In the end, he wants to flee by helicopter. But with the help of a grappling hook, Batman ties the Joker's foot to a stone statue. When the helicopter tries to get up, the statue comes loose and kills the Joker.

In the course of a press conference, Police Chief Gordon revealed the bat signal, which residents can use to call Batman. Meanwhile, Vale gets into Wayne's limo. His butler, Alfred Pennyworth, explains that Wayne would be coming a little later. With a smile, Vale looks up at the rooftops of the city. On one of the buildings stands a gloomy figure, whose robe blows in the wind like the wings of a bat.

Emergence

A first theatrical version of the Bob Kane comics with Bill Murray in the lead role failed in 1985 due to constant personnel changes. In the same year director Tim Burton made his breakthrough with Pee-Wee's crazy adventure and began to rework the existing Batman script. Burton's version, despite the enthusiasm of Warner Bros., was only given the green light after its second film, Beetlejuice, grossed over $ 150 million at the box office in the summer of 1988.

The casting of the main roles was a topic of the gossip press: Jack Nicholson hesitated until the last second before accepting the role of Joker . Tim Curry and Robin Williams were also considered for the role. After the resignation of Pierce Brosnan and Mel Gibson , Burton was able to enforce his favorite Beetlejuice actor Michael Keaton . The main female role was initially cast with Sean Young , who was so injured in a riding accident while preparing for the film that she had to be replaced by Kim Basinger at short notice . Star Wars hero Billy Dee Williams can be described as another loser : An exclusive contract with Warner Bros. assured him that his small role as Harvey Dent would grow into the following Batman return to the important villain and in Batman Forever to Batman adversary Two- Face should mutate. But Williams' dwindling popularity led the film studio to cut him off the contract and cast Christopher Walken (in Batman's return as Max Shreck ) and Tommy Lee Jones (in Batman Forever as Harvey Dent / Two Face ).

Under the direction of the producer team Guber / Peters ( Die Farbe Lila , Rain Man ), filming began in England in October 1988 after three years of preproduction , which included the Oscar- winning construction of Gotham City and five different scripts . After twelve weeks, the shoot was completed and a five - month post - production followed , which raised the cost of the film to $ 35 million. Prince was hired for the film music .

success

The release of the film was accompanied by an unprecedented multimedia advertising campaign. The merchandising concept, Prince's affair with actress Kim Basinger, and box office and video box office earnings rounded up revenue to $ 1.4 billion, making Batman a summer hit in 1989. Nicholson's stake earned him an estimated $ 60 million in salary a. Supported by the commercially successful single Batdance , the Prince album Batman was sold around seven million times worldwide and has been awarded gold and platinum status several times around the world.

synchronization

Dubbing company: Magma Synchron GmbH, Berlin.
Dialogue script and direction: Joachim Kunzendorf.

role actor Voice actor
Bruce Wayne / Batman Michael Keaton Joachim Tennstedt
Jack Napier / Joker Jack Nicholson Joachim Kerzel
Vicky Vale Kim Basinger Evelyn Marron
Alexander Knox Robert Wuhl Wolfgang Condrus
Commissioner James Gordon Pat Hingle Wolfgang Völz
Harvey Dent Billy Dee Williams Thomas Wolff
Alfred Pennyworth Michael Gough Friedrich Schoenfelder
Carl Grissom Jack Palance Harald Leipnitz
Alicia Hunt Jerry Hall Rebecca Völz
bob Tracey Walter Thomas Petruo
mayor Lee Wallace Karl-Ulrich Meves
Lt. Eckhardt William Hootkins Engelbert von Nordhausen

Sequels

The commercial success led to various sequels:

In addition, Warner Bros. initiated the production of an animated series that made use of the dark atmosphere and some of the music in the film. After the series, the rest of the DC Comics universe around them was also implemented as an animated version, creating the so-called DC Animated Universe (DCAU) franchise :

The Dark Knight trilogy , which followed from 2005 to 2012, was not a sequel to the previous films, as Warner Bros. confirmed that the newer films are a kind of "fresh start," a reboot . In terms of content, they are no longer related to the old films.

Awards

Reviews

“A TV series and, above all, a movie (...) had denatured Batman to a kindergarten hero in the sixties with all sorts of nonsense. This film recalls the dark aspects that have clung to the lone avenger since his first comic book appearance in 1939. In this perfect movie, Gotham City turns into a terrifying inferno, and the psychopathic joker is clearly a reflection of the vigilante hero. Only the ironic naivety of the portrayal dampens the underlying cynicism. "

- Dieter Krusche, Jürgen Labenski : Reclams Filmführer (10th edition, Reclam, Stuttgart 1996, p. 80)

Batman is a triumph of design over story, style over substance - a great-looking movie with a plot you can't care much about. All of the big moments in the movie are pounded home with ear-shattering sound effects and a jackhammer cutting style, but that just serves to underline the movie's problem, which is a curious lack of suspense and intrinsic interest.

Batman is the triumph of design over history, style over substance - a great looking film that doesn't get much into the plot. All of the big moments in the film are crushed by ear-shattering sound effects and jackhammer-style cuts, but that just underlines the film's problem, which lies in a strange lack of suspense and self-interest. "

- Roger Ebert : Chicago Sun-Times, June 23, 1989

“Batman, the popular cartoon character of the 1940s, as a naive hero in a dark universe ruled by crime and corruption. The fascination of evil proves - not least because of Jack Nicholson's dazzling diabolic joker - to be stronger than the power of good. "

“In 1989, director Tim Burton sparked Batman fever in cinemas with his dark, bizarre and spectacular scifi actioner. With a top-class star cast, he brought the experiences of the winged comic hero to the screen and broke all box office records at the time. "

“Elaborate, almost perfectly made Comcistrip film adaptation by Tim Burton (“ Beetlejuice ”) with Michael Keaton as the slightly neurotic Batman, Jack Nicholson as the genius-diabolical Joker and Kim Basinger as the blonde Vicky Vale. The impressive sets and special effects occasionally cover up the plot, but "Batman" still offers first-class action entertainment. The mega-hit from the USA became one of the most successful films of all time there and triggered a real "Batmania". "

- Kino.de

literature

Web links

Commons : Batman  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Batman (1989) Trivia: Jack Nicholson's Gage. In: Internet Movie Database. Retrieved March 15, 2019 .
  2. Batman in the German dubbing file
  3. DCAU series. In: DCAU Wiki. Retrieved March 15, 2019 .
  4. a b c Batman (1989) Awards. In: Internet Movie Database. Retrieved March 15, 2019 .
  5. ^ Roger Ebert: Batman Review. In: RogerEbert.com. June 23, 1989, accessed March 15, 2019 .
  6. Batman. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  7. Batman. In: Prisma.de. Retrieved March 15, 2019 .
  8. Batman. In: Kino.de. Retrieved March 15, 2019 .