Batman
Warner Bros. / 1989 / 126 Mins / Rated PG

MOVIE
Directed by Tim Burton, The 1989 remake of the Batman franchise is to me, the best of the movie remakes done on this comic book character. 

Burton has created a wonderful and gothic world which to me is the essence of the Batman character.

The movie stars Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne/Batman protector of Gotham City against the totally maniacal Joker (Jack Nicholson). The Joker is planning to kill everyone in Gotham City with a deadly gas and it's up to Batman to stop him. 

This a great movie and Nicholson plays the role with aplomb. Batman is a movie that has never been by it's ensuing sequels.
VIDEO
Although it's good to see this movie on our favorite movie format, I'm sad to say to say that it's not a great transfer. 

As this was released in the first batch of DVD's released by Warner Bros. in Australia it's easy to see that transfers have steadily progressed over time, which is to be expected of course.

The picture quality was slightly soft for most of the movie compared to some of the transfers today. Colors were also muted and could have been a lot better. 

There were some very minor MPEG artifacts present but there were no distracting. Film artifacts were constant throughout, it's a pity they didn't fix this area.

Batman is framed at 1:85:1 and is 16:9 enhanced.

This is a single-sided, single layer disc.
AUDIO

Originally released in a standard Dolby Stereo and 6 track optical mix, Batman has been remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1. While the sound is acceptable, it's not the best that it could have been. But is still a damn sight better than the audio present on my old VHS version.

The surround channels are used quite frequently but there was little use of dimensional effects which doesn't create the most effective sound field and thus the soundtrack is not as enveloping.

Dialog was sometimes hard to hear.

EXTRAS

There are no extras whatsoever apart from cast notes and production notes.

Subtitles: English, Arabic, Closed Captioned

FINAL THOUGHTS
Fun movie on a good disc. Well worth adding to the collection.
16:9 ENHANCEMENT DISC RATING

VIDEO:
AUDIO:
EXTRAS:

NONE
PLOT:
OVERALL:

REVIEW EQUIPMENT
Display: 48" Sony RPTV.
DVD Player: Panasonic A350 Player using S-Video Cables.
Receiver: Pioneer VSX-D508 Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround.
Speakers: Accusound speaker system.

Copyright © 2000 by [Roger Ward].
Revised: 15 Sep 2000 15:49:54 +1100 .

DVD INFORMATION
Region Coding: Region 4
No of Discs: 1
OFLC Rating PG
Running Time: 126 Mins
Case Type: Snapper Case
Release Date: 7/10/1998
Catalog Number: 12000
List Price: $29.95
Distributor: Warner Bros.
DISC SPECIFICATIONS
Disc Format: PAL
Disc Type: Label Only
Disc Format: SS-SL
Chapters: 31
Macrovision: Yes
Manufacturer: WAMO
VIDEO SPECIFICATIONS
Aspect Ratio: 1:85:1
Anamorphic: Yes
Film Format: 35mm
SOUND SPECIFICATIONS
Dolby Digital:

5.1 Surround
DTS: None
PCM Stereo: None
Other: None
Languages: English
Subtitles: Yes
SPECIAL FEATURES
Audio Commentary: None
Theatrical Trailer: None
Teaser Trailer: None
TV Spots: None
Dolby Trailer: None
Documentary: None
Cast & Crew Bios: None
Deleted Scenes: None
Music Videos: None
DVD Rom Content: None
Collectable Booklet: None
Scene Access: Yes
Animated Menus: None
Production Notes: Yes
PURCHASE THIS DISC ONLINE

INTERNET MOVIE DATABASE INFO
OFFICIAL WEB SITE
NONE
VIEW TRAILER
NONE