# Anyone else think Batman Returns was the best Batman movie? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 17, 2019, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-think-batman-returns-was-the-best-batman-movie/844989 "2019-12-17T15:56:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-think-batman-returns-was-the-best-batman-movie/844989/1 "2019-12-17T15:56:12Z")
So in 1992 they made **Batman Returns**. Tim Burton again directing and Michael Keaton returning as The Bat. To replace Jack from the first movie they brought in Danny DeVito as the Penguin and Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman. Added bonus we got Christopher Walken as Max Shreck. I know this part of the franchise went downhill fast after this movie, but I love the mix of action and comedy that Burton gave us. I feel like this movie was just pitch perfect but it doesn’t seem to get a lot of love, especially compared to the more modern movies like The Dark Knight. I don’t seem to be good with Christopher Nolan’s take. It was too dark and dragged towards the end for me. So what do you think was the best live-action Batman movie? I’m only listing the 8 where Batman was the primary hero. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-think-batman-returns-was-the-best-batman-movie/844989/2 "2019-12-17T16:07:40Z")
I enjoyed the 1966 version more than the rest. I was only 11 at the time, but the newer ones never did anything for me. There were Batman serials in the 40s. I saw one episode of one of those when I was about 5 years old. Hardly any memory of it though, I think there was something about the bad guys getting away in a car that changed color (black and white, other colors were still new and expensive in those days). ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-think-batman-returns-was-the-best-batman-movie/844989/3 "2019-12-17T16:34:16Z")
So I’m assuming we’re excluding 1966’s [Batman](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060153/) as being unfair to all the others? Realistically, the only real candidates for this are 1989’s Batman and 2008’s The Dark Knight. I enjoyed Batman in the theater more than I enjoyed The Dark Knight in the theater, but that’s probably more due to the fact that I was into comics a lot more then, and I didn’t go in with any real expectations - we hadn’t already had Batman Begins & a bunch of other well done comic book superhero movies over the past 10 years. Rewatching them both within the past few years, The Dark Knight is clearly the best. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-think-batman-returns-was-the-best-batman-movie/844989/4 "2019-12-17T16:36:32Z")
In answer to your query: no one here with me. But it is the best of the four related films. Though Devito went a bit too far with his Penguin. IMO. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-think-batman-returns-was-the-best-batman-movie/844989/5 "2019-12-17T16:39:47Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > So I’m assuming we’re excluding 1966’s [Batman](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060153/) as being unfair to all the others? > > … First entry in the poll actually. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-think-batman-returns-was-the-best-batman-movie/844989/6 "2019-12-17T16:45:11Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > First entry in the poll actually. :smack: My apologies. I guess since it wasn’t mentioned in the OP itself, which did mention the Burton/Schumacher & Nolan movies, I assumed it wasn’t in the poll. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-think-batman-returns-was-the-best-batman-movie/844989/7 "2019-12-17T16:53:23Z")
Heh, I’m not the only one here who came in to talk about Batman 66. That movie has the best of Batman - all of the rogues, the colorful costumes, the cool gadgets. Yep, it’s campy but it’s fun. No mention of Batman: Mask of the Phantasm here either. That is a great Batman movie and Kevin Conroy is possibly the greatest Batman voice in the history of Batman voices. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-think-batman-returns-was-the-best-batman-movie/844989/8 "2019-12-17T16:57:41Z")
Batman Forever was my favorite. It was truly a fun popcorn movie. I didn’t care for Batman Returns, too dark and too bloated of a film. The Dark Knight films are just too associated with bad times for me. They were excellent films, I just don’t see myself watching them again anytime soon. Much rather see the Maguire Spider-Man films. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-think-batman-returns-was-the-best-batman-movie/844989/9 "2019-12-17T17:11:07Z")
Of that series, _Batman Returns_ was the superior film, but _The Dark Knight_ topped it. _Batman: The Movie_ (1966) was legitimately hilarious, though. I laughed my ass off at Batman running around the dock with that bomb. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-think-batman-returns-was-the-best-batman-movie/844989/10 "2019-12-17T17:13:04Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > Batman Forever was my favorite. It was truly a fun popcorn movie. Batman & Robin was terrible, but Batman Forever was some great campy fun. \*Robin: Holey rusted metal, Batman! Batman: Huh? Robin: The ground, it’s all metal. It’s full of holes. You know, holey. Batman: Oh. \* ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-think-batman-returns-was-the-best-batman-movie/844989/11 "2019-12-17T17:13:07Z")
I voted for The Dark Knight but I think I’d rather watch Batman Returns than any of the other Burton/Schumacher films. Can you believe they made Happy Meal toys for such a dark movie? I do love Batman Forever’s soundtrack, though. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-think-batman-returns-was-the-best-batman-movie/844989/12 "2019-12-17T17:17:30Z")
**Returns** is my favorite of the lot: Keaton is perfect, Pfeiffer is perfect, Walken is perfect, and, okay, if you’re not really a fan of Tim Burton’s brand of weirdness, then I get why those three performances have to make up for the rest of it; but if you _like_ Burton’s stuff, if it’s icing on the cake, then it’s a _heck_ of a cake. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-think-batman-returns-was-the-best-batman-movie/844989/13 "2019-12-17T17:59:35Z")
Mask of the Phantasm is my favorite (and the best) Batman movie. The implementation of Batman in BvS and Justice League is the best live action Batman (don’t @ me :)) He looks and moves the way Batman would in those movies (the movies themselves have their own issues but I like them both especially JL) . ---
**Author:** ![Licentious\_Ectomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5e9695/32.png) [@Licentious\_Ectomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Licentious_Ectomorph)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-think-batman-returns-was-the-best-batman-movie/844989/14 "2019-12-17T18:08:51Z")
I voted for\* Batman & Robin\*. Not because it’s a good movie, but because - Og forgive me - it’s the one I most enjoy watching. The Christopher Nolan films are great filmmaking. And they’re the truest to the spirit of what Batman is supposed to be. But _Batman & Robin_ is just so gosh-darn fun. Campy and candy-colored and ridiculous and visually engaging and so bad it’s good. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-think-batman-returns-was-the-best-batman-movie/844989/15 "2019-12-17T18:46:16Z")
I haven’t seen many of those movies recently enough to judge between them, and there’s one or two I haven’t seen at all. But I will say this: I remember that, when I saw _Batman Returns_ (on TV), I had low expectations, and I ended up liking it more than I thought I would, though I still didn’t think it was a _great_ movie. I’ve gotten more enjoyment from the 1966 Adam West _Batman_ than any of the others, because i was a kid when I watched it. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-think-batman-returns-was-the-best-batman-movie/844989/16 "2019-12-17T20:05:14Z")
There is a fan theory that Batman Forever and Batman & Robin are movies about Batman made in a universe where Batman is real. ---
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-think-batman-returns-was-the-best-batman-movie/844989/17 "2019-12-17T20:24:03Z")
Batman (1989). Super hero films work best in a more cartoony world, and I think this one hits the mark best of all. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-think-batman-returns-was-the-best-batman-movie/844989/18 "2019-12-17T22:51:28Z")
_Returns_ is my fave by far. The only one I’ve watched multiple times. (And I stopped watching these after that Ledger/Joker debacle.) One key thing: there were 3 Big Bads, but each was different. Penguin the classic comic book anti-super. Catwoman was inbetween worlds. Schreck the non-super bad guy. So one (of many) problems with the following two movies was having 2 anti-supers. That doesn’t work. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-think-batman-returns-was-the-best-batman-movie/844989/19 "2019-12-17T23:22:16Z")
I liked Batman Returns, not sure if it’s my favorite. I will say when I was a little kid Danny Devito’s Penguin scared the shit out of me, really freaked me out when he bit that guy’s nose. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-think-batman-returns-was-the-best-batman-movie/844989/20 "2019-12-17T23:23:10Z")
Dark Knight was the perfect Batman movie and one of the best comic book movies. They had the restraint to not put the Joker in it that much. He is the most remembered thing in it, but he honestly doesn’t have that much screen time. Makes the movie. Tim Burton did a really good job on both of his Batman movies. Shame he has declined in quality. I did not see Dumbo, but I heard it was terrible. Many of his recent movies have been really bad. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-think-batman-returns-was-the-best-batman-movie/844989.md?page=2)