# What is the best Batman movie? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 30, 2013, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-batman-movie/648765 "2013-01-30T01:32:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2013, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-batman-movie/648765/1 "2013-01-30T01:32:48Z")
Asking for the best of the pre-Nolan films, the Nolan films, and the best overall ---
**Author:** ![Arkcon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Arkcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arkcon)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2013, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-batman-movie/648765/2 "2013-01-30T01:44:37Z")
I found them all entertaining, but _Batman Begins_ was a sweeping movie that told a good story, and told it well. I expected Jack Nicholson would make a good Joker, and I was excited, whoh, Billy Dee Williams will be Harvey Dent. And yes, Heath Ledger’s Joker was inspired. I really thought Jim Carrey nailed the Riddler persona. But as superhero birth stories go, Batman Begins was pretty tight. Face, we know the story, His parents were shot, he was scared of bats … but compare the story of _Batman Begins_ to the story in a few episodes of _Smallville_. Granted, they had to spread it out across several episodes, but there’s to me, something of a lack of focus in many superhero nascent films and shows. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2013, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-batman-movie/648765/3 "2013-01-30T01:45:31Z")
Oh, and please people, **No Ties!** (weak, lame, failure to commit) _smh_ ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2013, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-batman-movie/648765/4 "2013-01-30T01:47:00Z")
Got to be 1966. 1989 was _kinda_ okay, but the rest of them just took everything way too seriously. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2013, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-batman-movie/648765/5 "2013-01-30T01:48:57Z")
I voted for the 1989 Batman as the best of any of them. The Nolan movies are ambitious and often successful, but are (imho) all trying to do too much, and end up muddled. Sprawling and often pretty awesome, but not as satisfying as movies telling stories. Of them, Batman Begins tells the clearest story, but suffers from TERRIBLY frustrating camerawork and editing. The Dark Knight has Ledger’s stunning performance as the Joker, but not much else, and The Dark Knight Rises is just trying to be too many things. They’re all good movies, but I think the Burton/Keaton/Nicholson Batman, while less ambitious, is just a better made and more entertaining film. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2013, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-batman-movie/648765/6 "2013-01-30T02:16:08Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Got to be 1966. "Some days, you just can’t git rid of a bomb. " ---
**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:** [January 30, 2013, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-batman-movie/648765/7 "2013-01-30T03:36:17Z")
Shoot, I voted Dark Knight Rises. I meant Dark Knight. My bad. ---
**Author:** ![Beastly\_Rotter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@Beastly\_Rotter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beastly_Rotter)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2013, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-batman-movie/648765/8 "2013-01-30T04:00:42Z")
The short answer is Mask of The Phantasm, the early 90s animated version which manages to be more actually Batman than any of the live-action movies, including the sludgy and over-praised recent adaptaions. ---
**Author:** ![FordTaurusSHO94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f07891/32.png) [@FordTaurusSHO94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordTaurusSHO94)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2013, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-batman-movie/648765/9 "2013-01-30T04:47:14Z")
I put Forever as the best of the pre-Nolan films and Begins as the best overall. ---
**Author:** ![magnusblitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@magnusblitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magnusblitz)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2013, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-batman-movie/648765/10 "2013-01-30T05:15:46Z")
I think Batman Begins is the most solid film, whereas The Dark Knight has moments of greatness brought down with some bad pacing. The Dark Knight Rises has too many plot holes/moments of stupidity, Forever is corny, and it goes without saying Batman and Robin is a terrible film all around. I haven’t seen the 1989 Batman, but people speak of it and Batman Returns in similar ways, and Returns is really corny, so I can’t imagine the 1989 being much better. Also second **Beastly Rotter** ’s nomination of Mask of the Phantasm. Love that film. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2013, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-batman-movie/648765/11 "2013-01-30T06:21:41Z")
1989!!! “Hair so natural, only your undertaker will ever know.” ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2013, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-batman-movie/648765/12 "2013-01-30T06:47:02Z")
The one with Michael Keaton. I loved his… I’m Batman. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2013, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-batman-movie/648765/13 "2013-01-30T15:51:32Z")
I always thought the 1989 Batman movie was overrated. Nicholson was just playing a slightly crazier version of himself; the sets were unimpressive (I remember the movie getting accolades for being literally set in the dark - so what?); the Tim Burton directorial style has a certain inherent goofiness that meshed poorly with the Batman ethos; but most of all… The Joker shooting down the Bat-Plane with a regular gun with a long barrel was just idiotic. The only saving grace for the movie was Keaton. ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2013, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-batman-movie/648765/14 "2013-01-31T17:06:03Z")
Much as I like the gritty (relative) plausibility of the Nolan films, I’d have to go with the Burton Batman. Nicholson was perfect, and Keaton’s smug rich-boy is better counterpoint to the Batman than Bale’s (perhaps because American Psycho makes Bale’s rich-boy quite scary). And the bit where the newcasters appear all unkempt due to the cosmetics scare is hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2013, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-batman-movie/648765/15 "2013-01-31T17:17:58Z")
Possibly because they all feature the franchise name so prominently in the titles, I can’t sort out any of the Batman…series, and even the Dark Knight series are starting to run together in my mind. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2013, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-batman-movie/648765/16 "2013-01-31T17:55:40Z")
Heath Ledger’s Joker was the best part of the entire franchise. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2013, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-batman-movie/648765/17 "2013-01-31T18:37:55Z")
The character has done pretty well in film. The only actually bad batman movie was the one with Swartzanegger. Even the one with Adam West one was good for what it was. I haven’t seen all the animated movies, but the ones I have seen have all been pretty good as well. Hard to think of any other long-running character that has done as well.