Batman

Batman. 1989 Warner Bros. Pictures.
Starring: Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger, Robert Wuhl, Jack Palance, Billy Dee Williams
Director: Tim Burton
A two-disc special edition of Batman is available from Amazon.

The biggest film of 1989, and it turned out to be quite a pop culture phenomenon. If you remember that summer, you probably remember seeing Batman-related merchandise almost everywhere. Batman holds the distinction of being the first movie (on VHS) that I ever owned, when I got it for Christmas that year.

There were some controversies about the movie before and after it came out, mostly pertaining to Tim Burton casting Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne-slash-Batman over some choices like Mel Gibson, Kevin Costner, Pierce Brosnan and yes, Bill Murray. Even Adam West publicly stated that he felt he would make a better choice. The other brouhaha was about whether or not Jack Nicholson's performance was a little too over the top (let's not mention the millions of dollars he made thanks to receiving a percentage of the movie's box office gross). It's a great performance for sure, but after the late Heath Ledger trumped Nicholson times infinity with his portrayal of the Joker in The Dark Knight last year, I really don't think Nicholson should be criticized for being "over the top". Besides, the character of the Joker is supposed to be like that.

Anyway, twenty years later, Batman still has legs, and it's still one of the best superhero movies ever made. Best of all, it didn't need to rely on heavy CGI like newer projects have done. Highly, highly recommended!