Starring: Christian Bale, Katie Holmes, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1 Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) Binding: HD DVD Format: Anamorphic, Color, Dolby, Subtitled, Widescreen Label: Warner Home Video Number of Items: 1 Release Date: October 10, 2006 Running Time: 140 minutes Theatrical Release Date: June 15, 2005
Product Description: Warner Brothers Batman Begins - HD-DVD The origins of the CapedCrusader of Gotham City are finally brought to the big screen in this new adaptation of the perennially popular comic-book series. The young Bruce Wayne (Gus Lewis) leads a privileged life as the sonof wealthy, philanthropist parents, both of whom stress their commitment to improving the lives of the citizens of crime-ridden Gotham City. After his mother and father are murdered by a mugger, however, Wayne grows into an impudent young man (Christian Bale), full of rage and bent on retribution until encouraged by his childhood sweetheart, Rachel Dawes (Katie Holmes), to search for answers beyond his own personal vendettas. Wayne eventually finds discipline in the Far East under the tutelage of Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson), a member of the mysterious League of Shadows who guides him in the study of martial arts -- and the ways in which an ordinary man can hone his senses to an almost superhuman acuity. After seven years away from Gotham, Wayne returns, determined to bring peace and safetyback to the city. With the help of his faithful manservant, Alfred Pennyworth (Michael Caine), and Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), a scientist at his late father's corporation, Wayne develops a secret identity as Batman, a masked fighter for justice. But when a shady psychiatrist (Cillian Murphy) joins forces with the criminal underworld, Wayne realizes that putting an end to their nefarious plans will be very difficult indeed. Batman Begins also features Gary Oldman as Lt. James Gordon and Tom Wilkinson as the crime boss Carmine Falcone.
Amazon.com: Batman Begins discards the previous four films in the series and recasts the Caped Crusader as a fearsome avenging angel. That's good news, because the series, which had gotten off to a rousing start under Tim Burton, had gradually dissolved into self-parody by 1997's Batman & Robin. As the title implies, Batman Begins tells the story anew, when Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) flees Western civilization following the murder of his parents. He is taken in by a mysterious instructor named Ducard (Liam Neeson in another mentor role) and urged to become a ninja in the League of Shadows, but he instead returns to his native Gotham City resolved to end the mob rule that is strangling it. But are there forces even more sinister at hand?
Co-written by the team of David S. Goyer (a veteran comic book writer) and director Christopher Nolan (Memento), Batman Begins is a welcome return to the grim and gritty version of the Dark Knight, owing a great debt to the graphic novels that preceded it. It doesn't have the razzle dazzle, or the mass appeal, of Spider-Man 2 (though the Batmobile is cool), and retelling the origin means it starts slowly, like most "first" superhero movies. But it's certainly the best Bat-film since Burton's original, and one of the best superhero movies of its time. Bale cuts a good figure as Batman, intense and dangerous but with some of the lightheartedness Michael Keaton brought to the character. Michael Caine provides much of the film's humor as the family butler, Alfred, and as the love interest, Katie Holmes (Dawson's Creek) is surprisingly believable in her first adult role. Also featuring Gary Oldman as the young police officer Jim Gordon, Morgan Freeman as a Q-like gadgets expert, and Cillian Murphy as the vile Jonathan Crane. --David Horiuchi
A Triumphant Masterpiece 8 Years after the abortion of Batman & Robin, Christopher Nolan decided that he must bring back the dignity of Batman. In order to do that, he must forget anything even portrayed in the previous films. He must recreate the character and place him in a real world where everything isn't just cheesy puns and costumes with nipples. He did all that, and more with the help of some of one of the best movie actors today. Christian Bale, in my view can play almost any role but even I had my doubts about his ability to play the Batman. My worries were quashed when seeing the almost destroyed soul of Bruce Wayne portrayed brilliantly in the very first scene. My review will be separated into three sections, which I do for most movies that give me a lot to talk about. Those three sections are the story, the characters and the review.
The Story: One day whilst playing with his friend Rachel, a young Bruce Wayne falls down a well disturbing a swarm of bats. The bats become the ultimate fear of Bruce's and eventually become his inspiration for wanting to strike the fear in others. While at the opera, Bruce asks his parents can they leave. After leaving through the back of the theatre, Bruce and his parents are encountered by a thief wielding a gun. His parents are shot which leaves Bruce angry, bitter and out for revenge. Through a series of events Bruce ends up in the Far East. He is approached by a man named Ducard (Neeson) who's employed by the ninja cult leader, Ra's Al Ghul. Ducard approaches Bruce with an offer to teach him how to fight and to overcome his fears. Bruce accepts the offer of Ducard. We are taken through the training sessions and given a further insight into the tortured soul that is Bruce Wayne. Bruce eventually finds his way home and endeavours to rid Gotham City of the criminal underworld. He must find a symbol which would help strike the same fear into the criminals that the bats did to him. The Bat becomes his symbol and with the help of Alfred (Caine) and Lucius Fox (Freeman), Wayne starts to put together the first bat suit. There is corruption within the police force thanks to mob boss Carmine Falcone (Wilkinson). Falcone employs the help of psychologist Dr. Jonathan Crane (Murphy) who finds Falcone's men clinically insane in order to prevent them going to jail. Falcone can't trust Crane, however, as we find he's employed by someone else and is producing an inhalant toxin which strikes fear into those who inhale it. Crane, when spraying his enemies in the face with this toxin places on a mask and becomes one of Batmans biggest foes. The Scarecrow. Bruce Wayne must not only fight to find out what Cranes plans are, but he must also try to find out who he's working for before it's too late.
The Characters: Bruce Wayne: Played by Christian Bale, I think most Bale fans will agree that this is one of his best roles. He not only plays the tortured soul of Bruce Wayne brilliantly, but he also plays the Batman incredibly well. Ducard: Played by Liam Neeson, I've never been a fan of Neeson's work but have to admit he surprised me. At 53 years of age the man is in great shape and if he didn't use a stuntman for most of the fight scenes, then I applaud him. The character is the one that creates Batman and it actually becomes quite ironic as Ducard turns on Wayne at the start. Rachel: Played by Katie Holmes. I must be honest and say that the Rachel character altogether was instantly forgettable and I think the whole movie could have been just as great without her. I think they were aiming to create an unrequited love story, in which the movie goers would root for the characters to come together. It didn't work, and quite frankly was the only drag on this movie. Dr. Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow: Played by Cillian Murphy. Murphy is someone else who's work I've never really been fond of but he really turned my opinions in his role as Crane. He gave a truly menacing facade and was someone who really made the hairs on your neck stand upright. There are obviously a number of other characters that I could talk about but it would honestly give away the entire movie plot.
The Review: Well. What can I say? This movie is incredible. I don't think I could put it any more plainly. Nolan set out to give us a Batman re-invention, some people were skeptical and some people were optimistic. I, simply loved the entire thing. The film kept its pace throughout, it told the story of Bruce Wayne in detail and made us understand the torment the man was going through. It also managed to give us new villains and give us the finale without any part of it feeling rushed or any sacrificing of relevant dialogue. It was truly a triumph for Nolan and was something that has now lead up to the record breaking The Dark Knight. Buy it, I promise you'll love it.
IT is fascinating. I feel that this movie goes beyond what the comic established, which is a huge thing in itself. Not only does it establish Batman's dark roots, the movie also doesn't feel as if it were made TO show where Batman got his start, which was the basic function of "Year One." Seeing these two clash throughout the movie, as well as seeing Batman develop and deal with both his new secret identity as well as his life as Bruce Wayne is fascinating.
Batman's Dark Beginnings "Batman Begins" isn't as widely adored as the Spider-Man trilogy, nor as flashy as the more recent Iron Man, but it's at least as good as--or arguably/probably better than--those (more popular) super hero flicks. It's a dark story with a very non-linear beginning that will grab your attention as you piece together young Bruce's life towards his inevitable change into Batman. It's brooding, well written, and well directed with obvious respect and love of the source material.
Fans of the Batman comics will see that a lot of this is based on Frank Miller's Year One, but I feel that this movie goes beyond what the comic established, which is a huge thing in itself. Not only does it establish Batman's dark roots, the movie also doesn't feel as if it were made TO show where Batman got his start, which was the basic function of "Year One." This movie gives the Batman movie franchise a reboot while also delivering a great story about how two people view Gotham. Batman wants to save it, the villain of the movie wants to destroy it. Seeing these two clash throughout the movie, as well as seeing Batman develop and deal with both his new secret identity as well as his life as Bruce Wayne is fascinating.
Not to keep comparing this movie to the rest of the superhero genre, but what this does have in common with the previously mentioned "Spider-Man" and "Iron Man" films is that, like those, it achieves a nice balance between action, character moments, plot development, and the real tender moments that really make these movies more than stories about guys in capes. Batman is full of those, and has a consistent (and universal, really) theme of overcoming fear that plays out through the entire movie, coming to a climatic conclusion during the final scenes. In fact, the only bad thing I'll say about this movie is that the car chase scene went on way too long and there is a sort of recurring writing device where characters repeat lines characters said to them earlier in the movie. It worked perfectly when Batman repeated Rachel's "it's what you do" speech, but it happened many times in the movie after and before that, and the other instances just felt like a bit too much. But if that's all I'm nit-picking about in a film that clocks in at two hours and fifteen minutes, I guess they're doing a great, great job.
From Christian Bale's stoic, thoughtful performance as Batman to the in-your-face battle scenes, "Batman Begins" is probably one of the best superhero movies out there. It's certainly a contender for my favorite.
8/10
Step away children First of all every time a superhero movie is gonna come out marvel,dc,or any other,kids are always the first in line to go see it but just cause this movie is rated pg-13 doesn't mean it's for kids not like they can't see it but you know.I mean really this batman(which is the best)is how he really is.Batman has always been a dark character who has anger,wants revenge,whether is to kill or bring them to justice and truly this is not a character children want to look up to.He's like the punisher only that he doesn't use guns but cool gadgets and they have the same intesions.This movie is waaay different from any of the other batman films("and george clooney as batman,ARE YOU KIDDING ME!")it takes it more serious and is just a movie for grown ups(not like there's blood,nudity,or anything else)but really once you look at this batman film you will see it really MUCH MORE MATURE,THE WHOLE STORY AND EVERYTHING,BALE RULES!
UPDATE YOUR BLURAY PLAYER FOR SOME TO PLAY BATMAN BIGINS.... THIS BLURAY BATMAN BIGINS IS THE ONE TO GET GUYS THE HD IS SOOOOO GREAT. WHEN I GOT IT HOME I POP"D IT IN. AT FIRST IT WOULD NOT PLAY IN MY BLURAY PLAYER BDP S-300 SONY THOSE OF YOU WHO HAS BEEN HAVEING TROUBLE THAT IT WON"T PLAY. YOU"LL HAVE TO UPDATE YOUR BLURAY PLAYER TO 3.96. CALL SONY THEY WILL SEND YOU THE DISC UPDATE FIRM WERE FOR FREE. ARE YOU CAN HIT UP THE WEB SITE FIND UPDATE BLURAY PLAYER CLICK ON THE LINK OF THE TYPE OF BLURAY PLAYER YOU HAVE AND BURN TO A DISC. I DID THAT AND POP"D THE BURNED DISC IN MY BLURAY PLAYER AND IT TOOK 15mins TO DOWN LOAD IN MY BLURAY PLAYER. BATMAN BIGINS READ THE DISC AND IT WORKD GOOD
Anything Goes Trivia
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Trevor
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