Batman (1966)

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

First I gave this an 8, but I was worn down in concession to give it a 10 realizing that I was being too in-the-box, and movies like this are so wildly ridiculous as to be genius. The Joker, Riddler and Penguin were superb, my personal favorite being Frank Gorshin as the Riddler. The shark scene in the beginning purposely sets the intended tone. There are some really subtle gags, if you pay attention, even a Pontius Pilate quotation... This film would absolutely have been a 0, except the weight of the cast, takes it over the fine line, as Napoleon said, "From the sublime to the ridiculous there is but one step."

(Flash Review)The Comic Book On Screen. It really is like a live action comic as it is intentionally goofy and it amusingly pokes fun at itself. The jokes run the gamut from funny to very tacky. Full of fun characters and Adam West is really good for the character portrayal he is going for. All the villains are solid. One might be skeptical of the plot but it is good, very fun and has an overall unique charm. It is certainly of its time and now cemented in history.

When I sat to watch this movie I did not have any information about it and I expected nothing at all. But I received a lot. This might not be movie of excellent quality, but it surely is the most comic- bookish movie I have ever seen. It's not so much a movie as it is comic-book brought to life on big screen. Comic fans who take comics too seriously probably hate this adaptation, but for the rest of us, who simply love fun comics provide, this is probably the best Batman movie ever. It is modernized and parodied version of old Batman series from 40's. Dark component is kicked out and what is left is hilarious and entertaining action full of wacky lines. Joker, Penguin, Riddler and Cat-woman join together to blackmail the whole world. Clash of their super-villain egos while they are trying to cooperate is hilarious. Their looks, speech and behavior are totally comic-bookish, and Lee Meriwether is incredibly sexy in Cat- woman costume. All four, together with Batman and Robin and whole story- line, exaggerate to the point of going to far, but manage to balance at the very edge of good taste and successfully avoid to tumble into the abyss of complete nonsense. Add to that sharks filled with dynamite, countless gadgets, all labeled with big banners "bat-this" and "bat-that", banalized chases, and bombs that take forever to explode, and you'll get unforgettable comic-book comedy that leaves no one indifferent. This is one of those movies you can either love or hate. There's nothing in between. Oh, yes, I must not forget "ouch", "splash", "boom" and similar strip clouds that pop up in all sizes and colors all around the screen during action scenes.I haven't seen all Batman movies just yet, but I did see at least one from every series, so I can say with some certainty that this one is my favorite Batman. 9/10Could be any one of them, but which one?Pretty fishy what happened to me on that ladder. Where there's a fish, there could be Penguin.Wait! It happened at the sea. See? C for Cat-woman.Yet, that exploding shark was pulling my leg. The Joker?It all adds up to a sinister riddle. Riddle-er... Riddler?

Move aside Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney, Christian Bale and Ben Affleck - this is the Batman you may remember from your youth and it would be unfair to compare it to the modern post Tim Burton Batman's. While everything post Burton was serious, dark and gritty - everything pre Burton was camp, colourful and fun. This is the later camp and colourful version, you are going to find thick cheese running through the veins of this film the likes of which will leave you in comatose state of happiness and glee. Headed up by an acting display of '100% pure West' and featuring some of the stalwarts of the Batman TV series which ran from the 1970's and was syndicated and repeated up to the late 1980's (despite the reality of it being that only 120 episodes were made between 1966-1968). The Batman Movie was a direct feed from the success of the TV series and what better way is there to ramp up the excitement for film audiences other than make Batman and Robin face off against 4 super-villains in one go!! Let's look at the cast, fans of the Batman TV series will be delighted with the star studded cast that signed up to appear in this film…. Adam West as Batman the caped crusader, Burt Ward as Robin the boy wonder, Lee Meriwether as Catman, Cesar Romero as The Joker, Burgess Meredith as the Penguin, Frank Gorshin as the Riddler, Alan Napier as Alfred the Butler, and Neil Hamilton and Stafford Repp as Commissioner Gordon and Chef O'Hara respectively.Adam West plays this role to perfection with class and tension, this was the role he was made for. When I think of actors making roles their own for a period of time I'd keep Adam West in the same list as say perhaps William Shatner's Cpt Kirk or Basil Rathbone's Sherlock Holmes or even Christopher Lee's Dracula or even Peter Cushing's Witch hunter characters.The film will not disappoint, in a nutshell 4 of Gotham's deadliest Supervillains have decided to work together to kidnap delegates of the United Nation's National conference. Batman and Robin have to solve the clues to save the day while dealing with the mayhem caused to distract them from the ultimate goal. You'll see the Batmobile, the Batcycle, the Batcopter and the Batboat. You'll see Batman use Shark repellent spray, fight henchmen, fall in love, dish out a "Zap", "Bang", "Kap-pow" and "Whallop", try to dispose of a bomb safely, dish out lessons of morality, and his attempts to play God by re-hydrating people from an ashy situation. Memorable moments will stay with you for days - my particular favourite part the aforementioned moment when Batman is trying to safely dispose of a bomb but just can't catch a break - who knew that "Sometimes you just can't dispose of a Bomb safely!" This is closely followed by a scene were Batman tries to figure out some elevator controls, despite there being an up arrow he had to read all the 9 different languages so he could get to the English word 'up' - comedy genius!Laugh out loud and fun throughout - I'd advise everybody watches this at least once in their life, unless you are the kind of person who can't deal with silly/tongue in cheek films (if that's you you might hate this film!) - 7 out of 10.