Batman: Dead End (2003)

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

Batman:Dead End is one of the best superhero short films ever produced. It portrays the best of the character in comics today, its grim and gritty look is amazing and the acting is first rate. Clark Bartram looks the part as the Dark Knight while Andrew Koenig makes for a memorable Joker. Also the fight scenes with the Aliens and Predators are exciting to watch. the film looks like it came out of a comic book portraying Batman as he truly is: a dark vigilante and not the goofy and campy version like the 1960's television show.Sandy Collora does an good job in directing as well. If you are a Batman fan I highly recommend this movie.

This a superb vignette of a Thirties/Alex Ross version of Batman. The post Tim Burton movies don't even compare, as some commentaries have stated. Some of the scenes look straight out of Alex Ross Dark Knight novel. Andrew Koenig was a great Joker, the prosthetics were done just right, again, true to the comic book style. Clark Bartram was a good choice for the lead, although I think he was a little hammy when he hit the "pathetic" line. I think the ending is just right given the length and style of the movie, though it is similar to the Danny Glover Predator movie. My only gripe: Who did the music? The soundtrack is a major character in this piece, as good as anything in ALL the Batman films. The closest thing to this was a Sound Design credit (like everything else in the movie, very well done) Otherwise, I didn't see anything. am I missing something?

I just can't fathom how anyone can proclaim an 8 minute fan film as the best Batman film ever. It's just nonsensical to compare 8 minutes of mayhem, zero characterisation, bad acting and bad dialogue to such excellent films as Batman (89), Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. True, the latter two weren't yet produced at the time Dead End was made, but even so. There are portions of Batman Forever which blow Dead End away in terms of quality.Don't get me wrong, for a fan film, this isn't that bad. It has some good atmosphere, some good camera work and stunts, some decent costumes. But, Clark Bartram may look good in the suit (and a crappy suit it is too), but he'd make a woeful Bruce Wayne (as he does in Sandy Collora's woeful World's Finest follow-up to this). Collora is an artist, a special fx technician. He's not a writer or a director. And I think that shows in this. The dialogue is atrocious. I wish talented people in their chosen fields would stay in those fields. Everyone and their dog seems to think they can write and direct these days. Most suffer from delusions of grandeur. Collora is one of those.Overall, a decent fan film, but as a film itself, pretty bad from woe to go. Not recommended.

It's amazing how many people want to review this as if it were the latest $200-million feature film. They need to get a grip. Clearly, this is just a short demo intended to show off its creators' capabilities. There's no real script, or attempt at a "story." It's a set of familiar characters, walking through a very traditional action situation. So it's silly to review the plot, or criticize the lack of inner meaning.On the other hand, AS a demo, this truly is devastating work. The vision of Batman, clearly based on Frank Miller's version, is vastly superior to the armored, super-powered goon we've seen in the recent feature films. And no, the ORIGINAL Batman would NEVER wear body armor. He was a "Detective," who relied on stealth, cunning and a frightening image... not on technology and brute force. True, in this short we see him holding his own in a fist-fight... but based purely on sheer determination and a believable grasp of martial-arts skills. (He's clearly out of his depth; were this to be expanded to film length, I'd hope he would face more human-sized villains.)What really stands out, though, is simply the image. The costume is perfect: the gray shirt with the simple black logo is exactly the way I've imagined it over many years of reading the comic. What made Batman stand out among super-heroes was exactly the fact that he was a MAN, and no more. Frank Miller grasped this in his brilliant graphic novels, and so does this short. If only Hollywood were paying attention...