HTF REVIEW: Batman Begins - Two Disc Deluxe Edition (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED). - Page 7

I agree with Chuck in regards to Holme's performance - she sold the most important scene - the double slap. Beyond that her performance was adequate and she was not in the film that much.

Then again with the likes of Bale, Neesom, Caine, Freeman, Hauer, Oldman, et al the bar is set pretty high. I still shake my head in disbelief at the pedigree of the cast this movie had. What a powerhouse!

Actually, the rule of "vs." comic books is this: Batman can beat anybody. There is one small contentious caveat: except maybe Captain America.

In the great vast ficitional universe, Batman has beaten Superman. Spidey is small potatoes.

I liked most of the docs...there was a good one of the story development, a good one on location shooting, a good one of Gotham, and a mediocre one on the comic. I say mediocre because a chunk of it is *selling* the modern comic. And that modern comic, All-Star Batman and Robin...sucks. But the mini-docs are pretty good, IMO.

Take care,
Chuck

Paul S.:


No, unfortunately my copy (and the 30+ copies I looked through at Best Buy before giving up) has the same problem. Annoying.

What annoys me even more is that I bought a copy of "Kingdom of Heaven" in the same mass purchase and when I got it home I discovered that they had actually CUT OUT the UPC bar code section from the slipcase cover -- which makes no sense because they had cut it away to reveal...the UPC underneath. WTF?

cheers,
Phil

Chuck M.:

Oh, I just can't let this one go by. Are you bringing this one up because of the "Marvel vs. DC" crossover comic, or because you really think that the two of them would be evenly matched? Because, you know, the M vs. DC thing was a total fiasco based purely on fan voting. There is no WAY some of those matchups would have turned out that way.

I'm a huge fan of the Captain as well, but Rogers only has the Super-Soldier Serum and a slight edge in fighting experience born of his long life (and this may have been retconned out recently for all I know). Batman has the edge on obsession, focus, training, versatility, and (if it came down to it) a willingness to fight dirty.

cheers,
Phil

Phil: This is being done with most cardboard slipcases today to prevent the theft of a more-expensive DVD by having it hidden inside the cardboard sleeve of a less-expensive DVD at checkout. If you check most new releaes with cardboard sleeves I think you'll find its common practice. Lifeboat is another example.

The only problem I have with this practice is that when I finally found a display which actually had copies of the Boston Red Sox "Curse Reversed" edition of Fever Pitch...on most of the copies the thin strip of cardboard near the cutout were badly mangled by sloppy handling.

Mike F.:

Same with my copy. Which annoys me. I like my DVDs and their packaging in prime condition, dammit.

Thanks for letting me know what the reasoning is, though -- I suppose it makes a certain amount of sense. Even more annoying that that sort of thing happens at all, though. Quit being such cheap bastards and just buy the real DVD you want, you losers.

cheers,
Phil

So true!

Its always the good that have to suffer for the sins of the bad.

the best buy cover is lenticular, not a hologram.

i hadnt noticed the glitch tho'. i didnt look as close as you guys.

Phil C., thanks very much for the response/confirmation of the issue with the special BB-exclusive cover.

TonyD, if you would please help me understand the difference between an image that is a hologram versus one that is lenticular . . .

-p

Holograms have a shiny reflectiveness to them (which produces the 3D-like image), and lenticular have the ridged lines to them (which produces the 3D-like image). Each bends the light at different viewing angles to produce the layered images.

Phil,
I base nothing on that dreadful Marvel/DC fiasco. I have done a keen mental analysis, and I feel the great Captain is sharp enough to make an impression.

My genius is my evidence.

Case closed,
Chuck

just saw this on disc last night, after watching it once at the theaters. i think everything that happens until the final act where Batman has to save the city is great. the whole thing with the train and the water contamination is kinda generic. i loved the batmobile.
one thing i think that was handled poorly was the 'cloud-of-bats' sequence. maybe because it was done so much better in Year One. but it seemed like as soon as the button is pushed, the bats are heard in the distance (in the comic, the bats all come from the Batcave, maybe this is not the case in the movie). and there's no dramatic reveal that the sound everybody is hearing is bats - the first shot is a close up of Flass' face with some wings on the side. it would have been so cool to see a shot of an open street with the blackness of the night sky turning into bats.

I couldn't agree more on this point.

I put in Batman Returns today for a few minutes and so much of that dialogue is painful to listen to. I actually cringe in so many spots, but Batman Begins was top-notch in this respect.

It truly is a masterful film on multiple levels. By FAR the best super hero genre movie ever, IMO.

Yep. Many, many quotes/sigs can come out of the dialogue. Pretty meaningful, thoughful stuff.

I agree with the "vs." rule too. And the whole "Batman vs. Captain America" was addressed in the JLA/Avengers (2003) mini-series.

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

Fantastic film and my second most anticipated dvd release of the year. It's a top notch dvd and I plan on spinning it many, many times over the next few weeks!

As for Katie and the slapping scene I couldn't keep a straight face, I kept laughing at her, she did not pull off that scene right at all. When she says "You're father would be dissapointed..." it just didn't sound like she had any feeling or meaning behind it. But that's my opinion.

Going back and reading Batman: Year One, Tuesday night and finishing it last night (I just haven't had time to read that much lately) there is a lot of the comic that made it into the movie, I think far more so then The Long Halloween, I think for the comic they should've just released Batman: Year One, yeah it's more from Gordon's point of view but it's still a classic.

I think I just remembered why Miller probably wasn't on the comic book doc was because his and Darren Aronofsky's version of Year One got canned, so he's probably a little miffed at WB. But in all honesty I didn't think that documentary on the comic was that bad. I also think the All-Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder is pretty decent, the art work is far better than the script, but Jim Lee is one of the best comic book artists around, my favorite being Ed McGuiness (whose currently drawing Batman and Superman) I've met him, I've got a ton of comics and posters and whatever signed/autographed, he even drew me my own version of Superman Vs. Batman sort of... I gotta find that.

Was able to watch this over a friends house the other night and it looks great and sounds great on a projector and nicely tuned surround system. I have yet to pop it into my own 51" tv with an alright tuned surround system. Maybe tonight. Gosh I can't wait for the sequel. I'm still voting for Paul Bettany as the Joker.

MISSING COMMENTARY - UPDATE

My supplier has just emailed to advise that my (Region 1)order has been cancelled because Warner Bros recalled the product:

"This movie was initially released by Warner Home Video earlier this week.
However, within a day or so they realised that the commentary was missing from the DVD, hence the immediate withdrawal of the title.

Warner Home Video will now re-manufacture new stock which will be available for release in the near future. However, no firm release date has been given."

I guess I'll hang on for a while to see if I can get a revised copy witha groovy lenticular cover.

I find it hard to believe that they would just forget to put the commentary on there. Especially since Nolan said he didn't want to record one.

And if that's the case, I think the next time you'll see it is on a re-release whenever the sequel comes out.

I thought Nolan stated flat out that he didn't want to do a commentary until the film had aged a bit? Is there another commentary? Did I skim too much of this thread? Will I stop asking questions?

Chuck, you mean you don't like every other line of dialogue being "How cool is that?" or "I'm the &^%damn Batman!"

It really is pretty dreadful. Frank Miller's name is (was?) gold with Batman. The Dark Knight Returns and Year One are two of the finest examples of the medium ever. But the excesses of pulp Sin City dialogue (which work in that highly stylized world) and "hardassisms" have made this comic a parody of Miller's former work. A good writer and artist could have taken everything done in #1 and #2, and made it the first 10 pages of a comic book. That said, All-Star Superman is hitting next month and looks BRILLIANT. 1 out of 2 ain't bad

I doubt there is a commentary...yet. I imagine there will be, when they release the pre-sequel version. I'll rebuy for a commentary.

Take care,
Chuck

Personally, I see it as Miller's 'joke' or self-parody and think it's deliberate. Hopefully, he'll be turning it around soon though. I definitely see how it's turned people off.

Yeah, I know I'm just clinging to desperate hopes here!

Sorry the OT comments.

This could become a *rare* item in a hurry, but something is definitely up with this release.

All retail stores are sold out nad Fry's Electronics said they only received 3 copies at each of their stores.

I might go ahead and get it for $25 while it's still available.

It seems highly unlikely that the WB is going to pull literally thousands of copies of the SE one of the biggest titles of the year. It's safe to assume that the SE makes them more money than the regular edition which is money they would being losing out on if they pulled it. Plus, the cost of pressing thousands of new discs, recalling/destroying the original copies and all the copies that they won't sell because it's not available makes it cost prohibitive to pull now.

If it was a widespread manufacturing defect, they'd be stuck and have to pull it. However, if a commentary was recorded (eventhough the director says it wasn't) and WB suddenly realized that they forgot to put it on the disc, they'd just have to say "Oops, it's too late to fix it now."

IF a commentary exists, maybe the next pressing of the disc could have it included. However, that won't really make the 'original' release worth anything other than to a completist who wants a set that lacks a commentary. The positive side of that is that WB would probably replace the old copies for people.

Hey, I've been wrong a million times but I think all the 'evidence' above makes a pretty strong case against a recall.

It looks like there is a major shortage of discs everywhere...its all over the IGN DVD boards.

Wow, could they have been recalled?

Just to refute my own previous points, maybe they won't recall it but they'll sell through the copies that are already on the shelves. Then the next pressing will have the track. That would curb the financial problems with recalling the set. And maybe it's a commentary with people other than Nolan.

As always, I'm just guessing here and trying to look at all angles. For what it's worth, Amazon still lists the Batman Begins SE as shipping in 24 hours.

If there were other commentaries besides Nolan, wouldn't the original press release for the deluxe edition have said so?

The release seems complete, as far as adhering to the press release goes, so what's the problem?

No one has reported DVD issues either.

I just snagged the last one off walmart's shelf for $25 about 10 mins ago. Let's see whether this plot thickens.

"MISSING COMMENTARY - UPDATE"

what commentary? there never was supposed to be one was there?

well I just came to post about this so maybe a recall of some sort is true

I have been to multiple stores in the last few days (Target, Walmart, Circuit City...not Best Buy though) and the 2 disc set was nowhere to be found while the racks are overflowing with the 1 disc set

either there was some sort of recall (this recall could also have been imposed by the studio not shipping stores their full initial orders also because they realized an error) or this was the most under ordered title ever buy retail buyers

I missed out on the Amazon pricing before the increase. I purchased the single disc set blind today but am going to hold off on opening it since I did pick up a raincheck for the 2 disc set at Target and want to hear more about what the issue might be with stock.