Batman prices at Walmart (1 Viewer)

[Dan DRC]

Noticed that my local Walmart super center had all four Batman movies on a rack for $7.50 each. Could this be a sign
that new special editions are on the way or mabey a boxed set?

 

[Joseph Bolus]

Yeah ... I noticed that as well. I still didn't think it was worth the price for Batman and Robin, though!

I think it goes without saying that we'll be getting SE's of at least the first two Batman movies (and probably all four) eventually. Perhaps this does signal the beginning of the end of the waiting.

(Another thing I noticed at the Wal-Mart the other day was that many DVD titles were selling for a few dollars less than their VHS counterparts! What's up with that? Would anybody actually pay more for the VHS version of the title?? For that matter, is anybody still buying VHS???)

 

[Kyle McKnight]

You can get the original Batman movie based on the TV series in the $5.88 bin.

 

[Dan Rudolph]

Joseph, DVDs are considerably cheaper to manufacture than VHS (about $3 vs $.50, I think), maybe that has something to do with it.

 

[ZackR]

Those prices are part of a Father's Day promotion, at least around here. Along with all 4 Batman movies, I also saw these for $7.50:

Risky Business
Dave
Thirteen Days
(there were more $7.50 discs, but I can not remember them all).

Also, in the $5.88 bin were many decent titles, including:

Batman (as mentioned by Kyle above)
Freeway
Rambo 2 (the new release)
Rambo 3 (the new release)
The Poseidon Adventure
Towering Inferno
Last Action Hero

Picked up quite a few of them this week.

 

[Joshua_Y]

I picked up Lethal Weapon 3&4 and Thirteen Days for $7.50 each! Sweet!

 

[Kyle McKnight]

Anyone think The Neverending Story 2 ($5.88) should be picked up? I love the first one, but have never seen the two sequels. If it's a decent continuation, I may go grab it.

 

[Sean Frost]

Nice I'll get all of the Batman movies for $30

 

[Joshua_Y]

May I advise you to not get Batman Forever and Batman and Robin as they are steaming piles...

 

[Dave H]

Warner said in the last HTF Chat that SEs weren't coming until the new Batman movie arrives. So, it's going to be a long time yet.

 

[Paul_Scott]

the clerk over here says they won't have the Batman movies until next week.
i checked the shelves but they didn't have any of them at any price.

the Batman (tv) movie is a spectacular disc.
the transfer is eye-popping and its got some decent little extras to boot, including what i hear is a really fun commentary with West and Ward.

i nearly did a spit-take when i saw it in the $5.88 bin.

 

[Joel C]

Neverending Story II is so dumb I noticed the plot holes and horrid dialogue when I saw it at age 10. I never saw the third, but by all accounts, it is worse.

 

[Dave H]

May I advise you to not get Batman Forever and Batman and Robin as they are steaming piles...

I agree. But, can we really say Batman Returns was much above that? It's too bad none of the sequels were done like the first movie.

 

[Paul D G]

STILL waiting for Batman TV to show up in the 5.88 bin. Looking forward to finding the others for $7.50. Found the first one used for $7 and picked it up but have not been able to find any of the others used. Would have liked to have at least found Batman Returns.

Maybe I'll try another WalMart; the one closest to me isn't very good.

-paul

 

[Colin Jacobson]

quote:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
May I advise you to not get Batman Forever and Batman and Robin as they are steaming piles...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



I agree. But, can we really say Batman Returns was much above that?

Damn right we can say Returns was substantially better than Forever or Robin. For my money, Returns was the best of the four...

 

[Rocky F]

I too have been holding out for an SE of the first film, but I don't know if I can pass up $7.50. Maybe the whole, "buy the bare bones, and then the SE is announced" thing will happen if I go ahead and grab it. I did get the $5.88 '60's version the other day.

 

[Paul_Scott]

i tend to like Forever a bit better than the others for the simple reason that the character of Batman is more in focus and more active throughout the film.
i had high hopes for B&R cause i liked the direction he was taking the property in BF.
i liked the color (although people who think the film was all neon or candy colors need to see it again. the asthetic is still primarily dark- just not dark,dreary, and monochromatic like the Burton material).
i liked the fact that the opening shot of Batman is him swinging into frame with his cape billowing behind him.
i'd been waiting years to see an image like that on screen.
i liked the fact that there were several death-traps in the film and that he was shown actually thinking thru clues ( as opposed to it happening off-camera).
i thought Kidman was a great, stylized romantic lead, and for once the story tried for a 'big finish' instead of just fizzling and petering out the way the Burton films seem to do.

this doesn't mean i think the film was actually good, cause it still has elements that still tilt it into the thumbs down column for me ( i hate TLJ in the role as much as i hate anything in the Batman movies, and i have no great affection for Carrey either. not enjoying the villans doesn't make for a very satisfying experience) which is why i haven't bothered buying it yet.

B&R was a complete and utter pile though.
on that i will agree.

 

[LukeB]

Batman Forever is my favorite, and for that price, well worth getting.

 

[Joshua_Y]

I actually think Returns is probably the best one...great characters...great lines...great action...Forever and B&R are horrible...I despise them because it is not Batman...Batman movies should not be colorful and full of pop songs...

 

[Paul_Scott]

Batman movies should not be colorful and full of pop songs...

actually, one of the truest replications of a comic into live action was the original Batman tv series.
Batman was only a 'darker' pulp character for the first couple years of the comics.
once Robin came along the series started to lighten up and by the late 40's up into the 60's before the 'new look', Batman was very much a silly and inane comic book character.
if anything, the tv series was written at a more sophisticated level than much of the Batman comics run up until then( the brillance of Bill fingers imagination, exempted).

even if you were to translate the 'new look' stories directly (and even some from the last decade) they would still seem quite campy in a live-action medium.

it's kind of ironic, but i think that 'camp' is the result of a literal and faithful adaptation of the source material.

the comics got a little more mature with Denny O'Neil in the early seventies, and there were more sophisticated stories here and there, but a lot of the vibe that i remember from the comics in the mid-late 70's and early 80's i felt was translated in Forever. in particular, the films style reminds me quite a bit of the Marshall Rogers run for some reason.
the film also gets points for establishing the significance of Arkham Asylum, as well as for not killing off ,at least one, of the villans at the end. this was something i always hated about the Burton movies.

i really don't understand what people have against color.
the Batman comics were never in black and white, and even his costume was mostly presented as blue and grey and yellow until the Burton films.

i don't go to a Batman movie to endure a lecture on duality and the like.
especially when it is ultimately so shallow.
i want to see a larger than life adventure.
if they can incorporate psychological insights into the characters to make them more unique & interesting, that's cool, but i don't want to see an adventure story stop cold, to devolve into psychobabble whinning from the main character(s).

jmo, of course.


in any case, i think the animated shows were of such a consistently higher level in story ,tone, and imagination, and were infinitely better interpretations of the rogues gallery, that i would drop $70 for a box set of those any day before i would spend $15 on any of the movies.

but, since i can't....