Batman

[KDS]

Light topic on a Friday. 

I'm not a huge superhero / comic book fan, but I've loved Batman since I was 8 years old.  That summer (1989) saw the release of Tim Burton's Batman, which remains my third favorite movie of all-time. 

So, later this month, we'll see another incarnation of Batman on the silver screen with Batman v Superman. 

So, I pose this question, what is everyone's favorite version of the Dark Knight?

The serials from the 1940s?

The Adam West campy 1960s?

The Tim Burton / Michael Keaton version from the 1980s / 1990s?

The campy Joel Schumacher Kilmer / Clooney in the mid 1990s?

The Warner Bros animated version from the early 1990s?

The Christopher Nolan / Christian Bale 2000s take?

Any of the assorted over direct to video animated versions? 

Personally, I'll always pick the Burton / Keaton version because I thought it was just the right mix of darkness, but there was some humor thrown in. 

[Rocky Raccoon]

The 1989 movie with Nicholson and Keaton is probably my favorite as well but I like a lot of Batman's incarnations.  Batman Returns is a bit of a mess but the performances by DeVito and Pfeiffer make it worthwhile.  I love the campy humor and the fun guest stars of the 60s TV series and the beautiful design of the 90s animated series.   I am very fond of the Christopher Nolan trilogy.  He brought a dignity to the series that was lost to Joel Schumacher.  However, with Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad, I fear the dignity is lost again.

[KDS]

The 1989 movie with Nicholson and Keaton is probably my favorite as well but I like a lot of Batman's incarnations.  Batman Returns is a bit of a mess but the performances by DeVito and Pfeiffer make it worthwhile.  I love the campy humor and the fun guest stars of the 60s TV series and the beautiful design of the 90s animated series.   I am very fond of the Christopher Nolan trilogy.  He brought a dignity to the series that was lost to Joel Schumacher.  However, with Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad, I fear the dignity is lost again.

I'm about 100% on the same page as you, except that I'm quite fond of Batman Returns, even if it wasn't quite as good as the original. 

Taken completely on its own, without comparison to the Burton films, I think Batman Forever is actually a decent movie.  Batman and Robin was a trainwreck though. 

Love the animated series and the Nolan trilogy, even if the third movie was a little too long and a little to bleak for my taste. 

I'm not terribly optimistic about the upcoming Batman universe movies.  But, I'll likely check them out (even if just for Harley Quinn).

I'm also a fan of FOX's Gotham.  The first season ranged from decent to downright terrible, but I think the second season has been a vast improvement.

[The Shift]

The Nolan films were great but the definitive for me is Frank Miller's comic books. He rebuilt Batman from the bottom up, setting the bar for everything Batman-related since then.

[Emily]

I think the Nolan films were the only Superhero movies I've seen that I thought were actually good rather than just entertaining.

[Alan Smith]

I think the Nolan films and the Burton induced series are terrible because of Frank Miller's definitive take on "The" Batman.  As noted by JM, Frank (re)set the bar - but no-one's risen to it, imo.  And in a funny way, the bar wasn't that high - focus on Bruce Wayne's mental state, keep the action tight and stakes desperate, aknowledge the pain and remain grounded in something similar to our reality (invisible helicopters and talking flying bombs excepted).

While Nolan's films receive a level of praise, and are not bereft of interesting elements, they are still very comic book and over-cooked, with too few slight nods to the moral complexities and "feelings/interactions" explored by Miller, and other writers of the time as they looked to appeal to adult comic readers.  Nolan's stuff should have been much much better, same with Burton's although more unlikely (noting that Keaton's "Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?" bit was pretty funny).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vukpjl44Yo0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHhf9ai3Tyw

I was lucky/stupid enough to read the Miller stuff when it came out and it has obviously impaired my ability to appreciate the subsequent films - quite a contrast to my love of the corny original series which I watched from knee-height and tuned into regularly after school for many repeat showings (prior to video then pay per view services arriving down here).  Who doesn't love the show intro, paired with the rockin' theme? Love that pulsing kick drum powering the band, leading into a bevy of dad jokes and dutch tilts.  A veritable gas, batgut!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZ9ymE2Rcxo

[KDS]

I think the Nolan films were the only Superhero movies I've seen that I thought were actually good rather than just entertaining.

I think what sets the Nolan Batman movies apart from other superhero movies is that it's put into a real world setting. 

That being said, I don't think the Nolan movies would've happened without the Burton movies.  Tim Burton's Batman movies were the first time we saw a darker version of Batman on film.

Of course, the thing I like best about Batman is that he actually doesn't have any super powers.  He's just a man.  A Bat Man.