The first screen adaptation of Batman is made after just several years of comic-book releasing which caused some interaction between them. Although it was based on comic, it brought in some new details that comic took over later on. The most important thing the comic took from this show is Bat-cave. Also, after this show, comic changed the appearance of Alfred to fit his appearance here.
Originally, it was shown as fifteen episodes and then, twenty years later, it came to theaters as one four hours long movie. The story is extremely simple and naive, characters are two-dimensional and, from today's angle, it looks totally silly. And yet, it has that something, that comic-book charm appealing to kids hidden in all of us. While I was watching it, I felt the same way as many years/decades ago when I was a 10-year-old boy, reading comics on summer vacation. In my opinion, an adaptation of the comic-book should have exactly that kind of influence on the audience, so in spite of all shortcomings, I'm giving it strong seven.
You can find the version of 3 hours and 35 minutes on YouTube.
Spoiler warning!
The movie was made during WWII and Batman works directly for the police, trying to reveal a Japanese agent that has the mission to enable the Japanese takeover of the USA from inside. Back then, all media was poisoned with war propaganda, so fact that this movie is full of racist remarks can be forgiven or at least ignored.
Every conflict between Batman and the villains is almost identical. Batman finds villain's layer, invades by surprise and fighting begins. There are almost no weapons, no one even uses legs to kick, not to mention something more sophisticated. It's mostly just fist fighting, like in Wild West saloons. Batman and Robin fight against two or three times more opponents and they get fairly beaten when something unexpected happens and saves their asses in last moment, so at the end, they end up victorious. Villains all wear hats and, during the fights, those hats never fall off their heads.
Because of the low budget, there is no Bat-mobile and almost no gadgets.
7/10
Originally, it was shown as fifteen episodes and then, twenty years later, it came to theaters as one four hours long movie. The story is extremely simple and naive, characters are two-dimensional and, from today's angle, it looks totally silly. And yet, it has that something, that comic-book charm appealing to kids hidden in all of us. While I was watching it, I felt the same way as many years/decades ago when I was a 10-year-old boy, reading comics on summer vacation. In my opinion, an adaptation of the comic-book should have exactly that kind of influence on the audience, so in spite of all shortcomings, I'm giving it strong seven.
You can find the version of 3 hours and 35 minutes on YouTube.
Spoiler warning!
The movie was made during WWII and Batman works directly for the police, trying to reveal a Japanese agent that has the mission to enable the Japanese takeover of the USA from inside. Back then, all media was poisoned with war propaganda, so fact that this movie is full of racist remarks can be forgiven or at least ignored.
Every conflict between Batman and the villains is almost identical. Batman finds villain's layer, invades by surprise and fighting begins. There are almost no weapons, no one even uses legs to kick, not to mention something more sophisticated. It's mostly just fist fighting, like in Wild West saloons. Batman and Robin fight against two or three times more opponents and they get fairly beaten when something unexpected happens and saves their asses in last moment, so at the end, they end up victorious. Villains all wear hats and, during the fights, those hats never fall off their heads.
Because of the low budget, there is no Bat-mobile and almost no gadgets.
7/10