Product description

Batman Forever - Special Edition [1995]

Price:
RRP: £15.99
Average customer rating: 4.0

Binding : DVD
EAN : 7321900713177
Label : Warner Home Video
Manufacturer : Warner Home Video
Publisher : Warner Home Video
Release date : 2005-10-21
Title : Batman Forever - Special Edition [1995]
Actor : Array
Audience rating : Parental Guidance
Format : Array
Languages : Array
Number of items : 2
Original release date : 1995-01-01
Region code : 2
Running time : 115
Studio : Warner Home Video
Theatrical releaseDate : 1995

Editorial reviews

Special Features
Disc One: • Commentary by Joel Schumacher • Theatrical Trailer, RT 3:30

Disc Two: • Riddle Me This: Why Is Batman Forever?- How a new director and cast created a new version of Gotham’s classic good and bad guys, RT 23:22 • Shadows of the Bat: The Cinematic Saga of the Dark Knight o Part 5: Reinventing a Hero, RT 28:26 • Batman: The Heroes o Batman, RT 4:29 o Robin, RT 2:50 o Dr. Chase Meridian, RT 2:06 • Batman: The Villains o The Riddler, RT 4:13 o Two-Face, RT 2:30 • Beyond Batman Documentary Gallery o Out of the Shadows: The Production Design of Batman Forever, RT 12:37 o The Many Faces of Gotham City, RT 13:41 o Scoring Forever: The Music of Batman Forever, RT 6:24 o Knight Moves: The Stunts of Batman Forever, RT 5:41 o Imaging Forever: The Visual Effects of Batman Forever, RT 7:05 • Deleted Scenes o Escape from Arkham, RT 1:48 o Two-Face’s hate (Extended scene), RT 1:41 o Beauty and the Batman, RT 0:45 o Dick’s pain, RT 1:25 o Bruce’s dilemma, RT 3:18 o The secret of the Batcave, RT 4:23 o Does it ever end?, RT 0:23 • Music Video by Seal o Kiss from a Rose, RT 3:54

Synopsis
Batman is faced with two new enemies, Two-Face and E. Nygma; one a criminal mastermind the other an unhinged computer fanatic. They are preparing to join forces to destroy Batman in a clash of wits and cunning...

Customer reviews

review by: darkknight_uk date: 2008-01-07 rating:

Joel Schumacher's "lightened up" Batman gets the superhero treatment on DVD!
Right off the bat (believe it or not, no pun intended) I'd like to say that I'm awarding the DISC 4 stars. The film itself I would rate at a three (possibly 3 and a half).

Historically speaking Batman Forever appears to have dropped off the pop culture radar. While not quite as divisive as Batman Returns, as important as Batman, as popular as Batman Begins or as reviled as Batman and Robin the film is a mixed bag that is fairly and commendably scrutinized in this excellent SE offering from Warner Home Video.

After the dust settled following the release of Batman Returns, a film that retains a fiercely loyal fan base but profoundly upset the Mcfranchise mentality that surrounds most comic book films the consensus was that some changes were in order.

Tim Burton's darkly expressionistic tones were replaced by the larger than life pop arty aestheticism of Barbara Ling painted with Schumacher's now trade mark multi-coloured neon. Michael Keaton (who after umming and aahing about the possibility of donning the Bat Armour for the third time jumped ship after his initial costume fittings - perhaps he saw the nipples-) was replaced by the capable and affable Val Kilmer who gives a passable performance of a seasoned yet vulnerable and broody Batman. Rising star Chris O'Donnell joined the party as orphaned acrobat Dick Grayson and eventually Batman's sidekick Robin (the 25 year old "boy" wonder) and a motley crew of villains were introduced in the form of Jim Carrey's typically outrageous Riddle and Tommy Lee Jones' risible Two Face who, between them, dole out lashings of pantomime villainy.

While Batman Forever may lack the complexity of its predecessors it still functions perfectly well as a generic popcorn superhero romp serving up just enough psychology and emotion for us to invest in the characters while still flouting Schumacher's taste for gaudy spectacle with some (to this day) impressive set pieces and memorable action sequences.

As with the Special Editions of the previous two Batman films, picture and sound quality far surpass the previous vanilla discs and while I have not sampled the DTS track on any of the discs the 5.1 track does justice to Elliot Goldenthal's stirring score and the surround effects get a pretty good airing. Joel Schumacher's diverse palette (like it or loathe it) is rich and vibrant here and whatever your opinion of the change in direction of the franchise it is indisputable that this superhero pop-opera has never looked better. The cut of the film is also slightly different to that of the previous vanilla release with a few sequences extended here and there.
The commentary track is a pleasant mixture of fond reminiscences and interesting factual nuggets and to be fair Schumacher really comes across as a likeable character in his yak-track, justifying the decisions he made about "lightening up" the Batman franchise plausibly while explicitly stating his respect and admiration for what Tim Burton had done before him.

The Special Features disc does not disappoint and again I have to thank Warner Brothers for really putting the effort into making these Special Editions really special. The ongoing documentary Shadows Of The Bat is back with Part 5 : Reinventing a Hero which offers some tantalizing insights into the changeover from Burton to Schumacher and from Keaton to Kilmer with Val Kilmer being the only Batman actor of the film series to come back to do an interview. Again the documentary takes us through the whole process of production from inception to reaction and it is with some modesty that Schumacher relates how surprised he was that the film did as phenomenally well at the box office as it did.
A schmaltzy period promotional doc entitled "Riddle Me This, Why Is Batman Forever" hosted by Chris O'Donnell is also included on this disc. While it offers nothing that isn't covered in greater detail elsewhere on the disc it is still a wryly amusing addition.
The Batman Beyond documentaries are also present and as with the previous releases every element of the monster production is lovingly chronicled and peppered with talking head commentaries that vary in interest with the most fun to be had in the stunts, costumes and visual effects documentaries.
It is also worth mentioning that a "darker" director's cut of Batman Forever has been rumoured for a very long time amongst the fan community. Sadly this DVD boasts no such cut although the bonus disc does include a few deleted scenes which to be fair were right to be left on the cutting room floor but are certainly welcome additions to the disc expanding in places upon the psychology of Bruce Wayne, his relationship with Dick Grayson and his motivations for donning the bat armour.

While I have something of a love / hate relationship with Batman Forever this disc represents an entertaining and comprehensive diversion for all but the most puritanical Bat fan.

review by: s.vernon date: 2007-08-27 rating:

HIT AND MISS
Batman Forever is a big time hit and miss effort. At times it's fast hitting, funny, vivid and interesting and at times the humor and dialogue are beyond hope, the action is too silly and the characters are too shallow. The scenery is also hit and miss, running from nicely colored for a change to completely garish. I love Val Kilmer but he's completely dull as Batman, continuing the trend in the series of making the title character the dullest character in the movie. Jim Carrey as the Riddler is allowed to swing all over the place emotionally and is actually outstanding at times in a role that he's made for. His character is scripted as strangely feminine and there are times when he comes off as being incredibly creepy but he takes the part and runs with it. Tommy Lee Jones as Two Face is a major disappointment, not because of Jones but because his role is shallow, stereotypical and completely uninteresting. The psychopathic edge of Two Faces personality is replaced by a giggling goof who seems to be having just a little too much fun. All the torment that should have gone to his character goes to Carrey's strangely enough. Nicole Kidman as Chase Meridian should also have been interesting as a psychologist paired with Batman should be but she comes off too much as being just a giggling groupie, falling for both Batman and Bruce and calling mentally ill people wackos, something that psychologists never do. Chris O'Donnell as Robin is ok and does a good job of playing his role with whining immaturity. He comes up a little short on the dramatic moments though. The scene where he takes the Batmobile out for a spin is one of the best in the film. The opener is fun, the circus where Robin's parents die is actually done very well and the moments where Bruce opens up to Chase are also interesting. The villains running amok together range from pretty funny to very weird as one starts to question their relationship and the ending is somewhat unfulfilling. Batman Forever is a bridge movie between the dark and good Batman Returns and the horrible Batman and Robin. It's not great, not awful, takes itself much less seriously but entertains pretty well.

review by: date: 2007-06-08 rating:

Passable film, great extras
Now, for those of you who have seen the film umpteen times, you all know the film is rather campy but still watchable. Watchable but mildly dissappointing I think is the best way to put it.

Bruce Wayne was portrayed just right but Batman wasn't scary, Robin was vengeful, Riddler was humourous but annoying at times and Two-Face was well just over the top unneccassarily. The plot got too rediculous and, in a way dare I say it, more so than Batman & Robin.

Ever since the films release fans have been gagging for the extra footage. I even heard that it wasn't on this two disc edition. Well I got this yesterday and, I don't know if they put them on the region 1 versions, but surprise I had the deleted scenes in the package as well!

Now, it is true what rumours have said all along in that if the scenes had been left in the finished product that it would've made it darker and more sinister. In fact it would've either got a 12A or 15.

The extra footage depicts an all new opening to the film with Two-Face's escape from Arkham Asylum, Batman running into the deeper depths of the Batcave and a host of other things.

Worthwhile.

review by: Critic Extraordinaire date: 2006-01-27 rating:

I Liked This Movie
I'm gonna keep this short and sweet out of the 4 corny Batman films this was when the series seriously sagged but i genuinly liked this movie, whenever it is on one of the movie channels i will gladly sit down and watch the entire thing.
The film keeps its pace during the entire duration no real slow points that start to bore you into submission but it keeps its intense pace throughout.
The fact that Jim Carrey is the Riddler and Tommy Lee Jones as 2 Face just make the film worth buying. I'm not gonna mention anything about the heros because to be honest i have actually forgotten who plays them, i think it's George Clooney as Batman. During the film we are introduced to Robins story of how he came to be who he was.
This is a great movie who i feel every member of the family will enjoy at some point or another.

review by: craighere date: 2005-09-26 rating:

10 years ago seems like Forever...
Divided amongst most Bat-Fans, this film was released in 1995, nearly 6 years after Tim Burtons original graced our screens. Many are quick to relegate this film to the "Campy, Crappy Schumacher Era", but upon closer inspection the film very nearly could have had the right balance of Burtons dark, haunting vision and the 'pow! wam! splat!' summer blockbuster status of this films follow-up, "Batman & Robin". The reason I say this is because during the countdown to its release, the film was apparently re-edited by studio executives in order to gain a much more popcorn-friendly feel to the piece. This meant cutting out entire sequences that would explain plot and in certain cases make the film alot daker. Thats why this release is so refreshing as we get to see a handful of material that was taken out nearly 10 years ago. Unfortunately, we have no directors cut, so it appears unlikely we will ever see the film in its original (glory?).. Also included on this release are several documentaries detailing production, and a Joel Schumacher commentary, which I'm sure many will agree is probably worth the price tag alone for both this film and "Batman and Robin", if only to play a game of 'how many times schumacher says "i'm sorry" in a commentary'..

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