Batman vs. Two-Face (Blu-ray)

As a kid, I started watching the 1966 Batman TV show via reruns in the early 1970s. We didn't know the dark, brooding, violent Batman back then, only the over-the-top campy fun of what they now term "the Bright Knight". We loved that as kids. While I do enjoy more modern, darker interpretations, I feel there's a place in history for both, and I'm thrilled that we were given one last romp with the TV cast.This movie nails the look and feel of the live-action TV show in all its glorious silliness, right down to wall walking, and the headgear on the evil draining machine looking like cheezy prop recycling of 1960s salon hair dryers. The movie creators clearly know it is ridiculous and play it for additional laughs. Just look at some of the crazy signage in the background of the climactic struggle. An old fan can also appreciate some of the meta jokes, such as some things that happen with Lee Meriweather's character.Burt Ward was really on top of his voice role, sounding like a college student much of the time. But the real treasure was bringing Bill Shatner in for the Harvey Dent role. As soon as I heard it announced during production of the movie, I cheered. Shatner awesomely handled a dual role before in Star Trek's "Wolf In The Fold" episode, so I knew the character was in great hands, and he delivered as expected. I wistfully wish this had been a second live-action Batman movie back in the 1960s just to have Shatner act it. I'd also add that it was great of the writers to bring back two of my favorite 1960s villains to flesh out the full story. Again, I'd only wish this would have been the old live action to have Victor Buono and Roddy McDowell reprise their roles. There were actually several of the TV show villains cameoed throughout, some with minor speaking roles. The only thing I wrinkled my nose at was the inclusion of the Otto Preminger version of Mr. Freeze, the weakest of three actors who played the role on TV. I would have preferred either of the other actors, Eli Wallach or George Sanders, as the template for the animated cameo.Lastly, this film also marks the first (and sadly, only) appearance of two other prominent Batman villains in the 1960's canon. Look for them when the testing room first fills with villains. One of them is a cameo (with a bit more air time in the Blue Ray version) with a very distinctive accent, and the other fills a more substantial role.If you're one of the younger generation of viewers who don't seem to get the campy fun of the 1960s, don't bother watching. You'll only be miffed and rate it a 1-star (which it is not). But if you don't mind letting go of a host of dark-and-brooding pre-conceptions and are willing to embrace a lot of zany fun, then grab a bowl of popcorn and sit back with a friend for a great time.

by a twist of an atypically benevolent Fate, Adam West lived just long enough to send his best and most beloved role out in a certain amount of style. his portrayal was as ethical yet winsome as ever, and despite being noticeably thinned by age, his voice had lost none of it's heroic authority.also along for the ride are Burt "Robin" Ward and Julie "Catwoman" Newmar, both of whom similarly retain the thrust that made their characters resonate.based upon a revivalist comic-book series, the goal here was clearly to find a middle-ground between the whimsy of West's tv series and the grittier version(s) of more recent years. for the most part they did an impressive job. it has both the grandeur of Batman's more recent cartoons and the freewheeling sense of humor of West's heyday. for instance, at one point Batman is clonked on the head and briefly sees triple, and the two addition Catwomen are caricatures of fellow former Catwomen Lee Meriwether and Eartha Kitt. or take the legal precedent cited of "Dozier Vs. Semple." obviously this refers to William Dozier, producer/narrator of the original series, and Lorenzo Semple Jr., author of many episodes.once or twice, it might even be too clever for it's own good. Robin's exclamation of "Holy Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!" is plenty amusing in context, but i fear it will leave the overanalysts scratching their heads. after all, how could that paragon of wholesome, The Boy Wonder, possibly know anything about Russ Meyer movies?some key actors, alas, were shortsighted enough to die before the project was even envisioned, leaving us to settle for imitators. not that they do at all poorly: the voices behind The Joker and The Riddler do an admirable job of replicating the essences of Caesar Romero and Frank Gorshin, but whoever plays The Penguin falls so laughably short of Burgess Meredith, one wonders if he's actually even trying.i've said before and i'm prepared to say again that The Penguin is easily the corniest nemesis i've ever seen Batman (or any other superhero) come up against...unless he's in the form of Burgess Meredith. God knows how Meredith managed to transcend the limited character he had to work with, but somehow he did, making all Penguins to come (not least of which Danny DeVito) that much harder to take seriously. add the fact that character acts as part of a gang rather than doing anything on his own account, and it becomes all too unmissable: The Penguin is present strictly for the Marquee value, less because he actually contributes something than because he was expected.the rest of the cast does a pretty good job. Aunt Harriett sounds just like Madge Blake, although curiously isn't drawn to look much like her. and Alfred remains the loyal, lovable right-hand man of old. which is all the more impressive when one learns he's played by, of all people, Steven Weber from Wings.they didn't manage to rekindle all the classic tropes, i'm afraid. there are exotic death traps but obviously no cliffhangers. there are no special guest cameos in the window when they scale a building. nor is there any sign of Batgirl. (presumably because Yvonne Craig had shuffled her own mortal coil not long before.) but fortunately there's only one omission for which the whole actually suffers: no glib narrator to take over for producer Bill Dozier.Return Of The Caped Crusaders, title notwithstanding, effectively picks up where we left off. the plot concerns a concoction of Catwoman's - which she terms "Batnip" - designed to relieve our hero of any conscience or ethics. it turns out to work more gradually than she was counting on, but it does ultimately manage to make a monster out of him. things officially get really hairy when he uses the story's resident McGuffin, the "Replication Ray," to reproduce corrupted Batmans (Batmen?) by the seemingly hundreds.then comes Batman Vs. Two-Face, which, in the classic "special guest villain" mode, features William Shatner in the antagonist role. he's even drawn to not-so-subtly resemble Captain Kirk. this could be a case of wish fulfillment, because a semi-legendary unproduced episode would've featured Harvey Dent and his Mr. Hyde in the '60s. the "treatment" for said episode was by noted science-fiction author Harlan Ellison, who, perhaps coincidentally, also wrote probably the most famous episode of Star Trek, as well as Shatner's personal favorite, "The City On The Edge Of Forever."one of the coolest angles here is a promise followed up on. a prison break scene from Return features glimpses of many of the villains from the series, but doesn't really do anything with them. the Two-Face movie actually begins to work them into the foreground, giving underused foes King Tut and Bookworm brief but juicy role in the central action. one can only surmise what further installments would've had in mind for Egghead, Shame, Siren, and/or Mr. Freeze.one nifty in-joke concerns the lawyer who's identity Catwoman escapes prison by assuming, complete with a swapping of outfits. this hapless is soul is played the aforementioned Lee Meriwether, who stood in when Juile Newmar was unavailable for the Batman movie in 1966.perhaps most significantly, recent events allowed the credits to set one record straight. i've mentioned before how the "dark knight" version of Batman is little more than a plagiarism of The Shadow, but it turns out that was only the beginning of alleged creator Bob Kane's perfidy. it turns out that he wasn't really a writer so much as an artist, and was "helped" more than a little by one Bill Finger. it seems the man dressed as a bat was pretty much the extent of Kane's contribution. everything else - the dead parents backstory, most of the rogue's gallery, even the name "Batman" - are courtesy of Finger, but due to some contractual hocus-pocus, Kane got sole credit for decades. Kane was never likely to personally rectify the situation, given that he turned out to be a hammy limelight junkie, a' la Paris Hilton or Zsa Zsa Gabor. it was only around 2010 that efforts were taken on Finger's behalf to secure the credit he deserved, and while the campaign proved difficult and time consuming, it was successful in time for these films, and the tv show Gotham, to be able to officially sight Bill Finger's contribution.by an interesting historical footnote, the one piece of Batman for which Finger managed in his lifetime to claim official credit - "The Clock King's Crazy Crimes"/"The Clock King Gets Crowned" - is an Adam West episode.but i digress...it might feel incomplete, because it was meant to be a longer series. Adam West was taken from us before it could be taken any father. of course there's always the possibility that they'll recast the role, and who knows, maybe they'll find someone who can adequately replicate his essence. but then, maybe not.be that as it may, rest in peace, Adam. not Michael Keaton, not George Clooney, not even Christian Bale could even begin to take your place. if, in the words of Queen (and/or Highlander), there can be only one, it's you, Adam.

A great and sad year for Batman.......Us fans of the 60s Batman finally get the Dynamic Duo back with great new movies....only to lose the true West....the guys did a great job...everyone did....sad to see it end......I even liked how they showed West in the Lego Batman(very funny movie).....We will keep the Bat Signal on for ya Adam West........Thank you

Like the movie that preceded it, Batman: The Return of the Caped Crusaders, Batman vs. Two-Face is a clever, entertaining throwback to the live-action, campy Batman Series of the 60s. The movie retains the spirit of the show while giving the viewer the feeling of a grander, motion-picture scale. There are many clever touches to this film from modelling Harvey Dent after 60s-era William Shatner (who does a great job with the voice work) and incorporating Lee Meriwether into the cast with a nod to her appearance as Catwoman in the Batman '66 motion picture.Sadly, with the passing of Adam West, this is likely the last film we will see in the style of the 60s show. But for fans, these two animated films have been a real treat.

The movie is fantastic. Old fans (of 60's era tv show) and new alike will love it. Some funny "in jokes", like the defence attorney (played by Lee Meriwether who played Catwoman in the original Batman movie, the one with the rubber shark - lol) being named Lucy Diamond. William Shatner of Star Trek fame is of course well-known for doing a hilarious cover version The Beatles song "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds". Shatner of course, is the voice of Two-Face/Harvey Dent in this movie. I won't ruin the movie for anyone by going into specifics of the plot etc... But there are a long list of villains battling the dynamic duo in this movie. Voices done by Adam West (last thing he did before his passing away earlier this year), Burt Ward & Julie Newmar - the original and hottest Catwoman ever.The music is great. Music on the end credits is a version of the original tv series theme song which is longer and believe it or not - an even better rockin' (complete with saxophones) version of that song. And I'm a die-hard lover of the original version.On top of that, this item will soon be released (at the time I'm writing this) in a 2 pack set which includes "Return Of The Caped Crusaders" as well as "Batman Vs. Two-Face" all for the price of one - in one set. Adults and children alike will love these movies.

Schade, besonder weil William Shatner dabei ist, hatte ich mich sehr auf diesen Ausflug gefreut. Aber leider stimmt das Tempo nicht und auch die Handlung ist etwas zu oberflächlich. Im Gegensatz zum ersten Film, der mit der alten TV-Serie mithalten konnte, überzeugt mich dieser Teil nicht.In Deutsch haben wir aber auch weiterhin das Vergnügen, die Originalstimmen der TV-Serie zu hören. Im Original übrigens auch. Das wertet auf und tröstet ein wenig über die doch viel zu einfache und leider nicht sonderlich spannende Handlung hinweg.Bild und Ton sind okay, aber bei einer neuen Produktion wäre alles andere auch etwas seltsam.Wie immer können wahlweise Untertitel eingeschaltet oder die Sprache gewechselt werden.

Gelungene Fortsetzung der 60er Serie und des Prequels Batman Return of the Caped Crusaders!Und ein würdiger Abschluss für Adam West als Batman!Perfekt!

Really enjoyable homage to the the 60's Batman and tribute to Adam West. Campy and irreverent.Too bad these weren't be produced sooner so more could have been made. Maybe Michael Keaton can take over... ;)

Wenn man die folgenden Titel der Serie kennt, dann fällt dieser Titel echt übelst ab, in Plot, in deutscher Synchronisation, in den Charakteren. Taugt gerade noch für den Flohmarkt...