Batman Begins (2005, DVD)

I've never been a big comic book fiend and I haven't been overly excited by recent comic-to-theater films like Spiderman, the Incredible Hukl, etc. But without a doubt - Batman Begins is the best of this recent phenomenon and is a fantastic movie if if you aren't a comic fan or even a batman fan - Batman Begins is done so well, that it really is an excellent movie. Christian Bale is outstanding (as always) as Bruce Wayne and Batman and the rest of the cast is, for the most part, stellar: Michael Caine as Alred is great, Liam Neeson and Morgan Freeman are always excellent. My only criticism of the acting - and really of the film - is Katie Holmes as love interest Rachel Dawes... she is awful - has no emotion, is a painfully poor actress, and of course this movie arrived during her Tom Cruise escapade... But enough about Katie and more about Batman:

Batman Begins is more like an epic and a novel than a regular action film - it follows certain themes very nicely throughout the entire plot and does so under a very dark setting. The action scenes are filmed beautifully and the movie is general is a pleasure for the eyes - the DVD is an excellent addition for any big screen TV!

Batman Begins Cast:
Christian Bale .... Bruce Wayne/Batman
Michael Caine .... Alfred
Liam Neeson .... Henri Ducard
Katie Holmes .... Rachel Dawes
Gary Oldman .... Jim Gordon
Cillian Murphy .... Dr. Jonathan Crane
Tom Wilkinson .... Carmine Falcone
Rutger Hauer .... Earle
Ken Watanabe .... Ra's Al Ghul
Mark Boone Junior .... Flass
Linus Roache .... Thomas Wayne
Morgan Freeman .... Lucius Fox

Christopher Nolan and his co-screenwriter, David Goyer have chosen to postpone the crossover of Bruce Wayne (a soulful Christian Bale) into Batman until half way through the new "Batman Begins."
And this is a crucial and important step that Nolan puts off until Bruce walks the earth in search of his own personal nirvana... in a sort of Christ-like journey to understand himself and his place in the world after his parents are brutally murdered. It is also from this quest that he acquires the knowledge and skills necessary for him to become a warrior, ready and able to combat the ills and rid his town Gotham of all evil-doers.
Nolan's "Batman Begins" is a more macho, masculine film than were the previous movies, which is not to take anything away from Tim Burton's elegiac, gothic and visionary takes on this story. But Burton's world is/was/ and will always be the world of the dreamer: his Batman is more sinned against than sinning. His Batman needs love and understanding while Nolan's wants and needs justice and revenge more than anything else: even the sultry Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes proves to be of little interest to Batman save a chaste kiss at the end of the movie. It's interesting to note that in the previous Batman films we had big beautiful bombshells like Kim Bassinger and Nicole Kidman as the so-called love interests while here, in Nolan's vision we have a more scrubbed clean, working class (Rachel is an assistant D.A.) heroine: a woman who is as interested in righting wrongs as is Batman and not merely someone meant as an adornment to the suave debonair Batman of Val Kilmer, George Clooney or Michael Keaton. It's an important and telling shift from woman as a plush toy to one who is, not only beautiful but also smart and dedicated to a cause other than self-promotion and self-satisfaction.
Christian Bale's Batman is real..i.e. a genuine, fleshed-out, beautifully written movie character: he is conflicted, he makes mistakes, he trusts the wrong people at times and he pays for his mistakes. It is a remarkable casting coup to have Bale in this role particularly since of late he has been playing a spate of radicals...i.e. in "The Machinist," in which he transforms himself into a skeleton...literally. As Bruce Wayne/Batman, Bale dons the mask, assumes the persona, not out of a lust for power but out of a fervent belief that good will always triumph over evil: several times in this film he is brought to task for his trust in the basic goodness of people and one of his mentors ( Liam Neeson as Ducard) even goes so far as to ridicule Bruce as sentimental and weak for it. Though Ducard is his mentor and sensei, this relationship proves to be fraught with ambiguity as the movie progresses to the climax.
What is a Batman film without its villains? But this film is devoid of the cartoon craziness of the Riddler or the Joker. Here we have Cillian Murphy (so good in "28 Days Later") as a scary-as-hell The Scarecrow, alias psychiatrist Dr. Jonathan Crane, who spews his psychedelic paranoia and psychosis on an unsuspecting Gotham. His "stuff" is more thrilling and frightening than anything that the aforementioned villains could ever muster.
"Batman Begins" is not only a physically gorgeous film, it is also an emotionally and ideologically complicated one. It wears its heart on its sleeve, yes...but it also has the brains and a profoundly strong back and pumped up physicality to back it up.

Great Movie - really changed my mind on the Batman series - Christian Bale is fantastic - while there are some very comedic times - the overall tone is serious and sometimes depressing but that is what Batman is all about - he is a man who is suppose to suffer

Different film. So much better than the last Batman movie; there's no comparison. The scene on the cover is not in the movie. Would have enjoyed it more if the Theatre wasn't so LOUD. I saw this at a new theatre (only open 2 days). I'm sure people that see movies in theatres will have some severe hearing loss. I wear earplugs and the movies are still to loud for my comfort. All in all a film worth seeing.

This movie has some deep and meaningful messages and lines without swearing or sexual content. I wish all movies were more like this!

I've seen all the Batman movies except the George Clooney Batman. This one was one of the better ones. My favorite was the first one that starred Michael Keaton. Any director that can make you believe Michael keaton is Batman is a genius. Batman Begins had an excellent story line, although long, and also enough action and gadgets to maintain interest.

Liked this movie very much. Only buy about 1 DVD per year, found this one worthy. Finally a movie starring the "Dark Knight," a vaguely possible real person who plausibly becomes a vigilante. His abilities required no more suspension of disbelief than the Bourne movies, and the story wasn't obscured by ridiculous action and special effects (although I thought the fight scenes were coherent and exciting). Liked that Batman didn't kill people in droves, like he does in the previous (entirely forgettable) movies. He is tough, brutal, and uncompromising, but lives by a strict moral code with well-delineated boundries. This movie finally captured the Batman from the Detective comics & its progeny. The story, acting, direction and editing were strong. Clearly the best, most accurate Batman yet. Only good Batman movie. Hope they don't blow the sequal.

OK we all know that the Batman franchise had jumped the shark with the Batman & Robin and put Batman on the shelf for almost 15 years. Batman Begins brings back the original concept and shows us the dark past of Batman bringing the franchise back to its roots with Batman being the focus and the inner turmoil that he faces as opposed to the focus of high profile actors playing the over the top villains. Scarecrow and Rhas aGhul played intelligent villains and the choice of these characters instead of the higher profile villains that in my opinion destroyed the franchise in the 90's.

The seller was very honest about the DVDs condition, and I got exactly what I paid for. The pricing was very reasonable, and if I can, I would definitely buy from this seller again. The movie was in tip top condition, and I really appreciate that. I only wish it could've gotten here a little faster, but that's only because I was really anxious to get it.

I liked this movie mostly because it gave you insight into how Bruce Wayne decided to become Batman. From other movies we knew he became Batman because his parents were killed but we didn't really know why he became a bat or where he got his training and his cool gadgets.

Came fast, excellent buy and pleasant seller. Accurate description and love the movie! Have been wanting to get it for a while now and finally found a good deal on ebay. I've watched it several times and would recommend it to everyone.

"Batman Begins" is an interesting movie not only because of its storyline, which adopts a more "real and crude", free of villains in disguise approach than the so-called anthology and its state-of-the-art production (that wasn't possible in the early 90's, probably), but the story on how Bruce Wayne, driven by fear and guilty, came to be Batman.

For those like me, who have never followed Batman through comics, the existence of such mysterious figure was always an unanswered question until this movie came out. Taking another comics-based sequel like Spider-Man one can realize that the history of a hero was told from the beginning, which is the correct approach.

By following a logical reasoning, one can easily tell that "Batman Begins" should be the first movie of the series and it's sad that it came so late. Looking on the bright side, it was good that this movie was produced last, taking advantage of greater and better special effects available today. People who are now being introduced to the "Batworld" can make a choice and watch the "Fourlogy" starting with this one.

SEEN IN THEATHER, BEST BATMAN FEATURE FILM TO DATE. VERY LITTLE COMEDY, DARK AND GREAT STORY ADAPTATION. ME LIKES IT VERY MUUUUCH !!!!

i wanted the batman movie just to watch.
i bought it because it was cheep.
it was in excellent condition.

the movie is in excellent condition. the picture looks great. the reason i purchased from them is his reputation

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie because it departed from the standard "rock'em, sock'em" style that was used in all previous Batman movies. This was more realistic in terms of what was being said and portayed by far and had a story line that seemed more true to life. As an avid reader of Batman comic books as a young boy, I felt myself not only entertained, burt actually drawn into the story. I'm hoping the studio is working on a sequel right now!

P.S. - purchased this as a memento of days gone by...

This is one of many used DVD's that I bought from eBay. I paid $1.00 plus $3.00 shipping for it and I can't see where you could get the same DVD at this bargain. I have nevre had a problem with buying used DVD's on eBay and will continue to do so. Hope this helps. Take Care

CLOSER TO THE ORIGINAL VISION OF BOB KANES'S "DARKNIGHT"!! EVEN IF YOU DON'T FOLLOW BATMAN OR ARE MUCH OF A COMIC LOVER YOU WILL THROUGHLY ENJOY THIS FILM. THE CAST IS TOP NOTCH AND WITH A LITTLE EXCEPTION HIGHLY BELIEVABLE EVEN MOMENTS OF GREAT ACTING. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

An all star cast, what more can we say! Great story line, great actors, intelligent plot. Loved the movie. Much different from all the other batmans. This one not explains it all, but could as well stand alone as a complete story. I rate it A+

What a GREAT movie !! Everyone involved did a fantastic job! From the writers, producers, director, actors, stuntmen and all of the behind-the-scenes folks.

A great job was done on the portrayals of the characters, from Mom & Dad, to Alfred & Bruce, to the mob boss & the creepy scarecrow, to the growth of the careers of James Gordon & Batman, to utilizing the financial & business resources of Wayne Enterprises.

The introduction of all of the very cool Batman “toys”, form the suit to the gadgets, as well as the Batmobile itself, is very well done and highly believable. Everything that Bruce acquires from the Archives Department, could conceivably happen.

Great special effects and great chemistry of the entire cast makes this film a must see & a must have for your video collection.

I would see 30 of these movies provided they are made with the main cast remaining intact as well as the director and writers, and the same attention to detail and character casting that this film has.

Make more !!!

IF YOU FOUND THIS REVIEW HELPFUL PLEASE VOTE. THANK YOU !!

excellent update of Batman concept from Michael Keaton and George Clooney. Less cartoony and more film noir. Welsh bloke plays an American quite credibly. Liam Nesson steals the show but that does not detract from rollicking good yarn. Martial arts sequences brief but adequately choreagraphed. Rutger Howard's performance is good and Morgan Freeman supports well. Michael Caine adds new dimension to Alfred the butler character. All in all, well worth the price of $10 delivered.

I love this movie because it has an amazing story and I feel it was made perfectly. The actors fit their roles to perfection. If the sequel is half as good as this movie then it will be awesome.

Director Christopher Nolan (Memento) can be credited with the first cinematic miracle of the 21st century: resurrecting a flatlined franchise. Having no connection to Tim Burton's first two magnificent installments & moreover Joel Schumacher's uber cheesy last two films which transformed the series into a modernized clone of the slapstick filled Adam West show, Nolan instead returns Batman to his gothic gritty roots. While Tim Burton's original will always be classic, the titular hero of his film had most of his mojo stolen by his twisted arch-nemesis the Joker (played by scene stealing Jack Nicholson). Nolan's refreshed vision of the Dark Knight injects an aspect that was mostly dry (albeit brief flashbacks) from Burton's adaptation: a fleshed out backstory to how billionaire Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) became Batman in the wake of his parents murders. Now donning the cape & cowl of the Caped Crusader is Christian Bale, who pulls off the rare feat of living up to & possibly outdoing Keaton's original role. A first rate supporting cast includes Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Liam Neeson & Gary Oldman amongst several others. Batman Begins ultimately boils down to being a cinema prototype for comic book mythology. Beautiful cinematography, top notch acting/chemistry, a momentum building musical score, & adrenaline rush action set pieces all gel to create what is probably the most prolific supehero film one is likely to ever see.

The best batman yet by far!! Great backround story, and non stop action!! For the price its sure worth it!!!!!!!

It was the best way I've seen on how Batman started his crime fighting. Now they need to make more the same way with the same actors.