BACK COVER SYNOPSIS: "A Triumph. You Can't Take Your Eyes Off It!" - Peter Travers, Rolling Stone.

FILM REVIEW: My introduction to the character of Batman was the 1960's television show which was in repeats during the 80's when I was growing up. I had no idea he was originally intended to be a dark character inhabiting a dark world so when the first previews of the first big screen "Batman" film blasted its way in to cinemas prior to release, I was intrigued but also a little off put. This wasn't the same character I had been used to seeing. Suffice to say, this film really did re-establish the Batman character and returned him to his dark origins in a very successful manner, and interestingly, without his side-kick Robin.

We don't get an origin story with this film; rather it starts off as if Batman has been on the job for about a month or two and word on the street amongst crooks is that he is a ghost story... until he shows up and exacts justice (as in the pivotal first scene). We then follow Batman as he becomes entangled in the schemes of The Joker, delivered in a powerhouse performance by Jack Nicholson. This is a solidly entertaining film and although "Batman Begins" which was to come a little over 15 years later would beat this film in every department, it was still the first Batman film to finally make audiences take the character seriously again.

Director Tim Burton goes to great lengths to separate his Batman from the 60's television series. The world he portrays is dark and brooding, with Batman popping up here and there, moving between the shadows. He's a character people are afraid of, even the people he's protecting. Bruce Wayne himself (the man behind Batman and played by Michael Keaton, a rather unconventional choice) is an odd character, hiding so much of his feelings and thoughts from everyone except his trusted butler Alfred. Only Vicky Vale (Kim Basinger) tries to probe beneath the surface and discovers a fascinating secret to Wayne and the world he inhabits. Burton also manages to pack the film with some tense action sequences, including the batmobile chase, a sequence with the batwing and culminating in a spectacular cathedral rooftop scene where Batman finally dispatches the Joker.

Make no mistake about it, although this film is called "Batman", it's really stolen by one of the most memorable performances put to film by Jack Nicholson as the main villain, The Joker. He steals every scene he's in, and given that Batman is a more "in the shadows" kind of character, it was inevitable that the Joker would steal the limelight (an unfortunate consequence is that Bruce Wayne is not nearly as developed as the Joker). Nicholson is perfect in this film and you'll be pressed to look away from the screen whenever he shows up because he does such a good job of combining the insanity, violence and comedy inherent in the Joker.

The only downside, and very strange choice (perhaps they didn't know if there would be sequels), they killed the Joker off at the end of this film which wasn't really all that necessary. Also not working so well is that the Joker (or Jack Napier as he was before being transformed in to the Joker) killed Bruce Wayne's parents. I since learnt after the film that this was a major break from the origin story in the comics and as such had fans around the world protesting at least at that scene. For me personally, it just seemed all too convenient that this was the way the story panned out and smacked of a screen-writer trying to tie up loose ends.

This is a great film and the best of the Batman films in the series that followed in the 90's.

EXTRAS REVIEW: The original release of this disc had no extras so it is a welcome surprise that this release has a very comprehensive set of extras. The backbone of the extras surround two big documentaries: "Shadows of the Bat", a mammoth, detailed documentary which chronicles the film's development, production and release (including some entertaining interviews Jack Nicholson), and "Legends of the Dark Knight", a retrospective documentary on the history of Batman in the comic books, spanning seven decades of history. These documentaries are reason enough to purchase this disc but there's also an audio commentary by director Tim Burton, several featurettes covering specific aspects of the making of the film, the music videos done by Prince, profile galleries of the heroes and villains and a storyboard sequence for an abandoned scene that was to feature Robin. Overall, this is a spectacular set of extras.

BOTTOM LINE: Worth having in the collection.