Set this to record from HDNet. Hadn’t seen it in many many years. Since then Christopher Nolan has completely redefined the concept of Batman from his beginning. With Dark Knight Nolan set the standard for comic-based films. I always regarded Burton’s 1989 version as “the good one,” especially after Schumacher’s super-corny neon lights sequels that followed.

So i was a bit disappointed with Batman. Obviously, a comparison is in order between this and Dark Knight, both being the Joker flicks. So i’m eager to watch Nolan’s version again with Burton’s rendition fresh in my mind. This was far more comic-booky than i remembered. Long shadows and sinister lighting, steam and smoke, air so thick you can cut it with a knife. Trench coats, fedoras, and pinstripes. Nicholson’s Joker is a joke after Ledger’s masterpiece portrayal — more silly Riddler than mastermind of anarchy. But it seems the point was more Dick Tracy than Bourne Identity. The original was trying to be true to the comic book, where the modern version gives a glimpse of what a real-life millionaire-by-day/crime-fighter-by-night might be like in today’s world.

It looked remarkably 80s — very dated. The wardrobe, the lighting, the film stock, the cars. It all looks like a backlot. Everything has a “pale blue moonlight”. This was still the age where the medium left its signature all over the final product, before the look could be created entirely in post. Nowadays films can look or not look like literally anything the director can imagine (think 300) — they don’t actually even have to have been shot on film. But in a way it works, because this Gotham wasn’t ultra-modern, but almost retro — a big metro from the past, now grimy, gray, run down with crime. The reporters write stories on typewriters, and research on microfilm. Photographers snap with manual focus SLRs and look at big white-bordered prints. They call each other on rotary phones and watch tube TVs in wooden boxes. The guns sound like they were sampled from an old western. But remarkably, it was presented in HD, i assume rescanned from film, and looked great for its age.

But man, that iconic theme. Timeless. To this day it’s instantly recognizable as The Batman Soundtrack. The pop songs included are drastically 80s.

So many classic lines, most delivered by the Jack Nicholson. Some truly terribly special effects (note the opening shot of Batman walking in from the rooftop). Interestingly, the plot tends to stand on its own, tying up all loose ends — Batman “creates” Joker, and it’s revealed that Joker “created” Batman. In Nolan’s Gotham, events are more organic, less tidy.

I think we’ve all seen the horrible rewind shot of Robin splashing in Poison Ivy’s pool. Well i spotted another use here, in the shot where the Batmobile stops in front of Batman, but it looks much better.

Now to watch Dark Knight, and maybe Batman Begins, with a critical eye.