Batman Begins: Two-Disc Special Edition (2005)

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General		Extras
Category	Action	Main Menu Introduction Menu Animation & Audio Theatrical Trailer Featurette-Batman: The Journey Begins Featurette-Cape And Cowl Featurette-Behind The Scenes-Gotham City Rises Featurette-Confidential Files - Hardware Featurette-Confidential Files - Allies And Mentors Featurette-Confidential Files - Enemies Featurette-Path To Discovery Featurette-Shaping Mind And Body Featurette-Genesis Of The Bat Gallery-Poster Featurette-Batman: The Tumbler Featurette-Saving Gotham City Easter Egg-Finders Keepers DVD-ROM Extras-Inner Demons Comic
Rating
Year Of Production	2005
Running Time	134:13
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered Dual Disc Set	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Language Select Then Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	2,4,5	Directed By	Christopher Nolan
Studio Distributor	Warner Home Video	Starring	Christian Bale Michael Caine Liam Neeson Katie Holmes Gary Oldman Cillian Murphy Tom Wilkinson Rutger Hauer Ken Watanabe Mark Boone Junior Linus Roache Morgan Freeman Larry Holden
Case	Amaray-Transparent-S/C-Dual
RPI	$39.95	Music	Ramin Djawadi James Newton Howard Mel Wesson

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s) German Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.40:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English Arabic German Hebrew Icelandic English for the Hearing Impaired German for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Comic book to film adaptations need to walk a very fine line. The film needs to stay relatively true to the source material in order to retain the charm and appeal of the original characters and storyline, but the film needs to extend beyond the constraints that have been placed on the comic book world to embrace a wider audience.

    When these adaptations stick too close to the source material, comic book fans might be delighted but mainstream moviegoers are alienated and steer clear at the box office. At other times film-makers totally lose the innate appeal of the comic and go off and make some of the worst films in recent memory (Batman & Robin or Catwoman.)

    For every comic book film done well, it seems like there are 2 or 3 that are not so good and others that just plain stink.

    Thankfully, Batman Begins is done well. So well, in fact I would venture to say that Batman Begins is the best superhero to film adaptation since Donner's classic Superman. The source material is adhered to and yet the way in which the audience is drawn into Bruce Wayne's emotional and physical journey manages to make the film instantly accessible to mainstream movie audiences. I haven't read a comic book in over fifteen years and this film was so good I had to go out and buy a couple of comics that the film drew inspiration from! That's powerful film-making.

    Batman Begins traces the guilt of a young Bruce Wayne thirsting for revenge, which leads to a lost soul searching the world in self imposed exile. After being sprung from a remote Asian prison, he receives ninja-like vigilante training in the Himalayas. Wayne then returns to Gotham to save the city his family helped build and the genesis of the Dark Knight kicks into full swing. The result is a much more satisfying origin than has been told on the big screen before.

    Christian Bale is the perfect Bruce Wayne; tortured and uncomfortable one second and a millionaire playboy enjoying himself the next. When he becomes Batman the transformation is complete; the caped vigilante is angry and aggressive. One of the few complaints I heard about this film was that Bale's Batman voice was over the top. I loved it.

    The supporting cast is almost a who's who of respected actors from the last 30 years; Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, Rutger Hauer, Liam Neeson, Ken Watanabe and Tom Wilkinson turn in great performances. Undoubtedly Katie Holmes is the weakest leak. Let's hope that Tom Cruise, motherhood and Scientology keep her out of the sequel.

    This is easily the best Batman movie so far. Let's hope that Christopher Nolan and David Goyer can keep it coming. The special features made me appreciate how much research and work they put into getting to know the source material to make a classic movie. If you missed the theatrical release go out and get this DVD immediately.

Video

    This PAL disc is presented in the film’s original theatrical ratio of 2.40:1 and is 16x9 enhanced. The transfer is stunning.

    The picture is sharp and clear with no sign of edge enhancement..

    Colours come through beautifully and naturally. Skin tones looked good too. Black levels are great as are shadow details. Dark films can tend to be pretty grainy but thankfully there is no grain to be seen on this disc. When brighter colours are present they look natural (unlike earlier Batman films where they were fluoro bright) and there is no colour bleeding.

    There are no MPEG or film to video artefacts to speak of.

    Warner Home Video have done this film justice by giving it one of most impressive video transfers I've seen in quite awhile. It is flawless. I wish more DVD releases looked this good.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The dialogue comes through clearly and is never drowned out.

    Surround usage is constant throughout the movie and really makes the most of all directional noise. It adds a lot to the Scarecrow hallucinations!!

    The subwoofer gets a good workout with the tumbler (I want one of them) sequence and other key action scenes. My house was shaking under the pressure.

    The music for the film was a lot more subtle than other super hero films, but really well done. The music is well balanced and certainly adds to the mood of the film.

    There is also a German Dolby Digital 5.1 track (384 kb/s).

    I'd prefer a dts option, but to be honest this Dolby mix is right up there with the best sound experience DVD can offer.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Batman - The Journey Begins (14:14)

    Covers the early development of the film, and how Nolan and Goyer got involved. Brief, but interesting.

Shaping Body and Mind (12:48) 

    Chronicles Bale's transformation to play Batman.

The Tumbler  (13:40)

    The development of the coolest Batmobile ever.

Gotham City Rises (12:40)

    Production featurette on Gotham city, Wayne Manor and so on.

Cape and Cowl   (8:18)

    Costume design and all the work that goes into getting the right look.

Path to Discovery  (14:13)

    Chronicles the journey of Wayne in the lost years between leaving Gotham and returning as Batman. Good viewing.

Saving Gotham City  (13:00)

    SFX and miniature work to build Gotham.

Genesis of the Bat (14:52)

    An overall look at the development of the film.

Production Notes

    Hardware, Enemies and Allies/Mentors

    There is also DVD-ROM content that links to the Batman website. Pretty standard promotional fare, but worth a look.

    As far as I've seen they are the same. Buy on price.

    Overall, this 2 disc set is a must have for your DVD collection.

    This is easily the best Batman film to date, an intriguing origin story with character development, a bit of action and the baddest Batmobile of them all.

    The video is outstanding.

    The audio is great, although dts would have been nice.

    The special features are interesting - I would love a Nolan/Goyer/Bale commentary though.

    Highly recommended.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall