Cheap Batman Begins (Two-Disc Special Edition) (DVD) (Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Watanabe, Ken) Price
CHEAP-PRICE.NET ’s Cheap Price
$16.99
Here at Cheap-price.net we have Batman Begins (Two-Disc Special Edition) at a terrific price. The real-time price may actually be cheaper — click “Buy Now” above to check the live price at Amazon.com.
Cowritten by the team of David S. Goyer (a veteran comic book writer) and director Christopher Nolan (Memento), Batman Begins is a welcome return to the grim and gritty version of the Dark Knight, owing a great debt to the graphic novels that preceded it. It doesn't have the razzle dazzle, or the mass appeal, of Spider-Man 2 (though the Batmobile is cool), and retelling the origin means it starts slowly, like most "first" superhero movies. But it's certainly the best Bat-film since Burton's original, and one of the best superhero movies of its time. Bale cuts a good figure as Batman, intense and dangerous but with some of the lightheartedness Michael Keaton brought to the character. Michael Caine provides much of the film's humor as the family butler, Alfred, and as the love interest, Katie Holmes (Dawson's Creek) is surprisingly believable in her first adult role. Also featuring Gary Oldman as the young police officer Jim Gordon, Morgan Freeman as a Q-like gadgets expert, and Cillian Murphy as the vile Jonathan Crane. --David Horiuchi
Batman at Amazon.com
 All Batman DVDs |  Batman Begins 101: A Comic Book Primer |  Where Have I Seen Christian Bale? |
 All Batman Comics and Graphic Novels |  Batman Toys |  Batman Begins Soundtrack |
Stills from Batman Begins (click for larger images)
 |  |  |
DVD Features
The first disc is filled out by the theatrical trailer and a Jimmy Fallon-starring Batman Begins spoof from the MTV Movie Awards. The second disc consists of eight featurettes (about 105 minutes total) on a variety of topics. "The Journey Begins" covers the early stages of the movie, including the casting and how director/co-writer Christopher Nolan brought in co-writer David S. Goyer for his comic-book expertise. "Shaping Mind and Body" covers Christian Bale's fight training, and other featurettes discuss the sets (the Batcave is shown being constructed out of wood and sheets), the Batman costume, the Batmobile, the monorail sequence, and the hazards of filming in Iceland. All the behind-the-scenes featurettes are solid but somewhat routine, and while "The Journey Begins" is the widest overview, there's not really any centerpiece documentary (all are 8 to 15 minutes, and there's no Play All option). Interviewees tend to be the same throughout: Nolan, Goyer, Bale (the only cast member to get much face time), and other crew members (it's nice to hear from the stunt people).
Potentially more interesting to fans is "Genesis of the Bat," which covers the comic books that influenced the film, including The Long Halloween, Neal Adams's Ra's Al Ghul from the '70s, Dennis O'Neill and Dick Giordano's The Man Who Falls, and Frank Miller's Batman: Year One and The Dark Knight Returns. Interviewees include DC Comics editor Paul Levitz and artist Jim Lee, but the latter's involvement eventually degrades the featurette into a pitch for DC's All-Star Batman line. Filling out the disc are overviews of four gadgets and eight characters, DVD-ROM features, and a variety of poster-art concepts. To get to the features menu, you have to scroll through a multipage Goyer-scribed comic book, which is a good read, but you can't skip it the next time you want to watch the second disc. Note that the second disc offers a French menu and French (but not English) subtitles for the featurettes. --David Horiuchi
| ACTORS: | Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Watanabe, Ken |
| CATEGORY: | DVD |
| THEATRICAL RELEASE DATE: | 15 June, 2005 |
| MANUFACTURER: | Warner Home Video |
| MPAA RATING: | PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) |
| FEATURES: | AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC |
| TYPE: | Action, Action / Adventure, Adult Language, Adult Situations, Atmospheric, Color, Comic-Book Superhero Film, Double Life, English, Fantasy, Feature, Feature Film Action Adventure, Feature Film-action/Adventure, Flashy, Gift Set, Gritty, Haunted By the Past, Heroic Mission, Melancholy, Moody |
| MEDIA: | DVD |
| MPN: | D76677D |
| # OF MEDIA: | 2 |
| UPC: | 012569766778 |
Related Products
Customer Reviews of Batman Begins (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Great new beginning! I'll make this short and sweet. The batman franchise will live long and continue for years to come and it is by "Batman Begins" that it will all be possible. A great beginning, it's not simply a remake but a start from his creation and why he is who he is. This is a must have for any Batman/Comic fan.
Frank Millers Batman: a much better take on the story.
Prior to this movie, I had always wondered why they didnt adapt the frank miller versions of batman comics into movies, they always seemed to sinister, dark, the way i felt batman should always be portrayed.
<
>
<
>Finally they did so. I admit when i went to the movies for this I didnt expect much considering the previous abomination of a series with george clooney and val kilmer involved but I was so wrong.
<
>
<
>It held very close to the theme of the books and kept true to the dark nature, i believe was best intended for this character.
<
>
<
>I cant wait for the next one with heath ledger as the joker, this is going to be exceptional!
Not Reinventing the Wheel, But Improving It
Definitely spend the extra bucks for the 2 disc set This set comes with a really cool bonus disc and a great digest sized comic compiled with some of the great comic book stories that inspired the writers on the film. The bonus features are great, but I'd have liked some of them to be a bit longer--such as the history of Batman featurette. Great documentary on the pre-production and stunts as well as the fight choreography. Unfortunately the only cast member they interview in any depth is Christian Bale (such a shame considering the enormously talented cast this film has) and NO director's commentary or any commentary for that matter. Personally I'd have loved a commentary with the cast and writers.
<
>
<
>As for the film: this is most certainly a film about Batman. Who he is, how he came to be, and why he believes what he believes. Basically this film is blissfully nothing like the last two Batman films starring Val Kilmer & George Clooney in the title roles. I loved how the relationship between Gordon & Batman grows over the course of the film and the explanation given for their friendship/partnership is pitch perfect. A very important character to the comic book universe is introduced (Lucius Fox) and Alfred is given new life and a more sardonic sense of humor by actor Michael Caine. I'm not sure why every single Batman flick has him revealing his secret identity to at least one person (a sad tradition started in the first Burton film), but at least here it's much more plausible. The only disappointing aspect of the film is that Batman's detective skills aren't really shown to exist let alone given a chance to shine. Hopefully that's something they'll rectify in the sequel. And hopefully that sequel will be made with the same talented cast and crew. I'd love to see a true Batman onscreen trilogy. It would be wonderful to see Batman start out at one place and have him end in another over the course of 3 films with the same actors in key roles. It seems to be what Raimi is doing with Spider-Man and what Singer almost did with The X-Men. I think the Batman character deserves to be handled with respect and a truly definitive cinematic saga shouldn't be too much for fanboys to hope for. If such a saga is to come, then this film is the perfect place for it to begin.