SO last night I was hangin with the kiddos ... and flippin channels and ... the first Batman was on ... "batman begins" .

And it got me thinking ... I think it is the best one of the 3 .

First off - the love interest is the best . Katie Holmes looks great . Most of the scenes are believeable... and done well . Scarecrow. Ral . The dialogue is A -++++.

The second movie - the Dark Knight was probably the most successful - but on a second and 3rd go round I do not think it works as well . Sure Heath Ledger is awesome as the Joker - but even his part is alittle unbelieveable when you take into account he really has no "powers" and then you are to believe all the times he walks into a scene with no police shooting him .. or no body tracking him down etc .... i think it gets kinda silly . I remember the first time i saw this movie being so "bummed " at the dialogue whenever Batman speaks - I could not understand him !

The 3rd one . Well . I can go on and on about this one and what it lacks . It is good (like all 3) but the charactor development of Bane and Catwoman is woefully lacking to me .

Ok . After a few yrs (for some of these) - which one do you think is best - and why ! ?

I would agree with you. I love the first one. It was exhilarating to watch.

The second one has a lot of great scenes, but it launches into believability-stretching territory for all the reasons you mention. Ledger was great, though.

And the third one is so ludicrous and nonsensical that I couldn't really enjoy it. Although I was very pleasantly surprised by how good Anne Hathaway was as Catwoman.

The first one was the best of the three.

The second one was really good.

The third one was fun.

I really have to check out the 3rd one again - only saw it one time on DVD ... but I remember thinking that I wanted to see more Catwoman and it just seemed like the charactor kinda went no where ... and then ... poof batman and her are together at the end ... surprise ! (very predictable to me ).

ColAngus said:

I really have to check out the 3rd one again - only saw it one time on DVD ... but I remember thinking that I wanted to see more Catwoman and it just seemed like the charactor kinda went no where ... and then ... poof batman and her are together at the end ... surprise ! (very predictable to me ).

They made the real 'bad guy/girl' in the movie too obvious during the love scene by the fire place. She's laying there with obvious scars on her back--it was clear to me that a woman of her place in society and money would not have those scars.

Batman Begins - best movie about Batman/Bruce Wayne/Gotham City (aka New York)

The Dark Knight - best "motion picture" of the whole trilogy (best directing, acting, script, etc)

The Dark Knight Rises - best "superhero" movie (that's both good and bad) of the trilogy

JoeTyler said:

The Dark Knight Rises - best "superhero" movie (that's both good and bad) of the trilogy

How do you mean? I think it fails as a superhero movie just because of the fact that the superhero is not in it very much. Bruce Wayne is in it a ton, but Batman has very, very little screen time.

Efan said:

JoeTyler said:

The Dark Knight Rises - best "superhero" movie (that's both good and bad) of the trilogy

How do you mean? I think it fails as a superhero movie just because of the fact that the superhero is not in it very much. Bruce Wayne is in it a ton, but Batman has very, very little screen time.

i was not talking about that

by "superhero movie" I meant that the script was basically about a hero trying to defeat this ultra-strong/evil guy who has this massively destructive device (a nuclear bomb), and more often than not the hero wins the day by using his brute force/powers in over-the-top action sequences (unlike parts 1 and 2)

and like I said before, that was both good and bad...

and the prince.org award for best KOPP OUT of an answer goes to ....

JOE TYLER ... thanks thanks ... accepting on behalf of Joe Tyler is ...

i liked the second one with Joker.

Then the one Scarecrow.

I recently saw the one with Bane And Catwoman, I thought the twist with Thalia was rather obvious.

For me, the only one I find watchable is the second one. The first and the last are just expensive B-movies. From a story telling stand point they are just shoddy.

The second one on the other hand is a work of art, it seems like it was by by someone else all together. Overall I think Nolan is extremely overrated.

I like all 3

i liked them too ... but that wasnt the question ! ! !

Most probably think the second one is the best.

I was quite disappointed in it after all the hype and might have actually enjoyed the third one the most. I actually thought Bane was maybe more interesting as a villain than the "scary nutcase" Joker.

There was something funny to me about these movies as they tried so hard to make Batman more realistic. There must be something about "our times" that makes people think realistic superhero movies are the shit.

Oh, now I remember, I just couldn't get over what Two-Face looked like in the second one. What a ridiculous looking character. They could have given Harvey Dent less screen time in the movie anyway.

novabrkr said:

Most probably think the second one is the best.

I was quite disappointed in it after all the hype and might have actually enjoyed the third one the most. I actually thought Bane was maybe more interesting as a villain than the "scary nutcase" Joker.

There was something funny to me about these movies as they tried so hard to make Batman more realistic. There must be something about "our times" that makes people think realistic superhero movies are the shit.

I agree.

They are all so different. I liked the first one the best; it really blew my mind with how believable they made it. My favorite Batman movie of any director.

The second was a little disappointing after all the hype around Heath Ledger, plus my expectations from loving the first so much (and other Nolan movies). Plus, annoying Batman voice. I should see it again. I have no doubt I would like it more the more I see it.

I really enjoyed the third. It reminded me a little of the Keaton ones. As someone said, it was the most "superhero" and fantastic of them all and ultimately a little fluffier. But very good, IMO

Batman Begins, but I do like them all

someone else above me said it best - I really thought most people on Prince.org would say the second one ... just because it was the most popular big budget draw etc but also because of all the hype around Heath Ledger ...

but on that topic - I think anyone playing the Joker - is gonna get hype . It is kinda that classic charactor like Hannibel Lector ... Jack Nicholson got alot of good press too ...

Somewhat suprised that it seems alot have respect for the first one .

batman begins. no doubt

a radical change ? you mean the storyline ?

Begins was best, dark night kind of sucks

After carefully analyzing all three movies, I must say... this is a very difficult question to answer.

I admit, I was a Nolan basher, when the first two movies were released. I didn't understand his overall vision and what he was trying to accomplish with the Batman character and these movies. I didn't like the 2 Bat suits, I didn't like the liberties he had taken with the origin story, I didn't understand the Rachel Dawes character and where she had come from...the movies intitially left me with more questions than answers.

Once the 'Dark Knight Rises' had been released, it was only then, that I came to understand what Nolan was trying to accomplish, and I gained a newfound respect for him as an incredible story teller and director. Taking elements from over 70 years of comic books, Nolan constructed a storyline using characters from these comics, and molded them to fit into reality. A huge undertaking for anyone, yet Nolan actually pulled it off. He took a cartoon drawing of Batman, and gave each element of his costume a reason and purpose, that could actually work in the real world. We've all seen the drawings of Batman leaping around with his cape flared out like batwings, but could only use our imaginations as to how that would work in reality. The idea of 'memory cloth' was very well conceived. Same with the bat gaunlets. Taking an artists bat-like costume and giving them real world usage, was also very ingenious. He really knocked it out of the park, not just making Batman believeable in real world situations, but highly functional as well.

Batman Begins: Excellent set up, taking cartoon/comic book characters and establishing them in the modern world. Taking elements from Batman: Year One and Batman: The Animated Series, it stands up very well as a single movie all on its own.

The Dark Knight: Another film good enough to stand up on it's own, Heath Ledger's take on the Clown Prince of Crime, blew ALL previous incarnations on TV or Film, completely out of the water! The new costume was a major improvement, even though I like the original costume as well.

The Dark Knight Rises: A very good, third act! It really delves into how far Bruce Wayne was willing to go, to protect Gotham City. It completes the storyline that 'Begins' had started, with trying to finish Ras Al Ghul's destiny. I for one, was so enthralled in the story, and probably one of the few to be surprised that Miranda Tate, was actually Talia Al Ghul. Touching back to the first movie, with making us think Ducard was not Ras. Anne Hathaway (like Heath), made ALL previous incarnations of Selina Kyle on TV or Film, completely obsolete. It really was like watching the Animated Series version of Selina Kyle, come to life.

Again, tough decision. If I had to choose, I think I would go with The Dark Knight.

In the end, I love all 3 movies as a whole. Like he made his own "Elseworld's" Graphic Novel across 3 films. That covered Batman's real story from childhood, to sacrificing his life to save the city, only to find out he survived and lived happily ever after. A great trilogy, that I never get tired of watching. I have been converted from a Nolan hater, to having to give him a standing ovation for this great accomplishment on film. And Christian Bale made an excellent Bruce Wayne/Batman.

So much so, that it inspired this drawing by yours truly:

(The watermark serves, only to protect the original, as I am selling prints, without my name over the whole image.)

My personal favorite is Batman Begins but I really liked the other two as well, including the last one.

I liked Batman Begins because it had one of my favorite villains for the first time on screen, namely Ras Al Ghul. I´m not too sure whether Liam Neeson was the right actor for the role but he wasn´t really bad either...maybe not really sinister looking. Someone who looks a bit like that Kobayashi actor from the usual suspects probably would´ve made a better Al Ghul ( I´m talking about that deceased British actor Pete Postlethwaite....he would´ve made a great Ras Al Ghul I think).

One of my favorite Batman stories is "The Lazarus Pit", albeit it is a bit dated and not as dark and deep as the more recent graphic novels, so to see Ras Al Ghul in a Batman movie and to see how Bruce Wayne travelled around the world before he became Batman was great to watch.

The first one is my favorite but I liked the second one so much that I went to the movie theater again the next day to watch it one more time.

The third one is in my opinion not as bad as most people say it is. I wish Talia Al Ghul would´ve looked a bit sexier, like in the graphic novels. As a kid I had a huge crush on Talia Al Ghul and the movie version doesn´t really come close to the comic book version, especially Neal Adams´version was supersexy. And I didn´t like that she wanted to kill Bruce Wayne when in the graphic novels she actually saved his life and was madly in love with him.