SoulAlive said:

Diana80 said:

That "Batdance" song sucked.

No,it didn't that song is edgy, adventurous and features a blazing guitar solo.It's one of Prince's best singles of the late 80s.

^

I agree with you SoulAlive..

Batdance is a great funk/pop track... the Jack Nicholson/ Kim Basinger dialogue is amazing, fits this song very well.

Shame this track wasn't used for the end credits in the movie.

&.. I love the Batdance music video, that is just fantastic, one of Prince's best videos.

"Dance With The Devil" and some of the Lovesexy outtakes would've complimented the film's gothic theme.

I think the songs worked well with the movie. The movie was over the top and so were the songs. Jack's Joker was a ham and hilarious. Heath's Joker was a homicidal maniac by comparison.

Truthfully all of the first Batman movies were campy fun with crazy one liners and sick humor. The relaunch Batman movies were pure art and theate with a serious storyline and strong acting. the humor crept in in spots but they weren't aiming for laughs in these.

HonestMan13 said:

I think the songs worked well with the movie. The movie was over the top and so were the songs. Jack's Joker was a ham and hilarious. Heath's Joker was a homicidal maniac by comparison.

Truthfully all of the first Batman movies were campy fun with crazy one liners and sick humor. The relaunch Batman movies were pure art and theate with a serious storyline and strong acting. the humor crept in in spots but they weren't aiming for laughs in these.

Nailed it excatly. Remember, in 89, Batman was a comic book movie. Set in a comic book world. Bright colors, giant buildings, exaggerated fashions, indeterminable time period, etc. I think we are seeing some revisionist history here from Burton on why his movie did not have the same effect as the reboots. The newer incarnations are set in the real world and obey different (fake) laws. The music was perfect for the movie and NO ONE complained about it at the time. 11,000,000 units sold.

Meloh9 said:

Also Trust works well in that particular scene.

really?

I think Trust is terrible and the song that fails in the movie.

anyway, I don't like too much Burton's film.....

and Batman album is one of my favoties....

Wow, never knew so many people felt that the Batman soundtrack didn't match the movie. I felt the songs used in the movie did fit it. Not all of the songs on the soundtrack fit with the movie, but most movie soundtracks feature tracks that don't fit with the actual movie it's meant for anyway. I love the soundtrack with the exception of Arms of Orion and Lemon Crush.

^ I think most of the Prince songs did fit perfectly in the movie..

Only Trust was a miss, imo.

The Future

Vicki Waiting,

Partyman,

Scandalous (Credits)

these were working well.

If only Batdance had (also) been used during the end credits.

Back then I was so surprised Batdance wasn't used at all.

missfee said:

Wow, never knew so many people felt that the Batman soundtrack didn't match the movie. I felt the songs used in the movie did fit it. Not all of the songs on the soundtrack fit with the movie, but most movie soundtracks feature tracks that don't fit with the actual movie it's meant for anyway. I love the soundtrack with the exception of Arms of Orion and Lemon Crush.

I did too.

leonche64 said:

Meloh9 said:

Nobody mentioned how much the song The Future actually does fit the movie although not included in the film, and the outtake Dance Ith The Devil even more so. It shows that Prince can write dark moody music, fitting for a film like Batman.

reply #19

even though I don't believe the Future was written for the movie, I think the 'apocolyptic' coolness shadowy feel of the song and lyrics work,

Dance With the Devil would have been perfect too Dance With the Devil was definately made 4 the movie. He should have made this a B side and and did his take on the scene in a video

said:

"The Future" really fits the Batman movie.It has a dark,compelling sound.I hate that it can barely heard in the film! They should have used a few minutes of it,in the beginning scenes.

Meloh9 said:

Actually you have it backwards. The reboots are based even more so on the comics, for example much of the first reboot was based on the graphic novel the Long Holloween. If Tim Burton followed the comics more, he would have ended up with a much more serious and realistic film. The Batman comics had long been reinvented into a much more darker, serious and real world detective theme comic book at that point. Folks who don't read the novels tend to think that comics are over the top and goofy and mainly aimed at children. leonche64 said:

Nailed it excatly. Remember, in 89, Batman was a comic book movie. Set in a comic book world. Bright colors, giant buildings, exaggerated fashions, indeterminable time period, etc. I think we are seeing some revisionist history here from Burton on why his movie did not have the same effect as the reboots. The newer incarnations are set in the real world and obey different (fake) laws. The music was perfect for the movie and NO ONE complained about it at the time. 11,000,000 units sold.

I get your point, but I make a distinction between comic books and graphic novels. Burton was going for a comic book world. So you have things like giant balloons filled with poison gas, guys with zoot suits with inch wide stripes, The Joker with a six shooter with a 4 foot barrel, make up that makes you smile to death...come on, that is comic book shit. Remember, this was 89. The world was a different place filled with neon colors and synthesizers. We watched Bill Cosby on television, not Walter White. Grundge had not been invented yet, we rocked Milli Vanilli and Bell Biv Devoe, and America was 20 years removed from its last war. A Batman movie could only be but so dark. And the MUSIC FIT PERFECTLY.

I'm much more interested in hearing that early version of that great tune "Vicky Waiting" :

"Some previously recorded numbers were revamped to fit the movie, such as "Anna Waiting" (about Anna Garcia), which morphed into Vicki Waiting after the character Vicki Vale." -Possessed

Electric chair on SNL has to be my all time top tv performances. Love it.

[Edited 10/24/12 3:44am]

catpark said:

Electric chair on SNL has to be my all time top tv performances. Love it.

[Edited 10/24/12 3:44am]

Hell yes.

Meloh9 said:

I believe The Future was originally intended for the Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic album. OldFriends4Sale said:

reply #19

even though I don't believe the Future was written for the movie, I think the 'apocolyptic' coolness shadowy feel of the song and lyrics work,

Dance With the Devil would have been perfect too Dance With the Devil was definately made 4 the movie. He should have made this a B side and and did his take on the scene in a video

hmm possibly, it does have the same feel as the Line, so was probably made around the same time

the Rave album would have been nice

said:

The criticisms of Burton's Batman being too cartoony seem recent to me, because at the time I remember the movie being described as gothic and dark, usually in comparison to the 60s TV series.

It seems this idea of them being camp and cartoony comes from the recent reboot franchise. I suppose in a few years time when they reboot them again, the latest trilogy will be looked upon as trashy and camp?

NouveauDance said:

The criticisms of Burton's Batman being too cartoony seem recent to me, because at the time I remember the movie being described as gothic and dark, usually in comparison to the 60s TV series.

It seems this idea of them being camp and cartoony comes from the recent reboot franchise. I suppose in a few years time when they reboot them again, the latest trilogy will be looked upon as trashy and camp?

Yes, Batman has always been 'darker' but moving beyond the 1960's Batman

in the comic world there are 2-3 different Batman worlds,

the movies out now, represent Batman the Dark Knight, which is more sinister the criminals are more twisted more shadow and mystery, versus the other Batman which the same characters were a bit more 'colorful' a bit more humorous

leonche64 said:

I get your point, but I make a distinction between comic books and graphic novels. Burton was going for a comic book world. So you have things like giant balloons filled with poison gas, guys with zoot suits with inch wide stripes, The Joker with a six shooter with a 4 foot barrel, make up that makes you smile to death...come on, that is comic book shit. Remember, this was 89. The world was a different place filled with neon colors and synthesizers. We watched Bill Cosby on television, not Walter White. Grundge had not been invented yet, we rocked Milli Vanilli and Bell Biv Devoe, and America was 20 years removed from its last war. A Batman movie could only be but so dark. And the MUSIC FIT PERFECTLY.

Compared to Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy, elements of Tim Burton's two Batman films are quite cartoony, zany, and fantastical. Yet, they are not campy and overbearing compared to 1998's Batman & Robin. Hell, I'd say Tim Burton's Batman films are even less "cartoony" than The Avengers.

Burton's films are (even by today's standards) very dark and grim...even for comic book films. I would argue that, even though it is more of a fantasy, Batman Returns is a much more grim, gothic, depressing, and downbeat film than any of the Chris Nolan Batman movies.

Certainly, I think Nolan's is a better take on the Batman mythos. Whatever one's feelings on the Tim Burton's orginal Batman movie, once cannot argue that, in 1989, all the pieces fit for that Batman film to make it a huge hit with major impact on culture (and superhero movies that followed. The dark cinematography, the gothic production design, Jack as Joker, Michael Keaton's rubber muscles, and even Prince's music all worked together wonderfully artistically and commercially.

In general, this film is the reason public perception of Batman moved away from the 1960's tv show and it is the reason that the general public (and not just comic book fans) started to view Batman as The Dark Knight.

[Edited 10/24/12 8:43am]

I like how Batdance is at the end of All the Critics Love U in London from the 21 Nights book cd

SoulAlive said:

artist76 said:

I was kinda on the young side at the time of "Batman" movie release to care about it, but in the last few years, I have seen interviews from the late 1980s/ early 1990s from pop culture personalities that mention Batman and the music. The interview I remember most was of John Taylor of DD in 1989/1990, which I saw on YT like 2 yrs ago. He loved the Batman music by Prince (DD are Prince fans) and said that the music wasn't well integrated or used in the movie and that it was shame. A first I thought he was kinda high on drugs and didn't know what he was saying, but then i came across corroborative comments from other peers at the time which made me think he was parroting a general opinion of the time. Prince was big, and Prince contributing movie music was big, so people expected Tim to make more or better use of it. So in that context, I think Tim Burton's comments here and elsewhere about his "difficulty" or "disappointment" with the music are defensive. And I think a lot of the movie reviews were lackluster (E.g., Robert Ebert thought it lacked in story and character, except for Jack). So Tim is kind of making excuses for why the film wasn't as strong as it might have been - he's complaining about how the project became this huge thing beyond himself and his own vision, with many moving parts, and corporate demands. Including putting Prince into the mix. SoulAlive said:

TIM BURTON: THE ROLLING STONE INTERVIEW

By David Breskin

From Rolling Stone, 1992

RS: The other thing in the first one that felt horribly intrusive was the Prince music. We're in this Tim Burton world, and all of a sudden, like him or not, in rides Prince.

Tim:Yeah, it's true. It's the unholy alliance of me and . . .

RS:Warner Bros. marketing, pure and simple?

Tim:This is what happened. You learn something new every day. Now, here is a guy, Prince, who was one of my favorites. I had just gone to see two of his concerts in London, and I felt they were like the best concerts I'd ever seen. Okay. So. They're saying to me, these record guys, it needs this and that, and they give you this whole thing about it's an expensive movie so you need it. And what happens is, you get engaged in this world, and then there's no way out. There's too much money. There's this guy you respect and is good and has got this thing going. It got to a point where there was no turning back. And I don't want to get into that situation again.

RS:It had to be painful for you to put that music into that movie.

Tim: It was . . . it was . . . it completely lost me. And it tainted something that I don't want to taint. Which is how you feel about an artist. And actually, I liked his album. I wish I could listen to it without the feel of what had happened.

This seems like the interviewer had more of a problem with the actual music but Tim had issues with Warners telling him what to do.