MovieChat Forums > Batman (1989) Discussion > Who saw this in cinemas back in '89?

Who saw this in cinemas back in '89?


Who saw this back in the day? What are your memories - the anticipation of seeing it in the weeks/days before, the actually seeing it and how much a big deal was it where you were back then, the crowds, audience etc and after coming out of the cinema what were your thoughts and in the days/weeks that followed.
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I saw it must've been a week or so after was released. I remember ALOT of hype in the weeks/months before, bat logo was everywhere t shirts, badges, posters everywhere. There was also ALOT of discussion in the news about the rating. Initially it was to be a 15 (which would mean I couldn't see it) but then the BBFC invented a new rating especially for it (that's how much of a big deal the movie was) so it got 12 (more equivalent to the PG13, before that in UK PG13either had to be cut for PG or get the kid unfriendly 15 rating)

I didn't really get the hype, id never been that interested in batman (was a superman fan) and beyond the AWest TV show had little knowledge of the character (only read the odd DC comics in annual form, had no knowledge of any of the adult Frank miller stuff) and the rating stuff confused me..how violent could it be?..this was batman not the terminator!

Onto the film it was something that id never really seen before, the retro/modern 1930s gangster look, the hard violence, the dark atmosphere and gritty hard urban legend edge..I was a huge superman movie fan and just 2 years before had seen SIV at cinema (and loved it!) But this was like the dark twisted side of those films, very adult in tone. Suddenly I felt like superman was for kids Saturday morning cartoons but this was a real adult film with very adult feel. I completely got why it was almost a 15 like the movies I was too young for back then. When I emerged from the darkness of the cinema I definitely felt more grown up more of a man 

In the weeks that followed I bought (or had bought for me) stuff like the TOPPS magazine, poster magazine, DC comic adaptation (which had incredible artwork and cover), the novel, some badges, as well as started collecting the TOPPS bubble gum cards, the Elfman soundtrack LP (the score sounded amazing back then..had to be careful not to get the Prince album by mistake which was everywhere).. I even got a bat logo t shirt that everyone was wearing (although initially I didn't want one)

there was ALOT of movies to see in 89 - Indiana Jones was just before batman like happened almost 20 years later in 2008 (with a new joker - almost a remake of Bat89 in some ways), BTTF2, Ghostbusters 2, Star trek V, Bond (which was 15 so couldn't see it) but Batman topped them all..

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I saw this on opening weekend. I recall standing in line for over an hour, with a ton of people ahead of me and then a long line of people behind me. It was showing on multiple screens at the theater, which was not as common back then. I grew up with the Adam West Batman, and was concerned about using Keaton as Batman thinking it just wouldn't work. Whoa, was I wrong. Keaton nailed it. Nicholson was a fantastic Joker. Still enjoy this movie today.

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I saw it in 89, when I was 4. For obvious reasons, I wasn't really aware of the hype or what "hype" even was, but I do remember seeing the shirts and owned one which I used for my Halloween costume. All I know is it started a pretty big obsession in me for the character(though more for the movie and animated incarnations than the comics, to be honest). I only got one comic in the early 90s, and it just had to be during the Knightfall storyline where Azrael was standing in as Batman with the drastically different suit. I didn't know what was going on and didn't recognize the character as Batman(even considering the departures the movies took from canon).

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I saw it as well. I was 8 years old and my dad took me. I have very vivid memories of it to this day. I didn't get to go the movies a lot back then so it was special and memorable. I was very excited about seeing it.

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I saw it in the cinema in 1989 when I was 11. It was the film that a new certificate '12' was created for in the UK. Prior to that, the jump had been from 'PG' (parent/guardian be advised that some elements are not suitable for the very young) to '15'. This was when you'd always queue.

There were a lot of in depth articles in the press beforehand about the Joker's gadgets. The film was treat as the serious 'pop art' statement that it is by some publications. Although it's also a satire on the greedy green of money. When I started watching the film, I was, and remain, blown away by Elfman's score and Nicholson's terrifying clown demeanor . The scene with the spring loaded flowers made me jump. Some of my other memories about the film might derive more from when I bought the VHS of it, the first VHS I ever bought. I love Prince's songs on it, eg Partyman, Trust and the regrettably little talked about Scandalous. It says something about how fundamentally unsexy or lacking in depth many people are that they'd rather concentrate on something like Little Red Corvette in Prince's work.

It was an intense, exhilarating, film for me however it perhaps rests too much on the full Joker. I'd have liked there to be a 2 and a half hour version with more of Carl Grissom. I wouldn't be surprised if Burton was partially inspired by 1987's The Untouchables. I wish this could have been given slightly more room to be the gangster film it partially is instead of treating us to the bizarre sight of Wayne going full method and sleeping upside down on a perch in his batsuit. The film didn't actually need more Keaton. It needed more gangster context and why Napier felt himself to be an artist, even before the dunk in the acid.

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I saw it in Denver when it first came out in 89. I was around 4 and honestly don't have any memory of it, but I do remember the legendary poster in the lobby of the theatre and thinking it looked really cool. Batman stayed really popular after it, cause I remember all the toys from this movie very well - the batwing, batmobile etc. I had them all.

Imdb message boards - kick someone's ass on the first day, or become someone's bitch.

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4? What kind of irresponsible cinema would have let you in? It features people being shot, stabbed, chemical scarring, someone burning to death, being thrown from a great height, being gassed. When the Joker targets just 1 individual, those are some intense scenes, even more so I think because of a slight nod to the 60s Batman (e.g. occasional strange camera angles). What was the certificate in the USA?

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In America, you can get into a PG-13 movie at any age as long as you're with a parent. My Dad took me and my older siblings to see it (as well as Ghostbusters II, Honey I Shrunk The Kids, Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade and Turner & Hooch that summer). I actually credit my love of movies to being exposed to many different movies from my earliest memories.

Fwiw, Batman is a comic book action movie. It's fun. Maybe it has heavier themes than your average kids movie, but it's also got heart, charm and a cool edge to it - even as a little kid I'd tell you to give me that over some saccharine Disney assfest. When I was old enough to truly take this film in, I never found it disturbing at all. It was cool.

You wanna know a movie that traumatized me at a young age? Go check out The Witches (1990). And that's a lower rating than this movie.

Imdb message boards - kick someone's ass on the first day, or become someone's bitch.

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Really good point Lonestarr- The main witch scene was 18 certificate worthy in the makeup department. The whole film had a creepy adult tone that I personally think went over the top for a children's movie, even for one by Dahl, but there's no doubt it was memorable. But burning someone to death with the handbuzzer- that's not something for a 4 year old to willingly be exposed to unless you were perhaps very precociously raised as always destined to be in the arts or something.









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The main witch scene was 18 certificate worthy in the makeup department


It's mainly the part where the kid gets kidnapped and shows up frozen in a painting - that's scarier than any horror film I've seen.

But burning someone to death with the handbuzzer- that's not something for a 4 year old to willingly be exposed to unless you were perhaps very precociously raised as always destined to be in the arts or something.


The tone and context is important. For example, is there such thing as a handbuzzer than can fry you alive? No. It's cartoonish, like looney tunes. The joker even uses a one liner afterwards like a sketch or something. The guy gets fried instantly (nothing prolonged - no screaming, begging etc) and he's a bad guy anyway. It's funny in a dark humor type way. All these things add up to offset it. That's my take on it.

Violence and disturbing themes should measured in their context. Some things seem worse on paper, but when you see them on film it's not as bad. The policeman being tortured in Reservoir Dogs - that's disturbing. Batman? Nah, that is comfortably a movie kids can watch and not get harmed.


Imdb message boards - kick someone's ass on the first day, or become someone's bitch.

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There were very long lines to see "Batman" when it opened. I waited until a couple weeks later when the lines died down.

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I was 7 in 1989, I got to see Indiana Jones and Ghostbusters 2 in the theaters that summer, but with how big Batman was in the summer of 1989, I was dying to see it. My parents wouldn't let me at first because they followed the reviews in the papers and were afraid it was too violent. By the end of the summer I kept asking and finally got to see it at one of the local $1 theaters, I was thankful I did and made me a Batman fan for life. It was great to see it again when Cinemark showed it as part of their classic series. I appreciate everything about it as a film when comic book movies oversaturate the market now. I wish we could see a noir type of Batman again.

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Boy do I remember this coming out back in 89. I grew up watching the TV series and had just gotten into the comics a couple of years earlier. I was 17 and was stoked that we were getting a big screen Batman of our own.

I wasn't sure how Burton was going to pull it off but it seemed to be exactly the style that was needed. The Keaton casting was perplexing and did not like his performance. But Nicholson blew us away with the laugh and the one liners ("Stop the press... who's that?", "If you gotta go, go with a smile", "crap... crap... crap... wait"). Prince's involvement was key as well. He was huge back then and I had a boom system in my car. I remember piling my friends in going to see the movie and driving out front of the theater passing the line and booming the song. Good times.

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I thought Keaton did fine as Batman but I understand that his introverted portrayal of Bruce wasn't most comic fans' cup of tea.

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I thought he did the best job of being a "brooding" Bruce Wayne.

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I was born a year late and I'm sad. That was the year Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Batman 89, Ghostbusters 2, The Little Mermaid, and All Dogs Go To Heaven came out. I wish I was alive when all those films came out. It would've been great to see them theatrically.

Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler of Black Sabbath watch My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic

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oh damn I just realised these 'who saw this in cinemas back in whatever year' threads I occasionally do for various films will soon be no more...😖

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Then again ..😄

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I saw it at the movies, back in the Summer of 1989.

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