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..