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| Batman Begins | 
| Category: Movie
This item is no longer available
Avg. Customer Rating:  1222 reviews
Sales Rank: 1762
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: Video On Demand
Running Time: 141 minutes
ASIN: B0014D6PCO
Theatrical Release Date: June 15, 2005
Release Date: August 4, 2008
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| Customer Reviews:
 Blu-Ray Disc Review September 10, 2008
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
WARNING
I'm not reviewing the movie (plenty of those around) but the disc content itself!!! As seen on my Philips 60", 1080i HDTV. And heard on My Polk Audio speakers powered by my Luxmann 400 Watts(RMS) Amp.
-Video- 10/10 Excellent contrast. No film grain visible
-Audio- (Dolby 5.1) 9/10 Great sound but a bit lacking in dynamic range (BOOMS! not loud enough compared to whispers)
-Extra features- 10/10 Notably, a great piece on the Batmobile.
DARK KNIGHT preview September 9, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
i already owned this movie on regular dvd, but when i found out you get a sneak peak to the Dark Knight in high definition. then i had to buy it again on blu-ray. well worth it. this is the best looking blu-ray movie i have ever seen, the picture is amazing. the first 6 minutes of the Dark Knight was awesome. the special features are cool too, alot of behind the scenes stuff.
as far as the movie, great 5 star movie. the writing is great, very believable. of corse it follows bruce wayne before he becomes batman. his parents get killed he becomes obsesed with vengence. then it gets good. he comes back home to his riches, wayne manor, and wayne enterprise, where he finds a military weapons development department. and gets access to all his gadgets, and the Tumbler...oh yea the new Batmobile. then he battles the scare crow, and the Legion of Shadows. the movie ends seting up the Dark Knight.
Engaging and relevant: a worthy part of the Batman mythology September 9, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Around two years past it's debut in theaters, I finally decided to give Batman Begins a chance (despite diehard fans shunning it's realism).
I remember watching it during a late night, and liking what I saw, but my memory was fuzzy when I tried to recall specific scenes.
Fast forward another year - I am purchasing art supplies on Amazon when, by chance, I see Batman Begins now available in Blu-Ray. Having bought a PS3 over the summer, and wanting to test the supposedly superior audio/video capabilities of this new format, coupled with my curiosity concerning why I enjoyed this film in the first place, I decide to add it to my order.
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$17.95, 140 minutes and The Dark Knight later, I am happy at the way Christopher Nolan has managed to elevate Batman and Gotham into the modern world and yet retain a grim tone that is undeniably fantasy in nature.
Begins starts off with a look at a child Bruce Wayne and his growth into the determined young man that becomes Batman. I didn't know anything about actor Christian Bale prior to his turn as the Caped Crusader, but I quickly respected his intensity and believability as Gotham's prince on a mission to rid his city of evil.
Some feel the first half is a little too drawn out, but, with this being an origin story, you can't expect the action to take center place throughout the entire movie. The pacing was handled very well: Nolan knows when to introduce a montage, and when to focus exclusively on one scene for an extended period of time.
After a crisis of conscience, Bruce leaves Gotham on a quest to find himself. Soon, we're introduced to Henri Ducard (masterfully played by Liam Neeson) - a mentor that takes Bruce and teaches him the methods of stealth and war which will eventually become a part of his Batman skills.
But not all is as it seems, and soon Bruce will have to make some difficult decisions regarding his once firm belief in black and white notions of good and evil. Once he returns to the states, we enter the second half of the film where we see him regain his position amongst the wealthy of Gotham...and slowly flesh out his Batman persona.
The action sequences here are generally good, though some are a tad *too* dark (there's a marked difference between representing Batman's use of ambushes and making all of the action we as viewers are supposed observe, obscured). Of course, we're introduced to a variety of new personalities.
Michael Caine plays Alfred, Bruce's loyal adviser and butler. Caine's portrayal is a bit more relaxed and casual than Michael Gough [of Batman (1989) fame], and despite not being entirely sold on this Cockney accented version, he manages to pull off the wise confidant to his master's secret well enough.
Next up is Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes. She serves as the moral vehicle that spurs Bruce to reconsider his actions and leave Gotham until he's mature enough to return. I found Mrs. Holmes's acting to be rather lackluster and easily forgettable. Thankfully, her role isn't that vital later on.
Gary Oldman, as Sergeant Gordon, was one of the few actors along with Bale that managed to impress me. You'd never guess that he was English by his accent and mannerisms - and his believability as the morally unshakable officer that aids Batman never falters.
Morgan Freeman rounds out the good guys as Lucius Fox, Bruce's "Q" (provider of gadgets and various technology) and true friend within Wayne Enterprises. While Freeman's role in and of itself wasn't lengthy in terms of screen time, he does prove to be crucial towards the end and delivers my favorite quip of the entire movie.
The score is proportionally moody and fast-paced to the visuals it accompanies. It isn't quite as memorable as Danny Elfman's work [Batman (1989)] but does an admirable job of never being intrusive.
My only real criticism is that we don't get to see much, if any, of Batman's detective side - he generally relies on contacts to get ahead. Still, I can't fault it too much given the amount of story we're supposed to take in.
On a technical note, I am exceptionally pleased with this Blu-Ray version. While I don't own an HD TV or an expensive speaker set, the image and sound quality is much better than comparable recent DVD releases. There's also a bevy of extras that were in the two-disc DVD version of Begins, though admittedly I haven't viewed any of them.
Entertaining, brooding and with morals that everyone can live by, Batman Begins is a keeper.
 Good effort September 8, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Christian Bale is, bar none, the best actor to ever portray Batman onscreen, and only Guy Pearce, I believe, could have come as close to being as good. Batman Begins, by director Christopher Nolan, who made the classic Memento (starring Pearce) and the good American version of Insomnia, shows that he understands what has made Batman the most popular superhero in comic book history- yes, surpassing both Superman and Spider-Man. That said, as good a comic book film as Batman Begins is, that's all it is. It has no real depth, other than in the realm it occupies. But, that's more than enough for your average moviegoer. At 2 hours and 20 minutes in length, it also re-visions Batman, not as a psychotic loner who makes himself into an avenger, nor as the campy icon of the 1960s television hit, nor the last two installments of the 1990s film franchise, but as a Ninja warrior. This is good, in that it allows Liam Neeson, as the villain Ra's Al Ghul (who uses the alias Henri Ducard), to finally allow his penchant for wooden acting and spouting inane Oriental koans to be fully realized, unlike his turn in the second Star Wars trilogy, but bad in that it utterly undermines the psychological complexity of the Bruce Wayne character, for the Batman, in his purest original form, is a vigilante driven by vengeance, not a savior. Neeson has not had a role so suited to his Lurch-like acting style since Darkman.... The film lands somewhere between camp and grit, but could have needed a bit more camp, thus why it just misses out on being a great film- even if only in a comic book vein, like the first Batman film by Tim Burton. That said, this darker avenue bodes better for the future of this new franchise, even if it means enduring the grim-faced and dubious Oriental philosophies that even martial arts films are wise enough to wink at.
My Favorite September 8, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I like this version of Batman because it is how I think Batman should be. After his parents being shot, Bruce Wayne was lost and angry. To spend his time and money to wear the bat suit and learn to fight, he was NOT in it for the glory of being a Superhero like other Batman movies tell it. He wanted to punish criminals and maybe even kill them which the movie touch base on between revenge vs. compassion.
I have opened my eyes on Chris Nolan since Momento. But with this Batman series, he will be the writer/director to watch. I think he is thoughtful writer which seems rare in movies these days.
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