Reviewed by Johnny McNair

Warner Home Video – 134 minutes – 2005 – Rated PG-13 – 1080p Widescreen 2.35:1 – Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Audio Mix

When Batman & Robin, starring George Clooney as the man in black and Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze hit movie screens in 1997, it destroyed the franchise. What started with Tim Burton’s dark vision of the Dark Knight in the first Batman pic, became an elaborate campy toy commercial that left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth. After eight years, Warner Bros. decided to shine some new light on the caped crusader and place it in the hands of a new director by the name of Christopher Nolan (Memento), who re-invented the character by going back to his roots with 2005’s Batman Begins. The new Batman film was not only good; some would even say that it surpasses everything that was done in the previous films. Batman Begins was formerly an HD-DVD exclusive, but now the wait is over and it’s finally available on Blu-ray, where it belongs.

THE MOVIE

This time around, Christian Bale (American Psycho) wears the black cape, and in my opinion he is the best Batman yet. The guy just nails it as soon as he is introduced, because he plays Bruce Wayne as a man who is a lot of mental pain, instead of the dashing millionaire playboy that the others guys before him did. Director Christopher Nolan dives into the origin of Batman to tell the story of what would make a man become so obsessed that he would literally put on a mask and fight criminals. We all know that Bruce Wayne’s parents were murdered before his eyes as a child leaving him as an orphan, but unless you’re an avid reader of the comics, none of the previous movies never really explained what happened to Bruce after that. Batman Begins looks into those years of Bruce dealing with the pain of being alone, and trying to fight his inner demons. His plan was never to become the protector of Gotham City, his life just kept unfolding until he decided that this is what he must do.

Another reason why this film works is the supporting casts, with Michael Caine brilliantly casts as Alfred, Bruce Wayne’s loyal caretaker, Gary Oldman as Jim Gordon, shown in his days as a street officer who will not allow himself to be another corrupt cop, Liam Neeson as Henri Ducard, a mysterious man who becomes both Bruce’s mentor and enemy, Cillian Murphy as The Scarecrow, and Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox, the only man Bruce can trust at Wayne Enterprises.

Instead of making another comic book movie, Nolan directs Batman Begins as a drama allowing the characters to be the highlight instead of the action. His style is completely different from Tim Burton’s, who placed Batman in a dark goth-like world, and Joel Schumacher, who put nipples on the Bay-suits; Nolan style is more gritty, feeling more like a crime drama. Batman is never portrayed as the typical superhero, he’s more a tortured soul who is trying to make difference.

There’s also something great about seeing Batman actually “begin.” For the first time you get to see where the idea of the Bat-cave came from, and how he made his Bat-suit, how he learned to fight, and the prototype for the Bat-mobile. This is the stuff that makes Batman fans like myself drool; and what makes it even better is that it’s all taken seriously. The main reason is the directing, but a lot of the credit has to go to Bale, who is so believable in his duel roles. After seeing him, it’s hard to go back and watch Keaton, Kilmer, and that guy from E.R.

Looking at scenes from the sequel, The Dark Knight, you can see that Nolan has expanded on this, but continues to keep away from the comic book movie formula, and keeps everything set in the real world. But if you have not seen Batman Begins yet, it’s highly recommended that you see it first, because it’s not only a good movie…it’s a smart movie. Batman Begins was one of the most eagerly awaited Blu-ray titles, and for all the fans, you will not be disappointed.

Note: For all you hardcore fans, the Batman Begins Blu-ray is also available as a limited edition set. The Blu-ray comes in a box with a Batman hologram insert, a mini-comic book of the first five minutes of The Dark Knight; storyboards vs. live action stills of The Dark Knight’s opening scene that also includes excerpts of the new film’s script; five picture cards from Batman Begins; and $7.50 in movie money towards a ticket for The Dark Knight. None of this stuff will blow you away, but it may be worth something one day.

VIDEO

Batman Begins on Blu-ray looks just as good as it did on HD-DVD. The transfer was upgraded, but it didn’t need to be, the film is only three years old, so the source still looks great. The Blu-ray offers a full 1080p image in a 2.40:1 aspect ratio, and for those of you who want to test your new HDTV to see how it handles blacks, this is the film measure it with. Just look at the scene on the dock where Batman makes his real first appearance as a crime fighter. His black latex body armor stands out in the darkness, and his cape looks ominous and alive. There are some instances of grain, but with so many night scenes, this is expected. Overall, Batman Begins stands strong.

SOUND

As with the picture, the same TrueHD 5.1 audio specs have been ported over from the HD-DVD, so if you’ve got a surround sound system you will not be disappointed. The dialogue is crisp and Morgan Freeman’s signature voice sounds like gold in his scenes with Christian Bale. When the action starts you’ll definitely wake the neighbors, particularly in the Bat-mobile chase that has so much energy and bass, your subwoofer will vibrate across the floor. One of my favorite parts in the film is when Batman shouts the line “Swear to me!” In TrueHD this is gold.

EXTRAS

The basic set of bonus features are exactly what was offered on the previous releases of both the DVD and HD-DVD and are all in standard definition format. It’s disappointing that there’s still no director’s commentary track, because Christopher Nolan is somebody you definitely want to hear what he has to say. But the best feature offered exclusively for the Blu-ray is the opening five minutes of the new Dark Knight film produced for Imax, which will make this disc fly off the shelves.

‘Genesis of the Bat’ is a fifteen minute featurette that mainly deals with Christopher Nolan and the film’s screenwriter, David S. Goyer, discussing the origins of the production.

‘The Journey Begins’ also runs around fifteen minutes and looks into how the film was casts, particularly focusing on who would wear the cape.

‘Path of Discovery’ and ‘Saving Gotham City’ combined clock in at about a half an hour and look at specific scenes in the movie, such as the Iceland shoot and final Gotham City action sequence. Nolan is not a fan of too many CGI scenes and prefers real time on the set shots, so there’s some good stuff to see.

‘Shaping Mind and Body’ is a thirteen minute look at the new Batman, Christian Bale, and what went into shaping him for the role both physically and mentally.

‘Gotham City Rises’ is a fifteen minute behind the scenes look at the building of the sets for Gotham City and Wayne Manor. The key was to make it look completely different than the previous films and emulate a real city instead.

‘Cape and Cowl’ is a cool ten minute look at what into making Batman’s costume. You’ll want one for yourself after seeing this.

‘The Tumbler’ is a fifteen minute feature on the new Batmobile, which looks more like a battle tank than a slick racer. I particularly loved that they chose this vehicle, so all those who agree will watch this with their eyes glued.

‘Tankman Begins’ a spoof of the film that played on the MTV Movie Awards in 2005. Trust me, it’s not funny.

There are various other mini features that were ported over including still galleries, the trailer in full HD, and Confidential Files, which are basically animated text pages for the production.

The Picture-in-Picture feature takes advantage of Blu-ray’s profile 1.1, and when activated allows you to see behind the scenes info and interviews with the cast and filmmakers talking about certain scenes. This is also ported over from the HD-DVD so if you’ve never seen that version this will be a nice perk.

Again, the best feature on the disc and most likely the reason why those who own the HD-DVD will buy the film again on Blu-ray is to watch the first five minutes of The Dark Knight, that was produced for Imax and looks absolutely amazing. The scene features Heath Ledger as the Joker and his gang performing a bank robbery, and if the room exploded around where you sat, you would still not take your eyes off of the screen. When the five minutes are over the only thought in your mind will be “I have to see the movie!”

BOTTOM LINE

Even without all the hype surrounding The Dark Knight, Batman Begins stands on it’s own as one of the best films made about a comic book character. Christopher Nolan was the perfect choice to re-spark the franchise and Christian Bale is the best Batman…Period. This Blu-ray is a must own for anyone who loves this film, and the five minute prologue for the sequel is the icing on the cake. If this is not in your Blu-ray collection, you need to check yourself into the Arkham Asylum.

SCORES (Out of 5):

The Movie: 4.5

Video: 4.0

Sound: 4.0

Extras: 4.5

Bottom Line: 4.5