Batman (1989) - Blu-Ray/4K Audio Differences

I Haven’t Seen Any Videos Comparing The Blu-Ray Audio To The 4K Which Changes A lot Of The Sound Effects So I Figured I’d Do It.

[goji]

Well, there's nothing in the 4K audio that feels like an absolute deal-breaker for me. I can see they were going for new sound effects that sounded more powerful, crisp and detailed... BUT... I do personally prefer the punchiness and the pulpier sound of the old mix.

[RipleyVSXeno]

Wow. Thanks for posting this. I never heard they re-did sound effects. I'm a little upset about the replaced gunshot sounds. They feel a bit too modern in the 4K version. The original sounds were a better fit for the Film Noir style of the movie. I will say though, the ricochet and impact sound effects at 2:43 were a great addition. The original audio track felt empty without them.

[fynnthefox]

I honestly prefer the older sounds. Never change or update a movie because it was meant to be seen as it was originally presented. Cartoony gunshot sounds and all.

[Dohsoda]

I got to say, I am not a fan of of this new teal look to this film or the new sound effects. I feel the teal look darkens the look and impact of an already uniquely looking film. Also, I prefer the original sound effects as they add to the unique intended style for what this movie is going for. The retro and 1940's noir type of vibe is what I like about both Tim Burton Batman movies, and a lot of that intention gets lost in these updates. The 4K versions of Batman and Batman Returns are on HBO Max, but they just don't do it for me. I miss the old look and sound effects. If anything, I feel there should just be options to the viewing of this movie and Batman Returns going forward.

[empireofdirtproductions]

The new sound effects may technically be better with higher fidelity... but the changes make this no longer the same movie we enjoyed for 30 years.

[MovieManOfPetersham]

It was an interesting change to say the least. I don’t hate it and I don’t exactly love it either.

Would I have not bought the 4K UHD BluRay because of the change? Hell no, the 4K UHD BluRay is incredible.

The Dolby Atmos track is definitely an absolutely incredible and bombastic audio track.

In regards to colour grading, the 4K UHD BluRay remaster is a lot closer to the original timing/grading, than any of the previous DVD and Blu-ray releases.

[Angelset]

Blu-ray is the better choice for me and is true to the original… darker tones exaggerated sounds…with slightly better pixels without changing the color of the movie winner: Blu-ray edition

[unconditionalprong]

The 4K sounds okay, but I prefer the theatrical mix. It's not as bad of a botch job as it was for The Terminator, but not quite sold on the audio differences. It would have been nice to have the option. I think the 5.1 on the same disc is just a downmix. Superman The Movie at least had the theatrical audio on it as well.

[RShadow]

This is honestly criminal. The original sound effects were the intent from the artists and are iconic. I can’t believe people are actually saying they prefer the 4K.

[Bondfan]

The old sound effects and color timing are way better on Blu-ray and other formats than on 4K. 4K may have the sharpest picture and sound, but the changes that were made to the film
are inferior. The old gun sound effects of the 1940’s and color timing is what made the film a classic as it is today. WB don’t need alterations, they should’ve just remaster it without any tinting the picture to teal or modernizing the sound effects or if any, DNR. Without them would be better.

[jalenjohnson]

Some of the changes I don’t mind but the cape swishing noise gets on my nerves and I’m not crazy about the sound effects for the Batmobile and Batwing. Really don’t understand why the original audio track couldn’t have been included along with the new track.

[PANDRIUX]

I'll be honest... when I found out the '89 4K didn't have the 80s gun SFX that was the clincher for me. I can kind of live with the palette, but give me my classic cartoon gun SFX damnit!
I once read this comment somewhere...

[KevinStriker]

Old school library sound effects for an art deco, noir comic book movie.
It's part of the character of the film, and the film is lesser without them.

[rsolsjo]

Wow. So odd to say this, but I've seen this movie a gazillion times since the VHS days but never noticed any of the sound changes. Probably because that new 4K video master is so horrible that it distracted me throughout. 😂 "Teal and orange skew, 100%, done!". Great job.

[kamdan]

0:08 Real gunshots.
0:19 Prop gunshots.

[systemmonitor]

They intentionally went for gunshot sounds that were already dated - the kind used in Westerns and war movies - to fit the period style.

Changing that and trying to modernise the sound design is nuts. WB got nuts.

[tgcv]

Thank you for making a YouTube version!
The 80s soundscape is just better!

[DoubleOProductions]

I have included the original unaltered audio track on our difinitive version of this movie as an optional audio track. We've also corrected many of the movie's mistakes. . . I along with many others always felt that the original sound was old fashioned having been mixed in Pinewood Studios in the late 80's using 1970's sound effects libraries due to time constraints. . There wasn't enough time in the production scedule to record new audio/foley for the movie so they had to use old sound effects libraries to dub most of the movie's sound effects... admittedly in 1989 they got away with it but to be fair, in 2021 those sounds are pretty flat and desperately needed to be brought into this century.

[jordanmillraney]

Between the 4K’s audio and their previous home video audio counterparts (VHS, DVD, Blu-ray (before 2019)), I much go as to say I like the old sounds better as it fits the story of what it offers and also was the director’s/sound mixer’s intent of it. Changing it into something that isn’t supposed to be is complete laziness. Whoever decided on this mix at WB Entertainment truly hasn’t experienced the film back in theaters when it was first released back in 1989 or has intentionally made this change to ruin the director’s/sound mixer’s intent if they seen one of the VHS, DVD/Blu-ray releases before this controversy. I get that this was back in 2019 but this was what they decided on? Seriously? This wasn’t the first time they did this. They did this a year before with their 4K release of Superman: The Movie that suffered a similar issue where it had modern sounds put into an Atmos remix and sparked some controversy. They did include the ancient Dolby 5.1 mix which was actually a 70mm 6-track mixed into that format which was a nice decision to make purists glad. Unfortunately, if anyone orders the 4K box set of all 5 movies of Superman-Superman IV (including the Donner cut) that Reeve had starred in, the first movie included here is the same Atmos track that was on the standalone release in 2018. But, they removed an option of a 70mm 6-track in a 5.1 mix to allow slightly more bitrate for video. The video and audio is the same back in 2018. The only difference here is the removal of a 5.1 mix from the 2018 release.

[Megatronus]

0:31 [Crash Bandicoot sounds]
2:42 Fred: MY EYE!