BATMAN (1989) BREAKDOWN! Details You Missed & Why Keaton Is The Best! | Deep Dive

Tim Burton’s Batman (1989) changed everything for superhero movies, a massive hit whose profits directly funded what became the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and left a legacy so timeless that Michael Keaton’s Batman is now returning in The Flash (2023). How do Tim Burton and Oscar winning production designer Anton Furst craft a version of Gotham and a brooding masquerade? Enjoy this analysis and visual investigation by Erik Voss (New Rockstars) to finally reveal the deep dark truth of this film and dozens of details that you may have missed!

Welcome to The Deep Dive, a new channel in the New Rockstars Digital Network. Hosted by Erik Voss, The Deep Dive is the destination for more pointed media investigations. From full seasons of Marvel streaming shows to cult classic films, Erik will dig to the roots of the hidden agendas beneath every title.

VIDEO CREDITS:
Written and Produced by Erik Voss
Edited by Devin Cleary
Graphic Design by Koji Minami
Executive Producer: Erik Voss

[rockazillasrex]

You cannot overstate how fantastic this Gotham was. Absolutely legendary set.

[herewaskendra]

Keaton, Nicholson, Basinger, and don’t forget my dude Billy Dee - my very first exposure to Batman as a child. And my favorite of all time to this day. HE’S AT HOME! WASHIN’ HIS TIGHTS!

[dennispovloski]

Keaton has always been my Batman. I only wish we could have gotten a trilogy and seen more of him with Catwoman.

[hydrashokgaming]

My man’s EV just did a breakdown of a 34 year old movie and STILL had Easter eggs. GOAT 🐐🐐🐐

[HappyTeeth.]

The joker reveal is incredible. Joker shows up at grissoms office and stands in shadow and it's so creepy. Love it

[garrisonnichols]

1989 Batman was is and will always be my favorite Batman movie. Tim Burton brought back the dark seriousness and horror themed version of Batman's comic book roots. Jack Nicholson Michael Keaton and Kim Basinger were perfectly cast and Danny Elfmans score is so iconic and epic.

[grkpektis]

I heard that the reason Joker went to a horrible surgeon is because he needed to find someone that is corrupt enough that won't go to the police but also loyal enough to not rat him out to Grissom before he's healed.

[chasestankievech]

Keaton was amazing as both Batman and Bruce! I never tire of watching this film! The Burton aesthetic matched the tonality of the character and world beautifully. I still get chills hearing the soundtrack..so iconic!

[BTT]

That really sucks that Warner Brothers didn't want Billy Dee Williams playing Tw-Face in he sequels based on his skin color. WB eventually just wanted Burton out because of the controversy he caused based on the darker tone of his films. He was pretty much over it anyway.

[westzed]

When this movie came out it is hard to describe how much it changed everything about superhero movies. I was a plus30s woman that was so impressed by Gotham city's look on the big screen and the strength of the characters. Also my introduction to Tim Burton. It really changed the feel of comics to movies. Dick Tracy also came out about the same time. I liked how the main characters had monochrome outfits to reflect the comic look. Dick Tracy wore in a bright yellow trench coat. It too represented a new look of bringing comic books back to the big screen, but it was Batman that is still great to watch today. At the time, it was Batman that people talked about. At my age then, it was my coworkers who took their kids to see the movie and came back to tell me that I was right about how good it was. Keaton is my Batman.

[ToneDesh]

This movie, Michael Keaton…was my introduction to Batman but more importantly — to the comic book world. It will always hold a special place in my heart.

[nbarealtalker]

Keaton’s Batman always struck me as the most crazy. And I like my Batman crazy. He portrayed a guy who enjoyed being the g-damn Batman. And hands down his Batman voice is the best. The first “I’m Batman” is the most iconic to this day.

[Goldnfoxx]

I'll _never_ forget seeing this film in theaters. I was 14 at the time, and a Marvel kid. It's not like I didn't know the prominent DC superheroes, but my knowledge of them came entirely from the Adventures of Superman ('52) and Batman ('66) shows, the Christopher Reeve films (which I'm old enough to also remember seeing in the theaters, somehow), and the various cartoons (all of which drew from the Adam West Batman). My dad was a Batman kid growing up, famous in our family for putting on a Batman suit and riding his bike around his neighborhood. My uncle (my mom's brother) was a comic nerd, but someone who also had degrees in physics and mechanical engineering, and is the relative I was always most compared to growing up (when I was really young, he would come over to our house with Frostys from Wendy's every week to watch the Incredible Hulk show). And we all go to see the film together as a family.

It was a revelation for me at that age. As a Marvel kid, I had no idea what "The Dark Knight Returns" was. My uncle, before we even exited the screening room proper, remarked, "Now _that_ was Batman." He could be really critical of portrayals of his heroes on screen, and while I'm sure he didn't hate what the Adam West show did, it was clear to me even at that age that this is what he really wanted out of a Batman film. My dad, a child of the silver age Batman, really did not get why they made the character so dark. The only thing I didn't like, even as I walked out of the theater, was how unlikely it was to decide The Joker as the guy who happened to kill Batman's parents. And much later, I'd start to recognize that I hated how obvious studio backlots were and how they'd take me out of a film. And I'm not crazy about Batman straight-up murdering bad guys. It wasn't until later that friends wised me up to the Joe Chill character, et.al. But a lot of younger fans don't seem to get just how influential this film really was, can't possibly grasp how big it was, culturally speaking (especially for its day), or how hard it was for the generation who were in college or younger when Batman '66 was aired to change their notion of what Batman was and/or should be. My dad didn't care that Batman was always intended to be a darker character; it just wasn't _his_ Batman.

So, this film also has major sentimental value to me on top of just loving it for what it is. We lost my dad in 2009, and my uncle in 2013 (I was trying to get him to try the Arkham games at the time...I *really* wish I'd been successful in that before he died, and it bugs me even more that I didn't try harder as the years pass; I really think he would've loved those games). I know this is a longer comment. The film just means a lot to me and can bring out the self-reflective and sappy sides of me.

[riddler]

i would love to see a deep dive on the impact of the christopher reeves superman movies

[kirkhonore]

Tim Burton's Batman is iconic because it presented the dark side of heroic derring-do, where Superman is the good guy and doesn't engage in violence or use fear to make bad guys cower, Batman uses darkness and fear to fight the criminals and violence is a part of the weapons he uses against them. The art style and atmosphere are as Erik says what makes Gotham a twisted and maniacal landscape, almost like the city shuns the light and embraces the darkness and the shadows, the twisted and clashing architectural styles their own madness on display. This is a deep dive not only into how Batman changed superhero films but how it really illustrates that art direction is important to the setting and mood of the film and how it supports not only the director's vision and the actors performances but plays a part in immersing us the audience into the pretend world of Batman.

[jesserussell]

I'm pretty sure the smiles on the models for the Joker commercial were the magazine pictures he was cutting up and then did stop motion.

[lrlong]

Thank You for this video. And for the work you do. Batman ‘89 is my favorite movie of all time and has been since I watched it in the theater as a 7 year old.

I know tons of trivia about the movie and rarely hear or see anything about it I haven’t known for years already. That being said, you revealed things about the film, and it’s connection to most of the Batman films since, that I never noticed or even considered.

My favorite new thing I learned is that the boy whose parents are shot in the beginning is wearing the same shirt as the man who shoots his parents. Chilling, yet sad, when you see what the shirt says…

Rock on, man. I don’t know what your title is (researcher, video essayist, etc.) but I’m comfortable saying you’re the best at it.

🃏🦇

[myharryface]

I was 16 when this film came out. And while I was a huge Keaton fan ... I, along with every other kid I knew, was highly concerned he was the wrong pick for Batman ... so much so we were not going to go see it. Granted, we were all amazed by Keaton's performance. Such a great film, it gets away from diverging from the comic. -- Amazing deep dive Erik!!

[sweethartjen]

This is the first superhero movie I saw at the movie theater when I was 11 years old and I loved it! Plus the soundtrack is killer!

[rhetiq]

Keaton by far has the best cold and silent mannerisms as Batman, followed by Pattinson. Those two give such chilling presence everytime they're on screen, able to convey emotions with nothing but their stare. Glad I grew up with these goats