Batman vs. Two-Face | |
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Directed by | Rick Morales |
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Based on | |
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Starring | |
Edited by | Christopher D. Lozinski |
Music by |
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Distributed by | Warner Bros. Home Entertainment |
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Running time | 72 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Batman vs. Two-Face is a 2017 American animated direct-to-video superhero film produced by Warner Bros. Animation and distributed by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment and a direct sequel to Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders . It premiered at the New York Comic Con on October 8, 2017, [1] was released digitally on October 10, [2] and on DVD and Blu-ray on October 17. [3] Based on the 1960s Batman television series, the film stars Adam West, Burt Ward and Julie Newmar reprising their roles of Batman, Robin and Catwoman from the series. [4] It was West's final performance as Batman and was released posthumously.
Batman and Robin meet Gotham District Attorney Harvey Dent at a top-secret demonstration hosted by Professor Hugo Strange and Dr. Harleen Quinzel. Strange operates a machine called the "Evil Extractor" designed to siphon evil from criminals and store it in a vat. The containment vat explodes, drenching Dent with liquefied evil, which scars half his face and changes his personality, turning him into the criminal "Two-Face". After being thwarted by Batman and Robin a number of times, Dent is eventually given reconstructive surgery, seemingly erasing the Two-Face personality, and allowed to resume crimefighting as the assistant to the Assistant District Attorney.
Six months later, Batman and Robin capture King Tut and his henchmen for stealing a biplane. Batman, Robin, Commissioner Gordon, and Chief O'Hara interrogate Tut's alter ego, Professor McElroy, with O'Hara constantly hitting the professor on the head with his truncheon to switch his personality. At his trial, McElroy admits his guilt, ready to suffer the minimum penalty of being rehabilitated in prison. After the sentencing, Dent and Bruce Wayne share a highball just before Dent leaves to attend a charity for underprivileged twins at the Winning Pair casino.
A package arrives at Gordon's office; a World Atlas book marked for Batman, with its pages eaten away in three holes. After investigating Bookworm as a suspect, Batman and Robin deduce that the stolen books were all about duality and their suspicions turn to Two-Face. They head to an abandoned sign factory, with Two-Face and his henchmen waiting for them. After defeating the goons, Two-Face pins them with a large number two and the flip of his coin landing on the right side spares their lives. Once they have left, Batman theorizes that several criminals are uniting against Dent for foiling their schemes.
Following Dent back to the lab, Robin is ambushed by Two-Face. Strange corrupts him with some of the liquid evil and Batman is forced to fight and subdue the hypnotized Robin. Robin is cured at the Batcave and they follow Two-Face to the Winning Pair Casino, where he is revealed to be Dent. Once Batman and Robin are strapped to a large silver dollar, Two-Face unmasks Batman as Bruce and deduces Robin's true identity as Dick Grayson. He invites several other villains to bid for the knowledge of Batman and Robin's identities.
With Catwoman's help, Batman and Robin defeat the villains, but Two-Face gets away on the biplane stolen by Tut, using the evil gas to corrupt the citizens of Gotham City. Batman and Robin shoot him down and with Batman's help, Dent regains self-control, defeating Two-Face for good as they escape the factory.
The next morning, Batman and Robin use the Batwing to cure the infected citizens. Months later, Dent holds a bachelor auction at Wayne Manor with Batman as the first bachelor. The first bid comes from Catwoman.
In a Blu-ray exclusive scene, Quinzel breaks the Joker out of prison while wearing a costume of her own, having adopted the supervillain persona "Harley Quinn".
The film is a sequel to Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders [5] and was announced as featuring William Shatner voicing the main antagonist, Two-Face. [6] Despite the death of Batman actor Adam West from leukemia on June 9, 2017, [7] West and Shatner recorded their lines separately with West finishing his lines by October 2016. [8] Burt Ward and Julie Newmar reprised their roles as Robin and Catwoman. [4] Lee Meriwether plays a role that sees her character wear the iconic Catwoman costume as a reference to her performance as Catwoman in the 1966 Batman feature film.
The film included a tribute to the late West after the end credits ("In Loving Memory of Adam West (1928–2017). Rest well, Bright Knight"). [9]
The score by Lolita Ritmanis, Michael McCuistion & Kristopher Carter was released on October 6, on CD by WaterTower Music and La-La Land Records as an exclusive with FYE. [10]
Batman vs. Two-Face premiered at the New York Comic Con on October 8, 2017 [1] and was later released digitally on October 10 [2] and on DVD and Blu-ray on October 17. [3]
Batman vs. Two-Face holds a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on eight reviews. [11] IGN awarded the film a score of 8.4 out of 10: "Batman vs. Two-Face is a worthy entry in the 1966 canon and a fine send-off for the late Adam West". [12] Writing for Starburst Magazine, Nick Blackshaw awarded the film a score of 8 out of 10, saying "Batman Vs. Two-Face is a very entertaining piece of animation". [13]
Batman vs. Two-Face earned $300,488 from domestic DVD sales and $823,442 from domestic Blu-ray sales, bringing its total domestic home video earnings to $1,123,930. [14]
Batman is a 1966 American superhero film directed by Leslie H. Martinson. Based on the television series, and the first full-length theatrical adaptation of the DC Comics character of the same name, the film stars Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin. The film hit theaters two months after the last episode of the first season of the television series. The film includes most members of the original TV cast, with the exception of Julie Newmar as Catwoman, who, in the film, was replaced by Lee Meriwether.
Julie Newmar is an American actress, dancer, and singer known for a variety of stage, screen, and television roles. She is also a writer, lingerie designer, and real estate mogul. She won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her role as Katrin Sveg in the 1958 Broadway production of The Marriage-Go-Round, and reprised the role in the 1961 film version. In the 1960s she starred for two seasons as Catwoman in the television series Batman (1966–1967). Her other stage credits include Ziegfeld Follies in 1956, Lola in Damn Yankees! in 1961 and, in 1965, as Irma in regional productions of Irma la Douce.
William West Anderson, known as Adam West, was an American actor. He portrayed Batman in the 1960s ABC series of the same name and its 1966 theatrical feature film, reprising the role in various media until 2017. Making his film debut in the 1950s, West starred opposite Chuck Connors in Geronimo (1962) and The Three Stooges in The Outlaws Is Coming (1965). He also appeared in the science fiction film Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964).
Batman is an American live-action television series based on the DC Comics character of the same name. It stars Adam West as Bruce Wayne/Batman and Burt Ward as Dick Grayson/Robin—two crime-fighting heroes who defend Gotham City from a variety of archvillains. It is known for its camp style and upbeat theme music, as well as its intentionally humorous, simplistic morality aimed at its preteen audience. It was described by executive producer William Dozier at the time as "the only situation comedy on the air without a laugh track". The 120 episodes aired on the ABC network for three seasons from January 12, 1966, to March 14, 1968, twice weekly during the first two seasons, and weekly for the third. In 2016, television critics Alan Sepinwall and Matt Zoller Seitz ranked Batman as the 82nd greatest American television series of all time. A companion feature film was released in 1966 between the first and second seasons of the TV show.
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Return to the Batcave: The Misadventures of Adam and Burt is a 2003 American made-for-television biographical action-comedy film based on the 1966–1968 Batman television series which features the original stars Adam West and Burt Ward as themselves, with Jack Brewer and Jason Marsden portraying the young West (Batman) and Ward (Robin) in flashbacks. It was broadcast on CBS on March 9, 2003.
The DC Animated Universe is a shared universe based on DC Comics and produced by Warner Bros. Animation. It began with Batman: The Animated Series in 1992 and ended with Justice League vs. the Fatal Five in 2019. The associated media franchise includes theatrical and direct-to-video feature films, shorts, comic books, video games, and other multimedia adaptations.
The Batman franchise, based on the fictional superhero Batman who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics, has seen the release of various films. Created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger, the character first starred in two serial films in the 1940s, Batman and Batman and Robin. The character also appeared in the 1966 film Batman, which was a feature film adaptation of the 1960s television series starring Adam West and Burt Ward, who also starred in the film. Toward the end of the 1980s, the Warner Bros. studio began producing a series of feature films starring Batman, beginning with 1989's Batman, directed by Tim Burton and starring Michael Keaton. Burton and Keaton returned for the 1992 sequel Batman Returns, and in 1995, Joel Schumacher directed Batman Forever, with Val Kilmer as Batman. Schumacher also directed the 1997 sequel Batman & Robin, which starred George Clooney. Batman & Robin was poorly received by both critics and fans, leading to the cancellation of a sequel titled Batman Unchained.
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Catwoman is a fictional character first appearing in issue 1 of the Batman comic book. After her debut she would appear in many forms of media including live-action and animated film, radio, live-action and animated television, records, video games, web series, live performance, and podcasts. The character has made live-action appearances in the Batman television series (1966–68), its film adaptation Batman (1966), Batman Returns (1992), Catwoman (2004),The Dark Knight Rises (2012), Gotham (2014–19), and The Batman (2022). The character has also appeared in numerous animated television series and movies, most notably Batman: The Animated Series (1992–95) and The Lego Batman Movie (2017), as well as video games such as the Batman: Arkham series.
Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders is a 2016 American animated superhero film produced by Warner Bros. Animation and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. Based on the 1960s Batman TV series, the film stars the voices of Adam West, Burt Ward, and Julie Newmar reprising their roles of Batman, Robin, and Catwoman from the series. In the film, Batman and Robin set out to defeat the Joker, the Penguin, the Riddler, and Catwoman, who have teamed up. Matters are further complicated when Batman gradually becomes more hostile.
Batman and Harley Quinn is a 2017 American animated superhero film produced by Warner Bros. Animation and distributed by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. It is the 30th film of the DC Universe Animated Original Movies, and is directed by Sam Liu and written by Jim Krieg and Bruce Timm. It premiered on July 21, 2017 at San Diego Comic-Con and was released into participating theaters for one night only on August 14, 2017. The film was released on digital on August 15, 2017 and on DVD and Blu-ray on August 29.
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