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Batman Begins

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Batman Begins
Image:Batman begins.jpg
Directed by Christopher Nolan
Produced by Emma Thomas
Charles Roven
Larry J. Franco
Written by Comic Book:
Bob Kane
Bill Finger
Story:
David S. Goyer
Screenplay:
Christopher Nolan
David S. Goyer
Starring Christian Bale
Michael Caine
Liam Neeson
Katie Holmes
Gary Oldman
Cillian Murphy
Tom Wilkinson
Rutger Hauer
Ken Watanabe
Morgan Freeman
Music by Hans Zimmer
James Newton Howard
Cinematography Wally Pfister
Editing by Lee Smith
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date(s) June 15, 2005
Running time 141 min.
Country USA
Language English
Budget $150 million
Followed by The Dark Knight
Official website
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Batman Begins is a 2005 superhero film based on the fictional DC Comics character Batman. The film was directed by Christopher Nolan, was written by David S. Goyer, and stars Christian Bale as Batman. It is the fifth live-action Batman movie since 1989 and rebooted the continuity of the franchise. It tells the origin story of the character as he takes on crime for the first time in Gotham City.

The film, which is significantly darker than its predecessors, studies the character's inner struggle between justice and vengeance. It uses more practical special effects than most big-budget mainstream films. It received high praise from critics and general audiences following its June 15, 2005, release, and many referred to it as the best of the series. Bale received high praise for his performance, and the success of the film has led to a 2008 sequel with Bale and Nolan, The Dark Knight, currently in pre-production.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
Young Bruce Wayne, after his parents' murder

As a young boy, Bruce Wayne falls down a well, where he is attacked by bats. Although his father Thomas rescues him, Bruce is left with a fear of bats. Consequently, he is frightened by the portrayals of bat-like demons in the opera Mefistofele. He and his parents exit into an alley, where they are confronted by an armed mugger, Joe Chill, who shoots and kills Bruce's parents. Chill is caught, but Bruce remains greatly upset by the incident. The family's butler, Alfred Pennyworth, raises Bruce in the absence of his parents.

At the age of 22, Bruce returns to Gotham City from college intent on killing Chill in revenge, but is beaten to it by mob boss Carmine Falcone. When he tells his childhood friend Rachel Dawes, she expresses disgust at his intentions. Wayne decides to confront Falcone himself, but is dismissed as powerless by the mobster. With this, he abandons his old life, stowing away on a cargo ship and traveling the world for eight years. He eventually becomes a criminal and is arrested by police in an unnamed Asian country.

After a prison brawl years later, a man who calls himself Ducard entices Wayne to join a group of apparent vigilantes known as the League of Shadows under the leadership of Ra's al Ghul. Bruce is freed the next day, and travels to the top of a mountain to begin his training in the art of crime fighting. Wayne completes his training, apparently overcoming his fear of bats, but is then challenged to execute a murderer. As he hesitates, Ra's tells Bruce he would be expected to lead an effort to destroy Gotham, which Ra's sees as irredeemably corrupted. Bruce opts instead to destroy the League's headquarters, leading to the apparent death of all members except Ducard, whom he rescues.

Bruce Wayne returns to a Gotham City that is almost completely in the pocket of Falcone and begins plotting a one-man war against the corrupt system. He plans to seek the help of Rachel, now an assistant district attorney, and police sergeant Jim Gordon, who helped him in the aftermath of the murder of his parents. After reestablishing his connections to his father's company, Wayne Enterprises, he is able to acquire, with the help of former board member Lucius Fox, a prototype armored car and an experimental armored suit, which he augments with League of Shadows armor and a special cape that can become a rudimentary hang glider. One night, he dons the completed costume to become Batman, interrupts a drug shipment by Falcone, leaves the mob boss tied to a searchlight to form a makeshift Bat-Signal, and disrupts an assassination attempt on Dawes, leaving her with evidence against a judge that has gone soft on Falcone in the past.

While investigating the "unusual" drugs in the shipment, Batman is stunned by Dr. Jonathan Crane ("The Scarecrow"), who sprays him with the drug. Bruce is saved by an anti-toxin developed by Lucius. Crane later poisons Rachel after showing her that the toxin, which is later revealed to only be harmful in vapor form, is being piped into Gotham's water supply. She is saved by Batman. The Police enter the asylum, and Batman escapes in his Batmobile. After administering the antidote to Rachel in his cave, he gives her a vial for Gordon.

Image:Gordon-batman-rooftop.jpg

That night, at Bruce's 30th birthday party, he is confronted by Ducard, who is revealed to be the real Ra's al Ghul. Ra's has arrived in Gotham personally to destroy the city - he had conspired with Crane to distribute the toxin undetected via Gotham's water supply, the vaporize it with a stolen device from Wayne Enterprises. Bruce tricks his guests into leaving, and then fights Ra's while League of Shadows henchmen set fire to Wayne Manor, which is destroyed, and Bruce escapes the inferno with Alfred help.

While the police are engulfed in battle with psychotic criminals the League has released from Arkham, Batman saves Rachel, who guesses his identity. Gordon is left in control of the Batmobile to help stop Ra's from using the elevated train to transport the vaporizer to the city's central water hub. Batman battles Ra's, then escapes just as Gordon destroys the elevated line, leaving Ra's to crash with the train. Following the battle, Batman becomes a public hero. Bruce gains control of Wayne Enterprises and installs Fox as CEO. However, he is unable to hold onto Rachel, who cannot reconcile her love for Bruce Wayne with his dual life as Batman. Gordon, now a Lieutenant, unveils a Bat Signal for Batman and mentions a new criminal that, like Batman, has "a taste for the theatrical": he leaves a Joker playing card at all of his crime scenes. Batman promises to look into it.

[edit] Cast

Many characters in Batman Begins had been previously established in Batman canon.

Image:CaineBaleBegin.jpg
  • Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne / Batman: Bruce Wayne is a Gothamite billionaire whose parents were killed by a mugger when he was 8 years old. Traveling the world for 7 years to seek the means to fight injustice, he returns to Gotham. At night, Wayne becomes Batman, Gotham City's undercover vigilante protector, to defend the city from the crime that got his parents killed. To protect his secret, Wayne pretends to be an irresponsible playboy.
  • Michael Caine as Alfred Pennyworth: Alfred Pennyworth is the trusted butler to Bruce Wayne's parents, who continues his loyal service to their son after their deaths. He is Bruce Wayne's strongest confidante.
  • Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes: Rachel Dawes is a childhood friend of Bruce Wayne who works as an assistant to Gotham City's District Attorney and fights against the corruption in the city.
  • Gary Oldman as James Gordon: James Gordon is a member of the Gotham City Police Department and one of the few uncorrupted cops in Gotham City.
  • Cillian Murphy as Dr. Jonathan Crane / The Scarecrow: Dr. Jonathan Crane is a psychiatrist who works at Arkham Asylum who has developed fear-inducing toxins to take on the persona of the Scarecrow.
  • Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox: Lucius Fox is a high-ranking Wayne Enterprises employee who was demoted to working in the company's Applied Science Division. Fox supplies Bruce Wayne with much of the gear necessary to carry out Batman's mission and is also promoted to CEO when Wayne re-possesses the company.
  • Liam Neeson as Henri Ducard / Ra's al Ghul: Ra's al Ghul is the leader of the League of Shadows who impersonates his own right-hand man, Henri Ducard, for misdirection and trains Bruce Wayne to become a warrior. His methods and ideology are more extreme than the one Wayne embraces.
  • Ken Watanabe as Ra's al Ghul (Decoy): The decoy Ra's al Ghul is a member of the League of Shadows who impersonates the role of leader for the organization, actually held by Ra's al Ghul under the guise of right-hand man Henri Ducard.
  • Tom Wilkinson as Carmine Falcone: Carmine Falcone is a ruthless gangster who rules Gotham City with an iron fist, having many of the city's authorities in his pocket.
  • Linus Roache as Thomas Wayne: Thomas Wayne is Bruce Wayne's father, killed by Joe Chill when his son was 8 years old.
  • Sara Stewart as Martha Wayne: Martha Wayne is Bruce Wayne's mother, killed by Joe Chill when her son was 8 years old.
  • Rutger Hauer as Mr. Bill Earle: Mr. Earle is the CEO of Wayne Enterprises who makes the company go public in the long-term absence of Bruce Wayne.
  • Tim Booth as Victor Zsasz: Victor Zsasz is one of the many detainees of Arkham Asylum who goes loose in Gotham City's Narrows following Batman's showdown with Ra's al Ghul.
  • Richard Brake as Joe Chill: the criminal who murders Bruce Wayne's parents.
Spoilers end here.

In September 2003, director Christopher Nolan was reported to be considering Billy Crudup, Jake Gyllenhaal, Christian Bale, Hugh Dancy, Joshua Jackson and Cillian Murphy for the role of Bruce Wayne.<ref name="dynamic">Dunkley, Cathy, Bing, Jonathan. "Inside Move: New dynamic for WB duo", Variety, 2003-09-07. Retrieved on 2006-11-02.</ref> On September 11, 2003, Warner Bros. Pictures announced by press release that Christian Bale had been cast as the next Batman. Director Nolan said of Bale, "He has exactly the balance of darkness and light that we were looking for."<ref>"Official: Christian Bale is Batman!", SuperoHeroHype.com, 2003-09-11. Retrieved on 2006-11-02.</ref> Since he had lost a great deal of weight in preparation for his role in The Machinist, Christian Bale hired a personal trainer to help him gain 100 pounds in the span of only a couple of months to help him physically prepare for the role of Bruce Wayne / Batman. This effectively shattered the record of 70 pounds set by Vincent D'Onofrio in 1987 for his role in Full Metal Jacket. At first he went well over the weight required (taking literally Nolan's instructions to "get as big as you can"), and when he was first introduced to the crew there was concern over whether he'd look right for the part. However, Bale worked hard to lose the excess weight, and was ready in time for filming.<ref>. (2005). Shaping Mind and Body [DVD]. Warner Bros. </ref>

Actor Cillian Murphy (28 Days Later) was cast to portray "the Scarecrow" in the film.<ref>Fleming, Michael, Dunkley, Cathy. "'Batman' bags a baddie", Variety, 2003-12-10. Retrieved on 2006-11-02.</ref> On the same day of Murphy's announcement, Michael Caine said in an interview that Nolan was considering Viggo Mortensen for the role of the film's villain, not yet announced.<ref name="mortensen">"Mortensen Up For Batman?", Sci Fi Wire, 2003-12-10. Retrieved on 2006-11-02.</ref> Actor Chris Cooper had been offered the role of Jim Gordon, but turned it down since the character did not meet his expectations.<ref>"Cooper Not Gordon, Freeman May Take Role", SuperHeroHype.com, 2004-02-03. Retrieved on 2006-11-02.</ref>

[edit] Production

Following the failure of Batman and Robin in 1997, the fifth Batman film languished in development hell, with a Year One adaptation directed by Darren Aronofsky and Wolfgang Petersen's Batman vs. Superman coming close to production.[citation needed] In January 2003, Warner Bros. Pictures hired Memento director Christopher Nolan to helm an untitled Batman film.<ref>Fleming, Michael. "'Batman' captures director Nolan", Variety, 2003-01-27. Retrieved on 2006-11-02.</ref> In March 2003, Warner Bros. Pictures hired David S. Goyer to write the script for the untitled Batman project.<ref>Brodesser, Claude, Dunkley, Cathy. "Inside Move: WB jump starts Batmobile", Variety, 2003-03-26. Retrieved on 2006-11-02.</ref> In April 2003, Christopher Nolan was attached to helm The Prestige under Warner Bros. and Disney, indicating a possible delay in developing the new Batman film.<ref>Fleming, Michael. "Nolan wants 'Prestige'", Variety, 2003-04-16. Retrieved on 2006-11-02.</ref> In a July 2003 interview, however, Nolan said that the Batman film was in the early stages of production.<ref>Sloan, Ben. "60 Second Interview - Christopher Nolan", Metro.co.uk, 2003-07-30. Retrieved on 2006-11-02.</ref> In September 2003, Warner Bros. and director Christopher Nolan announced a production start in early 2004 for a 2005 release date.<ref name="dynamic">

In February 2004, president of DC Comics Paul Levitz said that the company's role with the film was as an advisor would remain hands-off during production.<ref>Graser, Marc. "The '3 rings' of Batman", Variety, 2004-02-08. Retrieved on 2006-11-02.</ref> Director Christopher Nolan stated his intention to reinvent the film franchise of Batman by "doing the origins story of the character, which is a story that's never been told before". Nolan said that humanity and realism would be the bases of the origin film. ""The world of Batman is that of grounded reality. [It] will be a recognizable, contemporary reality against which an extraordinary heroic figure arises," said the director. Screenwriter David S. Goyer said that the goal of the film was to get the audience to care for both Batman and Bruce Wayne.<ref name="beautiful">Graser, Marc, Dunkley, Cathy. "The bat and the beautiful", Variety, 2004-02-08. Retrieved on 2006-11-02.</ref> Christian Bale felt the previous films had underused Batman's character, overplaying the villains instead.<ref>"Christian Bale on Batman Begins", SuperHeroHype, 2004-11-19. Retrieved on 2006-11-17.</ref>

In January 2004, the untitled Batman project was scheduled to film in London, New York, and Iceland.<ref>"Batman Filming in New York as Well", SuperHeroHype.com, 2004-01-30. Retrieved on 2006-11-02.</ref> In February 2004, crews transformed the restaurant Plateau in Canary Wharf for a hotel restaurant scene.<ref>Martin, Allison. "Plat-Man", icTheWharf.co.uk, 2004-02-19. Retrieved on 2006-11-02.</ref> In the same month, an airship hangar at Cardington, Bedfordshire was rented by Warner Bros. for constructing a set in time for filming in April 2004.<ref>"Airship hangar is home to Batman", BBC, 2004-02-20. Retrieved on 2006-11-02.</ref> Filming began on March in Iceland, and Nolan refused a second unit, to keep his vision consistent.<ref name="about production">Batman Begins Production Notes - About the Production. Warner Bros. Retrieved on 2006-11-06.</ref>

[edit] Adaptation

[edit] Influences

The film's overall look, feel and story was inspired by several works. Bob Schreck, DC Comics' Batman editor, said that DC Comics president Paul Levitz, director Christopher Nolan and screenwriter David S. Goyer had joined forces to search through Batman comics spanning thirty years. Nolan stated that the "jumping off point" for him was Batman: The Man Who Falls, a short story about the death of Bruce Wayne's parents and Bruce's travels thorough the world. The early scene in Batman Begins of young Bruce Wayne falling into a well was directly adapted from Falls. The group also drew June 1971's Batman #232: "Daughter of the Demon" ("the classic arc that introduced Ra's al Ghul") and "the two or three best Scarecrow ever done" to help write the film's main villains. Though the Scarecrow stories were mentioned more ambiguously, the film's line, "Dr. Crane isn't here right now…" was first used in the story "Choices" from Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight Halloween Special (December 1993) by Jeph Loeb. Goyer said that the story Batman: The Long Halloween was influential when writing, with the character of Carmine Falcone being one of many elements which were used from Halloween's "sober, serious approach." The film also took inspiration from Frank Miller's Batman: Year One. Sergeant James Gordon in Batman Begins was based on his comic book incarnation in Year One. Frank Miller's idea of a corrupt police force was what the writers believed led to Gordon and Gotham City's need for Batman.<ref>DiDio, Dan (Vice President of DC Comics), Goyer, David S. (Co-writer), Levitz, Paul (President - DC Comics), Nolan, Christopher (Director), Schreck, Bob (Batman Editor - DC Comics). (2006). Genesis of the Bat [DVD featurette]. </ref>

In addition to drawing from Batman canon, director Christopher Nolan used the science fiction film Blade Runner as a source of inspiration for Batman Begins. The director screened Blade Runner to cinematographer Wally Pfister and others to show the attitude and style that he wanted to draw from the film. Nolan described the film's world as "an interesting lesson on the technique of exploring and describing a credible universe that doesn't appear to have any boundaries", a lesson that he applied to the production of Batman Begins.<ref>Jankiewicz, Pat. "Dark Knight Resurrected", Starlog, August 2005. Retrieved on 2006-11-06.</ref>

[edit] Departure from canon

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

While Batman Begins was influenced by certain Batman comics, the film departed from canon in several ways. In the film, Ra's al Ghul's organization is called the League of Shadows, where in the DC Universe, the organization is known as the League of Assassins. The film's incarnation of Ra's al Ghul is introduced in the franchise before Robin's introduction, when the order of the introductions were reversed in the comics. Ra's al Ghul is also Arabian in the comics, whereas the real Ra's al Ghul in Batman Begins, who uses an Asian decoy for misdirection, is actually European.

In Batman Begins, Bruce Wayne's personal history differs from comic canon. In the comics, Bruce Wayne's decision to wage war on crime follows almost immediately from the death of his parents. Wayne spends his entire childhood and young adulthood honing his mind and body to the task. In the film, Bruce Wayne did not begin his training until reaching adulthood and despite hatred for Joe Chill, had no aspirations towards fighting crime until later. Bruce's motivations to use the bat as his totem differed markedly as well. In most of the comics continuities, a chance encounter with a bat, such as one flying into his study room window, after his training had been completed caused Bruce to take on the personality of Batman. In the film, the superhero's bat-like incarnation is stemmed from his childhood phobia of bats, which he is forced to confront during his training with Ducard.

At the end of Batman Begins, Batman told Ra's al Ghul, prior to the crash of the train they were riding, that he wouldn't kill Ra's, but he didn't have to save him, either. In the comics, Batman follows the moral code of preserving the lives of even his most ruthless foes. Although, darker comics such as Batman: A Death in the Family and various films depart slightly from this, to emphasize the humanity of the character. He is still susceptible to emotion, even though he wishes not to show it to his enemies.
Spoilers end here.

[edit] Design

[edit] Gotham City

Gotham City is depicted as still being affected by a long Depression, due in part to Ra's al Ghul bringing down what he perceives to be a corrupt city. Wayne Enterprises created a train line to connect the poverty stricken Narrows and the richer parts of the city, and the end point is also above the city's main water supply within W.E.'s main tower. Carmine Falcone is the main source of corruption in the city, having bribed many judges, policemen, lawyers whilst he oversees the drug stock. His partnership with Jonathan Crane allows his men to avoid jail. The Wayne family lives somewhere outside the city and has a long history: during the American Civil War Bruce's ancestor used the underground network to lead slaves to their freedom.

Director Christopher Nolan said that when he worked with production designer Nathan Crowley to determine the look of Gotham City, he wanted to avoid any "reductive notions". Nolan said that he wanted Gotham City to have a large, modern metropolitan area that would reflect the various periods of architecture that the city had gone through. In designing Gotham City, elements were drawn from New York City, Chicago, and Tokyo, the latter for its elevated freeways and monorails. In Batman Begins, the Narrows was based on the slummish nature of the walled city of Kowloon in Hong Kong.<ref>Otto, Jeff. "Interview: Christopher Nolan", IGN, 2006-06-05. Retrieved on 2006-11-06.</ref> The long Tumbler chase scene took place on Lower Wacker Drive in Chicago. In addition, Wayne Tower in Batman Begins was graphed from the Chicago Board of Trade Building.

[edit] Batmobile

Image:Batmantumbler2.jpg In Batman Begins, Bruce Wayne acquires a mothballed Wayne Enterprises military vehicle, called the Tumbler, to serve as his Batmobile. Originally sporting military camouflage paint, Bruce Wayne requests Lucius Fox to have the Tumbler painted black. The Tumbler possesses a jet engine which can propel the vehicle in the air over a short distance. The vehicle has two driving positions: one for actual driving, and one for flying via propulsion. Stealth capabilities are also built into the Tumbler, which includes a silent, electric motor drive that helps render the vehicle "invisible" at night.

Nathan Crowley, one of the production designers for Batman Begins, started the process of designing the Tumbler for the film by model bashing. One of the parts that Crowley used to create the vehicle was the nose cone of a P-38 Lightning model to serve as the chassis for the Tumbler's jet engine. Six models of the Tumbler were built to 1:12 scale in the course of four months. Following the scale model creation, a crew of over 30 people, including Crowley and engineers Chris Culvert and Annie Smith, carved a full-size replica of the Tumbler out of a large block of Styrofoam, which was a process that lasted two months.<ref name="batmobile">Brain, Marshall. How the Batmobile Works. HowStuffWorks. Retrieved on 2006-11-05.</ref>

The Styrofoam model was used to create a steel "test frame", which had to stand up to several standards: have a speed of over 100 mph, go from 0 to 60 mph in 5 seconds, possess a steering system to make sharp turns at city corners, and to withstand a self-propelled launch of up to 30 feet. On the very first jump test, the Tumbler's front end collapsed and had to be completely rebuilt. The basic configuration of the newly designed Tumbler included a 5.7-liter Chevy V8 engine, a truck axle for the rear axle, front racing tires by Hoosier, rear 4x4 mud tires by Interco., and the suspension system of Baja racing trucks. The design and development process took nine months and cost several million dollars.<ref name="batmobile" />

With the design process completed, four street-ready race cars were constructed, with each vehicle possessing 65 carbon fiber panels and costing $250,000 each to build. Two of the four cars were specialized versions. One version was the flap version, which had hydraulics and flaps to detail the close-up shots where the vehicle propelled itself through the air. The other version was the jet version, in which an actual jet engine was mounted onto the vehicle, fueled by six propane tanks. Due to the poor visibility inside the vehicle by the driver, monitors were connected to cameras on the vehicle body. The professional drivers for the Tumblers practiced driving the vehicles for six months before they drove on the streets of Chicago for the film's scenes.<ref name="batmobile" />

The interior of the Tumbler was an immobile studio set and not actually the interior of a street-capable Tumbler. The cockpit was over-sized to fit cameras for scenes filmed in the Tumbler interior. In addition, another version of the Tumbler was a miniature model that was 1:5 scale of the actual Tumbler. This miniature model had an electric motor and was used to show the Tumbler flying across ravines and between buildings. However, the scene in Batman Begins where the Tumbler flies through the waterfall was the actual race car.<ref name="batmobile" />

Image:Batsuitplusbats.jpg

[edit] Batsuit

In Batman Begins, Bruce Wayne physically becomes Batman by wearing a fictional Nomax Survival Suit created by the Applied Science Division of Wayne Enterprises. Wayne modifies the undersuit by adding defensive gauntlets, Kevlar gloves, a cowl, and a cape. The cowl has a composite-graphite exterior with the interior containing microphones and a radio antenna. The cape is made of memory fiber, another fictional product of Wayne Enterprises' Applied Science Division, which allows the fabric to become stiff via electrical charge and enable the cape user to glide, mimicking the skeletal structure of a Bat's wings. Batman also has multiple gadgets on his utility belt, including a magnetic grappling gun. In addition, the Batsuit has a sonic device built into the heel of one of the boots to attract bats to use for distraction.

The filmmakers intended to create a very mobile Batsuit that would allow the wearer to move easily in order to fight and crouch. Previous film incarnations of the Batsuit had been stiff and restricted movement, especially restricting full head movement. Lindy Hemming, the costume designer for Batman Begins, and her crew worked on the Batsuit at a FX workshop codenamed "Cape Town", a secured compound located at Shepperton Studios in London. The Batsuit's basic design was a neoprene undersuit, which was shaped by attaching molded cream latex sections. Batman actor Christian Bale was molded and sculpted prior to his physical training so the team could work on a full body cast. To avoid imperfections picked up by sculpting with clay, plastiline was used to smoothen the surface. In addition, the team brewed different mixtures of foam to find the mixture that would be the most flexible, light, durable, and black. The latter presented a problem, since the process to make the foam black reduced the foam's durability.<ref name="batsuit">Batman Begins Production Notes - The Batsuit & Gadgetry. Warner Bros.. Retrieved on 2006-11-06.</ref>

For the cape, director Christopher Nolan wanted to have a "flowing cloak... that blows and flows as in so many great graphic novels". Hemming's team created the cape out of their own version of parachute nylon that had electrostatic flocking, a process shared with the team by the British Ministry of Defense. The process was used by the London police force to minimize night vision detection. The cape was topped by a cowl, which was designed by Nolan, Hemming, and costume effects supervisor Graham Churchyard. The cowl was created to be thin enough to allow motion but thick enough to avoid wrinkling when Bale turned his head in the Batsuit. Churchyard explained the cowl had been designed to show "a man who has angst", so his character would be revealed through the mask.<ref name="batsuit" />

For the film, three people were needed to dress Christian Bale up in the Batsuit. Since Bale wore the Batsuit for hours at a time, overheating became an issue. Plastic tubes were occasionally routed into the Batsuit as Bale wore it to provide a "cool suit" similar to those worn by high-altitude pilots and astronauts. To best pose as Batman, Bale studied graphic novels and illustrations of the superhero. Nolan said that Bale succeeded in his intimidating pose, recalling, "Everyone on set felt quite a charge when Christian would walk on in the Batsuit." Bale had a love-hate relationship with the suit, which had often sent him into foul moods, helping him transform into Batman. Bale said, "Batman's meant to be fierce, and you become a beast in that suit, as Batman should be — not a man in a suit, but a different creature."<ref name="batsuit" />

[edit] Film score

The film score for Batman Begins was composed by Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard. Director Christopher Nolan originally invited Zimmer to compose the film score, and Zimmer asked the director if he could invite Howard to compose as well. The two composers collaborated on separate themes for the "split personality" of Bruce Wayne and his alter ego, Batman. Zimmer and Howard began composing in Los Angeles and moved to London where they stayed for 12 weeks to complete most of their writing.<ref>Spence D. "Batman Vs. Hans Zimmer & James Newton Howard Part 1", IGN, 2005-06-10. Retrieved on 2006-12-01.</ref> Zimmer wanted to avoid composing a film score that had been done before. He and Howard were inspired to create the brand new score as they made set visits to Batman Begins. The score was an amalgamation of orchestra and electronic music. The film's orchestra was developed from members of various London orchestras, and Zimmer chose to use more than the normal amount of cellos. Zimmer enlisted a choir boy to help reflect the music when Bruce Wayne's parents are killed. "He's singing a fairly pretty tune and then he gets stuck, it's like froze, arrested development," Zimmer said. Zimmer also attempted to add human dimension to Batman, whose behavior would typically be seen as "psychotic", through the music. Both composers collaborated to create 2 hours and 20 minutes' worth of music for the film.<ref name="zimmer">Spence D. "Batman Vs. Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard Part 2", IGN, 2005-06-13. Retrieved on 2006-12-01.</ref>

[edit] Reception

[edit] Box office performance

Batman Begins opened on June 15, 2005 in the United States in 3,858 theaters, accumulating $48,745,440 over its opening weekend. The film went on to gross $205,343,774 domestically and $371,853,783 worldwide.<ref>Batman Begins (2005). Box Office Mojo. Retrieved on 2006-11-04.</ref> Batman Begins was the second most financially successful Batman film behind the 1989 Batman, which had grossed $411,348,924 worldwide.<ref>Batman Movies. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved on 2006-12-01.</ref> Batman Begins was domestically the eighth most successful film in 2005.<ref>2005 Yearly Box Office Results. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved on 2006-12-01.</ref>

[edit] Critical response

Batman Begins was positively received by the majority of professional critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film received 84% overall approval out of 235 reviews.<ref>Batman Begins. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved on 2006-10-30.</ref> The film also rated 70% on Metacritic.<ref>Batman Begins (2005): Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved on 2006-11-02.</ref> Roger Ebert, who had panned all previous live-action Batman movies, gave Batman Begins 4 stars out of 4, calling it "the Batman movie I've been waiting for".<ref>Ebert, Roger. "Batman Begins", Chicago Sun-Times, 2005-06-13. Retrieved on 2006-06-04.</ref> Empire magazine declared Batman Begins the second best film of 2005.<ref>"Review of '05: Featuring the year's 25 best movies", Empire, 2005-11-24, pp. 92. Retrieved on 2006-11-15.</ref>

[edit] Nominations for awards

Actor Christian Bale won "Best Hero" at the 2006 MTV Movie Awards. Wally Pfister was nominated by the American Society of Cinematographers in 2005.<ref>2005 Awards. American Society of Cinematographers. Retrieved on 2006-12-01.</ref> Batman Begins was nominated for other awards as well:

[edit] DVD and HD-DVD

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You can help Wikipedia by introducing appropriate citations. This article has been tagged since December 2006.
DVD cover of the Widescreen Deluxe Edition of Batman Begins

The Batman Begins DVD was released on October 18, 2005 in both single disc and two disc "deluxe" editions.<ref>Batman Begins (single disc). Amazon.com. Retrieved on 2006-12-01.</ref><ref name="Delux edition">Batman Begins (Delux edition). Amazon.com. Retrieved on 2006-12-01.</ref> In addition to the film disc, the deluxe edition contains a second disc of bonus materials and a small paperback booklet containing Detective Comics #27, Batman: The Man Who Falls and an excerpt from Batman: The Long Halloween.<ref name="Delux edition"> 

On October 10, 2006 it was released on HD DVD.<ref>Batman Begins HD DVD. Amazon.com. Retrieved on 2006-11-13.</ref>

Owing to the popularity of the film, DVD sales were high and for several weeks after the film's release to DVD, many retailers had only very small batches in stock, with some stores being unable to keep a continuous stock on the shelves. The deluxe edition proved to be the more popular of the two releases initially, making it more difficult to find. This led to rumors that it would only be available in limited numbers for a short period of time, and that many retailers would soon no longer be able to get any more of them. As of May 2006, most retailers appear to still have a stock of the deluxe release, and many retailers, including Amazon, even sell the item at a discount. Recently another version of the film has come to market as a sort of "compromise" release, as it contains the two-disc set from the deluxe edition package but without the paperback booklet.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

<references />

[edit] External links

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Following (1998) · Memento (2000) · Insomnia (2002) · Batman Begins (2005) · The Prestige (2006) · The Dark Knight (2008)
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Batman in popular media
Actors: Lewis Wilson • Robert Lowery • Adam West • Olan Soule • Michael Keaton • Kevin Conroy • Val Kilmer • George Clooney • Rino Romano • Christian Bale • Casts
Live-action television: Batman • Legends of the Superheroes • Birds of Prey • Return to the Batcave
Film: 1940s serials • Batman (1966) • Batman (1989) • Batman Returns • Batman Forever • Batman & Robin • Batman Begins • The Dark Knight
Animation: Batman/Superman Hour • New Adventures of Batman • Batman: The Animated Series/New Batman Adventures • Mask of the Phantasm • SubZero • Batman Beyond • Return of the Joker • Mystery of the Batwoman • The Batman • The Batman vs. Dracula
ar:باتمان بيجنز

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