Legends of the Dark Knight: The History of Batman, which follows the comic book series through seven decades of changes and re-inventions

The End Is The Beginning Is The End by the Smashing Pumpkins • Foolish Games by Jewel • Gotham City by R. Kelly • Look Into My Eyes by Bone Thugs-N-Harmony The films produced by director Christopher Nolan, marketed collectively as The Dark Knight Trilogy, were released between 2005 and 2012 and substantially rebooted the franchise aiming for a darker, more realistic tone. Bigger, Bolder, Brighter: The Production Design of Batman & Robin • Maximum Overdrive: The Vehicles of Batman & Robin • Dressed To Thrill: The Costumes of Batman & Robin • Frozen Freaks and Femmes Fatales: The Makeup of Batman & Robin • Freeze Frame: The Visual Effects of Batman & Robin Featurette Gallery: "Beyond Batman" (SD, 44 minutes) - Here's another round of smaller featurettes, all concentrating on the production aspects. Again, this is drier stuff, and though it probably has the best of the behind-the-scenes footage on any of the four discs. Definitely, a top-heavy film after the departure of Keaton so I can understand being under lots of pressure to make this as consistent as possible from the previous two films. I still got sour of the fact that Batman smiled after his little nightstand with Ms. Meridian. That wasn't good.

KCU + PLUS

Batman pursues the two, and at the top of the dusty edifice, the two adversaries confront each other in single combat. When The Joker attempts an escape via a helecopter, Batman secures The Joker's leg to a heavy stone sculpture, causing The Joker to fall from the helecopter and plummet to his doom. Following The Joker's death, Commissioner Gordon unveils the Bat-Signal along with a note from Batman read by Harvey Dent, promising to defend Gotham whenever crime strikes again. The third and final installment of the Nolan series was released on July 20, 2012 and featured Bane as the main villain played by Tom Hardy with Anne Hathaway playing Selina Kyle. The film also introduced characters of John Blake played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Miranda Tate played by Marion Cotillard. Still, while there's an undeniable qualitative drop-off in terms of the actual narrative product as this series progresses, Warner Bros.' admirable double-disc releases of each film sent them off into the digital world on more or less equal footing, which is a great thing. The first DVD incarnations of Burton's films didn't even feature the theatrical trailers, so it's nice to see these titles -- and indeed, the entire franchise -- get such an exhaustively detailed effort, with supplemental material that contextually frames each release and also openly lays forth the varying and developing motivations behind its artistic choices.

The Dark Knight" changed all that with a decree that comic heroes need to be dark and brooding, a cross between film noir and Edgar Allan Poe. A flair for amusing morbidity must have been what led Warners to the doorstep of the wunderkind Tim Burton, an art school overachiever who turned unlikely ideas like Pee Wee's Big Adventure and Beetlejuice into hipper than hip hit movies. Burton brought high style and killer design skills to the 1989 Batman, a very nervous production with a confident director at the helm. Fans were concerned when Burton nominated his Beetlejuice colleague Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne, closet crimefighter, and wondered if their sacred DC comic book franchise would come down with an acute case of the cutes, Tim Burton- style. English, English SDH, Chinese Traditional, French, Indonesian/Bahasa, Korean, Portguese, Spanish, Thai Making fun of 'Batman & Robin' is as easy as shooting fish in a barrel, and about as depressing. Where to start? How about the ridiculous, redesigned Batman and Robin costumes? (Silver accents and big nipples, um, really?) Or casting Alicia Silverstone as the super-annoying Batgirl (does this movie even need yet another character?) How about Arnold Schwarzenegger's awful, awful Iceman quips, which make his Terminator line-readings seem like Proust. And even the best performance in the movie -- Uma Thurman's Poison Ivy -- is only good by comparison to the atrociousness of the rest of the film. Theatrical Trailers (SD) - Rounding out the disc-consistent features are each film's respective theatrical trailer. BIG. BOLD. LAVISH. OUTSTANDING VISUAL MISCHIEF." — Janet Maslin, THE NEW YORK TIMES (Batman & Robin)Music Videos (SD) - Finally, we get three clips from Prince, including "Batdance," "Trust" and the "Arms of Orion." After the success of The Batman, several spin-off TV series were put into production for HBO. The first was scheduled was The Penguin, which follows Penguin following the events of the film. The series is set to be released in 2024. Also in production is an untitled " Arkham" series, which will focus on residents on Arkham State Hospital. The film inspired the equally successful Batman: The Animated Series, and has influenced Hollywood's modern marketing and development techniques of the superhero film genre. Featurette Gallery: "Beyond Batman" (SD) - Five segments are included, all with titles that are self-explanatory: "Bigger, Bolder, Brighter: The Production Design of Batman & Robin" (10 minutes), "Maximum Overdrive: The Vehicles of Batman & Robin" (10 minutes), "Dressed to Thrill: The Costumes of Batman & Robin" (12 minutes), "Frozen Freaks and Femme Fatales: The Makeup of Batman & Robin" (9 minutes), and "Freeze Frame: The Visual Effects of Batman & Robin" (9 minutes). Unlike the main doc, spread across all four discs, these are more upbeat about the respective accomplishments of the film. I do have to side with Schumacher here, and say that aside from the silver nipples, there is some impressive set design and make-up effects (I hated Schwarzenegger's Mr. Freeze, but his make-up isn't bad).

Deleted Scene (SD, 1 minute) - There is but one deleted scene included, "Alfred's Lost Love," that runs less than a minute. A sequel is currently in production with Reeves and Pattinson returning as director and star, respectively. Featurette Gallery: "Beyond Batman " (SD, 42 minutes) - The next batch includes another breakdown of the production, art and costume design. Most fun is Catwoman, whose outfit was so damn tight they had to sew Michelle Pfeiffer into it. Still, pretty darn hot. In 'Batman Forever' (1995), former District Attorney Harvey Two-Face (Tommy Lee Jones) is terrorising Gotham City, when a new villain appears on the scene - the Riddler (Jim Carrey). Together they plot to discover Batman's (Val Kilmer) identity, using a device which can probe the human mind. Meanwhile, the caped crusader has been joined by Robin (Chris O'Donnell), whose trapeze-artist family have recently been slain by Two-Face. Rummaging through the bonus features, I noticed an interesting clip featuring an interview with director Joel Schumacher, on the DVD Special Features for Batman & Robin. At a specific part of the interview, he actually apologized for the movie. Watch for yourself:

Batman Forever (1995) - Riddle me this, riddle me that, you'll find adventure on the wings of a bat! Brace for excitement as Val Kilmer (Batman), Tommy Lee Jones (Two-Face), Jim Carrey (The Riddler), Nicole Kidman (Dr. Chase Meridian) and Chris O'Donnell (Robin) star in the third formidable film in Warner Bros.' Batman series. Joel Schumacher directs and Tim Burton co-produces this thrill-ride of a movie that thunders along on Batmobile, Batwing, Batboat, Batsub and bold heroics. Hang on! Speaking of Poison Ivy, played by the wonderful Uma Thurman, I don't think I could've recommended a better actress. Her looks are versatile enough to have her pass off as a nerdy girl to an irresistible vixen whom men want to have a shot at (something some girls fantasize about growing up). The muscle man Arnold Schwarzenegger as Victor Fries/Mr. Freeze was also done very well. Like Jim Carrey, I can't see Schwarzenegger protraying as anyone else but The Terminator, but unlike Carrey, he pulled off that popular cinematic persona and reeled me in with his villainous character.

Beyond Batman documentary gallery, which features "Bigger, Bolder, Brighter: The Production Design of Batman & Robin,""Maximum Overdrive: The Vehicles of Batman & Robin,""Dressed to Thrill: The Costumes of Batman & Robin," Frozen Freaks and Femme Fatales: The Makeup of Batman & Robin," and "Freeze Frame: The Visual Effects of Batman & Robin" Music Video (SD) - We get one clip, for Seal's Grammy-winning "Kiss from a Rose." I know most people love this song but I, for one, can't get into it. Also surprising is that U2's "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" is not present, due to rights issues. Whatever, Bono... TV Special (SD, 24 minutes) - "Riddle Me This: Why is Batman Forever?" is a 1995 special hosted by Chris O'Donnell. It's about as fluffy and promotional as you can get, and plays like the glorified commercial it is. However, it does cover all of the then-three Batman films as well as the comic origins, so it at least aims for substance. But I'm just not a big fan of O'Donnell, either so this was punishing. SPECIAL FEATURES]: RIDDLE ME THIS: WHY IS BATMAN FOREVER?, SHADOWS OF THE BAT: The Cinematic Saga of the DARK KNIGHT Pt.5 Reinventing a Hero, BATMAN: The Heroes, BATMAN: The Villains, BEYOND BATMAN, DELETED SCENES, Kiss From A Rose Video by Seal. For the video, it was digitized in MPGV 720x480 (widescreen) decoded with the Planar 4:2:0 YUV video color space format. For the audio, it was digitized with A52 Audio also known as AC3.Derived from the original comics from the mastermind himself Bob Kane, Batman is a comic book character who became a worldwide hit faster than light speed. Along with the TV series, Batman & Robin, including their very own movie based off the show, there isn't anything more or new about Batman that people don't already know about, or should bother to learn. Batman is so ubiquitous in pop culture, he's almost a requirement to know and learn about in our lives. Even if you're not a fan of the franchise, and/or if you've never seen any of these films, you at least know who he is and what he's briefly about—a superhero whom many of us can relate, retaliating against a cruel entity that costed the lives of loved ones, while fighting off injustice and corruption spread by gangs summoned by an evil leader. Other than that, Batman will forever live on in American film history, recognized as one of the most iconic heroes that ever graced the stage. Only thing to talk about Batman is the actor who plays him. Anti-piracy warning - 00:12, Warner Bros Home Video clip - 00:12, Main Menu - 00:39, Feature film - 2:06:11, [SPECIAL FEATURES]: Theatrical trailer - 01:47 SPECIAL FEATURES]: THE BAT, THE CAT AND THE PENGUIN, SHADOWS OF THE BAT: The Cinematic Saga of the DARK KNIGHT Pt.4 Dark Side of the Knight, BATMAN: The Heroes, BATMAN: The Villains, BEYOND BATMAN, Face To Face Music Video by Siouxsie and the Banshees. DC Films Multiverse Team-Ups and Crossover Event Films Snyder Era Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice