I'll be getting the Best Buy version when I go.
Batman: Under the Red Hood
- Thread starter Servo
- Start date
I loved this. It was definitely the best of the DC Universe films, and in my opinion the best Batman animated film since Mask of the Phantasm. I'll just echo what everybody has said previously in this thread but almost every component to this film absolutely works -- from the voice casting to the script to the direction even to the very memorable score. Every member of the voice cast not only delivers, but really pushes the limits and firmly establishes their individual presence as their respective characters.
Bruce Greenwood was incredibly effective as the Batman and Jensen Ackles was surprisingly emotive as the Red Hood -- he gave such vocal dimension to the character. You could feel the mixture of emotions in his vocal performance -- from frustrated to angry to even sad. Jason Isaacs was wonderful as Ra's al Ghul. I'll admit that I could tell the inspiration from The Dark Knight -- this version of the Joker definitely reminded me of Ledger's take, and the score was also reminiscent of the score for that movie as well -- but I was relieved to see that this version of Ra's al Ghul was very faithful to the comics and not trying to ape the Liam Neeson version. I would even love to see Issacs take on the Ra's role in a future live-action film. Regardless of how Ledger-inspired this version of The Joker might have been, he was incredibly well-done. He had the perfect combination of twisted, laugh-out-loud humor and bubbling insanity. Several of his scenes were highlights of the movie for me.
Also, the Batmobile reminded me of the TAS/Burton one as well.
Bruce Greenwood was incredibly effective as the Batman and Jensen Ackles was surprisingly emotive as the Red Hood -- he gave such vocal dimension to the character. You could feel the mixture of emotions in his vocal performance -- from frustrated to angry to even sad. Jason Isaacs was wonderful as Ra's al Ghul. I'll admit that I could tell the inspiration from The Dark Knight -- this version of the Joker definitely reminded me of Ledger's take, and the score was also reminiscent of the score for that movie as well -- but I was relieved to see that this version of Ra's al Ghul was very faithful to the comics and not trying to ape the Liam Neeson version. I would even love to see Issacs take on the Ra's role in a future live-action film. Regardless of how Ledger-inspired this version of The Joker might have been, he was incredibly well-done. He had the perfect combination of twisted, laugh-out-loud humor and bubbling insanity. Several of his scenes were highlights of the movie for me.
Also, the Batmobile reminded me of the TAS/Burton one as well.
From one view it does echo the stretched out engine compartment of the TAS/Burton
I prefer this one from the past with the not so stretched out engine compartment.
And yeah the batwing in Superman/Batman Public enemies and Red hood really look like the movie batwing with its batman insignia design
Okay, I finally see what you guys are saying. You're not saying the Burton and TAS Batmobiles are identical, you're saying that this design incorporates elements of both (along with a bat-head hood ornament that's right out of the '40s and '50s comics).
For comparison:
The Burton Batmobile:
The B:TAS Batmobile (sort of like taking the Burton Batmobile, straightening it out and simplifying the front):
The Batmobile from The New Batman Adventures and Justice League:
The Burton Batmobile:
The B:TAS Batmobile (sort of like taking the Burton Batmobile, straightening it out and simplifying the front):
The Batmobile from The New Batman Adventures and Justice League:
I don't agree that the TAS Batmobile is just a straightened/simplified Burton Batmobile. Burton's version (or rather, production designer Anton Furst's version) had some influence on it, but I'd say the primary influence is '40s limos and Art Deco designs.
Now, the TNBA Batmobile does show a clear design lineage from the Furst, but is more subtle and uncomplicated, more like a sportscar.
(Maybe we should spin off a separate thread for this and call it "Under the Car Hood."
)
Now, the TNBA Batmobile does show a clear design lineage from the Furst, but is more subtle and uncomplicated, more like a sportscar.
(Maybe we should spin off a separate thread for this and call it "Under the Car Hood."
)
The B:TAS Batmobile (sort of like taking the Burton Batmobile, straightening it out and simplifying the front):
I used to own that toy. Now I don't. You just made me nostalgic.
Well, 1940s Art Deco was a prime design aesthetic in the first Burton film and its Batmobile was a fusion of styles to fit in with that. The B:TAS Batmobile stays in the same wheelhouse - and keeps key design elements from the movie Batmobile - but goes for a straight-line silhouette rather than one of curves. I'm not saying they didn't look to other cars for inspiration, too. I'm sure they did. But I think there are enough key similarities that they may well have said, "Let's take these features of the movie Batmobile, tweak them, and combine them with the straight-line silhouette of this classic car."
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I'm sorry, I don't see any Art Deco in Anton Furst's Batmobile. Art Deco is very geometric and mathematically precise, with strong straight lines invoking speed and regular shapes invoking idealized technological advancement. Furst's Batmobile is much more of an organic design, very nonlinear with fluid, irregular contours. The only features I see that looks even vaguely like something that could be called Art Deco are the gratings in front of the rear wheels. And maybe the turbine in front, but that kind of has to be a pure geometric shape for functional reasons.
I'll grant, of course, that there was a lot of Art Deco and '40s design in the '89 movie as a whole. But I just don't see it in that Batmobile.
I'll grant, of course, that there was a lot of Art Deco and '40s design in the '89 movie as a whole. But I just don't see it in that Batmobile.
Okay...the car they used in Under the Red Hood was bad ass despite weather or not it resembled what I think it did! 
Art deco was a hallmark of the 30s, not the 40s.
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Man that was tragic. Excellent!
Art Deco was a style widely used in the 1920s and 1930s. It wasn't as popular in the 1940s, although it was still used to some degree. The '89 movie used Art Deco through the prism a 1940s-infused milieu - Art Deco and 1940s designs would be a more accurate description.
To be more accurate on my part, the design of the movie Batmobile fit into the design aesthetic of the movie since its design fused modernism with a retro sensibility. It fit in with the Art Deco and 1940s designs, even if it it was in a complementary way rather than fitting the exact nature and specifications of those designs itself. Furst took some elements of 1930s and 1940s car design and scrambled them to come up with something unique. The B:TAS Batmobile kept some of those key features (the cockpit and jet-style) exhaust, but streamlined it into an Art Deco automobile.
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Watching the movie again right now and after seeing the Batmobile...it reminds me more of the Jim Lee designed Batmobile with maybe a tiny resemblance to the Batman Forever car.
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Well, to give credit where it's due, it was the '66 Barris Batmobile that introduced the jet exhaust.
Did anyone else get the odd feeling they were watching a 'Dark Knight' inspired reimagining of 'Mask of the Phantasm', or is it just me? Very good of course, defiantly their best film to date and oddly, the closest in feel and tone to Bruce Timm's earlier work.
When these movies started I never thought another voice actor could replace Conroy, but dammit if Andrea Romano doesn't keep casting some excellent talent. Kevin is still the best, of course, but all of these others; Jeremy Sisto, William Baldwin and now Bruce Greenwood have all done a fine job, each with a different take and each appropriate to their given film.
When these movies started I never thought another voice actor could replace Conroy, but dammit if Andrea Romano doesn't keep casting some excellent talent. Kevin is still the best, of course, but all of these others; Jeremy Sisto, William Baldwin and now Bruce Greenwood have all done a fine job, each with a different take and each appropriate to their given film.
