| Batman Forever | |
 | |
| Director: | Joel Schumacher |
| Producer: | Tim Burton Peter MacGregor-Scott |
| Writer(s): | Characters: Bill Finger Bob Kane Screenplay: Lee Batchler Janet Scott Batchler Akiva Goldsman |
| Release Date: | June 16, 1995 |
| Running Time: | 122 minutes |
| More Information | |
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| Merchandise | Characters |
Batman Forever is the 1995 sequel to Batman Returns and the third installment in the Burton/Schumacher Batman film series. Batman is up against Two-Face who is terrorising Gotham City and he gets all the more dangerous when he pairs up with a new menace, The Riddler and partners up with a young sidekick name Robin. A sequel, Batman & Robin, was released in 1997.
Plot[]
The movie opens as Two-Face, the former DA Harvey Dent (Tommy Lee Jones), holds hostages within a bank vault. Batman (Val Kilmer) arrives at the scene and consults with Dr. Chase Meridian (Nicole Kidman). Batman then rescues the hostages but is unable to foil the robbery. While this is going on, Edward Nygma (Jim Carrey), a lowly worker at Wayne Enterprises, is doing unauthorized research at work. He is discovered by a senior worker, who promptly fires him. Nygma murders the man and doctors security tapes to make it look as if the man committed suicide.
A while later, Bruce Wayne invites Chase Meridian to the Charity Circus. Two-Face and his thugs arrive at the event, firing guns and terrorizing the audience. They also bring a bomb that Two-Face will detonate if Batman does not appear at the circus. (Two-Face blames Batman for failing to thwart a criminal who threw acid on Dent's face, disfiguring him.) The Flying Graysons, circus acrobats, work to remove the bomb through an opening at the tent's top. The youngest member, Dick (Chris O'Donnell), manages to push Two-Face's bomb out of the circus tent and into the water surrounding the tent by going ahead of his family. When he returns, Dick finds that Two-Face has killed the rest of his family by shooting up the wires they were climbing on, sending them to their deaths. Feeling sorry for Dick's loss and feeling responsible for Batman's failure to show at the circus, Bruce takes a reluctant and devastated Dick in as a foster son.
Meanwhile, Nygma, inspired and delighted by watching Two-Face's raid at the circus, decides to become his partner, "The Riddler." He shows Two-Face a device that beams signals directly into the human brain, allowing television viewers to feel like they are "inside" TV shows; simultaneously, their brainwaves are absorbed by Nygma. The two villains make a deal: if Two-Face helps him steal enough priceless goods and money to fund his project, the Riddler will use the "Box" to learn Batman's true identity. Their deal sealed, Two-Face and the Riddler start their rampage.
The Riddler blows up the Batcave, and Two-Face kidnaps Robin and Chase. Batman is forced to choose between them, but ends up saving both. The Riddler and Two-Face are then defeated, with the Riddler going crazy and Two-Face dying. The movie ends with Batman and Robin running toward the camera.
Cast[]
- Val Kilmer as Bruce Wayne/Batman
- Ramsey Ellis as Young Bruce Wayne
- Tommy Lee Jones as Harvey Dent/Two-Face
- Jim Carrey as Edward Nygma/The Riddler
- Nicole Kidman as Dr. Chase Meridian
- Chris O'Donnell as Richard "Dick" Grayson/Robin
- Kimberly Scott as Margaret
- Michael Gough as Alfred Pennyworth
- Pat Hingle as James Gordon
- Drew Barrymore as Sugar
- Debi Mazar as Spice
- Ed Begley Jr. as Fred Stickley
- Elizabeth Sanders as Gossip Gerty
- Larry A. Lee as John Grayson
- Mitch Gaylord as Mitchell "Mitch" Grayson
References to the broader Burtonverse[]
- Bruce Wayne/Batman appears.
- Alfred Pennyworth appears.
- James Gordon appears.
- Harvey Dent/Two-Face appears.
- The Batmobile appears.
- The Batwing appears.
- The Bat-Signal appears.
- Edward Nygma/The Riddler is introduced.
- Ed Begley Jr. is introduced.
- Margaret is introduced.
- Richard "Dick" Grayson/Robin is introduced.
- Chase Meridian is introduced.
- Gossip Gerty is introduced.
- The Batboat is introduced.
- Wayne Enterprise is introduced.
- Arkham Asylum is introduced.
- Selina Kyle/Catwoman is mentioned.
Taglines[]
- Courage now, truth always.
Production[]
Development[]
The lower ticket sales of Batman Returns led to WB evaluating the need for a new family friendly "freshness" in any followup movies. WB was initially interested in Tim Burton returning as director. But his experiences making the first two were unpleasant in terms of dealing with studio notes and Burton was not interested in the Robin sidekick concept they kept pushing for. Meanwhile, Joel Schumacher getting ready to film The Client, and Warner Bros. approached him to do the next Batman. Schumacher left the breakfast meeting, flew up to New York, had lunch with Burton, seeking his "blessing." Burton also met with Lee and Janet Scott Batchler, and they said to him that the heart of Batman is duality, this pleased Burton and they went forward with the full screenplay under Schumacher's direction. Despite Burton's limited input amidst these brief lunches, he accepted top-billing producer credit over Peter MacGregor-Scott who worked a full schedule every single day of the production.
Schumacher always assumed that Michael Keaton would be returning as Batman/Bruce Wayne, while Warner Bros. wanted two villains again, and Schumacher chose Two-Face (Harvey Dent) as the main villain, and Tommy Lee Jones was the first one to be cast. Both Schumacher and WB wanted Robin Williams to play the Riddler. The negations with Michael Keaton went on for many months. Schumacher was never able to contact Williams as he refused to return his calls. The Batchlers made Harvey Two-Face the enemy of his batman persona, and Lyle Heckendorf would be Bruce Wayne's enemy. They wrote this for Keaton, Jones, and Williams. They also wanted to include the classic giant penny in the Batcave as an easter egg, but it was cut. The Batchlers created Dr. Chase Meridian as the love interest for the film. Rene Russo was cast as Chase Meridian, based on the chemistry she with Keaton on One Good Cop. WB insisted the character of Robin (Dick Grayson) be included in the film. In the first two drafts written by The Batchlers, they gave Riddler the name of Lyle Heckendorf, and his rival company was called HeckTech, and Schumacher came up with a scene that was not in the final film, where Lyle stalks Bruce and Chase at the circus, and he stole clothes from a fortune telling leprechaun, which form the basis of the Riddler outfit. And in the same script, he has magenta hair.
Michael Keaton disliked the Batchlers's drafts so Schumacher hired Akiva Goldsman to appease the demands of Keaton, who wanted a stronger subplot focusing Bruce Wayne's backstory for once instead of being marginalized in favor of wild supervillains. Goldsman added the red book subplot with more brooding Bruce Wayne dialogue, and made an effort to make the screenplay have a less comedic vibe. Keaton also disliked many of the things Schumacher spoke about his vision during the meetings. Despite his script demands being met Keaton escalated the negotiations by asking for a higher percentage of the gross and a percentage of all merchandising. Due to the salary dispute between Keaton and the heads of WB, Terry Semel & Bob Daly who asked Schumacher to recast the part of Bruce Wayne. Schumacher's first choice to replace Keaton was Ethan Hawke, but he refused.
Schumacher felt Keaton's departure from the project meant they he no longer needed to be guided by the past, instead delivering new fresh take on the franchise for the studio, totally separate visual style from any previous films. His instinct was to "go younger" resulting Russo being let go in favor of Nicole Kidman as Chase and rising star Jim Carrey as the Riddler instead of the aging Robin Williams. Despite the, Schumacher kept Tommy Lee Jones in the part of Harvey Two-Face rather going with an equally younger actor for that part. Jim Carrey was enthusiastic about playing Nygma, he had an idea of Riddler with a question mark shaved into the back of his head, but decided not too, since he was going through divorce proceedings. And Russo was just a little older for Kilmer, and Kidman became the last minute replacement for Russo. For Robin, Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Wahlberg, Ewan McGregor, Jude Law, Alan Cumming, Toby Stephens, and Scott Speedsman were on the list, but then, the role went to Chris O'Donnell.
Filming[]
Very few real world exteriors were shot in parts of California and New York.
Gallery[]
Videos[]
External links[]
| Batman Films | |
|---|---|
| Serials | Batman | Batman and Robin |
| Martinson series | Batman (1966) |
| Burton/Schumacher series | Batman | Batman Returns | Batman Forever | Batman & Robin |
| Nolan series | Batman Begins | The Dark Knight | The Dark Knight Rises |
| DCEU | Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice | The Batman |
| Spin-offs | Catwoman |