Exploring the Pinewood Studios Gotham City Set from the 1989 Batman film...

[Bustajesse]

I loved the design of the 89 Batman set. It was one of my favorite elements of the movie.

The only time I found that the illusion of the size of Gotham was broken was during the Batmobile chase scene, and it was really only from seeing the Monarch Theater 2 or 3 times. Had they just turned the lights off of the sign, or switched it out, most people probably would have never noticed.

It is a totally minor thing and doesn't ruin the movie for me at all. Now when I watch TDKR and see spelling mistakes on the Bat Computer or henchmen throwing them selves on the ground for no apparent reason (other than poor choreography), that really takes me out of the movie.

 

[DiFabio]

Naked men statues started with Burton in Batman Returns, not Shumacher in Batman Forever contrary to popular belief.

Two huge muscle guys pulling large levers or rods in the miniature time square scene in Batman Returns can be seen readily through out the film. Mind you, a town square not even large enough to be a city center in a small town.

As for gargoyles in Batman '89? Are you serious? You claim to be a fan. You don't remember "what are you laughing at ?!" ... a gargoyle, on a church. Cause that makes LOADS of sense.

A holy place, with demonic creatures sculpted onto it. Only in Burton's Goth circle jerk world.

There aren't any "naked man statues" in '89 Batman though. Last I checked, this thread wasn't about Batman Returns Gotham, or Schumacher's Gotham, or Nolan shooting in Chicago, or Pittsburgh. It's the '89 Gotham which is drastically different from all of them.



And yeah, there aren't any Gargoyles in the '89 Batman buildings. You make it sound like it's common place with all the Anton Furst building architecture when it's really just at the Cathedral at the end with the Joker. One gargoyle, maybe two or three tops, on an abandoned church that might be centuries old? Yeah, that's just odd.


I guess you've never seen gargoyles on a church? Alrighty then, just go and google "Church Gargoyle".




I mean, this is what you do? You don't participate for years, and the first post you make since 2010 is a mean dig at someone that's simply showing enthusiasm for something they enjoy and kindly share with others? Why do you want to piss in their cheerios? If you're not a fan, that's fine, why bother coming into this thread in the first place to cause trouble?

 

[Chuck72586]

I really hope the next Bat franchise tries to make Gotham feel a little more unique. That's what I love about the first Burton film even if the set does feel a bit cramped.

Another thing I love about that first film is the batcave. It's my favorite of any of the films. Too bad the guys who got all the cool pictures of the city didn't have access to the cave.

 

[BatBrain]

I really hope the next Bat franchise tries to make Gotham feel a little more unique. That's what I love about the first Burton film even if the set does feel a bit cramped.

Another thing I love about that first film is the batcave. It's my favorite of any of the films. Too bad the guys who got all the cool pictures of the city didn't have access to the cave.

Totally agree. It did look pretty unique and awesome in Begins, particularly the way the train ran through Gotham. The Narrows/Arkham area was also really cool and comic looking. I wish they had stuck with that look a little more in the following films. For anyone that has spent time or lived in Chicago/Pittsburgh, it was easily recognizable and took away from Gotham being unique IMO.

 

[DarkMagic]

Both 89 and Begins had that cramped set feeling to me in a lot of parts. For Begins, maybe I'm tainted by watching the behind the scenes stuff and knowing what was on a set and what was on location, but a lot of the narrows stuff doesn't feel real to me.

I've visited Chicago, and LA, went to college for years in Pittsburgh, and lived in NYC almost my whole life besides that, and of course those cities are recognizable for anyone who has been there. That's the trade-off, either you build a unique and limited set that doesn't remind you of any real city, or you film partly in real cities and try to dress it up during production or with post-production tricks to make it look a little different...but the real city will always show through for people familiar with it.

As for what Gotham is "supposed" to look like, it has been interpreted in a myriad of different ways over the years by plenty of comic artists, animators, game developers, production designers etc., just like Batman. Some elements are staples, like a Wayne Manor, W.E. and police HQ (and sometimes crime alley), but there is no one look that Gotham is supposed to be.