1/6 Hot Toys Batman Forever Batman (sonar suit)

[sfa]

Hot Toys did cosbabies of Two-Face and Riddler, as well as Sonar Batman and Robin. So I wonder if that increases the chances of them doing Two-Face and Riddler as figures? ��

 

[Johnny Utah]

Likeness rights would be the delay if that was the plan. Tommy Lee and Jim both approve stuff so it is possible.

 

[Khev]

I just watched it in anticipation and hype for the figures after not having seen it in a long time. I like it. Yeah, definitely not the best Batman flick but it's still enjoyable. I'd watch it a million times over TDKR, BvS and Justice League.

I believe I've said this before, and I'll stand by it, this has the BEST opening to a Batman movie. Period. Yes, even over the "I'm Batman" scene in '89 and the bank robbery in TDK.

It gets straight to the point. No ****ing weird prologues like TDKR or the Cobblepot's trying to murder their first born and no ****ing Thomas and Martha Wayne murder. It goes right to the heart of what Batman is all about. There's a crime in progress (ironically a bank heist), Batman suits up, gears up, jumps into the Batmobile and the audience is off. People keep asking for that "Schumacher cut" and while it would be cool to see, the original opening kinda sucks. Arkham Asylum, Two-Face escaping, the Wayne Enterprises stuff with Nygma and Bruce (that comes later in the film anyway), screw all that. It's the same problem I have with Batman Returns. That movie doesn't really begin for me until 15 mins when Gordon is like "what are you waiting for, the signal" and it shows Bruce Wayne in his study. We gotta go through so much BS like Christopher Walken talking about his power plant, people christmas shopping, etc. and Batman Forever just cuts past all that BS and goes right to what we all want to see.

The reason to get these figures is like what Khev says, it takes you back to 1995. The film kinda sucks now, yeah, but I didn't think that then. The 90s were fun. I wasn't a film snob when Batman Forever came out. I loved the Burton films and I loved the animated series. Batman Forever to me was more Batman. It was hyped up, it was fun. I saw it and loved it. It was a good time. Got the Kenner toys, McDonalds glasses, listened to the soundtrack on repeat. I was a kid and these figures remind of simpler times. I mean hell, I can't even go to a theater now a days because the theaters are shut down and nothing good is playing anymore. Batman Forever was an awesome time. I loved those color specific character posters. I remember before the movie came out, walking through the theater halls and seeing the blue signal Batman poster, then green signal for Riddler, red signal for Two-Face, yellow for Robin all lined up on the walls. Everything about it felt new. You got new suits, new toys, new vehicles and finally get to see a live action Robin. As a kid, it just didn't get better than that. I didn't get that feeling of superhero hype again until the Spider-Man films and Nolan Batman films.

That's what Sonar Batman is to me. I remember the Sonar suit was the first image I ever saw of Kilmer Batman and Forever in general. It looked so weird and different to me. He almost looked like an alien or 1950s robot and you couldn't make out his eyes or face due to the sonar eyes because they were all bug like. The green and red lights on him made it look like a creepy mechanical insect. It was just all so fascinating to me. It was different, it was cool. I can't think of a better collectible to represent or "souvenir" that moment in time than this Hot Toys figure. This figure IS that picture I saw in 1994/1995 in a Starlog Magazine. It's awesome.

Well said. Sometimes movies are greater than the sum of their parts and BF has been one of those films for a long time for me. Stripped of its context and cultural time period I would never recommend it to someone with being very specific about what type of entertainment it is and I don't fault anyone for hating it but I just find it fascinating and enjoyable on so many levels. I also find it lame on some levels but it's almost all compartmentalized with the Robin stuff. I pretty much hate that stupid joy ride he does and his "punch me in the face" attitude during that whole outing.

His rescue of Batman after TF buries him and his scenes at the end are all pretty cool though (I'm very glad that he never upstaged Batman in his first days as a crimefighter) so I do give him a pass overall.

Also it was the first time we ever saw *any* live-action superhero doing the kind of acrobatics we see them always doing in the comics. That spinning back flip out of the fountain while evading automatic gunfire was our first taste of "Russo" parkour acrobatics and no Batman matched it until the 2016 BvS warehouse! Keaton didn't do it, Clooney didn't, not even Bale.

And even if the action might seem quaint today it still takes me back to being wowed every time I watch it.

Sure me and my buddies laughed at the silliness of driving up a building but when the previous film actually uttered the phrase "penguin commandos" with a straight face suddenly driving up a building seems much cooler, lol.

It was just a fun time. Kilmer was coming off of Tombstone, Carrey the Mask, TLJ the Fugitive, Kidman at the peak of her hotness and Goldenthal coming off the awesome Alien 3 score. It kind of tried to echo it's one theme of duality/co-existence by trying to have silly camp co-exist with some of the darker elements and sometimes it succeeded and often times it didn't but it definitely didn't go off the rails like B&R and could have been a respectable closer for the "trilogy" if they had only managed to end it there.

 

[jye4ever]

Other than Batman none of those crappy BF characters will ever be on my shelf lol

I also have grown quite the hatred of the TDK suit yuck

BvS suit > 89 suit > BB suit > BF suit > BR suit > B&R suit/TDK suit tied

 

[DiFabio]

Yeah the score is great.

I thought using the “Ripley gets raped” track from Alien 3 with the scene where Grayson pulls up in the Batmobile to save that teenage girl from getting raped in the alley was a brilliant choice.

 

[agonistes86]

I just watched it in anticipation and hype for the figures after not having seen it in a long time. I like it. Yeah, definitely not the best Batman flick but it's still enjoyable. I'd watch it a million times over TDKR, BvS and Justice League.

I believe I've said this before, and I'll stand by it, this has the BEST opening to a Batman movie. Period. Yes, even over the "I'm Batman" scene in '89 and the bank robbery in TDK.

It gets straight to the point. No ****ing weird prologues like TDKR or the Cobblepot's trying to murder their first born and no ****ing Thomas and Martha Wayne murder. It goes right to the heart of what Batman is all about. There's a crime in progress (ironically a bank heist), Batman suits up, gears up, jumps into the Batmobile and the audience is off. People keep asking for that "Schumacher cut" and while it would be cool to see, the original opening kinda sucks. Arkham Asylum, Two-Face escaping, the Wayne Enterprises stuff with Nygma and Bruce (that comes later in the film anyway), screw all that. It's the same problem I have with Batman Returns. That movie doesn't really begin for me until 15 mins when Gordon is like "what are you waiting for, the signal" and it shows Bruce Wayne in his study. We gotta go through so much BS like Christopher Walken talking about his power plant, people christmas shopping, etc. and Batman Forever just cuts past all that BS and goes right to what we all want to see.

The reason to get these figures is like what Khev says, it takes you back to 1995. The film kinda sucks now, yeah, but I didn't think that then. The 90s were fun. I wasn't a film snob when Batman Forever came out. I loved the Burton films and I loved the animated series. Batman Forever to me was more Batman. It was hyped up, it was fun. I saw it and loved it. It was a good time. Got the Kenner toys, McDonalds glasses, listened to the soundtrack on repeat. I was a kid and these figures remind of simpler times. I mean hell, I can't even go to a theater now a days because the theaters are shut down and nothing good is playing anymore. Batman Forever was an awesome time. I loved those color specific character posters. I remember before the movie came out, walking through the theater halls and seeing the blue signal Batman poster, then green signal for Riddler, red signal for Two-Face, yellow for Robin all lined up on the walls. Everything about it felt new. You got new suits, new toys, new vehicles and finally get to see a live action Robin. As a kid, it just didn't get better than that. I didn't get that feeling of superhero hype again until the Spider-Man films and Nolan Batman films.

That's what Sonar Batman is to me. I remember the Sonar suit was the first image I ever saw of Kilmer Batman and Forever in general. It looked so weird and different to me. He almost looked like an alien or 1950s robot and you couldn't make out his eyes or face due to the sonar eyes because they were all bug like. The green and red lights on him made it look like a creepy mechanical insect. It was just all so fascinating to me. It was different, it was cool. I can't think of a better collectible to represent or "souvenir" that moment in time than this Hot Toys figure. This figure IS that picture I saw in 1994/1995 in a Starlog Magazine. It's awesome.


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Man this thread moves fast!

Great post here, DiFabio. I loved those movie posters for each character, I remember having little cardboard cutouts of each of them (no idea where from though). The summer of '95 was my first time in the US, so I was right in the middle of all the hype. It was the first Batman movie I saw in the cinema, and I had many of the toys, including the batmobile and batwing, so it will always have a special place for me. And I particularly likes the sonar Batman design. His figure from the 2-pack was my "main hero" Batman for a few years.
And rewatching the movie nowadays, I still like it quite a bit actually. Sure it's campy, silly and over the top at times, but it feels like an actual comic book movie.
Batman & Robin on the other hand, I didn't even like much as a kid (partly because Bane was my favorite villain, and the B&R Bane was almost the antithesis of Knightfall Bane in every way other than the big muscles), so these two movies are veery different in my mind.

I went ahead and put in my pre-order for Batman. There's too much nostalgia to pass this up, and the figure looks great. And a welcome surprise for me was the price at 269 Euros. I looked it up and paid just 10 Euros less (259) for the Returns Batman, which went up for pre-order nearly 6 years ago in May 2015.

 

[Khev]

It is a shame they did not stick with the original design for Two Face in the final film.

View attachment 505431

The make up is more intense and detailed and the suit looked cooler.

Yeah that it is really cool. I believe that WB gave McDonald's Corporation veto power on the character designs after the Batman Returns Happy Meal fiasco and that it was actually McD's that nixed that design. No joke.

 

[pug205]

Yeah that it is really cool. I believe that WB gave McDonald's Corporation veto power on the character designs after the Batman Returns Happy Meal fiasco and that it was actually McD's that nixed that design. No joke.

Sounds about right lol. I mean Kenner designed the vehicles in B+R (hence the convertible Batmobile to make toy production easier) so that would of been the first step towards that kind of thinking that helped tank the series.

Film making at its finest!

 

[Khev]

Sounds about right lol. I mean Kenner designed the vehicles in B+R (hence the convertible Batmobile to make toy production easier) so that would of been the first step towards that kind of thinking that helped tank the series.

Film making at its finest!

Yep.

I do remember a McDonald's higher up being quoted as saying something to the effect of "How the **** are we supposed to sell Happy Meal food with that black goo coming out of Penguin's mouth" after finally seeing the finished film, lol. That's freaking hilarious if true and would explain WB caving to a freaking fast food chain's "creative input" slap) for the following films.

 

[The Clown Prince of Crime]

Hot Toys did cosbabies of Two-Face and Riddler, as well as Sonar Batman and Robin. So I wonder if that increases the chances of them doing Two-Face and Riddler as figures? ��

I hope so. Jim Carrey in his prime was a one man show in Batman Forever. The way he delivers his lines and performs is amazing. No wonder TLJ hated him.

 

[jye4ever]

What’s their problem I get black goo out of my other end every time I eat their food

 

[DiFabio]

That original design for Two-Face is way cooler than the final look.

It’s a shame soccer moms had to ruin everyone’s fun after Batman Returns. That’s the thing too, Batman Forever isn’t exactly “kid friendly”. There are just as many sexual innuendos as Returns, if not more. Chase Meridian literally wants Batman to throw her against the floor and **** her. That’s not even taking into account the suits and their anatomy. Granted, Two-Face and Riddler aren’t as lecherous as Penguin, but still.

“Wahhh, Catwoman slices and stabs people with her claws and Penguin bites people’s noses off . . . think of the children! Oh nips and huge codpieces, that’s cool.”

 

[Wor-Gar]

Shows you where Mom's true interest lie.

 

[The Clown Prince of Crime]

Sex sells.

 

[RulerOfAsgard]

Sex sells.

True, especially Nicole Kidman in 1995 haha

 

[Wor-Gar]

Are there more pics of Two-Face original look? I've never seen those.

 

[pug205]

Yep.

I do remember a McDonald's higher up being quoted as saying something to the effect of "How the **** are we supposed to sell Happy Meal food with that black goo coming out of Penguin's mouth" after finally seeing the finished film, lol. That's freaking hilarious if true and would explain WB caving to a freaking fast food chain's "creative input" slap) for the following films.

Yeah they said it direct to Burton himself apparently as he has mentioned it in interviews. So great.

I also loved the backpeddling they tried to put on it when the backlash started. WB said ?We were careful not to provide actual toys from the movie.? despite including all the character designs, the Batmobile, and using film footage in the ads.

 

[dukefett]

Hot Toys did cosbabies of Two-Face and Riddler, as well as Sonar Batman and Robin. So I wonder if that increases the chances of them doing Two-Face and Riddler as figures? ��

They do everyone as Cosbabys, doesn't mean anything. They also recently did the '89 Joker.

 

[DiFabio]

Sex sells.

Are there more pics of Two-Face original look? I've never seen those.

 

[Oxymoron]

That original design for Two-Face is way cooler than the final look.

It’s a shame soccer moms had to ruin everyone’s fun after Batman Returns. That’s the thing too, Batman Forever isn’t exactly “kid friendly”. There are just as many sexual innuendos as Returns, if not more. Chase Meridian literally wants Batman to throw her against the floor and **** her. That’s not even taking into account the suits and their anatomy. Granted, Two-Face and Riddler aren’t as lecherous as Penguin, but still.

“Wahhh, Catwoman slices and stabs people with her claws and Penguin bites people’s noses off . . . think of the children! Oh nips and huge codpieces, that’s cool.”

I know blaming "soccer moms" is very popular but they only serve as scapegoat in retrospect when a project went wrong. the truth is that hollywood doesn't take any risks and is mostly incapable of producing art. comic movies/series of the late 80s/early 90s were just more authentic because the medium was still an unknown variable which is why the producers had more freedom at that time but then they turned primarily into marketing products and that has not changed to this day. very few exceptions.