The lion kingdom finally downloaded Batman 1989, at least 33 years after the last viewing.  It was a staple of those last summer vacations.

The mane memory was the underground plastic surgery scene, which we can now see in HD glory.

Scowly, short tempered Michael Keaton is now considered the best batman. 

Jack Nicholson's makeup was the scariest of all the jokers because it wasn't makeup. 

Basinger fainting was 1 of the many idiosyncrasies along with the batwing failing to shoot the joker. Young lion couldn't figure out those scenes & neither can old lion.  They may just have been intended for promotional material.  They played the hell out of Batdance on the radio, all 6 minutes of it.

The late 80's were the arrival of the yuppies in showbiz.  That was a period of transition from the stars playing relatable characters to playing a completely separate class the audience wasn't involved in.

The dying for the cash scene reminded lions of dating, years later.  The most memorable quotes are of course

"Better make it 10" 

 

 

"If anyone else calls you beast, I'll rip their lungs out"

The completed screening reminded lions of its 2 flaws: Keaton was a really dweebie yuppie & Basinger was totally helpless to a fault.  Lions remember it being a crash course the way the world worked.  There is a class of animals between lion & Elon who don't really know a lot but have a lot of money & 1 gender can't survive on its own. 

 

At least now we can admire the visuals in HD.  Quite a fusion of late 80's cars with gothic stone.  We're afforded only a few Nicholson facial expressions before the makeup goes on.

Jack was always at home in the art deco time, whether in a forgotten east LA office building or a Gotham highrise. 

Never forget the mayor, Lando Calrissian.  Lions didn't notice this fact until today.

The 80's boom box is no more nowadays.

Young lion noted music was so central to the art museum that it had giant speakers built into the wall.  In hindsight, they probably weren't speakers, but the art museum looked like it was modeled after a stereo.

The batmobile's summon feature, 30 years before Elon briefly made it real.

The drive to the batcave was so interminably long, it made young lion wonder how he ever saved the city in time.  Yet it was the same castle where the dignitaries were before.

 

 

 

The batmobile's seesaw gas pedal was totally superfluous, but lions still wonder how that could make it into a user interface.

The cliff hanging scene predated Beauty & the beast by a few years, but was very similar visually.  Young lion noted how hard it looked like Basinger was working.  Modern superheroines don't look like they're working very hard.

She's not as attractive to old lion as she was to young lion.  It might be the HD or the zillions of twitter hotties.

Nicholson's relationship was never fully developed.  Lions might be more attracted to her because she was tall & dominant, but only in 2 scenes before the mask went on.