Better Batman Film: Batman (1989) OR The Dark Knight (2008)?

The Dark Knight by far. It's considered by many to be the greatest comic book movie of all time.

Batman is the better Batman film, TDK is better cinema.

Batman (1989)

Better Batman; better Joker, better Batmobile, better music, I love the noir atmosphere, the Anton Furst set designs, the Elfman score, the German expressionist influence. it's close to being a modern masterpiece.

TDK. Not a contest.

This, Elfman's score >>>>>>> Zimmer's

The Dark Knight

TDK HUGE STOMP LIKE ALWAYS

Pretty much. Nolan's trilogy never really gave off the honest Batman vibe. Solid films, but they hardly have that quality.

I don’t know about better. But the 1989 Batman is my favorite.

Mismatch on TDK favour

This., TDK is still the greatest CBM of all time.

Did you really say this? I mean, you hate Nolan's trilogy enough to rate Iron Man's or Prequel trilogy above but "better joker and better music" has to be a joke.

It absolutely had a better Joker, Jack was near perfect, accurate to the comics and the first menacing Joker that actually killed people on screen, once something has been done, it will have less impact next time someone does it, and the only people who will be impressed are those who are ignorant of the original. this is true for movies, comics, music, most kinds of art.

do I really have to explain why Elfman's score is greater? it's Elfman at his best, the only score of his I would possibly rate above Batman is his Edward Scissorhands score. Zimmer was not doing his best work on the DK trilogy. I hate to say anything bad about Zimmer since I love his past work but on the DK trilogy it was just generic percussive stuff that could have been done by almost anyone, it was not memorable.

Elfman's score was so perfect that it changed forever what style of music people associate with Batman. thinking of Batman used to summon the sound of Jazzy rhythms, Rock N Roll guitars and "na na na na" vocals, but after Elfman people think of dark haunting melodies and epic orchestra marches. how could anyone who claims to like Batman not appreciate what Elfman and Burton did for the character? without Batman (1989) there would be no Batman TAS, which means also no Arkham games since they derived so much from TAS.

The Dark Knight. Not even close.

And lol at Nicholson's Joker being better than Ledger's.

It was though. it managed to be closer to the comics but also fresh since it was the first time we'd seen an ultraviolent Joker in live action. it reintroduced The Joker to the general public as not simply a comedy character but also a character that is disturbing. the only thing the Ledger version did that was fresh was the new look for the character, but that's hardly a good thing, it's actually lame. embrace the truth.

@combo-man:

Sure, lol

The Dark Knight, there is a reason it's considered one of the best movies ever made, and it's still a better Batman movie too. It has a better Gordon, Better Harvey Dent, and a better Alfred.

Hey listen you're allowed to still prefer the Ledger version regardless, I'm not telling people what they can or can't prefer, but I think it's pretty obvious that Jack Nicholson ticked more of the boxes. and is more iconic, from 1989 to 2007 there was only one movie Joker and no amount of deluded Nolan fanboyism is ever going to change that fact.

@combo-man:

"deluded Nolan fanboyism"

Lol, okay, buddy. Whatever you say. Love me some irony.

I'm not your buddy. but look we can disagree, you're allowed to prefer one thing over another and feel free to explain why you think Nicholson wasn't better, but if all you have is this I'm so amused thing, then it's already boring.

TDK, although Batman is still awesome.

Same opinion here.

I um... I don't care.

I think Ledger's version is better by a huge margin, and that's that. I'm not interested in debating this with you.

That's fine, I think Nicholson's version is better by a huge margin. so that's that. if you're not interested in discussing it, then I don't see the point to making snarky comments like "this guy's opinion is not the same as mine lol at his opinion" you must know that's going to invite pushback.

I pretty much comes down to Jack Nicholson vs Heath ledger since both movies were carried by the villain. And ledgers performance makes dark knight one of the top 3 movies of all time in my opinion.

TDK solos Burton's entire filmography. Mismatch.

The Dark Knight

TDK.

Mismatch. The Dark Knight is far better. I still like Batman 1989, but it’s not even a better representation of Batman. The Dark Knight Trilogy nails Batman as a character far better than the Burton films do.

12 years later and it still stands tall as the greatest contribution to the superhero media the world has ever known!

TDK