DVD Collectors Online

Batman Begins, a review by Tom

Title: Batman Begins
Year: 2005
Director: Christopher Nolan
Rating: FSK-12
Length: 134 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.40
Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1, German: Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: Arabic, English, German, Hebrew, Icelandic

Stars:
Christian Bale
Michael Caine
Liam Neeson
Katie Holmes
Gary Oldman

Plot:
In 'BATMAN BEGINS', acclaimed director Christopher Nolan explores the origins of the legendary DARK KNIGHT. In the wake of his parents' murders, disillusioned heir BRUCE WAYNE (CHRISTIAN BALE) travels the world seeking the means to fight injustice and turn fear against those who prey on the fearful. With the help of his trusted butler ALFRED (MICHAEL CAINE), detective JIM GORDON (GARY OLDMAN) and his ally LUCIUS FOX (MORGAN FREEMAN), Wayne returns to GOTHAM CITY and unleashes his alter ego: BATMAN, a masked crusader who uses strength, intellect and an array of high-tech weaponry to fight the sinister forces that threaten the city.

Awards:

Academy Award	2005	Nominated	Best Cinematography	Wally Pfister
American Society of Cinematographers Awards	2006	Nominated	Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Theatrical Releases	Wally Pfister
Art Directors Guild Production Design Awards	2006	Nominated
ASCAP Awards	2006	Won	Top Box Office Films	James Newton-Howard, Hans Zimmer, Ramin Djawadi (additional music)
BAFTA	2005	Nominated	Achievement In Special Visual Effects	Janek Sirrs, Dan Glass, Chris Corbould, Paul Franklin
BAFTA	2005	Nominated	Production Design	Nathan Crowley
BAFTA	2005	Nominated	Sound	David Evans, Stefan Henrix, Peter Lindsay
British Society of Cinematographers Awards	2005	Nominated	Best Cinematography Award	Wally Pfister
Costume Designers Guild Awards	2006	Nominated		Lindy Hemming
Empire Magazine Awards	2006	Nominated	Best Actor	Christian Bale
Empire Magazine Awards	2006	Nominated	Best Director	Christopher Nolan
Empire Magazine Awards	2006	Nominated	Best Thriller
Golden Raspberry Awards	2005	Nominated	Worst Supporting Actress	Katie Holmes
Hugo Award	2006	Nominated	Dramatic Presentation, Long Form
MTV Movie Awards	2006	Won	Best Hero	Christian Bale
MTV Movie Awards	2006	Nominated	Best Movie
MTV Movie Awards	2006	Nominated	Best Villain	Cillian Murphy
Online Film Critics Society Awards	2006	Nominated	Best Original Score	James Newton-Howard, Hans Zimmer
Saturn	2005	Won	Best Actor	Christian Bale
Saturn	2005	Nominated	Best Costume	Lindy Hemming
Saturn	2005	Nominated	Best Director	Christopher Nolan
Saturn	2005	Won	Best Fantasy Film
Saturn	2005	Nominated	Best Music	James Newton-Howard, Hans Zimmer
Saturn	2005	Nominated	Best Special Effects	Janek Sirrs, Dan Glass, Chris Corbould, Paul J. Franklin
Saturn	2005	Nominated	Best Supporting Actor	Liam Neeson
Saturn	2005	Nominated	Best Supporting Actress	Katie Holmes
Saturn	2005	Won	Best Writing	Christopher Nolan, David Goyer
Scream Awards	2006	Nominated	Best Comic-to-Screen Adaption
Scream Awards	2006	Won	Best Director	Christopher Nolan
Scream Awards	2006	Nominated	Best Fantasy Movie
Scream Awards	2006	Won	Best Scream-Play	David S. Goyer, Christopher Nolan
Scream Awards	2006	Nominated	Best Sequel
Scream Awards	2006	Nominated	Best Superhero	Christian Bale
Scream Awards	2006	Nominated	Most Heroic Performance	Christian Bale
Scream Awards	2006	Nominated	Most Vile Villian	Cillian Murphy
Scream Awards	2006	Nominated	The "Holy Sh%t!" / "Jump-from-your-Seat" Award	"The Train Sequence"-Scene
Scream Awards	2006	Won	The Ultimate Scream
Teen Choice Awards	2005	Nominated	Choice Summer Movie
Teen Choice Awards	2006	Nominated	Movies - Choice Sleazebag	Cillian Murphy
Visual Effects Society Awards	2006	Nominated	Outstanding Created Environment in a Live Action Motion Picture	Alex Wuttke, Pete Bebb, Dayne Cowan, Imery Watson (For the Gotham City monorail chase)
World Soundtrack Awards	2005	Nominated	Best Original Soundtrack of the Year	James Newton-Howard, Hans Zimmer

Extras:
DVD-ROM Content
Featurettes
Photo Gallery
Production Notes
Scene Access
Trailers
US-Comic-Buch mit 3 Batman-Stories

This movie moved the franchise in the right direction. I like the "realistic" approach this movie takes with Batman. Though I never warmed up to the villains in this movie. I don't like Scaregrow, and I really didn't like Liam Neeson's character. He is the cause that the movie slowed down too much in some places. Especially in the beginning. Also his masterplan to destroy Gotham City is ridiculous.
High points in this movie are for me all scenes with Morgan Freeman's Fox or Gary Oldman's Gordon.

Rating:

(From Tom's Random Reviews on April 25th, 2010)

District 9, a review by Silence_of_Lambs

Summary:
An extraterrestrial race forced to live in slum-like conditions on Earth suddenly finds a kindred spirit in a government agent who is exposed to their biotechnology.

My Thoughts:
Wow,
a film about racism from South Africa that doesn't use the word Apartheid and in fact is entertaining.
I'm loving it, even though I liked the approach of a fake documentary (beginning and ending) much more than the "Enemy Mine"-clone the flick is in the middle part.

This is a movie with a message, which is well wrapped into a nice story with a Happy Ending, probably to make the bitter pill go down better.
But the great thing about it are the two integrated viewing modes:
You can watch it with your brain on StandBy and you'll see a great SciFi-Thriller with enough explosions to keep you entertained.
or
You can watch it with your brain on and you will see a parable on the human tendency to segregate other beings for real or imaginary differences.

Nice one. And if it wouldn't have copied "Enemy Mine" that obviously, I would have awarded 5 stars.

My Rating: (out of possible 5)

(From Michael's random reviews on February 14th, 2011)

My PILOT Marathon, a review by Rich

CARNIVALE - SEASON ONE - PILOT MILFAY



First aired: 9/14/2003     
An 18-year-old, Ben Hawkins, is taken in by a traveling Carnivale after his mother passes away. An evangelical preacher receives a sign that leaves him awakened to the possibility of mysterious powers.


(From My PILOT Marathon on May 18th, 2008)