The Inquisitr » batman

20,000 hours and $1 million equals one Batmobile

Steven Hodson — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 20:20:00 +0000

Dark Knight was one of this year’s best movies bar none and as with all cool movies like this the toys and gadgets were a big part of the show. The biggest of them had to be the famous Batmobile that had us wishing we all could have one to make it through rush hour traffic with.

Well it seems that on industrious Swede with a whole pile of cash decided not to wait for one to come on the market and went about building one of his own. Using a 1973 Lincoln Continental chassis the Batman fan loaded it up with all kinds of gadgetry, including machine guns, rear facing video camera, height-adjustable bodywork and supposedly there’s even a plasma TV in there.

It took three and a half years and over $1 million to build this 700 horsepower dream car. Here’s some pic of it for you as well as a video.

hat tip to DVICE

Coolest ID ever

Kim LaCapria — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 20:52:30 +0000

It doesn’t matter how old this guy is, I bet he can get into anywhere.

Batman PC game features anti-piracy glitch

Chris Greenhough — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 21:01:00 +0000

Holy anti-piracy measures, Robin! Batman: Arkham Asylum is out on the PC later this month, and will include some interesting copy protection measures, if the experiences of an early pirate are anything to go by.

Eidos forum member Cheshirec_the_cat described a problem he had while playing the game, writing on Eidos’ own forums:

“I’ve got a problem when it’s time to use Batman’s glide in the game. When I hold “,” like it’s said to jump from one platform to another, Batman tries to open his wings again and again instead of gliding. So he fels [sic] down in a poisoning gas. If somebody could tel [sic] me, what should I do there.”

After being reminded that, hey, the game isn’t actually out ’til next Tuesday, forum administrator Keir stepped in to explain what was going on, producing a hell of a put-down in the last sentence:

“The problem you have encountered is a hook in the copy protection, to catch out people who try and download cracked versions of the game for free. It’s not a bug in the game’s code, it’s a bug in your moral code.”

Buuuurn.

[Afterdawn, via MaxConsole]

Exit for The Batman

Kim LaCapria — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 21:30:35 +0000

Villains of Gotham need not purchase a GPS…

Batman: Arkham Asylum sets dubious world record

Chris Greenhough — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 01:05:53 +0000

Batman: Arkham Asylum has reportedly been awarded a Guinness World Record, but not for anything that’s actually relevant. Instead, Guinness has named it the “Most Critically Acclaimed Superhero Game Ever.” Sorry? That counts as a record nowadays? Even the Riddler may struggle with that one.

Nobody can doubt that Arkham Asylum has been spectacularly received by critics; indeed, it was the title’s Metacritic score of 91% that bagged it this very specific accolade. It’s just a bit too specific, though. I smell shenanigans.

More precisely, I smell a marketing stunt from Eidos, which has already basically admitted that it asks outlets for favorable review scores. “Most Critically Acclaimed Superhero Game Ever” is a quite ridiculous “record” (and nor is it an impressive one, for the superhero genre isn’t overflowing with quality releases, with Superman 64 the hilarious low point).

Besides, Viewtiful Joe (which I’d count as a superhero game, starring as it does a superhero) has 93% on Metacritic. What a load of crapola.

[Via Destructoid]

Megan Fox is to play Catwoman in the next Batman film

Bang — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 21:00:13 +0000

Megan Fox has reportedly signed on to appear in the sequel to ‘The Dark Knight’ alongside Christian Bale and Sir Michael Caine.

The movie will be directed by Christopher Nolan and is due for release in 2011.

Megan will be following in the footsteps of Michelle Pfeiffer and Halle Berry, who have both donned the iconic leather catsuit in past films.

But the casting announcement is likely to anger Angelina Jolie, who was rumoured to be in negotiations for the role.

It’s not the first role Megan – who bears a striking resemblance to the ‘Changeling’ star – has taken from Angelina.

Megan is favourite to play Lara Croft – the role that made Angelina famous – in a new ‘Tomb Raider’ film.

Angelina played the heroine in ‘Lara Croft: Tomb Raider’ and ‘Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life’ and was nominated for a Golden Raspberry award for Worst Actress for her appearance in the original movie.

Video, Batman: Arkham Asylum

Kim LaCapria — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 03:12:17 +0000

Batman: Arkham Asylum hit stores today after a rather pervasive TV marketing campaign.

Wikipedia has a breakdown of the game plot:

The game begins with Batman capturing the Joker after his latest plot and escorting him to Arkham Asylum for imprisonment. Due to the Joker’s recent attack on Gotham City’s Blackgate Prison, a large number of sane convicts have been transferred. Shortly after arriving, however, the Joker, with the help of Harley Quinn, frees all the inmates and locks down the Asylum with Batman, Commissioner Gordon, and much of the staff still inside.

After fighting some enemies on the first level, Batman makes his way to locate the Joker. Soon Batman learns that there is trouble in the pacification room. Batman learns that Zsasz has escaped and has captured one of the guards. Batman manages sneak up on Zsasz and take him down with a glide kick. Batman then gets a transmission from Harley Quinn that she has captured the wardenfor the Joker. Batman learns from Oracle that Joker has placed bombs all over Gotham threatening to detonate them if anyone enters Arkham. Batman contacts Oracle telling her that Joker has taken control of the cell block transfer corridor. Batman takes out the inmates there. At the intensive treatment lobby, Batman encounters Joker who unleashes an experimental human on him.

The game currently has a 91% positive rating on both Metacritic, and most other reviewers have it rated consistently at 9 out of 10 overall. If you’re not ready to plunk down between $50-70 on the game for XBox 360, PS3 or your PC, you can watch someone else playing it below:

Why retro superheros are cool

Kim LaCapria — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 17:49:37 +0000

For starters, they were way less emo.

[Source: Roflrazzi]

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Batman Cinema: Looking Past Christian Bale

Kyle Brady — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 07:00:59 +0000

The new silver-screen reincarnations of Batman are fantastic – dark, gritty, and as realistic as such films can be. Christian Bale has proven to be the perfect actor to reincarnate a superhero that had, to many, “jumped the shark”, but he can’t be expected to reprise the role of Bruce Wayne forever, nor can director Christopher Nolan. In fact, Nolan is currently working on a non-Batman film, and is reportedly not yet signed onto the final film of his self-declared Batman trilogy.

What happens when Christian Bale is no longer interested in the role? Or Christopher Nolan grows tired of trying to out-do himself in cinebatic masterpieces? The time has come to start considering what future Batman might have on the silver screen, without Christian Bale and without Christopher Nolan. A new direction would obviously have to be taken, but where to go after such successes?

The answer lies, I believe, in the animated cartoon called “Batman Beyond” – a three season cartoon that was set approximately 20 years in the future (2039 C.E.), where Bruce Wayne has aged with the passage of time and Gotham has evolved into something entirely different. The overall story arc is that Terry McGinnis, a late-teens troublemaker in Gotham, takes over the Mantle of the Bat to fight the new waves of crime. As could be imagined, this is set in the future so hovercars and other sorts of futuristic pieces make appearances – the Batman mythos is no exception, as the Batsuit is updated to be even more clever and the Batmobile has become an aerial vehicle. Throughout all of this, Bruce Wayne is behind the scenes mentoring Terry, functioning as the new Batman’s “Oracle”, and coordinating coverups with the modern GCPD.

The individual episode plot lines are sometimes thin, but that’s to be expected from an episodic show catering to a younger audience – friends and foes from the past make appearances, or in some cases are reborn into something new, and the entire show has a tangible connection to the “present day” Batman canon. It is precisely this connection, in combination with the chronological gap, that makes it ripe for movie adaptation.

Batman’s future is an issue that has been looked at, written about, and redressed many times over the years, with one of the latest iterations being the Batman: Year 100 storyline. The Year 100 feeling is very dark and dystopian, sharing similarities with Batman Beyond’s future Gotham, but is far from perfect: for a successful movie adaptation, the two concepts should be merged. A future Gotham City with a younger, higher-tech Batman that is guided by an older, jaded Bruce Wayne has plenty of options available to it – including origin stories. However, it should be dark and gritty, just like the modern Batman movies, and not a candy-coated farcical future Batman… that’s just asking for failure.

Why, you might ask, does the Batman series need to jump into the future to continue without Christian Bale? The answer is simple: to many people at the moment, and probably for many years to come, Christian Bale is Batman. To move the series past Bale, successfully, requires the audience to believe in the new lead actor and forget the epic performances of the past – this can be easily achieved by jumping slightly into the future, rather than trying to replace the face of Batman and pretend nothing changed.

Additionally, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight have set audience expectations unbelievably high, and they can likely only be eclipsed once more – it is better to temporarily end the series/trilogy on a successful note that fans will love than to continue it until all the achievements have been destroyed. Once again, by moving the focus into the future while changing the very foundation of who and what it means to be Batman, these hurdles are neatly sidestepped as a new timeline is established, and there are no expectations. Such movies would not be sequels of The Dark Knight, but rather further chapters in the Batman cinematic storyline.

Hopeful directors, struggling writers, and movie studios take note: Christian Bale is a perfect Batman, but do not let that fool you into imagining these movies can continue forever. The series itself must continue, but in a way that makes sense to both audiences and box office receipts. Start looking into the many variations of a future Batman, how the many ideas may be merged, and how the silver screen Batman mythos can continue to grow and excite audiences for years to come.

Kyle Brady is a contributing columnist for the Inquisitr, an entrepreneur, and has a future in science fiction. He can be found at his blog, via email, or on Twitter.

Batman garage sale

Dennis Bjørn Petersen — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 08:23:52 +0000

Poor Batman has succumb to the evil schemes of Bernie Madoff and is forced to hold a Batcave garage sale.

Instead of holding it himself, Batman has asked his good friend Bruce Wayne Adam West to sell these classic memorabilia from Bat socks to Bat Communicator thingies.

You could also just invite Adam West to Arby’s and he’ll tell you a 1000 stories.

Batman Garage Sale with Adam West from Adam West

Now this is a Batman fan!

Steven Hodson — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 01:45:00 +0000

Keep your comics, never mind about your replica toy models and I’m not interested in your kinky costumes. No, I have found a true Batman fan in sculptor Bob Causey who has built his own drivable Batman Forever Batmobile.

It has a full interior, retractable hard top and three LCD displays. All I can say is this is one real diehard fan and my hat goes of to him and here is a video and a bunch of pictures for your perusal.

Now for the pics

[hat tip to TecheBlog]

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Eddie Murphy to star as The Riddler in the next Batman Movie

Duncan Riley — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 06:55:14 +0000

Eddie Murphy will play the Riddler in the next Batman movie according to reports.

Murphy was tapped by British director Christopher Nolan to reprise the role last by Jim Carrey in Batman Forever in 1995.

Transformers star Shia LaBeouf is also said to have signed on to play Robin, with Rachel Weisz in the role of Catwoman.

The Sun, who broke the story noted that Johnny Depp had been rumored for the role. They also get credit for the very nice Eddie Murphy Riddler mashup above.