Batman (1989) (20th Anniversary Edition)

[PowellPressburger]

From DVDReview.com

Warner celebrates the 20th Anniversary of Tim Burton’s Batman

We just got word that Warner Home Video is preparing a 20th Anniversary Edition of Tim Burton’s Batman on Blu-Ray Disc for release in March.
Jack Nicholson is the Joker, who emerged from a horrible accident as a maniacal criminal. Michael Keaton is the Caped Crusader, who emerged from a childhood trauma to become a masked crimefighter. Kim Basinger is Vicki Vale, the talented photojournalist desired by both men. And Batman is the movie, the all-out spectacular directed by Tim Burton, set to songs by Prince and a music score by Danny Elfman, and an Academy AwardO winner* for Best Art Direction/Set Decoration (Anton Furst and Peter Young).
No exact details or specs have been announced yet, but the release will comes as a 2-disc Digibook version, containing a BD-25 disc for the movie and a separate DVD for the bonus materials.
The release date for “Batman” is tentatively scheduled for March 31, but we’ll keep you informed on any new developments of announcements we’ll hear of.


My hope is we get nice cover art (Not what we were handed for the BOX set a few years back. Very Boring and the fonts BAD.)

[Blu Titan]

Fantastic news. A day one purchase for me.

[Ceasar]

Originally Posted by Blu Titan

Fantastic news. A day one purchase for me.

+1

[HD 335]

Damn, a digibook? I'll still pick this up as it was one of my favorite movies as a kid. Jack did an excellent job as the Joker but Heath took the character to a whole new level.

[sfmarine]

Blah for no new bonus features & not being in HD....but I'll still get it.

[fatediesel]

I can't believe they would give such a highly anticipated movie such a poor release. A BD-25 and a dvd? Probably won't even have HD audio.

[Bond007]

Wonder what's up with Returns, Forever, and Batman & Robin?

[kpkelley]

Originally Posted by fatediesel

I can't believe they would give such a highly anticipated movie such a poor release. A BD-25 and a dvd?

128mins long and a very dark film, which means it is going to be bit-starved if this news is accurate.

A bit of trivia---this movie is the first movie released in the UK to receive a rating of 12.

[masob98]

Originally Posted by Blu Titan

Fantastic news. A day one purchase for me.

+1.

[benricci]

Originally Posted by fatediesel

I can't believe they would give such a highly anticipated movie such a poor release. A BD-25 and a dvd? Probably won't even have HD audio.

Even with high bitrates, the movie is only 2 hours long and wouldn't need more than 25 gigs. I can't believe people are complaining before the real specs have even been published.

[DigitalfreakNYC]

What's strange is that the UK version will be out at the end of next month. I don't remember there being anything about a BD/DVD combo on that.

Is it possible that the BD-50 shortage might only be in the US?

[Alan Gordon]

Originally Posted by PowellPressburger

My hope is we get nice cover art (Not what we were handed for the BOX set a few years back. Very Boring and the fonts BAD.)

I really like the artwork for Japan's release:

The Digital Bits

~Alan

[dvd_mazter]

Great but I really want all of them in a set, the one that is coming out in Asia (I believe ) is awesome. Anyways, I will be picking this one up but I'm still hoping for the Anathology.

[benricci]

Originally Posted by DigitalfreakNYC

What's strange is that the UK version will be out at the end of next month. I don't remember there being anything about a BD/DVD combo on that.

Is it possible that the BD-50 shortage might only be in the US?

Maybe. Or since all the extra features are in standard resolution anyway, why waste a blu-ray disc on them when a DVD will do just fine?

[Adam_ME]

Why does it seem like WB has more trouble than any other studio when it comes to a shortage of BD-50's?

While a mix of BD and DVD is not unprecedented for WB(Blade Runner had 3 BDs and 2 DVDs), it's a real pain considering the movie and all the extras should easily fit on a dual-layer disc.

[kpkelley]

Originally Posted by benricci

Even with high bitrates, the movie is only 2 hours long and wouldn't need more than 25 gigs.

Assuming some loss of space for menus, etc. lets say that the feature takes up 20.6gigs(size of speed racer on bd).

(20,600mbs*8)/(128min*60sec/min)=21.458333mbs

Considering this is a very dark film, that is a low average bit-rate for what should be a high-priority disc.

Might include audio in that 21.5mbs number, I'm not sure.

[PowellPressburger]

Originally Posted by Alan Gordon

I really like the artwork for Japan's release:

The Digital Bits

~Alan

THOSE ARE BAD! Really bad Just give me the original poster artwork I don't need any sprucing up although the poster art for BATMAN isn't much different that FONT is BAD. It lacks originality. I will ony be buying the BURTON Batman films I just hope they use artwork that feature Michelle and Danny, Michael for Returns

[Alan Gordon]

Originally Posted by PowellPressburger

THOSE ARE BAD! Really bad Just give me the original poster artwork I don't need any sprucing up although the poster art for BATMAN isn't much different that FONT is BAD. It lacks originality.

OK, I'll grant you that the font is bad, but I rather like the uniform font for all four movies.... as well as the uniform look of the films by using the logos.

Originally Posted by PowellPressburger

I will ony be buying the BURTON Batman films I just hope they use artwork that feature Michelle and Danny, Michael for Returns

I'll probably end up getting all four, but the original poster artwork of "Batman Returns" sucked, so I STRONGLY prefer the look of the logo cover art.

~Alan

[kefrank]

Given this preliminary information, I think I'll wait for reviews before jumping on this. That said, I'm excited that it's getting a digibook.

[dereksworl]

Originally Posted by Bond007

Batman & Robin?

uh........yeah, i wouldn't buy that movie on any format.