The title says it all. My fav is def Michael Keaton. I know some people cough Mr. Parker cough are going to be upset about this but Keaton is Batman. Conroy second and Bale third. Kilmer is actually a tie with Bale. Clooney and West dont make my list
Bale is the one and only true Bruce Wayne/Batman to have been brought to the big screen.All the others sucked and are a fraud except for Kevin Conroy of course and he doesnt really count since he was just the voice.
pudgy gut,receding hairline,half bald,short runt keaton for tall, muscular, handsome full set of hair bruce wayne was an insult and total joke to true batman fans. Keaton also acted nothing like bruce wayne,just copying chris reeves performance as superman. acting like a bumbling idiot as bruce wayne and macho as batman.that worked in superman but that doesnt work for batman.Good Batman but a lousy bruce wayne.
Kilmer although he looked the part and made a much better bruce wayne cause of that and at least acted like Bruce,was a good bruce wayne but a bad Batman due to corny lines.
Clooney was the worst,he was horrible in both roles.
Bale was great as BOTH Bruce Wayne AND Batman besides the fact that he looked the part also. someday there may be another actor to come along and play the role and be as good as Bale was and look the part but right now,he is the one and only true Bruce Wayne/Batman to have played the role.Thank god for Nolan.
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Last edited by Mr Parker on Aug 3rd, 2009 at 05:56 PM
Conroy first of all. He pulled off both Bruce and Batman damn near perfectly.
Bale next, simply for the fact that he's that good an actor, even if he didn't scream bruce wayne or batman to me.
Keaton was a great bats imo. His Bruce was kinda meh, but his Batman was great for me.
Adam West. Sure, Batman back then was different to how it is now, but he did a good job imo.
Kilmer... Eh, he was ok as Bruce, but his "chicks love the car" line destroys any batcredibility for me.
Clooney... bleh, though sadly, with a decent script, Clooney could have been an awesome Batman.
I still like Keaton mainly because he really suits the idea of Batman - this unassuming guy putting on the costume and literally transforming into something else entirely. The Bruce Wayne in the Tim Burton movies is just different, and actually highly original and a brilliant take on the whole idea of Batman.
Bale is the more literal choice. He looks good as Batman and Wayne, he looks like the comic book version, and while that may please the fanboys, Burton at least understood that a film needs way more than juvenile links to the source like that. it's almost too obvious to go for him. I think that's why I slightly prefer Keaton - because he was such an original choice for the role - kinda like how Daniel Craig makes a great James Bond - but you only see it when you watch Casino Royale and see him in action as that character. Same goes for Keaton. In Burtons Gotham, Keaton's Batman works, to the point where nobody else would be able to do anything better - he fits that context perfectly, just as much as Bale fits Nolans Gotham. The thing that matters is not so much about getting someone who fits the profile of the comic book, but someone who fits the role within the type of film you are making. Both Burton and Nolan struck gold with their actors, perfect casting.
The thing is, I think Keaton is better in the cowl, as Batman. It's just those eyes, he naturally has Batman's face - the forehead, the eyebrows, the mouth. There are a couple of shots of him in Batman Returns, scowling in the mask, and there's nothing that has even come close to matching that level of "Holy shit, that IS Batman!", not even Bale. The thing with Bale that gets worse everytime I watch Batman Begins and especially Dark Knight, is his falsified Batman growly voice. He had the right tone in Begins but in Dark Knight he sounds a bit constipated. Keaton however, sounds completely natural as Batman and as Wayne. I prefer Keatons Batman voice by a mile, because it doesn't sound put on in the slightest, it sounds so real. If we're talking about which of the two actors got the tone more right - I'd honestly say Keaton did it - mainly because I think he understood it better.
It's splitting hairs really - they're both different takes. I'd have equally as much trouble deciding over Nicholson or Ledger, seeing as they too are very different slants. I don't think you can have a "definitive", or "best" to be honest. Just "good" and "bad".
I like Val Kilmer, but as Batman? No way. I like Clooney, but what an awful choice for Batman.
Adam West is all kinds of awesome.
Kevin Conroy? I still think he has the best Batman/Bruce Wayne voice/tone out of the lot of them.
Last edited by Red Superfly on Aug 3rd, 2009 at 11:50 PM
I do.this topic has been done to death and I wish this thread hadnt been made but since it was,I had to come on and post for the newbies here the reason why Bale is the one and only true Bruce Wayne/Batman to have played the rold so far.
Conroy enough said.He did Batman and Bruce wayne Perfectly.Michael Keaton is the Best Batman.Bale i would put him as the best Bruce wayne.Val Kilmer is crap and George Clooney i would say was a pile of crap batman and bruce wayne.So as it stands-Conroy=Batman&Wayne Keaton=Batman Bale=Wayne West=Mediocore all-around Kilmer=Crap clooney=Pile of crap
It seems like this is the type of thread that keeps this place alive...
Anyway, I'd say Bale is the best. He has the total package, Bruce and Bats. However, he has room to improve. His Bat Rasp can get quite horrible sounding. If it was toned down to how it was in Begins, it would sound much better.
Next would be Keaton. Keaton was a spectacular Batman, imo. Mind you, his Bruce left a lot to be desired, but it worked for the story Burton wanted to tell.
Next would be Conroy. I put him here because while he was a spectacular Batman voice, he was JUST a voice. While the voice is important, live action beats it because of all the other things that go into it (choreography, getting into shape, overall look, etc.)
West comes next, because he was a decent campy Batman, and his voice work on Super Powers Team was quite good (it wasn't campy at all, it was very Batman-like)
I can see that. Except for me, I never grew up with Adam West's Batman, so I just think he's campy and ridiculous to the point of stupidity (not Adam West himself, but the 1960s Batman).
Bale probs the best Batman, but for Bruce Wayne, he's horrible. Keaton is a much better Bruce, and not that bad of a Batman.
The others, I really don't feel like I should mention. Cept maybe West. Despite the campy goofiness, everyone knows him as Batman, and he is the perfect Batman for that kind of style.
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