And so the battle continues... *sigh*
I will TRY to defend Burton, as I think he had an interesting idea for what Batman is and what Batman's world is... Once you get past the things you "purists" always ***** about (Keaton, killing, etc. etc.) it is a great movie that is entertaining, and that's what movies are all about...
First off, let's get the obvious arguments out of the way... Keaton was cast because he thought he could play a tortured, grim Batman and a serious Wayne, which for the most part (when he's with Alfred, alone, or in the costume) is true... The killing part, you do realize that in the 30s and in DKR, both are sources taken for the movie, Batman killed... Batman was losing to the big guy in the cathedral because 1. He had just crashed his plane, and I don't care who you are, you are gonna feel the effects... 2. The guy was bigger and had more punching/grappling power 3. From what I remember, the guy surprise attacked Batman 4. Batman was not exactly concentrating on fighting, as he was trying to rescue Vale... All these put together, it'd be really tough for someone, even a fighter, to keep control of the fight...
Also, Keaton trained for two months and studied kick boxing for the role from his stunt man, David Lea...
To you, he may be a "moron", but to non comic reading people around the world, he showed them what Batman is supposed to be, a dark, terrifying creature of the night... He almost completely deleted the stigma that came from Adam West Batman... His visions brought about BTAS and it's spin-offs...
Sure, it wasn't exact comic trueness, but then again, neither is Nolan's series, it takes just as many liberties (Ras is Bruce's trainer, for one), I think (though Begins was great and TDK will probably also be great) the "realism" of it kinda makes it less true, as Batman doesn't exactly live in a "realistic" world... (which makes it impossible for Bale to star in a Justice League movie, as it is too fantasy-based and would contradict the Batman he plays)
Anyways, I just think that they were good movies in their own right. The atmosphere was there, the car was there, the score was there, the classic scenes were there, and the dark roots of the character was ultimately there...
You may or may not agree, and you may think that I, too, am a moron, but whatever, because I grew up with Burton Batman, and I will continue to watch and enjoy Burton Batman, even if Nolan's is better in some respects... (origin was better, Gordan was better, etc. But Burton's Gotham was better, Burton's Batmobile was better, Elfman's score was better, etc.)