Best Animated Batman Movie?

[Jester]

So I forced my wife to watch Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (The original Un-Cut PG-13 Version) and told her that in my estimation it was the best animated Batman film. Then I though to myself, Self, this would make an interesting thread for the Technodrome. So here it is: Which Animated Batman flick is your favorite? This does include DC Animated Movies not in the Timm/Dini Universe (Though to be fair they both do work on those.) but not films that only feature Batman, he has to be a title character, thus Batman/Superman movies count.

EDIT: Also with Red Hood coming out tomorrow, I figured this would be as good a time as any...:P

[Turo602]

Superman Batman Public Enemies. Thumbs all the hell out of existence up. Can't wait for Superman Batman Apocalypse, looks super badass from the trailer. Darksied and Doomsday in one movie just means one thing, Best Batman film ever!!! But since Public Enemies is already out I choose that one.

And you forgot The Batman vs Dracula, and if it counts, The Batman/Superman Movie even though it was just three episodes made into a movie.

[Jester]

I did didn't I....I'll have to add it.

[oldmanwinters]

I still need to see Under the Red Hood and have higher hopes for it than most of the DC Animated series' previous outings (seems like they've all had great potential but left me very unsatisfied).

#1 Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, Uncut (one of my favorite All-time movies, by any criteria!)
#2 Mask of the Phantasm (still a real classic even if the animation could have been a little bit better, also has the best soundtrack of any of the movies)
#3 Batman/Superman: World's Finest (not really a true movie, since it was 3 episodes edited together, but they did release it on DVD as if it were a feature film).
#4 Batman VS. Dracula (it's grown on my over time, like "The Batman" TV series in general)
#5 Batman: Sub-Zero (I was a little disappointed with this one but it is still miles better than it's live-action counterpart, Batman & Robin which came out about the same time!)
#6 Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman (we are starting to see a noticeable drop off in quality, eh?)
#7 Batman/Superman: Public Enemies (it was so great up until it jumped the shark at the end with giant robots, crazy Luthor, and inexplicable "Batman might still be alive" cop-out!)
#8 Batman: Gotham Knight (if you can get past the painful-to-watch first short, then it starts to get better) (P.S. The last short is "DUDE SO AWESOME! WHY DIDN"T THEY DO THE WHOLE STINKIN' MOVIE LIKE THIS?!?)

[Spitfire]

Return of the Joker is my favorite for several reasons. The flashback sequence is one of the highlights of the animated Batman universe for me.

Mask of the Phantasm is my 2nd favorite and a good movie in general. I've shown it to people who aren't into the series and they loved it. It just works as a film, I saw in in theaters when it first came out actually.

My third is Batman Vs Dracula. The Batman series was a mixed bag but this movie is awesome. It surprised me because I didn't expect much out of it but it delivers and then some.

The rest are mixed for me. The only ones I really dislike are Mystery of Batwoman and Gotham Knight. Sub Zero is decant and Public Enemies is just barely okay. I'm actually hoping Red Hood delivers because it looks interesting.

[gobo]

Batman Beyond Forever. 8)

[Jester]

Yeah, that's exactly why I like RotJ, Chris, the Joker's psychological attack on Batman is mirrored so well with Terry's mind game on the Joker in the end...brilliant stuff.

[gobo]

:o New Beyond bonus features (http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Batman-complete-series-announced/14148)! SO BOUGHT!!

[Raph's Girl]

Mask of the Phantasm will always be my fave animated Batman film period.

And right behind it is Return of the Joker, The Batman vs Dracula, Red Hood, and Public Enemies.

Sub Zero and Batwoman I never really cared for while Gotham Knight had some pretty cool stories.

[Brodie]

I'm waiting to get Under the Red Hood in the mail, but I really enjoyed Return of the Joker, and Mask of the Phantasm.

Sub Zero is a really good elaboration on Freeze as a character, if looked at as just a character study. Its less a Batman/Robin movie, and more a Freeze movie. The Gotham Central of Batman movies.

[Master Splinter]

I enjoyed Public Enemies and Mask of The Phantasm but I haven't seen the others yet so I can't really say. I've been wanting to watch Return of The Joker. Just haven't yet...

-ms

[TMNachoT]

batman beyond is a fantastic film. Motf is also great.

the secret of batwoman was bad, shame it belongs to the dcau.

i am not a fan of the batman but batman vs dracula wasn`t a bad film, i enjoyed.

i haven`t seen the others dc animated films, but off all of them, it will be between batman beyond and mask of the phantasm.

[Sage Ninja]

Mask of the Phantasm will always be my fave animated Batman film period.

what she said.

[ToTheNines]

Nothing tops "Phantasm".

[Brodie]

After seeing Under the Red Hood....I gotta say, its great. Visceral as hell. I like it a lot. The voice work is so different than the norm, but I really thought it worked.

[Spitfire]

I just watched Red Hood last night. I loved it but there's 3 problems I had with it. I hated how they portrayed Black Mask. Something about him was just off to me. He didn't feel like the BM I was used to.

The other thing I disliked was the line delivery. I'm not sure if the voice actors themselves were just bad or they weren't being directed very well but some of the lines are delivered so poorly it's cringe worthy. I really didn't like most of the voice cast. I was hoping they'd grow on me but they never really did. After a few viewing maybe they will.

The CGI was blended horribly. That car chase looked like a bad video game cut scene from the early PS2 era. They could have blended it better or just not used it at all. A lot of 90's toons used to do that. Spider-man did it, even The Tick. It just looks bad. I know it saves time but at a price.

Again I thought it was awesome just those things put a damper on the otherwise great presentation.

[Shred87]

Mask of the phantasm was my favorite forever...after seeing Under the Red Hood I have to say its up there as well..

[oldmanwinters]

Alright, I just got done watching Under the Red Hood for the first time!

It shoots all the way up to #3 on my list, right under Return of the Joker & Mask of the Phantasm.

[Turo602]

:xI want to change my Vote!!!:P I only chose Public Enemies because it was the most recent one I saw. I choose Mask of the Phantasm.

[Persian]

Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker is definately my favorite, but I like Batman VS Dracula too...

[Guitar_Raph]

I went with Batman Beyond because of the starring voice who also does Boy Meets World...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v330/PCenter/Will%20Friedle/BeardedWill2.jpg
Will Friedle.

He also voiced...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v330/PCenter/Will%20Friedle/RonStoppable.jpg
Ron Stoppable BOO-YAH!

[gobo]

One a these days, I oughtta watch Phantasm. :ohwell: Just to see what all the fuss is about.

[oldmanwinters]

One a these days, I oughtta watch Phantasm. :ohwell: Just to see what all the fuss is about.

See if you can track down one of these:
http://www.lalalandrecords.com/BatManMOTP.html

Then you'll at least understand some of the fuss. Best musical score of all the Batman movies, no contest! The movie itself has a solid story with moments that really helped define some of the key characters of Batman: The Animates Series when the franchise was only a couple of years old.

[SoulZ]

Return of the Joker was the best. Even from the Batman movies i loved "Dark Knight" because of the joker. He is my most favorite villain :D

[Fugitoid Jones]

I too went with Phantasm as my fav, but Under the Red Hood was rad! Def up there towards the top of my list.

[shuriken]

Hrmm. Subzero and the Batwoman sucked. Gotham Knight had it's up and downs. World's Finest was ok, just like Batman Vs Dracula, which had some pretty good fight scenes. Public Enemies didn't look too promising, so I never watched it. Probably Mask of the Phantasm. It had the best score, best story, and an interesting twist at the end. Return of the Joker was also awesome, but I just like Bruce as Batman more. Although that one had probably one of the most freakish twists in recent memory.

[NameGoesHere1066]

Mask of the Phantasm peeps!

[Redeemer]

Hey is there anywhere online I can watch Batman/superman public enemies?

[gobo]

Hey is there anywhere online I can watch Batman/superman public enemies?
$2.99 to rent for 48 hours on Amazon video-on-demand... (http://www.amazon.com/Superman-Batman-Public-Enemies/dp/B002LFCKCI/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-video&ie=UTF8&qid=1289137857&sr=1-2)

[Abnormal Freak]

Mask of the Phantasm by faaaaaaar. Easily my favorite Batman movie (not just animated).

[Sage Ninja]

I just saw Batman Under the Redhood, and my God, it easily up there with mask of the Phantasm. I loved it so much. And John DiMaggio was pretty darn convincing Joker. He's no Mark Hamill but boy he was pretty menacing. I like the character of Jason Todd and what he represents in this movie to Batman. God here is a little of Redhood Joker:

9qOdggdLPLM

and hey, a breif interview with DiMaggio talking about doing the joker for the movie

ocCcytApfzw&NR=1

[Turo602]

I just saw Batman Under the Redhood, and my God, it easily up there with mask of the Phantasm. I loved it so much. And John DiMaggio was pretty darn convincing Joker. He's no Mark Hamill but boy he was pretty menacing. I like the character of Jason Todd and what he represents in this movie to Batman. God here is a little of Redhood Joker:

Same here. I saw it yesterday on Netflix and it was very awesome and told well. From the action to story to presentation. It was all put together fantastically.

And also, Young Jason Todd looks exactly like Robin from The Batman.

[AquaParade]

Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker and Mask of the Phatasm easily take the cake for me, with Gotham Knight following in a close third.
I'm surprised to see it get no love in this thread. In general, the overall reception to that movie was actually surprising to me. I guess a lot of people just can't get past a few silly design choices - Not saying that's the case for all of you. I personally love the movie! Great art, Great animation, and a story that works well enough to throw them all the different interpretations together.

[NameGoesHere1066]

I know that this joker in Under the Red Hood isn't really supposed to be funny, but I loled when Joker is saying this line:

"ooh, ooh, get one with me and the kid first. Then you and me, then the THREE of us. And then on with the cro-bar. And Then--"

the final line with the cro-bar did it for me. I liked this movie also, it was more down to earth and gritty than some of the other DC movies that have batman in it.

[gobo]

I'll add my praises for Under The Red Hood as well. I still like Beyond: RotJ best, but this is a close second. It just irks me when Bruce hogs the spotlight.

[NameGoesHere1066]

who thought John DiMaggio did a good Joker?

[Brodie]

I did. He was easily more creepy and intense than Hamil.

[Jester]

Kinda a toss up. I really like Hamill, has always been my favorite Joker, but who doesn't love Bender as Joker.

[shuriken]

I know that this joker in Under the Red Hood isn't really supposed to be funny, but I loled when Joker is saying this line:

"ooh, ooh, get one with me and the kid first. Then you and me, then the THREE of us. And then on with the cro-bar. And Then--"

the final line with the cro-bar did it for me. I liked this movie also, it was more down to earth and gritty than some of the other DC movies that have batman in it.

I love how the line is taken ver-batum from the comic. I've never seen Under the Red Hood but I read the comics and it looks pretty awesome. Joker's voice work is pretty good IMO, Batman seems a bit off though. Too generic i guess

[Jelly Bean]

I think Jason Todd, The Black Mask guy, and The Joker stole the show. My only question is, why was Night WIng and Batman on such good terms. I thought by the time Dick Grayson became Nightwing his relationship with Batman had already become strained? They seemed to be on awfully good, even joking terms with each other in this movie.

I love Jason Todd he is easily the most interesting Robin out there.

[shuriken]

^^ Grayson and Bruce were on terrible terms with each other up until the whole Knightfall arc.
After a while they both realize that they are better off being allies than at each other's throughts so they become "friends" I guess. Grayson helps Batman out from time to time while doing his own thing in another city (don't remember what it's called). Todd is a pretty cool character, but I still think it's wierd that they brought him back some 25 years after his death. Whatevs, interesting story arc regardless.

[Turo602]

Grayson helps Batman out from time to time while doing his own thing in another city (don't remember what it's called).

Todd is a pretty cool character, but I still think it's wierd that they brought him back some 25 years after his death. Whatevs, interesting story arc regardless.

It's called Bludhaven.

Yeah, this is the first time I've ever seen Todd in anything. He's a great and tragic character. Under the Red Hood was kinda sad, knowing that Jason was "killed" by Joker and afterward became a villain and just wanted for Batman to kill Joker for killing him. And also to know that Batman wants to kill but will never go to that dark place due to never being to come back from it.

If I were Batman I'll let Commissioner Gorden kill Joker while Batman is just turned around. Who will seriously call Batman a criminal if he were to ever kill that homicidal psychopath clown. All they do is put him in jail and he manages to escape and kill and torture people. Even those Batman should be responsible for. Batman should just quit with damn partners. Dick gets older cockier and leaves the team to go else were. Jason Todd comes into the picture and gets killed by Joker, Barbra gets shot and paralyzed by Joker, and yet he goes for another partner. The current Robin, Tim Drake. I don't get it?

All in all, Dick Grayson remains as the best Robin in my opinion. Todd is a great character, and Drake still hasn't really done anything that I know of besides being a good Robin.

Under the Red Hood is the best Batman animated film so far. Let's hope Batman year one is better or just as good. And we all know more is to come from our Bat Hero.