Batman Beyond: Retun of the Joker

[Barkworm]

I've just watched the movie for the first time and I really liked it. Nevertheless I was really pissed off when I read that I watched the censored version of the movie. :evil:
Could anyone tell me where the differences between the both versions are?

[Anarky]

where did you get it?

well i uhm, let's say it somehow found it's way to my harddrive (funny as life goes :D )

It is a great movie. i love the way Terry handles the Joker thing. It's so very un-bat-ish. you don't get to see a laughing batman that often.

Differences. I think all the blood scenes are censored. it's not much.

oh, idea, hang on...

[Anarky]

there have been 45 cuts to the movie.... lots of them are stupid and for no reason. here they are....


In the very first scene, Woof hits the security guard twice before he falls to the ground in the unedited version whereas in the edited, Woof only hits him once.

In the opening heist sequence, Terry punches then kicks Bonk in the chest but in the edited version there is only a punch with a quick flash. Right after that there is a pan around fight sequence showing Terry take on each of the Jokerz except the Dee Dee's who are pretending to cower in fear at the sight of the Batman. In between the pan around and the Dee Dee's cowering, there is a quick cut of Terry smacking Ghoul square in the face.


After the pan around scene, Woof will run at Terry and Terry will toss him over his shoulder. In the unedited, Woof hits Terry a couple of times and then runs at him were the scene continues.

Once Terry let's his guard down for the Dee Dee's, they pull out a tazer-like gun a shock him. Weakened, the Dee Dee's continue to kick and punch beating the heck out of Terry. In the edited version, this is ALL cut out.

As Batman climbs his way up the system’s scanner to fight Ghoul, Batman hits Ghoul in the stomach then upper cuts him in the face. Now in the edited version he only upper cuts in the face and the punch to the stomach is now gone.

As Bonk is strangling Terry on the hover-lift, Terry hits Bonk twice in the face before Bonk head butts Terry. Terry then proceeds to tell Bonk about the upcoming flagpole. Terry only hit Bonk once in the face for the edited version of the film.

While in the cave, a batarang is flying around throughout the cavern. It flies past some dummies of the Riddler, Killer Croc, Mr. Freeze, and Two-Face. It then beheads the Two-Face dummy from the neck. The head then slowly falls to the ground. Then the batarang continues on until it comes to stop in Bruce Wayne's hand. In the edited version, we only see the Batarang come back to Bruce.


After Bonk tells the Joker "I think your a fake," the Joker comes back by saying "Ah, brave new world, that has such putzes in it." "Putzes" is changed into "Yutzes" for the edited version of the film.

Bonk is no longer shot in the chest with the BANG! dart from the gun, but is gassed in the face with Joker-toxin. He laughs uncontrollably and soon thereafter dies (when we no longer her him laugh) with a smile on his face. The edited version of Bonk's death does have and additional scene added onto an existing one from the unedited. It is when the Joker tosses his gun behind himself and it lands somewhere off screen. In the edited, the Joker tosses his gun and it now lands onto Bonk's laughing body.



Following Bonk's death scene, the Joker goes around each member of his team and wants to know weather or not they are "with him". From the Dee Dee's to Woof and Chucko then to Bonk's dead body. Remembering that Bonk is dead, the Joker asks the Dee Dee's to "sweep out the trash". The Dee Dee's grab Bonk's body from the table and throw it to the floor.


After the Joker's return to the "public eye" at Wayne Enterprises, Terry is driving Bruce back home. Seat belts are digitally added around their bodies for the edited version.

At the club when the Jokerz show up, when the Dee Dee's are pounding on Terry, Chucko's line of "I don't know why the boss wants a dreg like you out of the way, but hey, as long as it's fun." is cut, as well as the punch he delivers to Terry. Also, as Terry sees Dana being attacked by Ghoul, Terry punches Chucko and proceeds into the scene where he jumps over the Dee Dee1s and slams their heads together.

In that same scene when Ghoul grabs Dana by her hair, a small scene is cut showing him actually reaching, grabbing, and yanking her by her hair.

Also from the Nightclub sequence is when Terry sneaks up behind Ghoul and gives him the beating of his life. It is shortened to a bright flash and a punching sound to where Terry can be seen running off camera.

And the final cut from the Nightclub sequence is when Terry hits Chucko twice in the face sending him over the edge onto the floor. The edited shows Terry hit Chucko once with his right arm then it cuts to Chucko falling with Terry holding a left-handed punch position.

The color of the "Ha! Ha! Ha!" graffiti in the Batcave (after Bruce Wayne is gassed by the Joker) has been altered. The unedited shows it to be an almost "blood red" color while the edited is a mix of red and purple.


The clip of the old Warner Bros. Bug Bunny cartoon "Hare Ribbin" is shortened and looped over with the dog's wailings of "I don't deserve to live." The unedited version continues on with the actual cartoon dialogue of "I wish I were dead. I wish I were dead".

In the flashback sequence, Batgirl's "hooker" contacts, last scene in The Ultimate Thrill, are changed to a guy and girl.


As Batman begins to enter the Operating Theatre, he is no longer running towards the doors. Instead he is now walking towards the doors. In the unedited version you can see Batman’s legs moving up and down fairly quickly. It looks pretty funny, so maybe that’s why they edited that part.
As Batman begins to enter the Operating Theatre, he is no longer running towards the doors. Instead he is now walking towards the doors. In the unedited version you can see Batman’s legs moving up and down fairly quickly. It looks pretty funny, so maybe that’s why they edited that part.

As Batman breaks free from his bindings in total anger, you will hear the knife rip through but will no longer see the knife. It is digitally removed and makes Batman look weird for having his left arm raised with a clenched hand holding nothing.


The scene following, showing Batman throw his knife at the Joker is cut. This does not make any sense for the edited version because there is now a hole in the curtain behind the Joker where there once was not a hole.

As Batgirl and Harley have a fight of their own inside Arkham, one kick to Harley in the face is cut, as well as a punch.

Before the Joker displays his "home movie", his dialogue of "Then I'll provide the narration", comes before the lights shutting off. The edited version shows the lights shut off first and then the Joker says "Then I'll provide the narration".

In the beginning of the "Our Family Memories" movie, The Joker originally says "I'll begin with how I peeled back the layers of the boys mind". But in the edited version he says "I'll begin with how I affected young Robin's make over".

Almost all of the "Our Family Memories" movie is cut. That being mainly the scene showing Joker opening the barbecue, grabbing his voltage tongs, and shocking poor Robin.


The Joker's dialogue is then altered from "All too soon the serums and the shocks took their toll..." to "All to soon the dear lad began to share such secrets with me..." to coincide with the edited scene of "Our Family Memories".

For the rest of the Flashback sequence and movie itself, all of the blood is digitally removed from the film making everyone impervious to cut and scrapes.

The Joker no longer unsheathes his concealed knife and slashes Batman across the chest and stabs him in the leg with it but merely punches Batman in the face sending him down to the floor. Although in the edited version, if you pause the scene frame for frame, you can see the end frame of the Joker slashing at Batman with his knife and Batman falling over with a rip in his chest. The knife in the leg though will not be there. (Note: The stabbing of Bruce's leg is the cause of the elder Wayne's limp and use of cane.)


The Joker's line of "Here you go, sonny-boy, make daddy proud. Deliver the punch line". is changed to "Here you go, sonny-boy, make him one of us".

Batman's "Tim..." moan is cut because it is no longer needed since Tim has now thrown the gun aside and has decide to attack the Joker head on.


Since the Joker's death is now altered from an insane Tim Drake shooting the Joker with the BANG! dart gun square in the chest, he now gets caught in some wiring, is soaked in water and now looks the fool for simply slipping on the slippery floor and grabbing a hold of the electrical power switch as he falls henceforth electrocuting himself. Note that the gun lying next to Tim as he collapses laughing/crying uncontrollably in the edited version makes no sense presuming the Tim tossed it aside to attack the Joker.


With the whole death sequence shortened, so too was Tim's insanely ongoing laughter.

Barbara's dialogue is now altered from "We buried the Joker deep beneath Arkham..." to "And for Robin's sake, he kept that night a secret", therefore not directly mentioning the Joker's untimely demise.

Terry's dialogue is altered from "I'm assuming his girlfriend bought it, too" to "And since you saw Harley fall into the pit...".

Barbara's dialogue is once more altered from "..she was able to help Tim back to sanity" to "...she was able to help Tim back to himself".

The sequence on the yacht with Jordan Price and his "friend" Amy is cut down so you don1t see Price enter the room thinking that he is talking to Amy whereas it is actually on of the Dee Dee's lying on the bed waiting for him. Probably too much sex appeal involved for young children watching.

Jordan Price's dialogue is also changed from "...bunglers tried to kill Wayne" to "...bunglers tried to ice Wayne".

In the Batcave when Terry question Tim Drake loyalties, Bruce's dialogue is altered from "Robin did shot him" to "Robin defeated him" to coincide with the Joker's "new" death scene.

As with the seat belts on Bruce's limo ride home with Terry, the Batmobile too has "magic" seat belts that appear once Terry enters the vehicle.

When the Joker's beam is chasing Terry around the city, the brightly lit Cinema that is seen being blown up by the beam is now a dark undescript building in the edited version. But when it blows up, you can see the letters spelling out Cinema as illuminated rubble from the enormous blast.

As the beam continues it's destructive path through Gotham, a small scene is cut showing the beam tear through what seems to be a park full of people.

After Terry crash lands and Woof appears ready to do battle and Ace is called upon to fight, a quick scene is cut showing Ace bite Woof's left arm causing a painful expression on Woof's face.

As Tim Drake is recounting past events of the Joker's death, his dialogue was altered from "Oh god. I killed him. I didn1t mean to. I tried so hard to forget...but I still hear the shot, still see his dead smile" to "Oh god. I did it. I didn't mean to. I tried so hard to forget...but I can still hear his scream. I can still see his frozen smile".

Tim Drake's dialogue is also changed from "It's a killer" to "It's a doozy" right before he turns into the Joker.

The Joker's dialogue of asking Terry if he had "any last words for the old Batfart" now changed to "any last words for the old Batkoot".

As the Joker gets Terry under the table and begins to strangle him madly, his strangle last slightly longer then it does on the edited version.

When Harley finally reappears at the end of the film, her outfit is altered to reflect the colors of her old "Harley Quinn" outfit. The unedited version shows here to be wearing a lavender and blue outfit to the edited version showing her wearing red and black to reassure the audience that she is the original Harley Quinn.

Throughout the edited version of the film, a lot of quick "white flashes" appear whenever someone is punched or hit in the face. The unedited version shows no signs of these "white flashes".

As an extra bit of knowledge of stuff done to the movie:
-If you watch the actual trailer for the movie you will see the pan around fight sequence the was cut from the final edited version as well as Terry (as Batman) punching Ghoul in the face all found in the opening heist scene.
-Also on one particular television commercial that shows the Jokerz and their names underneath their picture, "Ghoul" is mislabeled as the "Scarecrow".

- found at the DCUA forums

[Barkworm]

Thank you very much, Anarky. That helped me realize that I actually watched the uncut version. :lol:
I was just a little confused that the version that... uuuumm... how did you eypress it "found its way to my harddrive" ( :wink: ) had just 73 minutes while it is supposed to have 78 (I guess some parts of the opening are missing).
Anyway I'm not buying the DVD since we only have the censored version in Europe. Those cuts sound more than ridiculous :evil:

[Anarky]

No problem, funny thing that those things sneak onto people's harddrives, eh? :D

asian subtitles and some strange "call NO-COPIES"- ad all the time? that's the uncut version.

I like Batman Beyond. It's just so different and kinda unbound to Bruce wayne (face facts, the toon Bruce sucks. The Bruce in the comic books rocks)

what was your fave scenes? I got lots of 'em

The first that i can think of is

Bats: "aaaghplll..."
Bonk: "What did you say"
Bats; "I said Flagpole!" and then that grin. that's what makes terry/bats cool

[Barkworm]

asian subtitles and some strange "call NO-COPIES"- ad all the time? that's the uncut version.
Same thing here, hehe.
Favouite scene? I guess all scenes with the Joker. I was so thrilled about his voice actor (excellent work) and when I saw that he was played by Mark Hamill I was like :o (yeah, I didn't know that before, don't beat me).

[PizzaPower]

I used to be a pretty big Batman fan with the TMNT, but I always did hate batman Beyond. Do they still make those episdoes?

[Anarky]

that's the german influence. you don't know that Mark "Luke Skywalker" Hamill is doinmg the voiceover for the Joker (and he does a VERY good job). He sounds so like a maniac and an evil being. I didn't like his hairdo in ROTJ tho.

I never watched Batman TAS and TNA in German, do they sound as good as in English (i always watch it on the french cartoon network. it is in english :D )

batman beyond was unfortunately canceled after three or four seasons.

what is the problem with BB? i never got that...

[Barkworm]

I never watched Batman TAS and TNA in German, do they sound as good as in English
Well, I have only watched a single Batman episode in English ("Heart of Ice") and I have to say I liked the German voice actor of Mr. Freeze even better than the English one (sounded too robotic).
I don't like dubs in general but the Batman dub was pretty good though.

[Karpo_007]

If it's european version, it runs 4% faster and therfore it's also shorter. Or it could just lack parts of credits or something. Anyway, awesome movie.

[Taloniss]

I used to be a pretty big Batman fan with the TMNT, but I always did hate batman Beyond. Do they still make those episdoes?

No

[Sparvid]

Speaking of dubs, I saw the beginning of the swedish-dubbed Injustice For All recently and wow! Appearantly they don't use the same (good) voices for Superman, Batman or Luthor. Batman sounds nothing like either the former swedish actor or Conroy... :(

Oh, and while buying some DVDs from a great web store I noticed the the TMNT DVDs only has swedish voices on them!

[Misfit]

Awesome movie. I found my fave character Harley Quinn to be a bit too dark and creepy but the rest of it was great. Joker was at his ultimate sickest (for the toon Batman universe at least) and craziest, and I really liked Terry where as I just couldn't get into the regular Batman Beyond episodes.

I've seen both the uncut and cut versions of this movie and the uncut rules by miles. I can't believe they changed Joker's death in the US version, that sucks. In the UK our version was the uncut one - YAY!

What I also love about this movie is the soundtrack. Very, very cool music and score, I had to buy it pretty quickly.

[Anarky]

I think Harley fitted the dark atmosphere of the backflashes pretty good. "Honey, get Mommy's BAzooka!"

[Leonardo_Warrior_Turtle]

One of my favorite animated films has to be Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker. The uncut version that is. The edited version, I'm sorry, but just sucks. I bet the creators who originally had a dark vision of this tale, were pretty peed off when they heard about all the cuts. A petition came for the unedited version and voila! Uncut version on DVD. If you are a fan of the edited version, go pick up the uncut version on DVD ASAP.