Cards: Metal Fleer Batman Forever cards 76-80

The Fleer cards return! More wonky drawings of Robin. I have no idea what's going on with the Riddler's hair in "Need a lift?"

Batman Forever Merchandise Review: Style Guide by Warner Brothers

Here's something I've been looking for a long time - the Style Guide that was handed out to companies that wanted to make tie-in products to Batman Forever.

For now, here's the video but I'll look to get the entire folder scanned for archiving purposes and put it in a future post. It's going to take a while as it's over 100 pages long!

In the meantime, here's a sample of the illustration guide for Batman.

Batman Forever Merchandise Review - Ultimate Batman by Kenner

Kenner mostly made 4 inch action figures but they also made this deluxe 12 inch figure. Here's my review.

Batman Forever Merchandise Review - The Riddler figure by Kenner

Back to the action figure reviews. Here's a look The Riddler figure by Kenner. One of four figures that they released for the line - there was also a black suited figure, a deluxe talking figure, and one as part of a Two-Face double package that had slightly different paint work. I'll hopefully be covering those in the near future.

News: Funko POP are releasing a figure of George Clooney's Batman!

No this is not an April Fool's Joke. Funko really are going to be releasing a George Clooney Batman figure from the much maligned Batman Forever follow-up Batman & Robin.

I've got to say it actually looks pretty great in toy form. I imagine a Batman Forever Sonar Suit can't be far behind because it's a pretty similar design/mould.

I've sorted of avoided talking about the infamous 1997 movie for a long time. And... well... there's a reason that this website is called 1995Batman.com.

I don't really have a great hatred of Batman & Robin (like so much of the internet does) but I don't really have a great love for it either. I'm sure at some point I'll put down my complicated feelings about the movie. The short version is I think it's a rushed, lazy movie that tries and fails to copy all the beats of Batman Forever without getting the recipe right.

Anyway, I'll probably be picking this up and will do a review regardless.

Batman Forever Merchandise Review - Plastic Mugs by Applause

This time we're looking at the four plastic mugs that were released by Applause.

Miscellaneous content: Amitron Batman Forever Watch

I won't be doing a video review but here's a few photos of the Amitron watch that I picked up on eBay. There were a couple of these released with various designs - along with several plastic ones. I figured an adult can just about get away with wearing this one - it looks grown up enough from a distance.

And while we're on the topic of watches here's a a random article from The Quarterly Watches looking at the prop watch that was used in the film - a Jaeger-LeCoultre - apparently. I've zoomed in but the text is still very small and hard to read.

I'm not sure what they are on about with the flipping mechanism. I guess that wasn't featured in the film and is only part of the promotional ones they made for the film release. I've got to say it's really great that they went to the extra effort of illustrating the scene from the film for this spread.

Magazine article: Comics Scene Presents Batman and Other Dark Heroes Part 2

Part 2 of this magazine has brief interviews with Val Kilmer, Chris O'Donnell, Jim Carrey but NOT Tommy Lee Jones (who probably wasn't interested in puff piece editorials like this).

Magazine article: Comics Scene Presents Batman and Other Dark Heroes Part 1

This particular magazine seems to be another off- shoot of Starlog. First up there's a very long interview with Bob Kane who has alot to say about the new movie including wanting to see Tom Cruise play the lead role (!) and being glad that Robin didn't end up being played by Marlon Wayans (!).

Cards: Metal Fleer Batman Forever cards 71-75

We're nearly there. 3/4 of the way through.

What the heck us going on with Robin's thighs in "Up in smoke"?!?!

Batman Forever Merchandise Review - Batman head Batcave mini playset by Kenner

Probably my 2nd favourite piece of merchandise from the movie (after the Bruce Wayne figure). I absolutely love this mini playset and have recently picked up the Batmobile playset so I'll be reviewing that too in the near future.

Val Kilmer Sonar Suit Batman figure from Hot Toys unveiled

Apologies for the delay in this news. I've been so  focused on getting new videos up for this site it somehow escaped my notice that Hot Toys has unveiled a prototype of a Sonar Suit Val Kilmer figure at the Hong Kong Ani-Com & Games convention!

Here's a photo alongside the Robin figure. Hoping these come in a two-pack and that more figures are on the way.

Batman Forever Deleted Scenes - Part 2

And now for something I've spent a long time on piecing together. This is my collection of shots and clips - taken from various sources - that aren't featured in the film OR the deleted scenes from the dvd/blu-ray.

I hope you enjoy this. It was a lot of fun to put together and I'll do updates if I find anything else. If you think there's anything I've missed let me know.

In the meantime, here's my favourite piece - the end shot from movie (note: the second photo is one where I have created the background).

Batman Forever Merchandise Review - Funko Pop Batman Forever Vinyl Figure

I was tempted to save this for later in the year but I just picked this up from the shop today and shot the review this afternoon.

Here's my review for Funko Pop Heroes Batman Forever figure (no 289) that has been released in conjunction with the 80 Years of Batman celebration.

Batman Forever Deleted Scenes - Part 1

A few scenes were cut from Batman Forever. Some of these have been released on the DVD and Blu-ray. So let's take a look at these first.
I've got two versions of the deleted scenes. First up is the raw footage that appeared on the DVD and Blu-ray.

But I also have versions of the deleted scenes with music and sfx added. This is taken from a fan edit called the Virtual Workprint (look it up on google - it's easy to find. Someone posted it to reddit a while ago). The so-called Virtual Workprint took the deleted scenes from the DVD and added them back into the film (the maker also reordered the beginning to match the production script - it starts at Arkham, then has Bruce meet Nygma, THEN we go into the bank heist.

Anyway, enjoy.

SCENE 1 Dr Burton discovers Two-Face has escaped from Arkham.

This is a fun set up - I love how Gothic they made Arkham Asylum - but it's kind of redundant and the writing on the wall is a little hard to read. I can see why they cut this.

SCENE 2 Longer confrontation between Two-Face and Batman in helicopter.

It’s nice to get a little more Tommy Lee-Jones. He definitely got pushed off screen by Jim Carrey's dominating presence but I think the short version in the film works better.

SCENE 3 Riddler redirects Batman to Beauty Parlour.

Yeah I can see why they cut this. It’s really goofy and makes Batman look like a fool.

SCENE 4 Bruce talks with Dick while he trains.

I'm sorry, Dick taping a photo of Two-Face to a dummy is really silly looking. I do like the ending with Bruce high kicking the the top off though. I think Val just about pulls it off. Imagine Michael Keaton doing something similar?  Yeah, me neither.

SCENE 5 Bruce watches the Kenneth Frequency show on TV.

This is kind of interesting. The early scripts had a character called Vondelle Millions who hosted a TV talk show that debated whether Batman was a menace or not. It seems this scene is what it got reduced down to. It’s okay - not a fan of the actor's delivery - but it makes Bruce seem really impulsive. Like because he saw something on TV he decided to quit being Batman.

SCENE 6 Bruce finding his father's diary and confronting giant bat.

This is fascinating. I love the giant bat. I love the symbolism and over the top-ness of it but it sort of stops the film when it should be building towards the climax. I don't love the whole diary aspect. The deleted scene is missing a voiceover. Basically the idea is that Bruce discovers from reading the diary that when he was a boy his father chose to go to the cinema on the night his parents were murdered. Bruce mistakenly thought he had been the one and thus, inadvertently, the one to blame. It’s kind of silly. I'm glad they cut it.

I love the giant bat though and wish they could have found a place for it.

SCENE 7 Does it ever end?

Yeah it's an ill advised copy of the ending to the 1989 film.

I get the pun they are trying to make. "Does it ever end?" Alfred should have said "No, he's Batman Forever" and then winked at the camera. It just the look Nicole gives at the end. She looks like "Oh, maybe I've made a mistake dating this guy."

Originally the film was to end on a shot of Batman and Robin on the rooftops of Gotham City. We'll be looking at that and other deleted shots next time.