ROTTEN TOMATOES: Further Reading: Dark Knight is Unforgettable, but Who Remembers James Batman? Comments

Further Reading: Dark Knight is Unforgettable, but Who Remembers James Batman?

by Kim Newman | July 24, 2008

Summary

The Dark Knight is setting cinemas alight all over the world, but, as Kim Newman discovers, there are other Batman movies that aren't quite so well known... James Batman - which crosses the caped crusader with suave spy James Bond - probably didn't attract much Oscar buzz, nor was the word "masterpiece" mentioned in its reviews, but for completists, is it worth seeing? Does the Filipino film industry's flouting of international copyright law deliver a treat? Back to Article

(1-22 of 22 posts) | Reply

arendr writes:
on Jul 24 2008 08:16 AM

Wow, incredible. This reminds me of the Bollywood Superman movie.

(Reply to this)

Dark Knight jr. writes:
on Jul 24 2008 08:18 AM

Now that's scary..

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evil pixie writes:
on Jul 24 2008 09:45 AM

I'm surprised the MST3K guys never got a hold of this one...

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bethehero7404 writes:
on Jul 24 2008 09:53 AM

Evil pixie is right...MST3K would have destroyed this movie.

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h-town24 writes:
on Jul 24 2008 10:41 AM

WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah, and I would have loved MST to handle this!

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nathanpoitras writes:
on Jul 24 2008 11:01 AM

Is Batman on a game show in that scene or something? If he is, it looks like the got the answer wrong.

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arendr writes:
on Jul 24 2008 01:23 PM

Coincidence? http://webvillage.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/batman-suparman-02a.jpg

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pynchmeawake writes:
on Jul 24 2008 04:00 PM

MST poked fun at movies that took themselves seriously. The makers of James Batman were clearly fun-pokers themselves and must have been high on the same brainwaves that decades hence infused the creative chakras of Joel Hodgson... isn't that so, Tom?

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quentintarantado writes:
on Jul 24 2008 05:00 PM

For what it's worth, the director is Artemio MARQUEZ, not Martez. He's the father of model Melanie Marquez who has her own curious spin on the English language (translated: "My father is the only living legend I know who is alive"). Artemio Marquez is quite proud of the fact he can shoot his movies in two weeks.

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martinscorsese25 writes:
on Jul 24 2008 05:16 PM

you know.. i lived in the philippines and dolphy is the king of comedy hear cause he started doing comedy the time that no one else does comedy.. though he's jokes are kinda korny i still see him as a legend

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jocampo writes:
on Jul 24 2008 05:18 PM

Hi Kim, I'm Filipino, and I'm sure glad you enjoyed seeing this movie starring our country's top comedian, Dolphy. I don't know how you managed to get hold of a copy of this movie, as I myself rarely ever see any of the old comedies nowadays. In his heydays, Dolphy made hundreds of similarly camp comedies, and these have become part of the fond childhood memories of so many million Filipinos. For us Filipinos, when viewing these vintage comedies, we are reminded of a much more innocent time, when laughter was sparkingly naive and untouched by cynicism. I find your review very open-minded and refreshingly non-patronizing. By the way, Dolphy celebrated his 80th birthday in Manila recently by launching his memoirs.

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pynchmeawake writes:
on Jul 24 2008 05:55 PM

More apt MST3K fodder than this one would be sci-fi mangas like "Appleseed" and "Ghost in the Shell". I'd love to see the MST debuggers make fun of these wetdream candies.

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genshiken writes:
on Jul 24 2008 06:38 PM

In reply to this comment (#1919129)
What a crazy movie...those revolting dress
But maybe it wasn't worse than that stupid "Superhero Movie", I'd like to watch it if I found a copy XD.

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d4nugster writes:
on Jul 24 2008 06:40 PM

if its any consolation, even we filipinos cannot watch this with a straight face...

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BeastyBrad writes:
on Jul 24 2008 08:03 PM

What is MST?

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jocampo writes:
on Jul 24 2008 10:14 PM

In reply to this comment (#1920430)
mst3k = mystery science theater 3000, a tv series in the 90s. it featured a man and his robot critiquing b movies, specially scifi ones.

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pynchmeawake writes:
on Jul 24 2008 10:16 PM

In reply to this comment (#1920430)
Mystery Science Theater... aka Mystery Science Theater 3000... aka "Beavis and Butthead Do the SciFi Channel"... and that's plain simile, not pun; I happen to be a huge MST fan myself.

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Poptique writes:
on Jul 25 2008 05:54 AM

I remember James Batman, in fact I even posted some poster art from it and other Caped Crusader cash-ins earlier this week ;) (Batman vs. Dracula included!)

http://poptique.blogspot.com/2008/07/fight-batman-fight-gregarious-gallery.html

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Ged2012 writes:
on Jul 26 2008 09:51 AM

You haven't seen anything yet. There are still many spoofs of superhero movies in the Philippines, namely:

1. Superwantutri-- a "Superman" movie which appeared after Superman III. It stars Tito Sotto, Vic Sotto, and Joey De Leon. Yup, three Supermen in the same movie. These three guys have made dozens of movies together, and are popular as a trio.

2. Gagambino-- a TV series on GMA which would start in a few months, which is inspired by Spider-Man, and which boasts impressive special effects (gagambino is a word taken from the Filipino word "gagamba", meaning spider).

3. Lastikman-- its more recent version was shown a few years ago, starring Vic Sotto (one of the Supermen above), inspired by Plastic Man. Yup, there have been several versions of the same hero in Philippine cinema before. His enemy this time was inspired by the Green Goblin, but without the mask, and looked more like Heath Ledger's Joker.

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ice_chiyo writes:
on Jul 29 2008 04:44 AM

Wow. I'm surprised as my fellow Filipinos that you found a copy of this movie. There are loads of other Pinoy movies just like this (heck even Tarzan was parodied in Starzan by Joey de Leon) and in my opinion they are the fun kind of camp.

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ledawg1138 writes:
on Oct 22 2008 09:12 AM

I love MST3K. I've watched since I was 6, and now I own many DVD's. I watched Girl in Gold Boots last night and laughed til' I passed out. It would've been fun to see them do this. And let's not forget Mike, who I think is even better then Joel. And I like Joel. LONG LIVE CROW AND SERVO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Reply to this)

ledawg1138 writes:
on Oct 26 2008 07:27 PM

NO ONE IS READING MY QUOTE!

(Reply to this)

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