History Film / Batman

* AntiHero: Batman is not a stranger to this trope, but unlike most other incarnations, Burton's Batman has no problem with ''killing'' a mook.

An UsefulNotes/AcademyAward deservedly went to Anton Furst's amazing set design, which was partly inspired by ''Film/BladeRunner'' and ''Film/{{Metropolis}},'' and became just as influential as those films in dystopic set design.
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Sequels included ''Film/BatmanReturns,'' ''Film/BatmanForever,'' and ''Film/BatmanAndRobin.''

-->'''The Joker''': Tell me something, my friend. You ever dance will the devil in the pale moonlight?\\

--->'''Joker:''' My face on the one dollar bill.
--->'''Vicki:''' You must be joking.
--->'''Joker:''' ''(absolutely serious)'' Do I ''look'' like I'm joking?

-->'''Knox''': ''*referring to a samurai-style armor*'' Where did this come from?
-->'''Vicki''': I have no idea.
-->'''Bruce''': It's Japanese.
-->'''Knox''': And how do you know?
-->'''Bruce''': ''*beat*'' Because I bought it in Japan.

-->''[The Joker sees a photo of Vicki for the first time.]''
-->'''Joker:''' A lovely young beast like that running around could put [[RagingStiffie steel in a man's stride]].

--> '''Batman''' ''[to Joker]:'' Excuse me. [[IronicEcho You ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight?]]
--> ''[Batman smiles, then punches Joker in the face.]''

-->'''Batman:''' I want you to do me a favor. I want you to tell all your friends about me.
-->'''Nic:''' What are you?
-->'''Batman:''' I'm Batman.

-->'''The Joker:''' We've got a flying mouse to kill, and I want to clean my claws!
-->'''The Joker:''' And where is the Batman? He's at home....WASHIN' HIS TIGHTS!

---> '''Robert:''' Anonymous tip: Napier's cleaning out Axis Chemicals.
---> '''Gordon:''' Good lord, if we catch him we'll have Grissom. But why wasn't I told about this? Who's in charge?
---> '''Robert:''' Eckhardt, Sir.
---> '''Gordon:''' Oh, my God...

--> '''Batman:''' You killed my parents.
--> '''Joker:''' *confused* Huh? What are you talking about?
--> '''Batman:''' I made you, but you made me first.
--> '''Joker:''' *scared* Come on Bat-brain, I was a kid when I killed your parents. When I say I made you, you gotta say you made me! How childish can you get? [''puts on glasses''] [[YouWouldntHitAGuyWithGlasses You wouldn't hit a guy with glasses on]], would ya? Huh?

---> '''Batman:''' You killed my parents.
---> '''Joker:''' What are you talking about?
---> '''Batman:''' I made you, but you made me first.

-->'''Mook:''' DON'T KILL ME, MAN!!!
-->'''Batman:''' I'm not gonna kill you, I want you to do me a favor. I want you to tell all your friends about me.
-->'''Mook:''' WhoAreYou!?
-->'''Batman:''' I'm Batman.

--> '''Joker:''' Bob? Gun.
--> '''Bob:''' ''(unquestioningly hands his boss his gun, not realizing Joker's in a killing mood; Joker casually pops a bullet in his chest)''

--->'''Alicia:''' You look fine.
--->'''Jack:''' ''(DeathGlare)'' I didn't ''ask.'' ''(glances at her hand on his shoulder as if to say, "Hands off the merchandise!")''

--> '''Bob''': She's ''[Vicki]'' dating some guy named Wayne.
--> '''Joker''': ''[smug]'' [[{{Jerkass}} She's about to trade up.]]

''Batman'' also revolutionized the home video industry -- it was the first financially successful film to be released for the home market ''the same year'' as its theatrical release and only $19.99. It became a stocking stuffer in many homes that Christmas and went on to earn $150 million on home video alone. Now, even blockbuster hits are released in home video as soon as their theatrical runs are over (sometimes even ''before'' they end).

* BadassNormal: Knox, of all people, manages to get rid of one Smilex balloon ''all by himself''.

* BrandX: In the Joker's [[DoNotAdjustYourSet Smilex]] commercial, at the "blind taste test", a man who is tied to a chair and gagged (Disclaimer: "Not An Actor") is said to have been using BrandX ("Oh No!").

* {{Corpsing}}: InUniverse - One unfortunate news reporter does it before ''[[DieLaughing becoming]]'' [[DieLaughing a corpse]] due to Joker's deadly Smilex.

* AFeteWorseThanDeath: The 200th Anniversary celebration, where the Joker hosts the party—and then releases the Smilex gas.

* FlashMobCoverup: Joker appears among some mimes in order to perform a murder with a deadly quill pen, and he arranges a parade with balloons full of poisonous Smilex gas.

* GoOutWithASmile: The Joker's Smilex poison is [[DieLaughing all about this]], and as the trope entry reminds us, he goes out this way himself. (Though considering his smile is a scar, he didn't have any real choice in the matter.) It's his PreMortemOneLiner to the festival attendees as well.

* KitschyLocalCommercial: The Joker makes one of these to announce "Joker Brand Cosmetics, with Smilex", complete with him posing with carboard cutout models, shopping in a fake grocery store, and doing a side-by-side comparison with a "Brand-X".

** When the Smilex gas is released in the streets of Gotham City, Alexander Knox immediately grabs a mask and baseball bat from the trunk of his car and goes after the Joker's goons, managing to scatter away one of the balloons.

* MadScientist: The Joker has shades of this as it is implied that he created the binary compound (CIA files on a nerve agent classified DDID) for the Smilex poison.

* ParodyCommercial: After the Deadline News incident listed above, the Joker hijacks the airwaves with this to reveal himself as responsible for the Smilex deaths, and to cheerily inform Gotham that more people are doomed because they're already unknowingly using the tainted products. He even spoofs the BrandX trope to prove his point.

* VisualInnuendo: Subverted. Vicki notes Batman could have given the information on how to prevent Smile-X poisoning directly to the newspapers, Bats agrees, adding, "You have something I ''want''." Cue a dramatic cape embrace and bats flying, with Vicki finding herself in her bed. She then feels her chest and groans, "[[NotDistractedByTheSexy He took the]] ''[[NotDistractedByTheSexy film]]''."

* WhenTheClockStrikesTwelve: The Joker tells Gotham that during his festival, he will dump twenty million dollars in cash on the crowd at midnight. It turns out to be a festival of death, courtesy of his Smilex gas balloons.

** Vicki Vale has a little bit of this towards Bruce Wayne as well when he avoids her after what was really just a one night stand.

* StairwellChase: Batman chases the Joker up a bell tower in its finale.

* SpontaneousCrowdFormation: The Joker announces he will be giving away free money at a parade. Despite knowing he's a murderer, [[TooDumbToLive the crowd shows up on schedule and he almost kills them]].

* SchizoTech: Photographers rely on flash-bulb cameras, while Batman has a jet plane and a rocket car. Though this might explain why the Batwing couldn't hit an unmoving target with no obstacles in between from about 500 meters away in ideal conditions with automatic fire.

** Those two muggers in the opening sequence, when they realize that Batman is, to say the least, NotQuiteDead.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Batman drops Jack Napier into that vat of chemical, which turns him into the Joker which makes him responsible for the subsequent murders,

* MadArtist: The Joker describes himself as "the worlds first, fully functioning homicidal artist", he disfigured his girlfriend Alicia Hunt and failed in his attempt to disfigure Vicki Vale.

* LosingAShoeInTheStruggle: Happens to Vicki while being forced to climb the the bell tower of Gotham Cathedral by her captor the Joker. She falls and loses one of her high heels. The Joker then throws away the offending shoe, seemingly to taunt the pursuing Batman and/or make Vicki move faster. Her other shoe is later seen discarded further up the stairs.

** Two examples, one right after the other, during the scene in Vicki's apartment. The first is when Bruce, challenging the Joker, picks up a poker and bellows "COME ON! LET'S GET NUTS!" Then, after a long stretch of acting like a deluded fool following his transformation, the Joker retaliates by unexpectedly switching back to the persona of Jack Napier for an in-universe CallBack, in a refreshingly chilling moment that contrasts how he (as the Joker) has been acting for much of the film. Then ''blam''.

** Played straight big time earlier on, as Batman has all of the Batwing's weapons locked on to Joker -- and misses completely.

* InstantArmor: A push of a button on the Batmobile covers it in armor.

* ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy: Batman apparently trains there as he fires several machinegun rounds and mini-missiles at a completely still and in-the-open Joker, with intent to kill as he'd done a few seconds before, and misses every shot. [[RefugeInAudacity Then, Joker pulls a pistol with what looks like a five-foot-long barrel out of his pants]] [[ImprobableAimingSkills and shoots down the Batwing barrelling at him]].

** Finally, there's the climactic (pun sort of intended) scene involving Vicki coming on to the Joker on the cathedral roof to [[WeNeedADistraction distract him from Batman sneaking up behind him]]. Right after "I looove purple", she sinks to her knees directly facing the Joker...and the only possible explanation is that she's trying to make him think she's about to pull down his pants and blow him. The look of what can only be called pre-coital ecstasy on the Joker's face all but confirms this.

* CounterfeitCash: Though it doesn't appear in the film itself, the comic book and novel adaptations of this film have the people of Gotham City find out that the "free cash" that the Joker was giving away at the city's 200th birthday celebration parade he was throwing was all counterfeit bills with the Joker's face on them. The prop cash with Joker's face can be seen on display at some places with film memorabilia around the U.S.

* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: The Joker.
** When addressing the public about Boss Grissom's death: "Yes, he was a thief. And a terrorist. On the other hand, he had a tremendous singing voice." That, and his boast about being a homicidal artist ("I make art until somebody dies.") His conversation with a charcoaled Rotelli is definite ''proof'' of Cloud [=CuckooInsanity=]:

** The metal tray Bruce finds in Vicki Vale's kitchen and hides under his clothes, which [[spoiler:{{[[ArtisticLicensePhysics]] saves his life when the Joker shoots him}}]].

** The metal tray Bruce finds in Vicki Vale's kitchen and hides under his clothes, which [[spoiler:saves his life when the Joker shoots him]].

* CarChase: After Batman rescues Vicki and get in the Batmobile, they are chased by 3 of the Joker goon cars, who are then followed by the police. The chase soon stops when the Batmobile makes a quick turn, and the Joker goons crash into other vehicles at a downtown intersection. The police stop quickly before hit anything.
* CelebrityParadox: Just ''barely'' averted in the museum scene, when the Joker and his men are playing Prince's "Partyman" on their boombox. As anyone who saw the music video for that song could tell you, there's a break in the lyrics in which a Kim Basinger lookalike lip-syncs the Vicki Vale line "Oh, I ''love'' purple!" The tape player is switched to Percy Faith's "A Summer Place" as the Joker sits down across from Vicki; if it had been left on the Prince song just a few seconds longer, Vicki would have heard herself delivering a line from the movie that (in-universe) she has yet to speak!
* CharityBall: The Casino Night variant to obtain money to bail out the Gotham City Festival.

* ATeamFiring: When Batman in the Batwing fires MoreDakka at the Joker. It strafes the ground up to him and riddles the parade float behind him. It ''could'' be [[ImprobableAimingSkills Improbable Missing Skills]] since Bats avoids killing, but the bullets hit spots on the float that would be physically impossible reach without going through the Joker's body first. [[AllThereInTheManual The tie-in book to the film]] shows that the Joker was initially supposed to literally ''dance around'' the bullets and rockets.

Bruce Wayne (Creator/MichaelKeaton) has been fighting crime in Gotham as Batman for some time when this film starts, but is an enigma to a city unsure of what he is. The plot here chronicles his battles with Jack Napier / ComicBook/TheJoker (Creator/JackNicholson). In terms of popularity, this film is the best regarded of this film series.

* SoundtrackDissonance: During TheReveal of the TheJoker during the ThatManIsDead scene, which he starts shooting Grissom, a circus calliope breaks out.

* AdaptationOriginConnection: It turns out that ComicBook/TheJoker is, in fact, the man who killed Bruce Wayne's parents rather than Joe Chill.