Batman & Robin: A Different Lens (Or "A Matter of Trust")

After reading the reviews for Batman and Robin De-Assified, I've long been curious as to whether or not a full length Batman & Robin edit could be salvaged from the original source. I fired up the DVDs and sought the answer myself.

I believe it was Akiva Goldsman that said it best in the documentary/retrospective for the movie, "there are different lenses with which to see the world", and likened Batman and Robin to one of the more traditional silver age stories where good overcame evil and there was a modest and wholesome message as well as a true feel of family.

This is not a hard edit by any means, I've left the third act completely intact, but I've scaled back the more farcical aspects of the Batman and Robin arguing, the trust issues are more prominent than the bickering over Ivy, and both fights dovetail into one another with organic ease. No, there's no bat-credit card, no there's no Robin being thrown into a vat of goo either. No "Mr. Frosty" singalong, there is an attempt to scaling back Freeze's ice puns etc.

We also open the movie with Batman and Robin already in pursuit of Freeze, avoiding the dreadful museum clash

Lastly, there's an amusing  post-credit scene I added, you can actually find it in my ideas thread if you're curious

Interested in this edit.

Just wrote up the IFDB listing, ought to be up next week.

I put in a special thanks to you and Canon since you liked my samples of this in the ideas thread.

@"Zarius", you're very much welcome. Canon hasn't updated his thread in a couple weeks now, so I'm starting to get a little concerned.

Regardless, I'm excited to see this new edit! ^^

Feedback from reddit

F13thFreak:

Im an hour in now, you did a great job! Its still an incredibly cheesey movie, but this makes it so much more watchable. Over 30 minutes cut out, no Ivy and Bane origin, majority of the terrible scenes taken out. A very nice 82 minute ride! Thanks for this! If youre a fan of Batman 66' and hated the theatrical cut of B&R, check this out. Pretty much a new Batman 66

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Very cool! There's probably no way to turn this into a proper sequel to the Burton films, but making it into at least a good big-screen version of the '60s show is probably the best way to go.

I didn't see your earlier thread about this, and it sounds like you're nearly done, so don't mind me if this turns out to be pointless rambling. 

For me, the key sticking point is Mr. Freeze. The filmmakers wanted to give him the pathos of the backstory given to him in The Animated Series' "Heart of Ice" episode, but then wanted him to continue making dumb puns about snow and ice. You can't have it both ways. Either he needs to be goofy or he needs to be treated with sympathy because of his tragedy.

I recently watched a Nostalgia Critic review of the movie, and one thing that stuck out to me was that Mr. Freeze tells Batman something like: "You care too much about people. That's why you'll never be as good at this as me, because you're not cold enough!" Again, this contradicts what we know about Mr. Freeze. If he's doing all of his terrible deeds because he's trying to save his wife Nora, then emotions are deeply important to him, perhaps too much so. To have him say that he's cold emotionally doesn't make sense.

Also, at the end, Mr. Freeze gives Batman the serum that will cure Alfred, since Alfred has the same disease that Nora has. But as Nostalgia Critic points out that, if Mr. Freeze has a serum that can cure Nora, why doesn't he just give it to her?

I also hope you're able to remove references to Barbara Gordon being Alfred Pennyworth's niece. You can't make her Commissioner Gordon's daughter with the available footage, I guess, but if you leave out references to her last name, we can assume it's Pennyworth. 

Maybe you can also leave out the parts where Alfred explicitly tells Barbara not to go poking around in certain areas of the building, only to find out that he had a suit built for her when she finds the Batcave. Again, the character's actions contradict each other. If he never tells her not to go down there, and she just finds it on her own, maybe we can believe that Alfred really hoped she might find it.

Anyway, that's enough rambling for now. Good luck with the project!

The edit's been ready for a week, it goes live on the IFDB after the weekend, then I'm doing something else.

I haven't removed any references to Babs being Alfred's niece, I wanted to preserve as much of the film as possible and not complicate it with too many radical cuts, so it stays in.

Any idea why this isn't listed on IFDB yet? Mods having a week off? (it is half-term)

TomH1138 said:

Also, at the end, Mr. Freeze gives Batman the serum that will cure Alfred, since Alfred has the same disease that Nora has. But as Nostalgia Critic points out that, if Mr. Freeze has a serum that can cure Nora, why doesn't he just give it to her?

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The film states that Freeze had found a cure for the early stages of the disease, which Alfred was in. Freeze didn't use it on Nora because she was in the final stage o the disease, where the cure would do her no good.

Nic said:

TomH1138 said:

Also, at the end, Mr. Freeze gives Batman the serum that will cure Alfred, since Alfred has the same disease that Nora has. But as Nostalgia Critic points out that, if Mr. Freeze has a serum that can cure Nora, why doesn't he just give it to her?

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The film states that Freeze had found a cure for the early stages of the disease, which Alfred was in. Freeze didn't use it on Nora because she was in the final stage o the disease, where the cure would do her no good.

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Wow, I don’t remember that

Zarius said:

Any idea why this isn't listed on IFDB yet? Mods having a week off? (it is half-term)

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I don't know (I don't work on IFDb) but staff have lives too.  Maybe just PM the IFDb Admin next time?

https://www.fanedit.org/about-us/

Complaining in public is not a good look.

I wasn't complaining, just curious is all.

Zarius said:

I wasn't complaining, just curious is all.

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Either way, best to ask via PM so there's no misunderstanding.

Masirimso17 said:

Nic said:

TomH1138 said:

Also, at the end, Mr. Freeze gives Batman the serum that will cure Alfred, since Alfred has the same disease that Nora has. But as Nostalgia Critic points out that, if Mr. Freeze has a serum that can cure Nora, why doesn't he just give it to her?

Click to expand...

The film states that Freeze had found a cure for the early stages of the disease, which Alfred was in. Freeze didn't use it on Nora because she was in the final stage o the disease, where the cure would do her no good.

Click to expand...

Wow, I don’t remember that

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I've a good memory. Pluse, Nostalgia Critic even brings it up in one of his Screw-Up videos. Amazing what happens when you actually pay attention during a movie and not obfuscate facts for the sake of a joke.

Nic said:

I've a good memory. Plus, Nostalgia Critic even brings it up in one of his Screw-Up videos. Amazing what happens when you actually pay attention during a movie and not obfuscate facts for the sake of a joke.

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Oops! I didn't remember that being an issue with the movie until I saw NC's review. He must have just been going for the joke, as you said. I'll try to be more careful next time.

@"Zarius", no worries! If your edit is already being submitted, then it's understandable why you would ignore the novel-length rambling. 

Undoubtedly, my favorite "bad movie" of all time. I can't wait to see this.

Watched the edit last week, and I really liked it! Very inventive, and a major difference to greencapt's "De-Assified" edition! Well done, @"Zarius", and I hope this edit appears on the database soon so I can review it! ^^

@"Motleys Fanedits"  Thanks for the feedback, should be up in a couple of hours

You're a champion @"TM2YC" , thanks