Batman as a cinematic figure hasn’t really worked out so well in any of the recent iterations. I like Batman Begins quite a bit, but it suffers the same problems of the first Spider-Man in that it has a pretty ho-hum conclusion, and one that – as Devin Faraci of Chud.com  never fails to point out – is a betrayal of everything that came before.  Still it’s the best Batman film in forever. The Burton and Schumacher Batmen are both compromised efforts that don’t always work on the levels they’re supposed to. I don’t really like any of that quartet, though I might give the edge to Batman Forever, if for no other reason that it being the most entertaining.

But having now sat down with 1966’s Batman (or as it’s been re-titled Batman The Movie), I think I give it the edge as the best Batman film ever made. Batman/Bruce Wayne (Adam West) and Robin/Dick Grayson (Burt Ward) are up against The Penguin (Burgess Meredith), The Joker (Caesar Romero), The Riddler (Frank Gorshin) and Catwoman (Lee Merriwether). Their goal seems world domination, and so that involves taking out Batman, and messing up the UN.

Such involves eplosive sharks and octopuses, dehydrating and rehydrating pirates, and all kinds of goofy things. Anyone who’s spent some time with the dark and portentous comic book films of the modern era might reject the playful quality of the film, the childlike delight in telling this story, but if you let the film’s inherent goofiness win you over, then it’s a complete winner. And partly because it’s such a goof. There’s a sequence where Batman runs around for two minutes carrying a bomb, but because the film sustains its archtypes and doesn’t wink, it works. Ward and West have a great chemistry as the dynamic duo, and one can’t read if West is playing it as parody, or that’s how insane he is. It’s one of those rare truly great performances where you have no idea if it’s a performance or not. But West comes from that Shatner school, so it’s hard to say. Regardless, once you sink into the film’s level of POW and BAM and BOOF!s you realize that it’s a film about two naifs trying to fight evil, and perhaps battling black and white evil requires a world of simplistic people are moralities. Such makes this rather entertaining.

Fox presents the film in anamorphic widescreen (1.78:1) and in DTS 5.1 surround the mono track is also included). There’s also a 5.1 isolated music and effects track, a commentary by Lorenzo Semple jr. and a track by Ward and West. Then there’s a ton of anamorphically presented featurettes. First up is “Batman: A Dynamic Legacy” (28 min.), with Semple Jr., Merriwether, Paul Dini, and a number of comic book writers and historians. They same crew show up for “Caped Crusaders: A Heroes Tribute” (12 min.), and “Gotham City’s Most Wanted” (16 min.), the featurettes from the original DVD release - with interview footage with both Ward and West (17 min.) -  and “The Batmobile Revealed with George Barnes” (6 min.). Then there’s an interactive tour of the batmobile, a map that will show you where the film was shot in time with the movie, a trivia track, and a large still gallery. The set wraps up with the film’s theatrica trailer, a teaser, and a Spanish spot