I like Batman, like every other red-blooded male of planet Earth.  Luckily, I just might be able to finally close my eyes and not see the neon yellow Bat logo which was scarred into my inner eyelids after Warner Brother’s not-too-subtle marketing blitz of Tim Burton’s Batman (1989).  Batman Begins, though more right-on than any of the other Batman feature films and certainly much more than the later offerings, felt in the beginning like “too little, too late.”  Then I thought; “Nah, Batman is America’s James Bond franchise, and for better or worse, keep ‘em coming.” 

Christopher Nolan is the director of Batman Begins, and is one of the most promising filmmakers of recent past. Nolan is a bit of a visionary, and is likely to pick up the Bat-torch where other iconic directors have most certainly dropped it.  His films, such as Memento and his 2006 masterpiece The Prestige have already made a lasting statement as to his quality as a director, and his films rightfully should be eagerly anticipated.

Brimming with anticipation for his second Batman film, Warner Brothers Home Video primes us with a gift package fat with items from the Bat.  The DVD package cleverly comes with a 128 MB flash drive, loaded with 18 images from the forthcoming film The Dark Knight. The flash drive is winningly marked with, what else: the Bat logo.  Also included is a 2 minute DVD with previews of The Dark Knight, a $7.50 coupon off of admission to see the new film at selected theaters, 5 collectible (whatever that means) postcards and the ever-popular 21^st century standard: lenticular art on the cover of the DVD package.  (Remember when lenticular items actually meant something?…neither do I.)   The entire package is actually quite fun, especially since I had yet to add Batman Begins to my Home Video Library.   Why not add it to your collection with all the bells and whistles attached?

The most important part of the package is the DVD 2-disc set, which may or may not contain the same materials as the standard DVD 2-disc release, and as I mentioned I had not owned the previous versions, so I am clueless as to the uniqueness of this release.  (Note: this is in fact the previously offered Two-Disc Deluxe Edition, also offered before with a lenticular cover, just with a bunch of extra neat stuff jammed in this time around.)

The bonus features are a-plenty.  This two- disc set contains several featurettes, including:  Batman: the Journey Begins, Shaping Mind and Body: Fighting Style, Gotham City Rises: Production Design, Cape and Cowl: The New Batsuit, Batman- The Tumbler: The New Batmobile, Path to Discovery: Filming in Iceland, Saving Gotham City, Genesis of the Bat, Confidential Files: Character / Weapons Gallery, Still Gallery, Batman Begins Mobile Game, DVD Rom and Web links.  Jeez. “Holy- barrage of bonuses, Batman!”

The Batman Begins behind-the-scenes extras will enhance one’s appreciation of the production.  Nolan and his crew did not take the easy way out producing this film, enduring locations such as Iceland in the freezing cold to capture the “origin of Batman” sequences.  The featurette about building the new Batmobile “The Tumbler” alone made me eager to revisit the film, which I had not seen since the theatrical release.  The Tumbler was one of the first things designed by Nolan and production designer Nathan Crowley while writing the script in Nolan’s garage in LA, an important element the two felt that they needed to convey: the new techno-gritty look which they envisioned for the franchise.  The Tumbler was completely built from scratch and actually performed all of it’s own stunts, including jumps, crashing through cement walls, and being driven up to 100 miles an hour in chase scenes for the film. This is truly one of the most impressive practical aspects created for a Batman production to date, a testament to Nolan’s craft. 

The “Sneak Peak” disc has a trailer for the new film, so don’t rush out and buy this set for this disc.  The set is nice, but don’t bother re-buying this release unless you have not added this film to your collection yet. If you had never gotten around to purchasing Batman Begins, you may now enjoy it in style.  More importantly, this set is the same size as a standard DVD case.  Studios’ Home Video departments seem to have realized that the oversized bonus sets that don’t fit on your DVD shelf were not welcome.