Batman & Robin De-Assified

Wow! Who new there was something enjoyable lurking under that mountain of crap. Very nice cut. However, I will say it’s a very… ODD film to watch. You must have cut at least 70% of the dialogue, because there are loooong strecths where no one speaks at all. This gave me a weird feeling that I was watching some old silent serial. It also made some cuts seem rather abrupt, because it was obviously time for a one-liner and you just moved right along to the next bit of action. Not that either of these things is necessarily bad… just strange.

I’m very impressed that you managed to avoid making Bane look like total shit (he was in an inflatable suit for God’s sake) although that meant you had to cut him out of the third act entirely. In fact, I was shocked when he popped up after the credits, because I had forgotten all about him. You’re clearly right about Uma Thurman’s Ivy. Even with all the trimming you did she’s still absolutely ridiculous in her delivery of every single line. As for Mr. Freeze, I actually think you cut a few to many lines from him. I mean, what’s an Arnold Schwarzenegger performance without terrible one-liner’s?

Overall, I think you did about as much as was possible to save this without turning it into something other than a 90′s Batman movie. Which brings me to my most important point. As I said, watching this made me feel like I was watching a silent serial, and I think that would really be the way for someone to go. Just scrub the rest of the dialogue, desaturate the colors, and throw in some improved dialogue cards. Viola… Best Batman & Robin possible. Anyway, as it stands, 4 stars. You really polished a turd here my friend.

The title alone made me want to see this
All the unnecessary stuff removed actually makes this thing watchable. Amazing that at least an hour of stuff cut was so unnecessary. Still the worst Batman movie ever made, but at least now, when I have the urge to watch all my Batman movies, this will be the one I choose instead of the original B&R.

*This rating was given before reviews were required*

To echo Zarius' comments below, this cut is a valiant effort to make B&R into something watchable, however the excision of Alfred's health decline and some of the primitiveness of the editing techniques hinder the film, making the proceedings into something that doesn't even have the character depth of an episode of the Adam West Batman show (to which B&R is clearly attempting to pay homage).

But having pruned (because... Poison Ivy) the film's twenty-or-so plotlines gives the viewer a little bit better chance to focus on the best performance of the film, which is surprisingly... Arnold Schwarzenegger's Mr. Freeze. Spared of the rapid-fire puns, his character actually has a fairly convincing arc and his mix of kabuki camp and grounded emotions wouldn't have been out of place in one of the earlier Burton-directed entries. (The same cannot be said of Uma Thurman's Poison Ivy, who is a Schumacher creation thru-and-thru. And the less said about Bat-Alicia, the better.)

A serviceable digest version of an overblown disaster, but there's a better edit of this film out there somewhere, waiting to be seen.

I haven't seen the original in years. No real memory of it, even, other than it sucks. This edit improves the suckiness. The movie still sucks, but it is far less painful to watch. No doubt a replacement edit.

The editing is good, and most of it is seamless. As someone mentioned below, a few fades too many. But with the amount of footage removed, this is understandable. Audio-wise I have nothing to add. Solid. The narrative is what it is. Removing an hour's worth made it a bit clearer (!), but a bit rushed. I didn't mind, though, because this movie sucks. Not an easy edit to rate, in other words. Everything greencapt has done is good, but the source is just beyond saving. It sucks, even.

Recommended!