Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Directors:

Eric Radomski
Bruce W. Timm

Writers:

Alan Burnett (screenplay)
Alan Burnett (story)

Release Date:

25 December 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Action | Crime | Family | Mystery | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

The Dark Knight fights to save Gotham city from its deadliest enemy.

Plot:

Batman is wrongly implicated in a series of murders of mob bosses actually done by a new vigilante assassin.

Plot Keywords:

Gotham | Vigilante | Murder | Good Versus Evil | Anger

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Kevin Conroy	...	Bruce Wayne / Batman (voice)
Dana Delany	...	Andrea 'Andi' Beaumont / The Phantasm (voice)
Hart Bochner	...	City Councilman Arthur Reeves (voice)
Stacy Keach	...	Carl Beaumont, Voice of The Phantasm (voice)
Abe Vigoda	...	Salvatore 'Sal the Wheezer' Valestra (voice)
Dick Miller	...	Charles 'Chuckie' Sol (voice)
John P. Ryan	...	'Buzz' Bronski (voice)
Efrem Zimbalist Jr.	...	Alfred Pennyworth (voice)
Bob Hastings	...	Commissioner Jim Gordon (voice)
Robert Costanzo	...	Detective Harvey Bullock (voice)
Mark Hamill	...	The Joker (voice)
Marilu Henner	...	Veronica Vreeland (voice)
Jeff Bennett	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Jane Downs	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Ed Gilbert	...	Additional Voices (voice)

Also Known As:

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm: The Animated Movie (USA) (promotional title)
Batman: The Animated Movie
Batman: The Animated Movie - Mask of the Phantasm (USA) (promotional title)
Mask of the Phantasm: Batman the Animated Movie (USA) (poster title)
Batman - I skia tou fantasmatos (Greece) (TV title) [el]
Batman - Mustan kostajan paluu (Finland) [fi]
Batman contre le fantôme masqué (Luxembourg: French title) (TV title) [fr]
Batman möter mörkrets härskare (Sweden) [sv]
Batman und das Phantom (Germany) [de]
Batman, la vengeance du fantôme (France) (video title) [fr]
Batman: A Máscara do Fantasma (Portugal) [pt]
Batman: I maska tou fantasmatos (Greece) (DVD title) [el]
Batman: La máscara del fantasma (Spain) [es]
Batman: Máscara do Fantasma (Brazil) [pt]

MPAA:

Rated PG for animated violence.

Runtime:

76 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Brazil:Livre | Singapore:NC-16 (Violence) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Germany:12 | Germany:6 | Finland:K-3 | Finland:S | Greece:K | Australia:PG | Canada:PG | UK:PG | USA:PG | Iceland:12

Company:

Warner Bros. Animation

Trivia:

The computer generated version of Gotham City seen in the opening credits was originally designed to be used in the TV show. The purpose was to create a "virtual set" to replace hand-painted backgrounds and help speed up production of the series. It was never used for that purpose.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: After Batman has left Andrea's apartment she drops a glass. We hear the sound of the glass shattering, but when the camera zooms out we see the glass is still in one piece.

Quotes:

The Joker: [when Batman picks up the phone in Andrea's apartment] Hello, anybody home? Listen, boopsie, even though you never call and never write, I still got a soft spot for you. So I'm sending you a fun gift, airmail! And there's no use jumping out the window this time, toots...
[Batman looks out the window and sees a toy Joker plane flying in carrying a bomb]
The Joker: The plane of the future is going to make you history!
[Batman throws a Batarang, exploding the bomb outside the window; the blast knocks him back against the wall, and the phone is left dangling]
[...]

Movie Connections:

References Rupan sansei: Kariosutoro no shiro (1979)

Soundtrack:

I Never Even Told You

An absolute classic, the best Batman movie so far

Out of all the Batman films so far, including all the live action films, this one is still the only one to really explore the character of Bruce Wayne/Batman and examine what drove him to becoming Batman.

It has a great story that flashes back to just before Bruce took up the mantle of the bat and the woman he was involved with at the time, then skips forward to an unknown assassin killing Gotham City's mobsters, and we see how the 2 story's meet. The writing is top-notch, in no-way predictable and the voice acting by Kevin Conroy as Batman and Mark Hamill as the Joker truly amazing and bone-chillingly scary.

The only complaints is that the animation could have been better at some points, but that is because it was originally meant to be a straight to video release before Warner's saw what a masterpiece they had created, and also it should have run for a little bit longer, but oh well. If you haven't yet seen it i highly recommend it.