You've all reviewed the Wrong Movie! This is the 1940s one!

There are 2 COMPLETELY different Batman & Robins on Epinions--the miserable work of crapulence that gave Schwarzenegger top billing in a Batman movie (hisssss) AND *THIS* one, which is a collection of 15 episodes of a 1940s Serial Film that was "Batman and Robin".

I've seen the Serial, and by 1940s standards, it's pretty okay, but not as good as Flash Gordon or even Superman or Captain Marvel. The only really good thing this has going for it is that it's one of the first filmed versions of Batman (I think there was one other serial before this, with Batman alone), and it's a treat historically to see this interpretation of some of your favorite characters.

The best way to watch this is to break it up into a few chapters at a time--don't try to watch the entire 2+ hours at once like I did--the format wears pretty thin when you see all 14 cliffhangers in on sitting. Watch maybe three episodes at a time over the course of a week or so, and it's pretty entertaining.

What's Good?

Hummmmm. Gosh. The main villain is called "The Wizard", and he's a sort of mad scientist/magician with plans of taking over the world. He'd be a great villain if we didn't already know about Batman's Rogues Gallery, the best in all of comic-dom (sorry, Spidey). I mean, The Wizard has some good things going for him, but he's nothing compared to Joker, Catwoman, Penguin, Two-Face, Scarecrow....all of which had already been created by the time these serials were made. A 1940s version of the Joker would have been AWESOME. As it is we get a pretty generic villain, but he's pretty good against a generic Batman.

The Batman and Robin Costumes are both faithful to the comics, but you can see how ill-fitting the masks are--Batman's is on sideways about half the time, and the tights....mmm-boy. Makes you appreciate Schumacher. Which is something I thought I'd never say.

The action sequences are well plotted out, and so are the cliffhangers; Batman and Robin are put in danger as often as they were on the 60's TV Show (every episode) but manage to get out every time.

What's Not So Good?

Well, I already complained a little about the villain; he also has a bunch of inept henchmen, who are menacing, but not much of a threat really.

Batman is well-cast with a bland whitebread kinda guy (don't remember his name, sorry), but Robin is almost as old as he is, but a little bit shorter and with curly hair, so you know he's a "youth". I'm not sure why they cast him that way, except that he'd be more able to do stunts; it's just not faithful to that era's comics to have a barrel-chested Robin who's able to kick bad guy butt as well as his mentor.

There's no Batmobile, and few bat-gadgets; they drive around in the same kinda car everyone else does. These were definitely done on a limited budget, and it shows. Painfully.

If you're looking for some high-quality vintage superhero stuff, here are a few recommendations:

1) Superman VS the Mole Men : A better serial than this, it has the same flavor of high adventure, but with a better budget, better villains, and better writers. I've seen it in video stores and places like Media Play--you're more likely to find this than the Batman and Robin one.

2) Classic Fleischer Superman Cartoons : Also from the 1940s, these are full-color cartoons that have Superman fighting the Nazis and Japanese and all sorts of domestic threats. Beautifully done, these give us a wonderful Clark Kent, Superman, and Lois Lane, and are true classics. If you have a DVD player, you can get all of the episodes on one disc--I saw it at Media Play last week, and may pick it up if my wife doesn't kill me. Don't read this, honey...

3) Superman, Batman, and Robin Radio Shows : These are available on a 5-CD boxed set, and it's a great collection of classic Radio. Batman and Robin guest-starred on the Superman Radio Show a few times, and the Radio Show was much more innovative than the Serials were. Some of the things that appeared first on the Radio Show were Kryptonite and the Batcave--I've seen a list somewhere, can't remember now where, but there were about ten iconic items that got their start there. Things we take for granted now (Kryptonite) got their start on radio first. It's a great way to stretch your imagination--pick it up at Borders or your local library.