"Batman: Gotham Knight" Feature Talkback (Spoilers)

[MonkeyFunk]

Finally watched it, and I enjoyed it overall. I think Working Through Pain and Crossfire were the weakest - they tried a bit too hard to be clever. When I got to the fight scene at the end of Pain, I couldn't help but think how much better the short would've been if there'd been more of that.

In Darkness Dwells and Deadshot were perfectly solid and stylish superhero yarns, which is all I really hoped for. Field Test and Have I Got blablabla, I think, were the ones that succeeded in combining the best of both worlds - entertaining stories with a bit of thematic weight. Although Field Test kind of threw me for a loop - there's something fundamentally surreal about a bishie Christian Bale with Kevin Conroy's voice.

Three stars. No, wait, three and a half - I mean, this thing had an anime Michael Caine in it.

 

[Comic Book Boy]

WORKING THROUGH PAIN was my favorite. I was pretty happy with GOTHAM KNIGHT except, the HAVE I GOT A STORY FOR YOU idea has already been done too many times. TNBA version of that story was better with the Dick Sprang and Frank Miller versions of Batman.

 

[Nightwing]

Oh, I acknowledged that fact. But for ever BTAS there are two or three Powerpuff Girls.

Powerpuff Girls was a superb kids show! We don't have nearly as many shows like that for kids these days as we did back in the days of Gendy Tartakofski and Craig McCracken! It certainly wasn't BTAS, but since they're completely different shows I don't see that as an insult or compliment to either.

Also someone commented that Anime has higher budgets then western cartoons, which is why anime look better? This is actually not true. They have much lower budgets. The reason why the art looks better is because there is much less animation. Anime has a lot of still frames or just sliding stills to give the illusion of animation.

That may have been me. I don't think the above quoted mechanics of animation are always the case, but according to my point that's irrelevant anyway. I say that sort of thing because I'm jealous of how animation is so strongly an accepted and mainstream part of Japanese General Pop Culture, whereas in America we're still too stupid to be able to think like that. That hinders our animation.

HAVE I GOT A STORY FOR YOU idea has already been done too many times.

I just figured anyone too young to have seen The New Batman/Superman Adventures' "Legends of The Dark Knight" episode would have a unique and unbiased look on the story, with fresh eyes.

 

[Wolf Boy2]

Also someone commented that Anime has higher budgets then western cartoons, which is why anime look better? This is actually not true. They have much lower budgets. The reason why the art looks better is because there is much less animation. Anime has a lot of still frames or just sliding stills to give the illusion of animation.

This really hasn't been true for several years. Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, Fullmetal Alchemist, Death Note, Afro Samurai, Black Lagoon ... the list of shows with full quality animation is staggering. Although Fullmetal Alchemist used some of the cliche "sliding stills" in its comedy moments, but it was intentional and for humorous effect.

The only moment in Gotham Knight where the animation seemed too still was when Bruce was recollecting about his parents murder at the beginning of "Deadshot." Other than that, Gotham Knight was very fluid.

Powerpuff Girls was a superb kids show! We don't have nearly as many shows like that for kids these days as we did back in the days of Gendy Tartakofski and Craig McCracken! It certainly wasn't BTAS, but since they're completely different shows I don't see that as an insult or compliment to either.

Well, back in 2002, I thought it was the pits of crap. The animation was terrible, and I was bitter about losing Fox Kids, Batman Beyond and Transformers:RID. However, whether or not I liked it, Powerpuff Girls and BTAS do represent opposite ends of the superhero animation spectrum. I also compared Pokemon to Death Note as examples of good and bad anime, though I'm sure someone out there thinks Pokemon is the better of the two. It doesn't change the polar differences.

 

[Antiyonder]

I also compared Pokemon to Death Note as examples of good and bad anime, though I'm sure someone out there thinks Pokemon is the better of the two. It doesn't change the polar differences.

Haven't seen enough of Death Note, but just because a show is simple doesn't mean it's bad.

 

[SaBaWoJuLe]

In relation to Gotham Knight; DC Direct is making another statue based on the costumes Batman wears in the film. This time its "Field Test".

http://www.comicbookresources.com/n...ccomics/200811/dcdirect/BMBW_GothKnight_2.jpg

 

[defunctzombie]

In relation to Gotham Knight; DC Direct is making another statue based on the costumes Batman wears in the film. This time its "Field Test".

http://www.comicbookresources.com/n...ccomics/200811/dcdirect/BMBW_GothKnight_2.jpg

The lack of pupils makes him look evil, but other than that it is a nice statue.

 

[Elrohir]

This really hasn't been true for several years. Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, Fullmetal Alchemist, Death Note, Afro Samurai, Black Lagoon ... the list of shows with full quality animation is staggering. Although Fullmetal Alchemist used some of the cliche "sliding stills" in its comedy moments, but it was intentional and for humorous effect.

I'm pretty sure those shows you mentioned got bigger budgets than most shows. They also produce less episodes per season than the lesser quality shows you're probably comparing them to. You mentioned Pokemon and Death Note. Well Death Note is one of those series where they know it's gonna end and the number of episodes they produced is only a little more then half the episodes in a single season of Pokemon. Pokemon is also aimed at a completely different audience and has a completely different animation style. That doesn't mean it's a good show, nor does it mean they should keep producing it this way. It's just the reason as to why they're so different it terms of animation.
It also depends on the particular animation company that handles each episode. This is true of both American animation and Japanese. Most shows that are animated by different studios there are some episodes where the animation looks like it came from a movie, and others that look like trash. It depends on the studio each episode is animated in, which depends on the budget. DTVs are given slightly bigger budgets, and DTVs that coincide with a highly anticipated summer blockbuster even more.

 

[ray243]

Marvel IS making a full-blown anime series already...I hope we get to see a batman anime soon...

 

[SaBaWoJuLe]

I wouldn't mind seeing a Justice League anime. That way, you can get anime versions of everyone. YAY!

 

[Spideyzilla]

This movie was beyond words. Absolutely incredible. 5 stars.

 

[chdr]

According to TVGuide.com, the schedule for October 3 is

9:00 Batman: Gotham Knight
10:30 Naruto



Unfortunately, Toonami will not be with us that week.

 

[lukecage]

i didn't like it.

 

[Donomark]

LOL No way. IMO this is the most violent DTV so far. i can't see how any of the cool scene will stay intact, mainly my favorite "Working Through the Pain"

 

[chdr]

Who knows, CN has been really lenient on content as of late.

 

[creativerealms]

After what happened to Superman Doomsday I don't know. It was weird the Toonami airing of past animated movies (Ultimate Avengers, the animated Hellboys, Stan lee presents) were uncut and then they hacked and slashed Superman/Doomsday not to long ago.

I really don't know.

 

[Racattack!Force]

Wrong, it's airing on Cartoon Network. Toonami...Toonami...is dying tonight.

 

[chdr]

Yes.

It's a shame too, because airing GK would've been an epic goodbye present as well as a good chance to pass the baton to a worthy successor.

 

[Michael24]

Thanks for the heads-up. After watching "Field Test" on Comcast-on-Demand awhile back, I was hesitant to buy GK, so I'll have to catch this to see if it's worth picking up due to the other shorts.

 

[Hanshotfirst1138]

What's happening to Toonami?! Why is it going away? What did I miss?!

After what happened to Superman Doomsday I don't know. It was weird the Toonami airing of past animated movies (Ultimate Avengers, the animated Hellboys, Stan lee presents) were uncut and then they hacked and slashed Superman/Doomsday not to long ago.

I really don't know.

What's "Stan Lee Presents?" Oh, they showed SD? They edited it?