Just as its television counterpart, Batman's big screen debut was portrayed by Adam West in the summer hit Batman: The Movie. Unlike the typical format, it was the success of the Batman television series that opened the doors for a full length film, and although Batman: The Movie achieved success, it was the TV show that supported it.

After the comic book character had gone through dramatic changes in bringing him back to his darker roots, it was Batman's time to be reintroduced to the mainstream. With strong inspiration from Frank Miller's Batman: Year One and Batman: Dark Knight Returns, director Tim Burton took the helm in creating the Batman of a new era. With the unpredictable casting of Michael Keaton as Batman and Jack Nicholson as The Joker, Batman was 1989's biggest success, instrumental in bringing Batman back in the spotlight, and beginning a new series Batman films.

After Burton's highly acclaimed Batman came the 1992 sequel, Batman Returns. Going down an even darker, more Gothic styled path, the film featured villians Danny Devito as The Penguin and Michelle Pfieffer as Catwoman and was overall recieved well by fans. It was when Burton gave the reigns to friend Joel Schumacher that things started shifting.

Going for a more lightened, "comic book" feel, director Joel Schumacher recasted Val Kilmer as Batman and introduced Chris O'Donnel as Robin in Batman Forever. While this 1995 film achieved better success than its '92 precessor, it featured an oddly portrayed cast of Tommy Lee Jones as Two-Face and comedian Jim Carrey as The Riddler. Batman Forever was soon after followed by the campier Batman & Robin, featuring even more of Hollywood's biggest stars and yet another Batman by George Clooney. With it's minimal success, this marked the end of the Batman film series.

After the 1997 failure, the only Batman films produced were animated series Direct-to-Videos. While many of which went over well with fans, it wasn't until Christopher Nolan and David Goyer came together that the greatest Batman film to date would be produced. With Christian Bale as Batman, as well as many other perfectly casted roles, 2005's Batman Begins created what is widely considered the character's deepest, most comic accurate telling ever seen on the big screen. And as all indications point, Nolan's masterpiece is just the beginning of what's to come.

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