Someone’s re-edited Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman movie as a silent film…and it’s still pretty awesome. In fact, it may be even better.
I’m always a sucker for new takes on well known properties with a good artsy spin on it. I’m sure no one remembers when the internet stacked Star Wars Episodes I through VI on top of each other making a literal mash up of all the Star Wars films as one beautiful chaotic assault to the senses. I saved that movie onto a flash drive I still have. I played it all the time. Undoubtedly this would fit well within my cabinet of pop culture curiosities.
I first heard about this via Polygon.com where they reported, “someone went and re-edited Burton’s gothic superhero opus into a silent movie, complete with color-tinted cels, artificial film grain, and stylized intertitles. And wouldn’t you know it — it’s still fantastic.” And they’re not wrong. It is fantastic.
Ben Crew, a Chicago-based documentary filmmaker who went viral last year for his fan-made script “Muppets Present The Great Gatsby” last year, is the man behind the re-edit. “I’ve always been a big fan of Batman and of Burton, his movie Ed Wood is my favorite film of all time,” Crew told Polygon over email. “I love films that inspire you to seek out other films and Tim Burton’s Batman was that for me. Before I even knew how to use editing software, I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool to watch Batman as a silent film?’”
Polygon.com
No disrespect to Michael Keaton or Jack Nicholson here, but in the silent film the real star is Danny Elfman’s score. “I believe that Batmanand Batman Returns are two of the greatest film scores of all time,” Crew told Polygon. “This edit works so well because it allows you to experience Elfman’s genius without any words or sounds over it. Too many scores today just serve as background noise. Every note of this score is precise and timed exactly to compliment the action and characters. The visuals and music serve each other in the most beautiful way.”
My wife and I recently watched a very early film adaptation of Robin Hood, the 1922 version with Douglas Fairbanks. As a result I noticed how the treatment and presentation of Batman here is on par with that film. Meaning, Crew really did his homework when it came to adapting a 1989 film to a 1920’s one. The film grain, the colored cels, the transitions, all are spot on.
Much of the delight out of this is just seeing a well known film in a new light. It’s the same as making something new again. This ‘silent film’ treatment is a Batman movie I’d sit down and watch all over again. My wife often says things like, I wish I could read Harry Potter over again for the first time. It’s sort of lament-a wish to recapture that feeling of something new and magical and inspiring. With this new Batman re-edit, Ben Crew has done exactly that.
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