Batman-Online.com

Feature now here
http://www.batman-online.com/features/2012/8/26/cultural-allusions-in-batman-returns

This blog is absolutely superb Silver Nemesis.  I might add some character references I've gleaned form various Making-Of materials shortly but I can't say they'll be up to the same standard as what you've provided here.

Cheers Gobbs! Any contributions would be great. I know there are plenty of things I've overlooked. Hopefully people will keep adding to the list.

One thing I didn't mention were the photos on the wall in Shreck's office showing Max posing with several famous people. It's hard to tell, but I think I spotted Sammy Davis Jr, George Bush Sr and Elvis Presley. I couldn't tell who the other people were.

I also read somewhere that Michelle Pfeiffer based her deep Catwoman voice on Joan Crawford's, but I don't know if there was a specific Crawford-role she was referencing.

My jaw is on the floor. Look at these comparisons!

Absolutely fantastic job, Silver.

Quote from: Silver Nemesis on Sun,  5 Feb  2012, 22:35
One thing I didn't mention were the photos on the wall in Shreck's office showing Max posing with several famous people. It's hard to tell, but I think I spotted Sammy Davis Jr, George Bush Sr and Elvis Presley. I couldn't tell who the other people were.

You're right about Elvis and Sammy Davis Jr, and I'm pretty sure you're right about Bush Sr.  I also spotted 'Mr Freeze' himself, Arnold Schwarzeneggar and I'm pretty sure another heavy-weight Republican, Richard Nixon can be seen posing with Max in one of the pics.  It does seem however, that Max is wearing exactly the same bow-tie and coat in all of those pics.  ;)

Great post. It will be a great feature for the site.

QuoteMy jaw is on the floor. Look at these comparisons!

Absolutely fantastic job, Silver.

Thanks TDK  :). We'll have to make a similar for thread for Batman 89. I thought we should start with Returns though, seeing as it's the 20th anniversary.

QuoteI also spotted 'Mr Freeze' himself, Arnold Schwarzeneggar

Aha! Could this be the earliest appearance of Victor Fries in the movie series? Maybe Fries was conducting research for Shreck Industries' pharmaceutical division when he had his accident...

Quote from: Silver Nemesis on Mon,  6 Feb  2012, 21:02

QuoteI also spotted 'Mr Freeze' himself, Arnold Schwarzeneggar

Aha! Could this be the earliest appearance of Victor Fries in the movie series? Maybe Fries was conducting research for Shreck Industries' pharmaceutical division when he had his accident...

Yes!  It reminds me of B:TAS episode 'Heart of Ice' in which Max Shreck surrogate, Ferris Boyle causes Dr Fries to suffer his cryogenics accident.  One can imagine Shreck funding Fries' research, but cutting corners on lab health and safety to save costs thus leading to Fries becoming 'Mr Freeze'.  Perhaps if Shreck had lived longer, Freeze would have gone after him too, or maybe he ended up killing Chip as revenge on the Shreck family.  It's fun to speculate.

Impressive work.

Maybe it's just me, I always thought Rotwag's haircut and Christopher Walken's wig had a certain similarity.

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On the subject of Sergei Prokofiev, I never realized the influence. One of my all-time favourite scores is heavily inspired by Nevsky so I was pretty familiar with it, but I never got the BR similarity.

Rotwang could well have influenced Max's look. I'm not sure I can think of another well-known character with that distinctive hairstyle. And we know the production team was looking to Metropolis for inspiration, so it's definitely worth adding to the list.

Good to know :) They gave Shreck a really eccentric look, especially when he is contrasted to Wayne's pretty normal appearance (just a business suit) in some daytime scenes when they talk in Shreck's office.

I liked that Bruce and Max (two businessmen) were similar in a sense. Both had secrets. Bruce is Batman, and cannot turn off his objections to the power plant for example. Max is dealing with crime gangs and cannot turn off his defensive attitude towards Wayne's criticism. They reveal their true selves in a sense but both are so concerned about their own issues that they don't seem to realise it. Max represents the culture of spin and cover-up, and Bruce represents the silent majority speaking up and acting when they feel they need to.

The Vertigo comparisons made my eyes widen. Good work!

I wouldn't say I've got the same film buff cred so 99% of that stuff was totally new to me. Good finds!

Really well done!

Now a feature on the site

http://www.batman-online.com/features/2012/8/26/cultural-allusions-in-batman-returns

Good call Paul!  Terrific and thorough post.  The film buff in my blushes--I learned quite a bit in that article.  Beautiful!

I will admit, it's gorgeous to see a film 20 years in age that I have viewed many times (for the lack of better word) renewed again and again! It's the kind of film that just has such a rich textual quality. 

Should have said this earlier, but I wasn't online when it was uploaded. It's an honour being mentioned next to Silver Nemesis in this feature, even though my contribution was less than 1% (the Shreck/Rotwag comparison and nothing else).

The honour is mine, friend. As Superman once said, "We're all part of the same team." Every contribution counts.

There is one more allusion I've thought of. It's so blatantly obvious – and actually derives from one of my favourite movies, which I've seen over six million times – that I'm extremely embarrassed to have overlooked it the first time around. I don't know if it's possible to add it to the feature. But if so, it can go right at the end.

---

The rhyme Selina recites during her confrontation with Shreck is almost identical to the rhyme spoken by Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer) during the finale of Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (1982).


The context is also similar. In both movies the character reciting the rhyme knows they are going to die and is allowing their opponent to inflict injuries on them as they count down to their own attack.

:)

This was a pretty rad feature, I enjoyed it quite a bit!

Quote from: Silver Nemesis on Wed,  3 Oct  2012, 21:49
The rhyme Selina recites during her confrontation with Shreck is almost identical to the rhyme spoken by Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer) during the finale of Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (1982).

QuoteRoy:
"Four, five. How to stay alive. Six, seven. Go to hell, go to heaven."

QuoteSelina:
"Four, five. Still alive. Six, seven. All good girls go to heaven."

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Wow.  My hats off to you on this one.  Blade Runner is in my top 10 favourite films, and I never noticed that before!

From Chapter 3 of Moonraker (1955) by Ian Fleming.

QuoteStartled at the great crimson words, Bond pulled in to the curb, got out of the car and crossed to the other side of the street to get a better view of the big skysign.
   Ah! That was it. Some of the letters had been hidden by a neighbouring building. It was only one of those Shell advertisements. 'SUMMER SHELL IS HERE' was what it said.
   Bond smiled to himself and walked back to his car and drove on.
   When he had first seen the sign, half-hidden by the building, great crimson letters across the evening sky had flashed a different message.
   They had said: 'HELL IS HERE... HELL IS HERE... HELL IS HERE...'

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Whatever we're paying this guy, double it.

And if he's not being paid at all, that's a source of great shame and needs to be remedied.

Wow SN!

It's interesting how all the James Bond connections in Batman Returns relate to the Roger Moore version. Obviously that Moonraker connection concerns the novel, not the movie (and the movie has practically nothing to do with the book). But even so, Moore starred in the Moonraker film.

Moore also starred in Octopussy, which features a moment where 007 draws a blade out of a sword swallower's mouth, like Batman does when fighting the Red Triangle Gang.


Then there's the fact Christopher Walken played Zorin in A View to a Kill, Moore's final outing as James Bond. And what was Zorin's first name?

Max.

Somehow I had never read this until now. That was wonderful, amazing work Silver.

Thanks, Catwoman. I'm glad to hear people still find this topic interesting.