Batman B+, A

US/1989/Color/Widescreen, Anamorphic 1.85:1/Stereo Surround, DD/126 minutes/Directed by Tim Burton/Starring Michael Keaton, Jack nicholson/Warner/31 Chaps/$24.95 

 The shadowy  world of the dark knight is a perfect marriage for the clarity of DVD. Director Tim Burton’s malevolent comic book portrait comes to brilliant life in Batman.  This first new vision of Batman is by far the best. The imaginative set designs of Anton Furst, the haunting music of Danny Elfman and the roving camera of Roger Pratt come together brilliantly under Burton’s eccentric eye. 
 The visual highlight of the Batman DVD has to be the scenes in which the Joker defaces the artworks of Gotham Museum.  While this outrageous defilement borders on disgusting, the colors of paint splattered over the artworks are dynamically realized on DVD. The Joker himself is wonderful visually in green face with bloody red lips. Batman’s  black body suit of armor never showed off the contours as well.  
 Elfman’s combines splendidly with the surround information for an exciting soundtrack. Batman’s images are as sharp as can been and free of any obvious artifacts. Shadow detail reveals every nuance of Tim Burton’s twisted perspective.  
 Anamorphic DVD is simply splendid. Batman is an example of a film where every bit of detail is significant. It’s a great shame that movie studios are not delivering every widescreen movie anamorphic. It appears that this is an economic consideration. They simply do not want to make another transfer for a film already in the can.