Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Directors:

Eric Radomski
Bruce W. Timm

Writers:

Alan Burnett (screenplay)
Alan Burnett (story)

Release Date:

25 December 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Action | Crime | Mystery | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

The Dark Knight fights to save Gotham city from its deadliest enemy.

Plot:

Batman is wrongly implicated in a series of murders of mob bosses actually done by a new vigilante assassin.

Plot Keywords:

Gotham | Murder | Vigilante | Tragic Villain | Box Office Flop

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Kevin Conroy	...	Bruce Wayne / Batman (voice)
Dana Delany	...	Andrea 'Andi' Beaumont / The Phantasm (voice)
Hart Bochner	...	City Councilman Arthur Reeves (voice)
Stacy Keach	...	Carl Beaumont, Voice of The Phantasm (voice)
Abe Vigoda	...	Salvatore 'Sal the Wheezer' Valestra (voice)
Dick Miller	...	Charles 'Chuckie' Sol (voice)
John P. Ryan	...	'Buzz' Bronski (voice)
Efrem Zimbalist Jr.	...	Alfred Pennyworth (voice)
Bob Hastings	...	Commissioner Jim Gordon (voice)
Robert Costanzo	...	Detective Harvey Bullock (voice)
Mark Hamill	...	The Joker (voice)
Marilu Henner	...	Veronica Vreeland (voice)
Jeff Bennett	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Jane Downs	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Ed Gilbert	...	Additional Voices (voice)

Also Known As:

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm: The Animated Movie (USA) (promotional title)
Batman: The Animated Movie
Batman: The Animated Movie - Mask of the Phantasm (USA) (promotional title)
Mask of the Phantasm: Batman the Animated Movie (USA) (poster title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for animated violence.

Runtime:

76 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Brazil:Livre | Singapore:NC-16 (Violence) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Germany:12 | Germany:6 | Finland:K-3 | Finland:S | Greece:K | Australia:PG | Canada:PG | UK:PG | USA:PG | Iceland:12

Company:

Warner Bros. Animation

Trivia:

Andrea Beaumont was allegedly named after casting and vocal supervisor Andrea Romano, whom star Kevin Conroy occasionally teased.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: After Batman has left Andrea's apartment she drops a glass. We hear the sound of the glass shattering, but when the camera zooms out we see the glass is still in one piece.

Quotes:

Andrea Beaumont: What's that you're practicing?
Bruce Wayne: Jujitsu.
Andrea Beaumont: Gesundheit... That was a joke.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in The Face of Joe the Killer (2005) (V)

Soundtrack:

I Never Even Told You

Along with Tim Burton's Batman Returns the best Batman movie to date.

This is easily the best interpretation of Batman I have seen in animated form, and along with Tim Burton's sometimes unfairly maligned 'Batman Returns', the best Batman movie to date. There has been a lot of speculation in recent years about movie versions of Frank Miller's 'The Dark Knight Returns' and/or 'Batman: Year One' (the latter being an obvious inspiration for 'Mask Of The Phantasm'), I just hope that if either eventually get made they are as good as this. The popular 1960s campy TV series was an absolute hoot, but unfortunately has permanently coloured a lot of people's expectations of Batman, a character generally a lot darker and more twisted than most people expect. The animation in this movie is excellent, the script isn't a masterpiece but it's very good, and the actors involved include some great talents like Stacy Keach ('The Ninth Configuration'), 'Star Wars' Mark Hamill (as The Joker), John P. Ryan ('Runaway Train'), and Roger Corman legend Dick Miller ('A Bucket Of Blood'). I think most fans of Batman in any of his comic book incarnations over the years will enjoy this one a lot. It's first rate.