Batman: Mask of the Phantasm - Nostalgia Critic 

Love Doug Walker 💯💯👍

Hey Doug, how about for May you review some of the Direct to DVD Animated Batman Films to coincide with Bat-May?

Could you review the Good the Bad and the Ugly soon.

Please review sonic the hedgehog 2020 the movie is few days away

Since No Way Home is out and deals very well with nostalgia, how about an NC review?

One of the biggest parts of our childhood. We hope he rests in peace. R.I.P

rip Kevin Conroy,even though you're gone,you will be not forgotten😢

It's so sad, it sucks to lose someone so talented like that. Rip batman

Joker: without Batman crime has no punchline.

Also rip any chances of Mark Hamill of coming back as the Joker

Don't forget Jason David Frank being the best Power Rangers ever.

He's not gone. He just activated the Knightfall Protocol.

I love the interview he did years ago talking about how he came up with the laugh. Specifically how it changes. Most people always do the "ha ha ha" laugh but Hamill said that if you look at the way it is done in the comics, that's not the case. Joker tends to cycle through a bunch of "haha, hoho, hehes" in his laugh, always changing it up. It was something he wanted to represent with his voicework here, coming up with a bunch of variations of the laugh to use in different situations.

The Woody woodpecker laugh gets me everytime

He is the best joker for that exact reason.

He’s also mentioned that he was inspired by, and took advice from, Frank Gorshin, who played a very energetic laughing Riddler in the 60’s Adam West series. When he asked him how he got his laugh so good and versatile for so many scenes and situations, Frank apparently told him that it’s not just the Riddler laughing, it’s what he’s laughing at. He took that to heart with the Jokers laugh, and it really shows through his entire career playing the Joker. Very, _very_ few times are any of Mark Hamill’s Joker laughs the same, they rarely ever reuse them. He forges a new laugh for every scene he needs it, having the mindset of how the Joker would find this new situation hilarious.

@@IBrowneeI and since we’re on the subject, did you know Frank Gorshin came back in a later Batman property to play Professor Hugo Strange?

I honestly didn’t even notice when first seeing the movie. I wonder if that was an accident slip by Mark or intentional; doesn’t honestly matter as it’s fun to notice now 😆

Well I hate to break it to you but if you do all those things just because you aren't clinically insane doesn't mean you have no problems with your sanity, because you are indeed, insane.

I thought the opposite. That it was Joker slipping back into Jack Napier just for dramatic effect. He's been shown doing similar in other media.

@@SingeScorcher ultimately this is Paul Dini's version of Joker. So this is the origin according to him. It fits right into the Animated Series lore. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-27hhPbYKNfo.html

@@LucyLioness100 I didn't notice it till years later. Among my friends I was late to the party, they say they noticed it in the theaters. I kind of believe them.

Agreed. I think another reason the scene is the best is that moments hesitation before Bruce puts on the mask. He knows it’s the point of no return. He knows how important the decision is. But he puts on the mask and embraces his destiny.

It's the best bat movie, because it's, unlike the dark Knight, a movie about batman to its core. The last scene is everything!

Dude, im 26 now, and my parents got the vhs of this from family video when I was 8. I can honestly say it made me feel emotions I'd never had before. I rewound to the first suit-up scene so many times. btw, My parents didn't get a DVD player until 2006, and even then, they didn't fase out VHS tapes completely until around 2010. 😂

Probably because with animation you can make the grins look more extreme and exaggerated than you're really able to do in live action.

@@DanielAlves-xe4om exactly

Oh that’s really cool

Alfred I think is the only one Bruce will fear. The animated series Alfred to me will always be the best. Hell in one episode Alfred made Bruce chicken soup. He's the father Bruce still needed and keeps the whole Bat family together.

@@yoda908 Thats why DC can never apalogize for KILLING Alfred in the Tom King Run

@@yoda908 Definitely agree, except for the fear part (Alfred is Bruce's surrogate father, and their familial love is one of the sweetest parts of the Batman mythos)! I'd argue that if Alfred had been a superhero instead of Bruce, he would have been way more terrifying to the criminals and civilians in Gotham, probably up there with Thomas Wayne levels (from that one alternative universe when Thomas was Batman instead and Martha Wayne became Joker). Alfred probably would have been the most effective killer too, since he had the most training from his veteran days. Gotham is fortunate that Bruce is the one wearing the cowl... 0_0

Exactly how I felt when he said that!!

specially after the oscars admited that animation is just enjoyment for kids that has some value for adults, thats why they always give the award to disney films and not indie films like persepolis, mary and max, anomalisa, or wasn't distributed by a high company, movies like your name and a silent voice were distributed by funanimation, unlike the ghibli films that were distribute by disney.

@@motor4X4kombat Which is ironic since, iirc, they only added "Best Animated Picture" as a nomination category...because of Shrek...a DreamWorks Picture...which only exist because of people who left Disney and wanted to be anything BUT Disney, so they made a film that was the opposite of a typical Disney flick. X3

I think the perception of animation being for kids is a problem with the industry itself. The LARGE majority of animated films produced in North America are made for family audiences, and there are almost never high quality animated productions made for adults. The industry needs to start taking risks and investing in adult animation to change this view, but since family films are so profitable that risk is less likely to be made.

@@blossomingbeelzebub well said.

Yeah mark makes a great joker. I especially liked him in the arkham games especially the last one where he kinda haunts batman

Cool

And Conroy is the one true Batman

Me too.

It sounds like he also did it when he said "Bruce" in his monolog to Batman in Batman Beyond:Return of the Joker

Last year, the Phantasm also had a small role in _"Batman: Reptilian"_ by Garth Ennis. It's a *very* strange miniseries, but I loved it.

@@randallflagg3700 She was in Reptilian? I've read that book and I don't recall her being in that.

That's rough.

Is that actually what they said verbatim? Because I looked it up and all I saw was them mentioning that some children watch these movies over and over again and then said "I see some of you parents know what I'm talking about". I just can't fathom why at an award for animation they would bash it especially when their jobs came from films inspired by animated movies.

And Guillermo Del Toro and Hayao Miyazaki is like, "No it's not"

f##k yeah!

And it's intwined with the Joker too which is awesome

I never saw her as a villainess!

@@nicktechnubyte1184 yeah she's more of an anti-villian

Me too.

She also ends up sparring the lives of McGinnis' which allowed Terry to grow up and have a normal childhood, as well as lead to the McGinnis' having a second child (who due to Waller's alterations to the reproductive DNA of Mr. McGinnis, is also inadvertently the biological child of Bruce). Though Terry ultimately ended up becoming Batman Beyond due to Mr. Power (the future villain Blight) having his father killed, it was better that way as Terry ultimately chose to take on the mantle of Batman with Bruce's approval. Additionally had Andrea gone through with it, there is no way of telling how Terry might have reacted were he to discover the truth of Amanda Waller's role in Project Batman Beyond.

agreed

@@RaphBlade7 don't forget that in the Batman Beyond comics said second child ends up becoming Robin

Ledger’s Joker? Scary? Can’t be because of his lame makeup.

@@Rgoid He was more disturbing than scary.

Why i always feel joker real name was "jack" (connection with poker card jack and joker) despite his real name is unknown?

That’s a mighty bold statement my guy.. but not one I can wholeheartedly disagree with! 😅

@@1406-u7q His name was Jack Napier in Batman '89 (where he was played by Jack Nicholson, so that's 2 Jacks for the price of one)

Can someone explain that joke

Nnnnnnnnnnn ooooo

@@Winchesterfilmmaker It sounded like the black girl said "N word" when she said "M word" referring to marriage.

What's "the M word", the only one I can think of in this context is indeed "marriage"...?

@@ewormXD Remember what letter sounds very similar to M, and remember that the lady saying it is black...

@@Gabri_Lovecraft Exactly! Glad I’m not the only one who thought she said the other letter.

I think its cannon that Joker will give anything that isn't harley attention

@@alchemistofsteel8099 What an A-hole 😆

Yeah I'd have to disagree with you there. Hard to beat ledgers joker.

ANIMATION IS FOR EVERYONE

@@johncole4183 please, Heath was decent, people act like his performance which was bland is untouchable... Decent at best. He actually made the Joker look like any thug with extremely good luck could just put on some make up and act crazy. People just give him more credit because it was his last role. They did the same with Paul Walker, but I remind you that before he passed, Paul made it on every single terrible actor list yet people still think of him as a good actor. Heath could of put more into the role. He locked himself in a hotel for a month yet none of that transfered well in his role

If they could somehow get Mark Hamill to voice The Joker for a live-action version (not play, just voice), that would be awesome!

@@GCT1990 u the only one who thinks that

In other news; water, wet 😉😁😎

Well Bruce does dress like a bat and regularly jumps off rooftops……

Takes one to know one

not really underrated tho, just about every batman/comic fan knows this is one of the best superhero movies ever made

It’s the best Batman movie to date

@@chasehedges6775 true

Underrated every Batman fan talks about this movie

@@sinCorazon1980 underrated at the time. But over the years more and more people have come to know and love it

I actually found one in a Barnes and Noble 3 or 4 years ago. I bought it immediately because this is just too good. My wife who never saw it thought it was gonna be kiddy, but was impressed with it when she watched it with me.

I just got this from blu ray disc few years ago.

It's the best bat movie, because it's, unlike the dark Knight, a movie about batman to its core. The last scene is everything!

When I read Batman comics, it's their voices that instantly pop into my head.

Indeed.

I love Year One as well as the ones you mentione. It was an amazing film honestly

This, Red Hood and Long Halloween all the way friends 😎 🦇

Don't forget Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker.

@@o0cacoto0o Year One is second only to Phantasm in my mind.

Flashpoint Paradox owns all.

Ditto!!

I also liked how in the background of Reeve's Bat-Bashing speech, Harvey tries to draw attention away from himself by pulling his coat over his face when Reeves implies police agreeing with him about Batman being a lunatic. Even better when Gordon scowls at him, knowing full well it was him that Reeves was talking about when he said that.

Love to hear about some behind-the-scenes fun

That's actually not *quite* accurate. According to writer Alan Burnett (and co-creator of Phantasm), Andrea Beaumont was named after his daughter. I think the Andrea Romano connection was more of a happy in-house coincidence. :)

tbf that's kind of what you should do when a movie bombs at the Box Office.

Glad you like them!

Now I'm reminded of what Batman told Owlman in Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths: "We both stared into the abyss. The main difference between us is, you blinked."

@@louisduarte8763 Was about to comment the same. Not near the cinematic greatness of this film, but that was one hell of a Batman one liner.

And, I remember watching the 25th anniversary from Batman mask of the phantasm at the theaters 4 years ago.

Mark Hamill as live action joker missed opportunity.

SO HE SOLD HIM TO THE MOB!!!!!

I also went to see this during the 1993 holiday season. I never would have guessed who the Phantasm really was; I was completely credulous when Andrea "revealed" that it was her father (oh, and good on them for giving the Phantasm Stacy Keach's voice instead of Dana Delany's!). The embarrassing thing is, I was already a (young) teenager by that time. But what can I say? I could be unbelievably naive back then.

Yesss we stan Tamara, our queen

Tom King did that last year with Batman/Catwoman but….don’t read it she’s brushed aside halfway through the mini series.

The Phantasm also shows up in *Justice League Unlimited* , in the last episode of season 2. And she had a small role last year in "Batman: Reptilian" by Garth Ennis (a very strange miniseries, but I had a blast following it month after month)

@@randallflagg3700 so how did ennish shit on another superhero this time

@@nilaysharma5261 - He didn't... people need to give this "all Ennis does is shit on superheroes" meme a break. It's a story about... well, it's complicated, it's one of those were if you start explaining then you spoil major surprises. Gee, now I want to read it again, it's a funny one but also pretty morbid...

It was okay.

@@alexgomez6723 agree to disagree i guess 🤷‍♂️

@The Eye Creature Wow, you summed it up far better than I was able to. And yes, I just wasn’t sure where all the praise was coming from first time I saw this. People not only praised this as one of the finest Batman experiences ever, but as one the best animated films ever made. While it probably was more refreshing in comparison to its more family friendly competition at the time, on its own, it wasn’t really anything that special. The reveal to the identity of The Phantasm was underwhelming, the “deep secret” to Batman’s past amounted to nothing more than a long distance relationship, and the whole thing ended with another “stop the Joker’s plan” type climax that we have seen thousands of times. I feel like people may have been clouded by the hard on they have for the animated series, praising anything at least adequately watchable from it, that’s the only reason I think fanboys think so highly of Phantasm, even though it’s hardly anything more than a padded out C-tier BTAS episode.

@The Eye Creature to me its just a fun, really well made movie. Doesn't matter if the 'twist' is predictable. For a movie thats only an hour long, theres so much great content. Interesting to see some negative opinions on it though. Also it WAS a direct to dvd release that was changed to be a theatrical release because the studio saw how high quality it was, so its a film made with a smaller budget than most theatrical animated releases.

@@alexgomez6723 People think highly of this movie for multiple reasons, none of which are hard to see at all… It was praised for its storytelling, its noir style, its soundtrack, its voice acting, its humour, its emotional moments & its action sequences. There is not a single aspect of this movie that you have to like at all, and it's perfectly fine to disagree with the praise for it, but dismissing it as a mere case of fanboyism is completely stupid. It's also quite blatantly incorrect given that actual professional critics have praised the movie as well & not just zealous Batman fans. Most of your criticisms just boil down to "the movie just does not interest me", because otherwise they don't hold up at all in a critical sense. Bruce's conflict between his relationship with Andrea and his commitment to being Batman brilliantly portrays how deep-rooted his trauma is and how it gets in the way of him forging relationships and overall finding happiness. If you're not interested in all that or feel that it was done poorly, it's all fine. If you're actually interested in the Batman mythos, however, then brushing the movie's insight into Batman's inner conflict as "nothing more than a long distance relationship" is a prime example of oversimplification. It's a terrible way to assess a subject because it completely disregards its nuances. You could pick any aspect from any content and oversimplify it to make it appear flat and uninteresting. It's lazy and disingenuous. And superhero media is clearly not for you at all if you're gonna complain about a superhero story which heavily involves its most iconic supervillain ending in a climactic battle against said iconic supervillain. That has always been and will always be part of the superhero formula. That does not make it inherently a bad thing because it can be done right. If you feel like the movie's climax was done poorly in terms of the actual quality of how it was made, then I respect that (although I disagree). If you dislike it specifically because it adheres to a superhero formula then I don't know what did you expect at all if you're into superhero content…

Is that why it took so long?

@@gageperuti5519 yes

It truly really did also kind of glad they left that in

They had copyright issues for this opening?

@@gianinabadami5341 no for the movie clips. They posted a message explaining why it was being delayed earlier. I found the opening ironic because the Phantasm keeps going on about making Critics life difficult etc.

Dude, look up the "Justice League Action Mark Hamill" video. On the whole that show is a little too chipper for my tastes but that episode is great.

That laugh was actually from the Batman/Superman crossover "World's Finest". It's another "laughing in the face of death" laugh. He seems to really get a kick out of being the engineer of his own demise. The irony just tickles him.

@@Bluesit32 I hate that when I hear 'Batman/Superman' I can now only ever associate it with the 'Dawn of Justice' movie

Me too.