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Nearly 50 years after the television series, Adam West today (5th April 2012)  finally gets his recognition for his unique and classic portrayal of Batman during the 1960′s, with a spot on the world renowed Hollywood “Walk of Fame”.

Adam who is now 83 was awarded with the 2,468th star, he was joined by Family Guy producer Seth McFarlane and radio DJ Ralph Garman. Unfortunately his on-screen sidekick Robin played by Burt Ward could not make the event.

Hollywood Chamber of Commerce President Leron Gubler said; “We are thrilled to honor Adam with this prestigious award. Fans have been waiting for this special day for many years. Adam West fired up the billion dollar Batman franchise: the golden years and the classic Batman, the Bright Knight. He deserves his place of honour on our famed Walk of Fame.”

All I have to say is a massive congratulations to Adam West for a well deserved honour for which I am surprised he has not been awarded with before. You are a true TV icon, a true TV legend!

(Spoilers)

For those who haven’t seen it, the prologue is basically a stunning set piece that serves as an introduction to Bane as our new villain. A scientist (Dr. Pavel for those who are following the TDKR’s viral campaign) is being handed over to CIA custody/protection, along with 3 hooded prisoners who we are told were caught trying to kidnap Dr. Pavel, and work for “the masked man”. Once the plane is airborne, CIA agent Tommy Carcetti begins interrogating the prisoners about Bane. After faking an execution on the first prisoner, the third hooded man speaks. Its Bane, (but come on, you already knew that) who announces his plan is to crash the plane, leaving no survivors. What follows is a rather incredible heist sequence wherein Bane, aided by anotheraircraft (and guys who can only be from The League Of Shadows) tears the CIA plane apart, plants a decoy scientist corpse, and escapes with Dr. Pavel.

Like the beginning of The Dark Knight, the purpose of TDKR’s first 6 minutes is to introduce us to our primary villain, Bane. The Joker’s grand entrance was of course a stunning, ‘Heat’ influenced bank heist that perfectly established the villain’s modus operandi; Daring, unpredictable and of course, a taste for the theatrical. There are similarities between the two prologues here. Both feature masks (an important thematic element throughout Nolan’s Batman films), both feature daring heists, executed fearlessly, and both our villains utilise henchmen whose sole purpose seems to be their expendability. In a recent issue of Empire magazine, Christopher Nolan talked about the importance of having a villain who is a totally different archetype to the Joker, and despite the aforementioned similarities, it is clear that with Bane, we are getting a different kind of adversary, one that is cunning, brutal and very importantly, has a plan.

The whole sequence is pretty breath taking, with the plane heist being one of the most memorable action sequences I’d seen all year. One of the best consequences of Christopher Nolan’s success with the Batman films is his advancement of the use of IMAX technology in high budget films. Scenes like this are what IMAX is made for, and in my opinion IMAX (not 3D) needs to be recognised as the future for big studio releases. The level of immersion you get is beyond comparison to any other format, and really is currently the best way to experience a film.

One of the big talking points in recent months has been Bane’s voice, and the unavoidable fact that a lot of people are having trouble understanding it. I had seen the trailer beforehand and Bane’s line, “When Gotham is ashes, you have my permission to die” was perfectly audible to me. However, when watching the prologue, it was admittedly very difficult to make out what exactly was being said. I have re-watched the prologue a few times since seeing it in the IMAX and once I knew what he was supposed to be saying, it became perfectly audible. So yes there is a slight issue here but I’m not in any way agreeing with the people who want a total re-recording of the dialogue. The suggestion of subtitles is actually not a bad idea but I still think it’s a somewhat hasty suggestion. Bear in mind, the prologue does take place on a plane, in mid flight, with half of Bane’s dialogue spoken while the plane door is open, and the other half while the tail end has been blown off, not the most acoustically friendly environment for a bit of dialogue. I think a couple of tweaks to some sound levels and the issue’s with Bane’s voice will for the most part be cleared up for release day. Sound levels aside, I think Bane’s voice is brilliant; a kind of refined, mechanical dialect, both intimidating and charismatic. I’ve been a big fan of Tom Hardy since the release of ‘Bronson’ back in 2008, and this looks like yet another amazing performance to follow up his roles in Inception and Warrior.

Speaking of Warrior, Hardy is supposedly using the same physique in TDKR (fucking jacked) so anyone complaining that Hardy isn’t big enough to play Bane, check this film out first. In fact I urge anyone who didn’t see it when it was out in cinema’s (which is a lot of you judging by box office figures) to see it whenever you get the chance as it really is a fantastic film.

So, for me personally, all is good on the Nolan front. The little teaser montage we got at the end also threw up some really exciting moments, the most interesting being the incredibly chilling shot of Bane carrying the Bat’s shattered cowl, before casually discarding it in the rain… July 20th cannot come quick enough.

- Jacob Milligan

Here it is the second teaser trailer for the third and final Christopher Nolan Batman movie which will be released in the summer next year. The first 6 minutes of the film is being shown this week in BFI IMAX just before screenings of the new Mission Impossible film. I will be seeing this myself on Thursday and will write a post in this blog about it on Friday once i’ve seen it. I know this website is about the classic 1960′s series of Batman but I do respect and enjoy the darker portrayls of the character. So far, in my opinion, it looks like Nolan will complete a perfect film trilogy!

Thanks for visiting!

Cliff Robertson, who starred as John F. Kennedy in a 1963 World War II drama and later won an Academy Award for his portrayal of a mentally disabled bakery janitor in the movie “Charly,” died Saturday, one day after his 88th birthday. For us Batman fan’s he played the cowboy villain Shame in the beloved 1960′s television series. He sadly passed away today on the 10th September 2011.

His IMDB profile : http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0731772/

May he rest in peace.

This is just a quick post about my new webpage. I thought being such an iconic scene in the Batman series I would dedicate a page on my website to the infamous Batusi dance click this link to view the webpage : http://bat-mania.co.uk/trivia/batusi.php

Thanks for visiting!

Please visit Julie’s official website to order a copy : http://julienewmar.com/book/

Also you may have noticed some minor website updates. I have given up on the splash webpage, also the homepage content has been updated! Hope you like the new changes…

Thanks again for visiting!

As you know Batman has taken a break due to the broadcasting of live cricket on ITV4. I am pleased to confirm they will continue the Batman run from Monday, however not daily as before because the cricket isn’t all over yet…

Monday 3.55-5.00pm will be the Puzzler episodes which will also be repeated between 9.50-10:50am Tuesday morning.

Then the cricket is being shown again Tuesday and Wednesday.

Thursday between 4-5.05pm will be the first two parts of the Zodiac Crimes which will also be repeated the following morning between 9.55-11.00am.

Friday afternoon the cricket will be on again. With the Indian Premier League finally drawing to a close, it looks like Batman will return daily to the ITV4 schedule soon.

“Starring Adam West” is a new documentary currently being produced and is all about the effort being made trying to get Adam West a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Last year his bid to secure a star failed, now a new fresh campaign has been launched for another bid. Recently Adam West was honoured with a star at Palm Springs however, we want Hollywood!

To back this project visit the following website: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1425501330/starring-adam-west