Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/07/03/if-1989s-batman-were-made-in.html
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… it would be The Shadow ?
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The Terrible Laughing Man 
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There was a Batman serial actually made in 1949.
The recreation I could say that is nailed on.
About “The Matrix”, I have watched it the first time on a rented VHS, and the video quality was a bit better than the one on the recreation. There are still plenty of VHS recorders and tape - so to get the real feel, why not record the spoof on actual tape and redigitize it?
Maybe because the real thing is a bit better tha the recreation?
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I happened to watch some of the first episode of that serial just the other day, having just discovered it. Stock footage and public domain music (for some reason “Dixie” over-scored a cobbled-together montage of a “crime wave”) were the producers’ best friends. Stately Wayne Manor looked more like the suburban house from “Leave it to Beaver”.
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I believe his character was supposed to be directly inspired by the film The Mark of Zorro.
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That was quite fun.
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The 1949 serial was pretty low budget. Even the Batmobile was a stock Ford Mercury.
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This is sort of how I envision Edris Elba as Martian Manhunter. late 40’s noir.
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Don’t know who first said it, but the premise of Batman is that Gotham is filled with criminals eager to pick a fight with the world’s greatest martial artist and detective with the resources of some first world countries instead of moving to a different city.
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There’s always Metropolis…
In a world with god-like aliens with limitless powers, the dude in a tank dressed like a bat somehow seems like a safer option.
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There’s always Blüdhaven. Question is, is downgrading threat level to jumped-up Robin worth living in DC New Jersey? That’s a toughy.
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I know it’s socialism and all, but if Gotham had’ve just given out free Hostess Fruit Pies to anyone in a gimicky costume then its crime rate would’ve dropped to zero.
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I thought it was some rich dude into beating up people with varied psychological issues while wearing an armoured gimp suit.
Sorry if that sounds like kink-shaming.
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While Batman was an amalgamate of several pulp heroes (The Shadow, Doc Savage, Zorro, etc) Bill Finger straight up said he repurposed several of the early stories from Shadow stories. Bob Kane swiped artwork from a lot of places, including Shadow pulp interiors.
To learn more about Bill Finger check out Batman & Bill on Hulu. Great story.
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I thought the video was supposed to be John Wick, not The Matrix.
More SKY CAPTAIN, I think.
Yes, it was - but the OP was referring to the style, which reminded him of Russell Mulchay’s 1994 THE SHADOW adaptation, starring Alec Baldwin in the title role.
I personally loved THE SHADOW, despite it getting a critical dropping and tanking at the box office.
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