Batman & Robin

Batman & Robin is an American feature film of the superhero fantasy genre. It is the fourth and final installment in the original Batman film series, which began with Tim Burton's Batman in 1989. The movie is based on characters featured in comic books published by DC Comics. Batman & Robin was directed by Joel Schumacher with a script written by Akiva Goldsman. It was produced by Warner Bros. and opened theatrically in the United States on June 20th, 1997.

Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger receives top billing in this film in the role of the heavily accented pun-eschewing super-villain Mister Freeze. Sliding down ye old Batpole this time around is former ER star George Clooney in the dual role of Bruce Wayne, aka Batman, replacing Val Kilmer who played the part in 1995's Batman Forever. Chris O'Donnell returns to the franchise in the role of whiny sidekick Robin (Dick Grayson) and Uma Thurman busts out a funky accent in her off-beat portrayal of femme fatale Poison Ivy, Doctor Pamela Isley. Adding to the bat-cast for this sequel is Alicia Silverstone as Barbara Wilson, who dons her own pointy-eared mask as Batgirl. Michael Gough and Pat Hingle both reprise their respective roles as butler Alfred Pennyworth and police commissioner James Gordon from previous films.

Notes & Trivia

 * Copyright holder: 1997, Warner Bros.


 * Production on Batman & Robin began on September 12th, 1996. Principal photography concluded on January 27th, 1997.


 * This is the fourth and final film in the original Batman film series.


 * Executive producer Michael Uslan is credited as Michael E. Uslan in this film.


 * Associate producer Mitchell E. Dauterive is credited as Mitchell Dauterive in this film.


 * This is the second film in the series with Joel Schumacher as director. He also directed Batman Forever in 1995.


 * This is William M. Elvin's first film work as a co-producer. He is also a first assistant director on this film, and was previously a first assistant director on Batman Forever.


 * This is the first and only film with George Clooney in the role of Batman.


 * This is the second film with Chris O'Donnell in the role of Robin. He also appeared in Batman Forever in 1995.


 * This is the fourth film in the series with Michael Gough in the role of Alfred Pennyworth.


 * This is the fourth film in the series with Pat Hingle in the role of Commissioner Gordon.

Fun Facts

 * The tagline for this film is, "Strength. Courage. Honor. And loyalty. On June 20, it ALL comes together...".


 * Batman & Robin has been universally reviled by both critics and moviegoers. Many are the reasons that attribute to this mass opinion, ranging from everything including the steady decline in quality of the franchise since Tim Burton departed from the series, to questionable casting choices such as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Alicia Silverstone to an unfavorable script that brings the franchise to a level of campiness that has since become unwelcome amongst fans, and many others.


 * Batman & Robin opened on the same month and day (but different years) as another superhero box-office flop, Hulk, which premiered in 2003.


 * While a movie like Batman & Robin was definitely a franchise killer for the next eight years, it was not a career killer for any of the main actors, though Chris O'Donnell did retire from acting temporarily for several years before coming back to star in NCIS: Los Angeles. All of the other main cast members (except for Alicia Silverstone) went on to have worthwhile careers,


 * Batman & Robin was nominated for ten categories at the 1998 Razzie Awards. Alicia Silverstone won for the category of Worst Supporting Actress.


 * Pat Hingle and Michael Gough are the only actors to appear in all four of the original Batman films.


 * The "beautiful mind" that wrote the script to this film, Akiva Goldsman, also wrote the script for the 2001 drama A Beautiful Mind by director Ron Howard, which received great praise by critics and earned Goldsman the Academy Award for the category of Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published. Go figure.