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For Sale Mar 31, 2026 at 9:30 PM

Chris O’Donnell Opens Up About Batman & Robin's Disastrous Reviews, Makes Surprising Confession About Costar Arnold Schwarzenegger

Posted by mcfw31

Chris O’Donnell Opens Up About Batman & Robin's Disastrous Reviews, Makes Surprising Confession About Costar Arnold Schwarzenegger
People.com
Chris O’Donnell Opens Up About Batman & Robin's Disastrous Reviews, Makes Surprising Confession About Costar Arnold Schwarzenegger
Chris O'Donnell claimed he never actually filmed with Arnold Schwarzenegger while making 'Batman & Robin.' O'Donnell, who played Robin, said that Schwarzenegger's stand-in was so good, he only actually appeared in scenes for close-ups. He played Mr. Freeze in the film.
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dynamoJaff Mar 31, 2026 +411
Arnie had heart surgery mid production that didn't go well and nearly died, guessing that's why his stand in had to do a lot of leg work.
411
Dr-Mumm-Rah Apr 1, 2026 +201
The only reason Arnold survived was because Arnold and his surgeon had the cardiothoracic team ready to go as backup, if something went sideways and it did. His paranoia paid off on this situation as every surgery, no matter how routine, has risks. The operation and the complication were the same one that killed Bill Paxton. Arnold talked about this in his biography. "In 2018, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s life was saved by an expert cardiothoracic team who immediately performed emergency open-heart surgery when a planned non-invasive valve replacement went wrong. Doctors accidentally punctured his heart wall, requiring rapid intervention to stop internal bleeding, turning a routine procedure into a life-saving emergency operation."
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artparade Apr 1, 2026 +49
My gf her dad is having that same surgery this year. Scary shit.
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DieIsaac Apr 1, 2026 +9
Are you german?
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artparade Apr 1, 2026 +3
Belgian. Why?
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DieIsaac Apr 1, 2026 +19
German speaking? Because your sentence was worded as someone translated it directly from (bad) german.
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artparade Apr 1, 2026 +32
Haha oh well. My first language is dutch. So that might be the bad german.
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kingswing23 Apr 1, 2026 +15
2018 is 21 years after Batman & Robin released. Did this happen to him twice?
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FullofLovingSpite Apr 1, 2026 +7
He first had surgery in 1997. 2018 was a fix and that's when things went sideways. Two different events are being confused as the same event. https://hcahealthcaretoday.com/2018/04/06/what-was-wrong-with-arnold-schwarzeneggers-heart/
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Twodogsonecouch Apr 1, 2026 +10
Just so you know thats standard. If youre getting a percutaneous valve, which is not done by a surgeon, to have an actual cardiothoracic surgeon available to do open heart surgery if there is a problem.
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Edges8 Apr 1, 2026 +3
having a ct surgery team on sattandby for TAVR is standard, not something arnold specifically
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justaphaze04 Apr 1, 2026 +3
Did they mention this at all in the article? I don’t know how much this contributed really. He had conventional heart surgery in 1997 and was apparently after Batman and Robin production finished. The repeat surgery where he nearly died was in 2018.
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dynamoJaff Apr 1, 2026 +1
No they didn't mention it in the article which is why I specifically clarified it. He talks about it in his book.
1
justaphaze04 Apr 1, 2026 +1
Still doesn’t make sense though, filming was done by January 1997 and his surgery was in April of the same year https://www.the-independent.com/news/tough-guy-arnie-chooses-to-have-heart-operation-1267717.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman_%26_Robin_(film)
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dynamoJaff Apr 1, 2026 +1
You're right. Arnie was lying in his autobiography. So was Schumacher who talked about in interviews I guess.
1
Mrben13 Mar 31, 2026 -7
Gah I hope you didn't skip ze leg day.
-7
No_Use_9652 Apr 1, 2026 +53
This is peak shity listnook comedian. “Heart surgery, I have an accent and weight lifting joke for that”
53
AffectionateSpare677 Apr 1, 2026 +22
It’s the perfect blend of complete lack of social awareness and being unintentionally unfunny, it’s kind of brilliant
22
Born-Ad4658 Apr 1, 2026 +8
yeah ita corny and tasteless only thing more annoying is, "i am discussed thing here. I can confirm" trains
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BenjTheMaestro Apr 1, 2026 +5
As a Batman listnookor, I understood that reference 🙄
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chamomileinyohood Apr 1, 2026 +5
Ok who’s cutting onions
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mcfw31 Mar 31, 2026 +216
> Looking back on the movie, O’Donnell said, “Warner Brothers just got greedy on it.” Hen said that usually they would wait three years before making a new film, but instead, Batman Forever was such a huge success that they said let's do another one.” > O’Donnell said he didn’t mind the bad reviews, but Schumacher, who died in 2020 at the age of 80, was very upset. > “Joel was just devastated,” he said. “We were in Buenos Aires doing press and he didn't want to come out of his hotel room. . . . The reviews have come out, you've gotten word that it wasn't well received and that's just painful, having to sit there and do promotion.”
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CaliggyJack Mar 31, 2026 +143
Poor guy. I somewhat enjoy the campness of the film. People think critics are too harsh but back in the 90s they were far worse.
143
OtherUserCharges Apr 1, 2026 +20
The point of rebooting Batman at the time was to run as far away as possible from the camp of the 60s TV show. People hated it cause the movies started to lean back into it, which based on the success of the other ones shows that people didn’t want camp they wanted something darker.
20
lindh Apr 1, 2026 +14
Always weird to me that Forever did so well when it's like, a marginally better movie. Very campy.
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Witchy_Wookie5000 Mar 31, 2026 +67
I agree. Its a comic book movie, so the camp was sort of fun compared to the dark, brooding types of movies. Yes its silly, but I still enjoy watching it if I catch it on tv.
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keiths31 Mar 31, 2026 +40
Yes it's a comic book movie, but one that was part of a series that started off with a completely different tone. That put off a lot of fans. Obviously...
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codithou Apr 1, 2026 +25
yeah just deciding to jump full into batman 66 style campiness when we’re barely 5 or so years removed from burton’s movies just seems like complete lack of awareness.
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keiths31 Apr 1, 2026 +16
The '66 style campiness is what people were afraid the '89 movie was going to be, especially with Keaton. And it was a hit because it wasn't that. Only for the series to get there eventually.
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codithou Apr 1, 2026 +5
yeah, it’s hard to empathize with what he might’ve been thinking. i’m kind of shocked that he would be that upset over how people reacted, at some point you’d think somebody would speak up and point out how different the direction he was going with it compared to what fans loved about the first two.
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vincedarling Apr 1, 2026 +4
The problem with trying to do ‘66 camp is, you have you be witty like that show. Schumacher’s movies weren’t.
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JedediahThePilot Apr 1, 2026 +4
This is my problem. I'm all for a Batman '66 revival, but it has to be actually funny. Batman & Robin is boring and hard to look at. And George Clooney is all wrong. If they wanted a successor to Adam West, I think Gary Cole would have hit it out of the park. Watch the Brady Bunch movies if you don't believe me.
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TheHumanCompulsion Apr 1, 2026 +10
The overwhelming problem is that when you adapt something as beloved as Batman without ensuring that certain expectations need to be met. And this goes for ALL adaptations, not just comicbook movies: Sonic, Ring of Power, Game of Thrones, et al. Batman the Animated Series set an incredibly high standard for Mr. Freeze as a sympathetic, but ruthless villain. Beneath his dispassionate hatred, there was a profound and crippling sorrow. Instead of this compelling take on Freeze we got a comedic buffoon with a Freeze ray, who sometimes gets misty eyed. Hard no. The same goes for Bane. Where is the cunning crime lord who "broke the Bat." Reducing the character to a thoughtless golem was a huge mistake. Honestly, he shouldnt have been there. Poison Ivy doesn't need a strong man protector. She's Poison Ivy! I think Schwarzenegger and Thurman were good casting choices, just like Lee Jones and Carrey. But in an overcorrection from the Burton movies, they were reduced to mustache twisting bad guys and it really hurt the movies.
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Gradz45 Mar 31, 2026 +7
 Doesn’t help that Schumacher reportedly a big Batman fan who wanted to do something darker and actually pitched stuff based on Batman: Year One/TDKR for a fifth movie. 
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givemethebat1 Mar 31, 2026 +22
I mean it’s campy, but not in a fun silly way, in a weirdly stylized and realistic way that makes it a little disturbing. I don’t think anyone actually wanted to a campy Batman in the style of Adam West at the time.
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Sasquatcheeethree Mar 31, 2026 +11
Ha it was worse being in the audience for this thing in the theater in 97 pee eww
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brownmouthwash Apr 1, 2026 +2
It was the nipples in the suit.
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Sasquatcheeethree Apr 1, 2026 +2
the nipples were fine lol
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Doctor_Sore_Tooth Mar 31, 2026 +3
Upvoted for *pee eww*
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SwoopsRevenge Mar 31, 2026 +11
The bar was higher in the 90’s
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ZubatCountry Apr 1, 2026 +3
...people had just seen Batman Forever
3
Sumeriandawn Apr 1, 2026 +1
What does that have to do with that movie?
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originalchaosinabox Apr 1, 2026 +1
It was the dawn of the Internet at websites like Ain't It Cool News. It was the first film to get any kind of real online backlash.
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later_satyr Apr 1, 2026 +1
It's weird, outside of the whole batman discussion. Critics back then treated all film as cinema. It's like they couldn't appreciate camp or goofy humor. Same with horror, it was a badge of honor for a horror film to have bad reviews. Critics reviewed everything like Gone With the Wind, and if it wasn't great, it was awful. I think thats why amateur critics took off in the internet age. Just normal people saying it's good. Not the greatest but still entertaining. People were tired of critics getting to the point of telling you, if you like this, you are wrong. Again not this batman movie, which was certainly not great but it was fun in its own way. 
1
profchaos83 Apr 1, 2026
What? What evidence do you have to prove critics in the 90s were worse than now? I’d say the exact opposite. And what morons upvoted you?
0
Chicky_Melly Mar 31, 2026 +15
I wish I could tell him how much my brother and I loved that movie. I’m sure a lot of kids felt the same way.
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CrissBliss Mar 31, 2026 +26
Schumacher was apparently a really sweet man irl. I believe he actually apologized for the movie on the DVD or Blu-ray.
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Adept-Watercress-378 Apr 1, 2026 +3
Well I was a little kid and I loved it.  Can’t watch it today, I do remember loving it.  And uma Thurman made me feel things that were very unusual
3
aquasun666 Mar 31, 2026 +5
OP your goated just for doing this. Good on you
5
MostlySoberWizard Mar 31, 2026 +140
Man, it's crazy to find out movies you kind of liked as a kid were regarded as dogwater.
140
MrEHam Mar 31, 2026 +106
I still feel like it’s some kind of sick joke that Hook wasn’t considered a masterpiece across the board.
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truth-informant Apr 1, 2026 +13
Which is kind of ironic because the spirit of the movie is about an adult rekindling their childhood. 
13
Away-Value9398 Mar 31, 2026 +23
Agreed. I loved that move when it came out and I recall critics being luke warm at best.  There was often a chasm between the audience and media led consensus if a film is “good”.  Especially for films that were camp and took risks. A movie like Hook would be better received today because film critique is much more democratic.  
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tedkcox Apr 1, 2026 +7
That’s why Rotten Tomatoes took off the way it did. It bridges the divide.
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Afwife1992 Apr 1, 2026 +3
When you look at some popcorn movies on RT the split between critics and the audience is crazy. Examples: Red One Rotten score. 30% Certified Fresh audience score. 89% The Gray Man Rotten score. 45% Fresh audience score. 90%
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almighty_smiley Apr 1, 2026 +1
Well yeah. Critics aren't necessarily *wrong*, but especially with movies like Red One or Batman & Robin they're missing the forest for the trees.
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D34THDE1TY Apr 1, 2026 +2
This is funny to me because I just watched the clerks animated series and Randall makes Spielberg give him his money back for Hook.
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davmeltz Mar 31, 2026 +31
I loved Batman & Robin then and I still love it now. But even as a kid I knew it was f****** ridiculous. Arnie’s ice puns, Uma’s performance, the c**** sets, Bruce and D*** bitching at each other, *everything* about Barbara Pennyworth… I enjoyed it as a campy live action cartoon, but I had the Tim Burton movies to compare it with.
31
dropkickderby Apr 1, 2026 +6
Tell me about it, i love godzilla 98
6
rysker6 Mar 31, 2026 +22
Jury Duty is a GREAT film an nobody can convince me otherwise
22
devilishycleverchap Mar 31, 2026 +9
I was raised on Pauly Shore. I remember watching them play Return Fire in In the Army Now and being incredibly jealous
9
yoyoyouoyouo Mar 31, 2026 +9
Hudson Hawk is great. It’s like looney tunes and both Bruce Willis and Danny Aielo are charming.
9
RoryBlues Mar 31, 2026 +5
Haha. Son-in-Law, as well.
5
RumHamComesback Apr 1, 2026 +1
Everyone has that one movie they loved as a kid that the family watched all the time that got dogshit reviews you only find out about as an adult.
1
VernBarty Mar 31, 2026 +1
How did you miss the discourse? The Bstman franchise was saturated with it for a decade afterward
1
MostlySoberWizard Apr 1, 2026 +2
Kids go outside a lot.
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backwoodsbatman Mar 31, 2026 +45
Definitely not the best comic book movie but it's also not the worst. The Schumacher films had a sort of charm to them that will never be replicated.
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MrOatButtBottom Mar 31, 2026 +18
The neon ice skate park look sooooo cool as a kid
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YugoB Apr 1, 2026 +7
Bat-nipples
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adidas198 Apr 1, 2026 +4
It's still fun to watch for the wrong reasons, but that can still be a compliment. There are lots of Oscar nominated movies that I'll never watch again.
4
Vismal1 Apr 1, 2026 +1
They modernized the corny Batman of the West era. Some campy fun and I have fond memories of watching it in a drive in movie theater with my dad. Also the McDonalds cups were 🔥
1
InstancePast6549 Mar 31, 2026 +54
I watched this movie as a kid and I liked it. I watched it again a few months ago and I still liked it. I don’t understand why it’s hated. Sure it’s not as good as the dark knight, but it’s entertaining
54
givemethebat1 Mar 31, 2026 +14
It takes itself too seriously to really work as camp, IMO. Mr. Freeze is incredibly goofy and silly but at the same time he’s being played by the Terminator and he has a tragic backstory. It just doesn’t mesh at all.
14
Right-Pirate-7084 Mar 31, 2026 +10
Yea, it’s not some great work of art. But it’s some dumb decent tv. I’d watch it over the new Jurassic park any day.
10
rysker6 Mar 31, 2026 +6
Our modern society of review culture, just everything, it all has to be an 11/10 or it’s shit. That’s how food reviews are, movies, tv, books.
6
OtherUserCharges Apr 1, 2026 +8
That’s not really true. The movie was hated cause it was a completely different tone than the first 2. People wanted dark not leaning back into the campy 60s TV show which had pretty much destroyed Batman in the public’s eyes until Burton brought it back.
8
EmmitSan Apr 1, 2026 +6
The movie was hated because it was terrible. The camp that people attributed to it was not intentional, at least not fully. It was just objectively bad.
6
MooNinja Apr 1, 2026 +4
bat nipples, terrible acting, way way over the top with the camp and goofy. It just isn't a good movie, but that's OK, if you like it you like it.
4
Graphicnovelnick Mar 31, 2026 +33
I liked those Batman films BECAUSE they were silly! The very idea of Batman was humorous to begin with. He’s a crazy rich dude that dresses in a bat suit, and his main enemy is a *clown*. Not even a supernatural clown like Pennywise, just a clown with poison laughing gas. Joker has the powers of a dentist, but he gives Batman a lot of trouble.
33
kinnick2392 Apr 1, 2026 +3
The city was so amazingly silly with the skyscraper tall statutes, and I loved every minute of it.
3
MooNinja Apr 1, 2026 -10
It was entirely too camp and silly for what was expected, or desired from Batman.
-10
Plenty_Structure_861 Apr 1, 2026 +2
Lol compared to what? The Adam West Batman show? That's where most people knew him from, they weren't comic readers. That show was nothing but camp. 
2
mormonbatman_ Apr 1, 2026 +1
It was campy compared to Batman the animated series - which did a lot more with the characters (especially Dr Freeze) than this movie did.
1
BrianOBlivion1 Apr 1, 2026 +3
Didn't it later come out that the studio interfered heavily with the script to turn the whole movie into one big toy commercial?
3
JarmaBeanhead Apr 1, 2026 +5
Chris O’Donnell in that nipple suit was a large part of my gay awakening. What a stud.
5
Austinpowerstwo Mar 31, 2026 +21
I'd rather watch Batman and Robin than Dark Knight Rises
21
TheBeardedBeard Apr 1, 2026 +19
Dozens of us!
19
Ristar87 Apr 1, 2026 +3
My parents, who grew up watching Adam West's Batman absolutely loved the movies. I was a huge fan of Tim Burton's movies and I don't think I ever took these new films very seriously after that. I probably would have liked them more if I had seen the Shumacker films first. Granted... I had a huge crush on Alicia Silverstone when I was a teen so the film got re-watched quite a bit.
3
MattKmusic Apr 1, 2026 +1
I only watched it for Alicia
1
MrEHam Mar 31, 2026 +9
Funny how the reboot was titled Batman Begins as if there was nothing before that. B&R did suck but I really liked Batman Forever. Nicole Kidman as Chase Meridien is peak hotness. And that soundtrack. Such a cool vibe to it all.
9
Austinpowerstwo Apr 1, 2026 +5
I like them both but I think in the ensuing 30 years since they came out they get bundled together too much. Batman Forever was a huge hit, it was a bit campy but mainly it was stylised and colourful, people weren't really joking about it at the time. Only 2 years later B+R came out which was much sillier and ridiculed immediately and was nowhere near as profitable.  Now people tend to think of them together as "the bad batman films", they didn't even have the same Batman!
5
jr_randolph Apr 1, 2026 +3
Damn this article really puts it in perspective (although not directly indicating) how much this movie fucked up his career haha perhaps O'Donnell would have had a different path if not for being the Boy Wonder.
3
cyanide4suicide Apr 1, 2026 +3
Feel bad for Chris O'Donnell. Clooney got his career back on track but for O'Donnell and Alicia Silverstone that was probably devastating for them.
3
Craphole-Island Apr 1, 2026 +1
I think he ended up having the kind of career he wanted. He always seemed kind of lowkey and he got married young and had a bunch of kids and wanted to be in their lives. Then he did like 400 seasons of NCIS: LA so he’s done pretty well for himself.
1
GlitteryCakeHuman Apr 1, 2026 +3
Loved the movie still love it. Campy ones really fit the old style but f the comic imo.
3
wagonwheelwodie Mar 31, 2026 +5
Whatever I liked it as a kid and I like it now. Can’t take that away from me.
5
AdhesivenessFun2060 Apr 1, 2026 +5
Batman movies are too serious. The goofiness of B&R was a nice throwback to the adam west Batman. It wasnt meant to be award worthy. It was meant to be fun.
5
devilishycleverchap Mar 31, 2026 +8
The Schumacher batman movies and the street fighter movie are regarded entirely too harshly. They do a great job of replicating the comic book feel at the time with the campiness and over the top costumes juxtaposed against a realistic world. Its a fun movie for kids designed to sell cool toys, its not meant to be high art
8
Filmrat Apr 1, 2026 +2
I feel like your point is understated and underrepresented. A lot of entertainment went through harsh criticism from people who weren't the target audience.
2
OtherUserCharges Apr 1, 2026 +2
Who was the audience? I’m going to guess it was the same audience who loved the first 2, which just so happened to be the people who hated it. The critics and fans hated moving away from the vision of the first 2 as the movies got goofier.
2
WolvoMS Mar 31, 2026 +2
The great thing about Batman movies is they're like James Bond, where there's a movie for whatever mood you're in. Batman and Robin is like the Roger Moore of the Batman series, and actually is the best Batman movie for when you're sick of the dark serious ones
2
Icy_Baker9068 Mar 31, 2026 +2
I love the take on a comedic Batman. It was fun, it was cheesy, I enjoyed it.
2
Shooter_McGavin_666 Apr 1, 2026 +1
This was the most disappointing Batman but if taken at face value, it’s not that bad.
1
bprevatt Apr 1, 2026 +1
The movie wasn’t good in retrospect. But it was a decent introduction to Robin.
1
mormonbatman_ Apr 1, 2026 +1
O'Donnel's Robin was introduced in Batman forever.
1
NeatFool Apr 1, 2026 +1
Damn you're telling me bill Paxton didn't have to die?
1
rosebot Apr 1, 2026 +1
I read this as Rosie O’Donnell first, and I was like, woah, who was she in Batman?!
1
jopejopejopejope Mar 31, 2026
i’d take batman & robin over the dark knight rises all day long.
0
gatsome Mar 31, 2026 +10
I saw both in the theater, I can’t support this. Haha.
10
Dirkisthegoattt41 Mar 31, 2026 +1
Different styles of movies. I agree with you but if you’re a kid I can totally see liking Batman and robin better
1
Brilliant_Sorbet_965 Mar 31, 2026 -1
Clooney is better than Bale
-1
Boogincity Mar 31, 2026 +1
I watched Speed 2 instead. Not sure which movie is worse.
1
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