I bought the Christopher Nolan Batman series on 4K UHD Blu-ray a couple of weeks ago, and while we were watching Batman Begins, Mitzi asked something about the "other" Batman movies. I decided to get a 4K UHD version of Tim Burton's Batman.

I saw the 1989 Batman in the theater, and I recall the excitement many of us felt about this treatment of Batman. At the time, I had the single volume collection of Frank Miller's The Dark Knight comics. (I was kind of into comic books for a while.) The Burton movie, while campy in many ways, felt like a more "serious" treatment of the character; certainly compared to the old Adam West series.

I hadn't seen Burton's Batman in decades. I think the last time I saw it, it was on VHS so I was interested in seeing it again in a premium format.

We watched it the night before last, and I have to say that I don't think the film really needs a 4K UHD treatment. Regular high definition is probably sufficient. While the images were clear, the pallet and contrast were kind of muddy, absent the Joker and his occasional gadgets. It was also interesting to experience the longer scenes, the less frenetic pacing of the cuts and camera changes. And by "interesting," I mean it felt "slow." I watched it more out of curiosity than genuine interest. I also noted that indeed, Michael Keaton couldn't move his head when wearing the cape and cowl. And I'd forgotten how pretty Kim Basinger is.

All that said, I did love Tim Burton's "vision" of Gotham and the practical effects with miniatures.

Right after I'd ordered Batman in 4K, I thought of another super-hero movie that might look great in 4K UHD, Mystery Men.

Now that movie looks amazing (pun intended) in 4K UHD. I was noticing things I'd never noticed before. I only had the DVD version for many years before I bought a digital copy. I can't recall feeling the same sense of wonder watching the streaming version, so I should probably compare the Blu-ray with the streaming version sometime. See if I'm imagining things.

Mystery Men goes in for a lot of the same whimsy in set design that Burton used for Batman, perhaps more so, and I think it's great. I'd love a miniature Herkimer Battle Jitney, even though I don't collect movie miniatures. (My son does.)

I thought it was an interesting coincidence that the villain in Mystery Men, Casanova Frankenstein, intended to destroy Champion City by using a "psycho-frakulator," causing hallucinations in its victims and the citizens to turn against one another, similar to the plot of Batman Begins and the League of Shadows.

Mystery Men has always been funny as hell to me. Tom Waits as a "mad scientist." ("I'm only here for the ladies.") Greg Kinnear as Captain Amazing. The script is very clever, though I gather it was a bit of a mess coming together.

I've always loved Mystery Men, but the 4K UHD Blu-ray version is just a visual delight and really adds to what was already a wonderful experience.