Batman Begins (1985)

If Batman Begins was made 20 years earlier.

Directed By: Michael Mann

Plot
In Gotham City, a young Bruce Wayne falls down a dry well and is attacked by a swarm of bats, developing a fear of them. Attending the opera with his parents, Thomas and Martha, Bruce becomes frightened by performers masquerading as bats and asks to leave. Outside, mugger Joe Chill murders Bruce's parents in front of him, and the orphaned Bruce is raised by the family butler, Alfred Pennyworth. 14 years later, Chill is paroled after testifying against mafia boss Carmine Falcone. Bruce intends to murder Chill to avenge his parents, but one of Falcone's assassins does so first. Bruce's childhood friend Rachel Dawes berates him for acting outside the justice system, saying that his father would be ashamed. After confronting Falcone, who tells him that real power comes from being feared, Bruce spends the next seven years traveling the world training in combat and immersing himself in the criminal underworld.

In a Bhutan prison, he meets Henri Ducard, who recruits him to the League of Shadows led by Ra's al Ghul. After completing his training in ninja methods and purging his fears, Bruce learns that the League knows about Gotham and, believing the city is beyond saving, intends to destroy it. Bruce rejects the League and its edict that killing is necessary, burning down their temple during his escape. Ra's is supposedly killed by falling debris, while Bruce saves the unconscious Ducard. Returning to Gotham intent on fighting crime, Bruce takes an interest in his family's company, Wayne Enterprises, which is being taken public by the unscrupulous William Earle. Company archivist Lucius Fox, a friend of Bruce's father, allows Bruce access to prototype defense technologies, including a protective bodysuit and a heavily armored vehicle called a Tumbler. Bruce poses publicly as a shallow playboy, even to Rachel for a moment; while setting up a base in the caves beneath Wayne Manor and taking up the vigilante identity of "Batman", inspired by his childhood fear, which he has now conquered.

Intercepting a drug shipment, Batman provides Rachel, now a Gotham Assistant District Attorney, with evidence against Falcone and enlists Sergeant James Gordon, one of Gotham's few honest cops, to arrest him. In prison, Falcone meets Dr. Jonathan Crane, a corrupt psychologist whom he has helped smuggle drugs into Gotham. Donning a scarecrow mask, Crane sprays Falcone with a fear-inducing hallucinogen which drives him insane, and has him transferred to Arkham Asylum. While investigating his crimes, Batman is sprayed with the hallucinogen and set on fire by Crane but manages to escape and is saved by Alfred, who gives him an antidote for the hallucinogen developed by Fox. When Rachel accuses Crane of corruption, he reveals to her that he has introduced his drug into Gotham's water supply. Crane then drugs Rachel with the hallucinogen, but Batman subdues him and sprays Crane with his own chemical to interrogate him, where Crane claims to work for Ra's al Ghul.

Batman evades the police by attracting a large horde of bats using a high-pitched sound, to get Rachel to safety, administering her the antidote and giving her a vial of it for Gordon and another for mass production. At Bruce's birthday party, Ducard reappears and reveals himself to be the true Ra's al Ghul. Having stolen a powerful microwave emitter from Wayne Enterprises, he plans to vaporize Gotham's water supply, rendering Crane's drug airborne and causing mass hysteria that will destroy the city. He sets Wayne Manor aflame and leaves Bruce to die, but Alfred rescues him. Ra's loads the microwave emitter onto Gotham's monorail system to release the drug at the city's central water source. Batman rescues Rachel from a drugged mob and indirectly reveals his identity to her. Confronting Ra's on the monorail, as Gordon uses the Tumbler's cannons to destroy a section of the track, Batman refuses to kill Ra's but chooses not to save him, gliding from the train as it crashes, killing Ra's.

Bruce gains Rachel's respect and love, but she decides she cannot be with him now, telling him if Gotham should no longer need Batman, they can be together. Batman becomes a public hero and Bruce reveals he has purchased a controlling stake in Wayne Enterprises, firing Earle and replacing him with Fox. Sergeant Gordon is promoted to Lieutenant, shows Batman the Bat-Signal, and tells him about a criminal who leaves behind Joker playing cards. Batman promises to look into it, and disappears into the night.

Cast

 * Kurt Russell as Bruce Wayne / Batman: A billionaire socialite who, after witnessing his parents' death in a mugging at age 8, travels around the world seven years before returning home to inherit his family company Wayne Enterprises whilst operating at night as a bat-masked vigilante bringing justice upon the criminal underworld of Gotham City.
 * Henry Thomas as Young Bruce Wayne.
 * Alec Guinness as Alfred Pennyworth: A trusted butler to Bruce's parents, who continues his loyal service to their son after their deaths as his closest confidant.
 * Sean Connery as Henri Ducard / Ra's al Ghul: The leader of the League of Shadows, an ancient society that uses chaos to punish the corrupt and decadent, who goes undercover as an associate of the League and trains Bruce in martial arts, later revealing himself in the film's climax.
 * Karen Allen as Rachel Dawes: Bruce's childhood friend and love interest who serves as Gotham City's assistant district attorney and fights against corruption in the city.
 * Fairuza Balk as Young Rachel Dawes.
 * Harvey Keitel as James Gordon: One of the few uncorrupted Gotham City police officers, who is on duty the night of the murder of Bruce's parents and, in this way, shares a special bond with the adult Bruce and thus with Batman.
 * Jeff Goldblum as Dr. Jonathan Crane / Scarecrow: A corrupt psychopharmacologist working as Chief Administrator of Arkham Asylum. A specialist in the psychology of fear, he has secretly created a fear-inducing toxin and plots with Ra's al Ghul to expose the entire Gotham population.
 * Robert Loggia as Carmine "The Roman" Falcone: The most powerful Mafia boss in Gotham, who shares a prison cell with Joe Chill after he murdered Bruce's parents. Later, after having Chill murdered for his decision to testify against their relationship, he goes into business with Dr. Jonathan Crane and Ra's al Ghul by smuggling in Crane's fear toxins through his drug shipments over the course of several months so that they can be mixed in with the city's water supply.
 * Richard Crenna as William Earle: The CEO of Wayne Enterprises, who takes the company public in Bruce's long-term absence.
 * Mako as decoy Ra's al Ghul: A member of the League of Shadows assigned to impersonate Ra's al Ghul during Bruce's training.
 * Ossie Davis as Lucius Fox: A high-ranking Wayne Enterprises employee demoted to working in the company's Applied Science Division, where he conducts advanced studies in biochemistry and mechanical engineering and supplies Bruce with much of the gear necessary to carry out Batman's mission. He is promoted to CEO when Bruce takes control of the company by the end of the film.

Rating
Rated PG-13.

Trivia

 * Alec Baldwin, Mel Gibson, Dennis Quaid, Daniel Day-Lewis, Pierce Brosnan and Kevin Costner were considered for the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman.
 * Peter Cushing, Denholm Elliott and Michael Gough were considered for the role of Alfred Pennyworth.
 * Christopher Lee and Max Von Sydow were considered for the role of Henri Ducard/Ra's al Ghul.
 * Sharon Stone, Debra Winger and Geena Davis were considered for the role of Rachel Dawes.
 * Willem Dafoe was considered for the role of Dr. Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow.