Batman

(Note: This review refers to the Blu-ray version of the DVD.)

Now that Batman has been cinematically reborn as the Dark Knight, Hollywood's earlier screen incarnation, a quartet of films kicked off by lifelong comic book fan Tim Burton and driven into the ground by Hollywood hack Joel Schumacher, comes out in a Blu-ray box set. In the 1989 "Batman," Michael Keaton plays the caped crusader (and his alter ego, the suave millionaire Bruce Wayne), taking on the Joker (Jack Nicholson whooping it up behind a frozen grin and a nasty sense of humor). Burton found visual inspiration in Frank Miller's noir graphic novel "The Dark Knight Returns," but really found his balance of baroque style, exaggerated stories, expressionist art direction and droll humor in "Batman Returns" (1992). Michelle Pfeiffer squeezes into form-fitting black latex to play the ferocious feline Catwoman, and Danny DeVito is the waddling underground crime lord Penguin in a film that has little to do with the comic-book inspiration but comes alive in its own free-form take on the character. "Batman Forever" (1995, with Val Kilmer as the Bat) and "Batman & Robin" (1997, with George Clooney under the cowl), unfortunately, are a pair of bloated, absurd misfires that are best forgotten.

Each film features director commentary, numerous production featurettes (including chapters of the multipart documentary "Shadows of the Bat: The Cinematic Saga of the Dark Knight"), deleted scenes, character profiles and other supplements.