The Batmobile Page #6

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As I hit the ramp

and as I was jumping...

...I had to wait

until it was at the top of the arch...

...just as I felt it come down,

I hit that button.

It was meant to get blown up

at the end of Batman Begins.

Chris Corbould eventually convinced me

not to. We'd all sort of fallen in love with it.

CORBOULD:
It was almost like

another character in the film.

But the next time around,

Chris was adamant that it was gonna go.

COMPUTER:
Damage catastrophic.

Eject sequence initiated.

SMITH:
We didn't want the life

of the Batmobile to end there...

...so we designed this ejection mode

to save his life.

So if the Batmobile was dying,

it would save his life and continue the fight.

COMPUTER:

Goodbye.

NOLAN:
The use of Tumbler

in The Dark Knight Rises...

...is all about Bruce Wayne's power

being turned against him...

...and turned against Gotham.

So the idea of Batman having power

and power as responsibility...

...has always been one of the underlying

themes of who the character is.

And the technology he uses,

whether it's the Tumbler...

...whether it's the surveillance technology

shown in The Dark Knight...

I've gotta find this man, Lucius.

At what cost?

...those things have always come

with a price.

Always comes a very heavy price.

And so Batman always rides this line

between hero and vigilante.

Between somebody

who's taking it upon himself...

...to decide how to use the power

that these things give him.

The Batmobile comes to have

a certain weight, a certain responsibility...

...as far as it relates to the idea

of the power of Bruce Wayne...

...the power of wealth,

the power of military might...

...the power that he is able to wield...

...and what would happen

if that were used against him.

USLAN:

Graphic storytelling is an art...

...that began with paintings in caves

thousands and thousands of years ago.

Comic book art has been around,

in a sense...

...since the hieroglyphics of Egypt.

If you look at the conveyances...

...that great heroes have had

at their beck and call...

...the wonderful steeds of King Arthur

and the Knights of the Round Table...

...it's noble.

It's the noble steed.

O'NEIL:

One of the Greek heroes rode Pegasus.

Odin from Norse mythology

had an eight-legged horse.

Giving the hero a unique conveyance

is one of those things that is in mythology.

USLAN:
When you look at comic books

and super heroes...

...it's still really about the brave warrior...

...and his battle against evil.

And it's just told in modern day dress.

It is our modern day mythology.

Batman developed his own great steed.

A car called the Batmobile.

LEVITZ:

And even though the look has varied...

...the essence of it has remained the same.

Your mental image of it

is where you came in on the story.

But yet you have a conversation

with someone...

...and you're both talking

about the Batmobile...

...and emotionally it's the same thing...

...even if the visions in your heads

are radically different physical objects.

Today is the first time in history

that they've all been together.

Oh, God.

All right.

Look at those.

Oh, man.

Oh, man.

Wow.

FLATTERY:
You can't help it when you're

a kid growing up on this TV show.

That's what you watch the show for, is to

watch it come ripping out of the Batcave.

This car is a big reason why

I became enthralled with entertainment...

...the film industry, and wanting

to do vehicles in the film industry.

Do you mind if I sit in this?

Okay, if you're gonna sit over there...

...you gotta say, "Atomic batteries to power,

turbines to speed."

That's the Batphone, I mean,

that's Commissioner Gordon's hotline.

[LAUGHING]

- That's awesome.

- That is unbelievable.

[ENGINE STARTS]

[LAUGHING]

You've got the light going!

Oh, yeah!

Oh, rev is good.

[ENGINE REVVING]

The first time it's been running

in 10 years.

- It sounds unbelievable.

- Thank you.

Oh, nice. That was awesome.

[INAUDIBLE DIALOGUE]

BARRIS:
One of the biggest historical

events ever...

...was when all of the Batmobiles

came up to Bob's Drive-in.

Everyone's a little kid here today.

It's not just little kids, it's everyone.

It really means a lot to see them all

here because they built these cars.

They're real cars.

WOMAN:
I'll probably never see this again

so I made sure to come down here fast.

I don't have a favorite.

I love every one of them.

I'm actually visiting down here from Vegas...

...and I just came on a good weekend,

I guess.

Seeing the cars in person,

that's awesome.

Larger than life. I had no idea

they were so huge.

They're great! I want one for Christmas!

I'm here just to enjoy the moment.

It's history.

Seeing them all in one place.

It's spectacular up close.

I have a BMW. I'd like to drive the Batmobile

out of here though.

I drive a 13- or 14-year-old Saturn.

I drive a pickup truck.

I've got a '71 Camaro

I bought when I was 19.

I've just got a little Mini Cooper.

I drive a Prius.

I have a Toyota pickup.

[CHUCKLES]

But I'd like a Lamborghini.

I have a Range Rover. A black Range Rover.

I drive a Porsche.

BMW 328.

Porsche 4S, 9114S.

Honda CRV.

Boring ass car.

Like, go out in the parking lot...

...there's at least 10 identical ones

in any parking lot I park in.

I drive a lame ass car.

[LAUGHS]

I have a good number of vehicles.

A good number of really cool fun cars.

You know, people

had asked me what was your favorite...

...and I couldn't pick.

It's like, what's your favorite kid?

You can't pick that.

And then something came along

and now I know the answer.

It's that one.

I saw it on eBay and I'm like:

"A Keaton Batmobile,

a Tim Burton Batmobile, is for sale.

And this one was actually used in a movie.

How is this possible?"

I can't believe I'm driving a Batmobile.

Every kid dreams of that. Every little boy

dreams of something like that.

I mean, to me the most important things

in life are...

...to take care of your family,

give to charity, save for the future.

And if you're lucky enough to be able to do all

those things, you have a little extra cash--

When this thing came up for sale,

how could I not do this?

There's an opportunity of buying

the freaking Batmobile.

I cannot think of another vehicle

on this planet besides a space shuttle...

...that I would rather be behind the wheel of

and driving down the street.

It doesn't get any better than that.

I think it's very hard to say...

...why the Batmobile resonates

to the extent that it does.

Certainly the idea that you could relate

this vehicle to your family car as a kid...

...or to the car that you might own

when you're a teenager...

...learning to drive or whatever, that you

could put yourself in Batman's position...

...and imagine having

this incredibly exotic vehicle.

The idea of the power of a vehicle like that

is extremely primal.

The Batmobile is a dream.

It's part of the dream

of being something other.

Something greater than self.

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