Zanobard Reviews

A piece of film music legend was born with Danny Elfman’s Batman theme, with the intensely gothic superheroic charge it leads across this impeccable 1989 score – with highlights like “Main Title”, “Descent Into Mystery” & “Batwing II/III” – and against the counteringly manic Joker theme altogether making for frankly one of the best superhero albums ever composed.

Here we are at last. It’s been in the works for a while, this review, as Danny Elfman’s score for the 1989 Batman movie (directed by Tim Burton and starring Michael Keaton) is one of my favourite film soundtracks of all time. Simply put, I love the darkly gothic nature of it, how fitting it the atmosphere with Keaton’s brooding Dark Knight, and especially the way all the instrumentation – with brass in centre stage – comes to such thunderous grandiosity in both the various intense action setpieces and moments of sheer superheroic triumph across the album. Central to all the above is of course the score’s centrepiece; the main theme. I’d be lying if I said this wasn’t the biggest reason I love this score so much, an opinion reinforced by the fact that it’s highly regarded generally as the most iconic theme for Batman himself. So let’s start there; the “Main Title” opens moodily, echoing with twinkles of percussion and building brass which then quickly come to an incredible crescendo – the first of many – before the full Batman theme suddenly surges dramatically into centre stage. It’s such a winner, this theme – perfectly capturing the dark intensity and threatening nature of the Caped Crusader, being wonderfully memorable, and cementing the title character in an iconically thunderous sense of impeccably ’90s (it was slightly ahead of its time) orchestral grandeur too.

Elfman’s theme became such an icon for Batman from 1989 onward as well, appearing as not only the main title for direct sequel Batman Returns, but also for Batman: The Animated Series, re-appearing in the 2017 Justice League score (also by Elfman) and also Benjamin Wallfisch’s The Flash in 2023 – and that’s not even mentioning the various thematic cameos its had inbetween either. It gained such a beloved status as the theme for the Dark Knight, and no wonder, as it’s absolutely incredible – one cannot doubt that Elfman was the perfect choice of composer for the Burton film, you only have to listen to that “Main Title” to know exactly why. And while over the years there have been a number of other themes for Batman that are fantastic in their own right too – Shirley Walker’s Mask Of The Phantasm, Elliot Goldenthal’s Batman Forever, James Newton Howard & Hans Zimmer’s Dark Knight and Michael Giacchino’s The Batman to name an excellent few – none have ever quite beaten Elfman’s, at least for me.

Anyway, enough fanboying. With the impeccable “Main Title” having crashed intensely to a close, the subsqeuent “Family/First Batman/Roof Fight” then opens moodily, with darting percussion and strings setting a wary tone. As the track continues, a few brief hints toward the Batman theme play on eerie brass with quiet ambience then settling, before a sudden abrasive flurry of percussion and brass kicks off action. It isn’t long before the Batman theme then returns, thundering to a soaringly triumphant flourish at the end of the cue, again showcasing just how fantastic a composition it is. “Jack vs. Eckhardt” then gives us a first glance at the theme for the Joker, with lightly playful percussion occupying much of the track and hinting toward the malevolently energetic villain motif to come. “Up Building/Card Snap” afterward then continues in a similarly atmospheric vein with string plucks, jazzy brass and quietly moody hints toward the Batman theme, with “Bat Zone/Axis Set-Up” afterward also dabbling in Batman theme-esque ambience. The first major action setpiece “Shootout” then introduces and keeps a tense pace throughout with percussion constantly surging, and the Batman theme leaps through several increasingly dramatic crescendos too – overall making for one hell of an action cue, and the score’s only just getting started.

The love theme for Bruce and Vicki is introduced in “Dinner Transition/Kitchen Dinner/Surgery” on gentle piano notes and romantic strings in the track’s first half, before the music starts to turn moody and sinister once again with lurking percussion and low-pitched brass rumbles. The love theme does then briefly reprise at the start of “Face-Off/Beddy Bye” before the music once again returns to dark atmosphere, though a sudden dramatic burst of lively orchestra then leaps energetically into frame at the two minute mark, debuting Joker’s theme. It’s a marching, rather crazed motif overall that pretty perfectly encapsulates the manic nature of Jack Nicholson’s Joker, and though its debut only lasts a few seconds here before the love theme retakes the orchestral reins, it certainly makes an intense impression. Eerie flickers of malevolent atmosphere then occupy the minute-long “Roasted Dude”, before “Vicki Spies (Flowers)” quietens things with gently serene strings before a mournful, twinkling rendition of the Batman theme sounds through. Sinister percussion then occupies the first minute of “Clown Attack” before orchestra builds to a loudly aggressive crescendo with cymbal crashes and loud brass. The music then returns to gentle string serenity for the subsequent “Photos/Beautiful Dreamer” with some rather child-like percussion and even what sounds like a theremin in tow.

The endlessly tense percussive surges of “Shootout” reprise for the short “Men At Work”, before a sudden aggressive swirl of strings takes centre stage for the similarly sub-minute “Paper Spin/Alicia’s Mask”. “Vicki Gets A Gift” then echoes warily with quiet strings in its opening seconds before rapidly building to a brassy and percussion-heavy crescendo, with “Alicia’s Unmasking” straight after behaving in a similarly unnerving stylistic manner. Thankfully it’s not long before relief arrives for the rising tension, as “Batman To The Rescue/Batmobile Charge/Street Fight” suddenly surges the Batman theme to the forefront on grandly heroic brass in its opening seconds. Thunderous action quickly follows, with further fast-paced Batman theme interspersions closely pursued by aggressive brass, swirling strings and crashing drums all across the track’s remaining minutes. A standout moment of honestly Elfman’s entire film music career is then up next with “Descent Into Mystery”; a sheer sense of gothic grandeur quickly occupies the start of the music here, with vocals chanting opposite rapidly building brass and strings until an utterly incredible crescendo is reached with the Batman theme soaring triumphantly, and the entire orchestral ensemble then swells to a rapid action climax. Even in its short runtime, this track never fails to give me goosebumps.

Gentle twinkling percussion opens “Paper Throw”, with strings evoking a keen sense of wonder and mystery until a sudden thunder of orchestra closes the track with an imposing rendition of the Batman theme. The twinkling then echoes a sense of tranquility into “The Joker’s Poem” with the subsequent “Sad Pictures” returning to the quietly mournful strings of earlier, and “Dream/Challenge/Tender Bat Cave” simmering with melancholic string and vocal ambience in its opening minutes before the softer love theme then returns on relaxing piano and strings in the back half. The Batman theme then leaps triumphantly back into centre stage for action cue “Charge Of The Batmobile”, leading an adrenaline-fueled orchestral charge throughout its two minute runtime. “Joker Flies To Gotham/Batwing I” then kicks off the grand finale of the album, with a dark intensity rapidly building on fast-paced drums and blasting brass before things really get going in “Batwing II/Batwing III”; as the standout action cue of the score, it keeps tensions high and the orchestra at a unrelentless intensity throughout its six minutes with the now loudly determined Batman theme going through several increasingly heroic renditions as it aggressively battles against the more playfully malicious sound of the Joker throughout.

With the action settling somewhat, “Cathedral Chase” is also a score standout as it utilises an organ alongside intensely gothic orchestra for an utterly incredible-sounding atmospheric setpiece, with Batman’s theme still staggering ever-determinedly along at various intervals. “Waltz To The Death” then fully continues the action, reprising the eeriely upbeat Joker theme in just as fantastically manic-marching a manner as it originally debuted, before the final battle comes to its intense conclusion in the subsequent “Showdown I/Showdown II”; frenzied drums crash alongside anxious hints toward the Batman theme in the opening minute, with the dramatic organ then reprising alongside tense orchestral bursts, driving the thunderous action ever-forward until a final deafening crescendo is reached, and a gentle last twinkling hint toward the Joker theme closes out the track. “Finale” is then another utterly Standout Cue, with the love theme reprising before the orchestra reaches its loudest, most triumphant moment yet as the Batman theme is held breathtakingly high in its most heroic rendition on the score. To close out the album proper, “End Credits” then gives the Batman theme one last and happily “Main Title”-esque reprise, bringing things thematically full circle.

Overall, Danny Elfman’s score for the 1989 Batman movie is undeniably iconic. The main Batman theme is of course the primary reason for that, being a pretty perfectly gothic representation of Michael Keaton’s Caped Crusader on surging brass and percussion, and capturing the superheroic darkness of the character very well too. The theme itself is also impeccably memorable and shows great versatility throughout the score, with Standout Cues like the thunderous “Main Title”, the intense action sequences in “Charge Of The Batmobile” and “Batwing II/Batwing III” and the slower, more pensive moments in tracks like “Vicki Spies (Flowers)” cementing just how incredible a composition it is. Against it is then the impeccably manic Joker theme, with its waltz-like nature showing great orchestral flourish through cues like “Face-Off/Beddy Bye” and “Waltz To The Death”, and between the two is then the much gentler love theme, which while not quite as memorable, still cements a much-needed more thoughtful side to the score in tracks like “Kitchen Dinner” and “Finale”. The action music is also an utter standout, being so breathlessly exciting throughout the album as it leaps and thunders through the earlier-mentioned main theme heavy tracks, not to mention the organ-focused “Cathedral Chase” and gorgeously vocal “Descent Into Mystery” too.

All of these elements come together to make for not only a genuinely impeccable Batman score with a perfectly gothic orchestral style, but also arguably one of Elfman’s best works of his entire career – for me, his very best. As such, a Perfect Score it most certainly is.

Score: 10/10

Standout Cues: Main Title, Descent Into Mystery, Batwing II/III, Cathedral Chase, Finale

Buy the expansion for Danny Elfman’s score right here, published by La-La Land Records.

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