Batman Begins: Limited Edition Gift Set

Just in time to revisit Christopher Nolan’s masterful reboot of the franchise before The Dark Knight redefined the level of sophistication a comic-based film could reach while crushing box office records in its wake, Warner drops this fancy-pants Batman Begins Limited Edition Gift Set (with a ten dollar discount coupon for TDK to boot!). This ultra-fanboy set is packaged in a slick box jammed full of goodies, including a flash drive containing images from TDK, five BB postcards, a lenticular (which allows you to use the postcards as interchangeable 3D covers for the set), and a special sneak preview disc of TDK. Sensing a theme? It’s essentially just a big Dark Knight promotional jab. Everything that’s been added (save those fairly useless postcards) is about the sequel, not the film in the package. In fact, Warner’s gone so far as to omit the 72-page comic book that was part of the 2005 deluxe package while giving audiences the exact same double disc Batman Begins Special Edition that was part of that original set. Thanks Warner, ’cause Batman fans would much rather have a flash drive with pictures anyone with an internet connection can find on Google than a comic book with stories by Bob Kane, Dennis O’Neil and Jeph Loeb. By now, the consensus is widespread that BB is a pretty terrific flick and more importantly, the vital stepping stone to the Dark Knight phenomenon, and the special features show a confident filmmaking team ready to construct a masterpiece of a massive scale. The second disc of features (disc one only contains a hammy MTV Movie Awards parody with Jimmy Fallon and Andy Dick) is presented in an interactive comic book-style menu. Navigating through an illustrated confrontation between Batman and Scarecrow, written by the film’s scribe David S. Goyer, all sorts of Easter eggs can be found amid the quality production features by clicking through the comic’s text, highlighting words and pictures to uncover hidden bios on characters and gadgets. Batman Begins Special Edition is a friggin’ awesome DVD set worth adding to any film lover’s collection if it’s not there already, and The Dark Knight discount coupon makes this obvious cash-grab worthwhile.