batmobile Tagged Articles at Cinematical

While I may be in the minority, I actually kinda enjoyed Batman Forever when it first came out back in 1995. This was before the franchise went through a much-needed reboot, taking on a darker and more serious tone, and I had fun with Jim Carrey and Tommy Lee Jones in the roles of The Riddler and Two-Face, respectively. But that was then and this is now: AutoUnleashed tells us that the Batmobile from Batman Forever went up for auction recently, and the car sold for $297,000. Sounds like a lot, right? Well, consider the fact that the car's worth was estimated at around $800,000 and that it cost roughly $2,800,000 to make.

However, the car that sold is not the actual car featured in the movie; instead, it's the promotional vehicle used only for promotional tours. Yes, they spent $2.5 million on a car to promote the movie only. Now before you imagine how awesome it would be to own a Batmobile (from any of the Batman films), and be able to cruise up and down main street whilst trying to impress your crush, Warner Bros. shelled out a whole bunch of rules under a contract that had to be signed by the buyer. The biggest (and most) annoying rule? "The Batmobile may be driven solely when necessary for maintenance purposes and may never be driven while in public view." Yup, you can own it, but you can't drive it. You also can't sell it, or make changes to it, but you are allowed to show it at auto shows, parks and schools, but not at shopping malls, department stores or commercial locations.

So that sucks. Would you spend $300 grand on a sweet ass car you couldn't drive?

[Photo courtesy of AutoUnleashed]

The Bat-news is flying fast today, folks. Amidst brand new pics of the Batman on set, as well as news that Anthony Michael Hall might be playing The Riddler in The Dark Knight, comes our first look at the Bat-cycle (or Batpod) via The Los Angeles Times. The actual article reveals two images; one of which you can see to the right of your screen (the Batpod will also show up at Licensing Show 2007 in New York City this Tuesday). The second image looks to be a still from the film, and features Batman and his Batpod riding away from the scene of a crime. However, shadows and darkness make it difficult to spot details.

According to the article, the Batpod will be yet another gadget given to Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) by Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), and it features grappling hooks, cannons and machine guns. Furthermore, "The front and rear tires are both a monstrously huge 508 millimeters, and the engines are in the hubs of each wheel. Steering isn't by hand but by shoulder, since there aren't handlebars. Instead, there are shields that fit each arm like sleeves and have the ability to rotate around the bike's frame. The two foot pegs are set 3 1/2 feet apart on either side of the tank, which the rider lies on, belly down." Now if that doesn't sound cool then, well, you obviously don't watch enough American Chopper. Created by Nathan Crowley (the man behind the Batmobile in Batman Begins) and built by Chris Corbould, a total of six bikes were constructed for the film in case one or more crashed during production. No word on whether any of them will be auctioned off at a later date, but I sure as heck would love to be the guy pimping this puppy out around the neighborhood.

Lovefilm, the Netflix of the UK, recently conduced a poll of its members to find the most memorable cars in film history. Shockingly, the Batmobile got its ass kicked, coming in a pathetic fifth. Sweeping to glory in first place was James Bond's car from The Spy Who Loved Me, something called a Lotus Esprit. Could that sounds any less macho and spy-like? Taking second was Doc's DeLorean from Back to the Future, followed, oddly, by Starsky and Hutch's car. I guess since the one Wilson and Stiller rocked was the same as the original, that sort of counts.

Other Lovefilm list include the ever-popular Top 25 15 Actresses Under 25, and The Dirty Dozen, a collection of 12 great film assassins.