The best Batman movies are a perfect mix of excellent casting, mesmerizing and menacing villains and a director that nails the vibe, whether it's Christopher Nolan's gritty Dark Knight trilogy or Tim Burton's weird and wonderful Batman Returns. The Batman character has been around since 1939, which means there's been ample opportunity to reshape his superhero story. We think that's why the caped crusader has remained such a beloved character on the big screen for 85 years.
In our guide below, we've ranked the best live-action Batman movies from the worst to the best, based on the TechRadar team's votes. We left out the 1966 Batman movie because most of the team hadn't seen it. We also kept the list strictly live-action, although many of the Batman animated movies are brilliant and well worth your time. We made the decision not to include the team-up movies, including Justice League and Suicide Squad. This is all about Bats doing his big, bad thing alone. The good news is that most of the best Batman movies in this list are available to watch on the best streaming services right now. Let's swoop into it.
9. Batman and Robin
Release date: June 20, 1997
Runtime: 125 minutes
Age rating: PG-13 (US) / PG (UK) / PG (Aus)
Director: Joel Schumacher
Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, George Clooney, Chris O’Donnell, and Uma Thurman
Where to stream: Max (US) / Available to rent/buy digitally (UK) / Binge (Aus)
You can't even enjoy the late Joel Schumacher's second Batman movie ironically – which is an argument you can at least make in defense of Batman Forever. Batman and Robin seems okay on paper: George Clooney as Bruce Wayne before he became a red-hot credible actor, Alicia Silverstone as Batgirl after a wonderful turn in Clueless, the man dubbed 'Arnie' as Mr Freeze, and a post-Pulp Fiction Uma Thurman.
Unfortunately, it has the tone of a bad episode of Power Rangers, with the finished product being a dumpster fire that's clearly designed to sell toys to children. Tired jokes about nipples on its suits aside, it's just joyless and clocks in at a blatantly overlong 125 minutes. How did Tim Burton's vision of Gotham get mangled into this eight years later? Still, without this terrible movie, you'd probably never have gotten Christopher Nolan's take on the character. So maybe we should be thanking Schumacher.
8. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
Release date: March 25, 2016
Runtime: 152 minutes
Age rating: R (US) / 12 (UK) / M (Aus)
Director: Zack Snyder
Cast: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, and Jesse Eisenberg
Where to stream: Max (US) / Sky (UK) / Binge (Aus)
Zack Snyder's second DC Extended Universe (DCEU) movie – we're not counting Watchmen – has its fans, but there are also plenty who don't like it at all. That basically sums up the overall sentiment towards Snyder's superhero movies – a collective of fans who clearly click with his take on these characters versus people who outright reject it.
It's hard to argue that Batman v Superman is a great film. Yes, the big turning point of this movie – we won't spoil it here – is such a weak, unconvincing pivot point of an overly long movie that it deflates the final act. Still, there are things to like, here: Ben Affleck was a fine Batman, Jesse Eisenberg plays a memorably unhinged Lex Luthor, and it's nonetheless pretty to look at. Dawn of Justice is pretty disjointed generally, though it is helped by a somewhat better Ultimate Edition that gives Henry Cavill a little more screen time, and fills in a few of the plot holes. But, compared to many of the other best Batman movies higher on this list, it's hard to argue Batman v Superman is anywhere near as entertaining.
7. Batman Forever
Release date: July 14, 1995
Runtime: 121 minutes
Age rating: PG-13 (US) / 12 (UK) / PG (Aus)
Director: Joel Schumacher
Cast: Val Kilmer, Tommy Lee Jones, Jim Carrey, and Nicole Kidman
Where to stream: Max (US) / Available to rent/buy digitally (UK) / Binge (Aus)
Joel Schumacher's first effort at Batman stripped away the fairytale-infused nastiness of Batman Returns in favor of a more family-friendly and conventional 1990s blockbuster. Even with Kilmer's very lifeless Batman and Chris O'Donnell's Dick Grayson being a vanilla addition, though, it's not so bad, thanks in part to the dual pantomime-style performances of Tommy Lee Jones as Two-Face and Jim Carrey as Riddler that make it pretty entertaining to watch.
The weak links don't just stop with Kilmer and O'Donnell in Batman Forever, however. Nicole Kidman's Dr Chase Meridian has big early CD-ROM game FMV energy and doesn't bring much and, generally speaking, it's not great. It just about stops short of becoming the campy disaster that Batman and Robin is, though, despite some gaudy color choices – and, hey, can we really hold too much of a grudge against the movie that gave us Seal's 'Kiss From A Rose'?
6. The Dark Knight Rises
Release date: July 20, 2012
Runtime: 164 minutes
Age rating: PG-13 (US) / 12 (UK) / M (Aus)
Director: Christopher Nolan
Cast: Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway, and Gary Oldman
Where to stream: Max (US) / Sky (UK) / Binge/Netflix (Aus)
Christopher Nolan's third and final movie about one of DC's legendary supes is wildly uneven – its unsettling first act, which culminates in a brutal sequence where Bane (Tom Hardy) breaks Batman's back as he assumes control of Gotham City, is wonderful. Bane feels like a true (if incoherent) threat, while an underpowered Bruce Wayne finds himself truly out of his depth.
From there, things only get wonkier. We get long, dull sequences in Gotham as Bane inexplicably waits for a bomb to go off, while Wayne's broken back is healed by a man literally punching him in the spine while he's hanging from a rope. It's wild, but the closing race to save Gotham is thrilling – and it's a shame you only got one movie of Anne Hathaway's Selina Kyle, because she's a brilliant foil to Bruce and the pair have plenty of chemistry.
There are some parts that haven't aged wonderfully: Bane's intention to strip wealthy people of their riches and power would actually have dated reasonably well as his (initial) motivation, if only he didn't spend most of this movie killing loads of people. The idea, too, that Gotham's bloated police force is its ultimate savior definitely reads differently in recent times than it did in 2012 – though the movie does make the point that the police only accumulated the power it did because Jim Gordon lied about Harvey Dent's death in The Dark Knight.
Ultimately, Nolan didn't close his trilogy as strongly as we expected, which leaves the muddled The Dark Knight Rises in the fifth spot of our best Batman movies. See where it ranks in our best Christopher Nolan movies guide while you're here, too.
5. Batman
Release date: June 23, 1989
Runtime: 126 minutes
Age rating: PG-13 (US) / 15 (UK) / PG (Aus)
Director: Tim Burton
Cast: Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger, and Robert Wuhl
Where to stream: Max (US) / Available to rent/buy digitally(UK) / Binge (Aus)
Batman was fighting a bit of a perception battle before 1989, with the 1960s Adam West series casting a long shadow over the character. That was in spite of The Dark Knight Returns making huge waves in the comic book scene.
Even though Batman (1989) marked a sea change in the visual style of Dark Knight media – the movie's astonishing art deco-infused Gotham City was the work of production design master Anton Furst – this is still a very fun movie. You can tell Burton was a fan of the West-led TV show, even if he wanted to do something new and fresh, too. His Bruce Wayne, played by Michael Keaton, is a charismatic but eccentric billionaire. His Joker, played by a scenery-chewing and wonderful Jack Nicholson, is hilariously theatrical. Keaton manages to match Nicholson in his relatively understated performance, despite the latter's clear star power of the moment back then – no wonder people still adore Keaton's Batman so many years later.
4. Batman Returns
Release date: June 19, 1992
Runtime: 126 minutes
Age rating: PG-13 (US) / 12 (UK) / M (Aus)
Director: Tim Burton
Cast: Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Christopher Walken
Where to stream: Max (US) / Available to rent/buy digitally (UK) / Binge (Aus)
If there's one lesson to take from how creatively successful Burton and Nolan's movies were, it's that these films are at their best when directors can put their own tonal stamp on the character.
That's why Batman Returns gets so high a position on our best Batman movies list. It's 50% a Batman villains movie, and 50% a Tim Burton dark fairytale. The origins of the Penguin and Catwoman are closer to Edward Scissorhands in their telling than a comic book adaptation – and that's exactly what's great about this flick. The Caped Crusader's foes take over proceedings, with dominating performances from Michelle Pfeiffer as Selina Kyle and Danny DeVito as Oswald Cobblepot/The Penguin.
Batman Returns successfully captures the idea that the hero's best villains always start out as victims of some kind. This movie was called out for being too grim for its time – leading to two far inferior movies that would cynically pander to children – but it's actually pretty awesome that Batman Returns got away with Cobblepot almost biting a guy's nose off.
3. Batman Begins
Release date: June 15, 2005
Runtime: 140 minutes
Age rating: PG-13 (US) / 12 (UK) / M (Aus)
Director: Christopher Nolan
Cast: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Ken Watanabe, and Katie Holmes
Where to stream: Max (US) / Sky (UK) / Foxtel/Netflix (Aus)
After Batman and Robin, DC's hero sat on the shelf until Nolan, director of moody crime thrillers Memento and Insomnia, won out with a back-to-basics take on Batman that tapped into the vibe of classic graphic novels like Batman: Year One and The Long Halloween.
None of this is new information – but it's worth remembering just what a game-changer Batman Begins was. It took superhero fiction seriously, but did so without sapping the joy from the character and his world, which is a mistake that other gritty comic book movies frequently make.
The tone of this film is very down-to-earth. We see a grief-stricken Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) vow to bring justice to Gotham by becoming a symbol – in this case, a bat, something he feared the most as a child. This journey has Wayne trained by the League of Shadows and Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson), before he turns his back on their brutal methods; the League later comes to Gotham to raze the city by poisoning its water supply in conjunction with Dr Jonathan Crane (Cillian Murphy).
Batman Begins is markedly different from Nolan's other Batman movies. In structure, it has similarities to Nolan's The Prestige and Memento in how it weaves flashbacks into its story. In tone, it's actually a little closer in look to a comic book – particularly in its night-time Gotham scenes in its third act – than the two Dark Knight movies are. This remains the definitive Batman origin story on the big screen.
2. The Batman
Release date: March 4, 2022
Runtime: 176 minutes
Age rating: PG-13 (US) / 15 (UK) / M (Aus)
Director: Matt Reeves
Cast: Robert Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz, Jeffrey Wright, Paul Dano, and Colin Farrell
Where to stream: Max (US) / Prime Video (UK) / Foxtel Now (Aus)
Behold, we're coming to the crux of our best Batman movies. Some Batman fans may consider it sacrilegious to separate the best two films in Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy but, if one deserved to do so, Matt Reeves’ inaugural take does. And with good reason – The Batman (portrayed by Robert Pattinson) is a methodically paced, neo-noir flick that heavily leans into the character’s detective side. Its near three-hour runtime makes it something of a slow burn, but that doesn’t make it any less thrilling, dramatic, or at-times frightening than its predecessors.
Set during Bruce Wayne’s second year as a crime fighter – he’s not even assumed the Batman pseudonym yet – The Batman focuses on the vigilante’s pursuit of the Riddler (Paul Dano), a serial killer bumping off Gotham City’s elite at an alarming rate. However, as the Wayne family’s legacy becomes entangled in the Riddler’s elaborate masterplan to rid Gotham of its corrupt elements, Bruce is forced to confront his own demons as well as those who prowl the city’s streets.
The hallmarks of any good Batman movie are here: a gritty Gotham, morally gray characters, a compelling plot, and grade A action. What truly makes The Batman such a terrific film, though, is the manner in which it’s presented, and its unique character study of the movie’s eclectic mix of individuals. Batman and Riddler are explored in ways that few (if any) previous live-action or animated offerings have done before, while a pre-Catwoman and Penguin era Selina Kyle and Oswald Cobblepot earn interesting character arcs respectively. If not for one particular Batman film, this would certainly top our list. Read our review on The Batman to learn more.
1. The Dark Knight
Release date: July 18, 2008
Runtime: 152 minutes
Age rating: PG-13 (US) / 12 (UK) / M (Aus)
Director: Christopher Nolan
Cast: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, and Michael Caine
Where to stream: Max (US) / Sky (UK) / Binge/Netflix (Aus)
The ultimate Caped Crusader movie – and a predictable choice for number one spot on our best Batman movies ranking. Christopher Nolan's follow-up to Batman Begins was a serious step up in storytelling ambition. Gotham looks and feels very different – most of the film's exterior shots are clearly of Chicago – which has led to numerous comparisons to crime thrillers like Heat, and Nolan uses that influence to create a superhero movie unlike any other.
In The Dark Knight, District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) stands up to Gotham's long-festering criminal element. But, along comes Heath Ledger's Joker, an unknowable and dangerous figure who upends Gotham's traditional underworld, and sees Batman (Bale) as his twisted equal. The Joker's war on Gotham is as much about creating raw chaos as it is to prove a point about its citizens – it's truly riveting stuff. Bale is arguably third lead to both Eckhart and Ledger in one of the best superhero movies ever made, which also features one of the best vehicle chase sequences ever filmed.
You could argue the movie is a touch long at 152 minutes, and it peaks with a big twist before its final act. This, though, is undoubtedly the best Batman movie, and it will cast a long shadow over all other adaptations that follow.
For more DC and/or Batman coverage, find out how to watch the Batman movies in order and how to watch the DC movies in order. Alternatively, read our guide on all of the DCU Chapter One films and TV shows that are in development, and get the lowdown on James Gunn's Superman movie, which flies into theaters in July 2025.
