Many Batman films have been made. Among them are masterpieces and completely failed projects, some are remembered for their antagonists, and others are harmonious in every way. Our team chose the best of the best and formed our own top Batman movies...

Everyone knows Batman: young and old, pop culture fans and people far from comics, superheroes, and all that. This character has long transcended genres and cultural boundaries. Books are written about him, video games are created. Psychologists analyze his confrontation with the Joker. Few fictional heroes can boast such interest from completely different audiences. So it's no wonder that over a dozen films have been made about Batman: from simple costume comedies to pompous dramas. Our editorial team has chosen the 5 best films about the Dark Knight of Gotham. Can you guess who topped the list?

5th Place — The Dark Knight Rises

A worthy conclusion to the legendary trilogy by Christopher Nolan about Gotham's protector — perhaps the main comic book film of the 2000s. Though calling the Dark Knight cycle superhero movies doesn't feel right, because what we have is a real human drama about sacrifice and loss. Even in armored suits and with a heavily armed Batmobile — battered but unbroken, Christian Bale tries to heal the bleeding wounds of childhood through revenge and fighting criminals. Thanks to Nolan's trilogy (and the advice of Alfred/Michael Caine), Batman became more human, more understandable to the viewer, and the third film added scale, pomp, and tension to the story.

The monumental soundtrack was written by the inimitable Hans Zimmer, who worked on the entire series. The hero's love interests are played by the beautiful Marion Cotillard and the incomparable Anne Hathaway in latex, and Gotham — New York's destruction is carried out by the unmatched Tom Hardy. Thanks to Christopher Nolan, the Gotham bat gained flesh and blood, and 'Rises' became a neo-noir farewell song for Batman, who finally received his long-awaited redemption.

4th Place — Batman Begins

Almost every time a story about a superhero passes into the hands of the next director, we get a new 'origin story.' Christopher Nolan, when he took on Batman, didn't break from tradition. And 'Batman Begins' had every right to be just a transitional step for the director's subsequent films. But it didn't.

'Batman Begins' gave us an extremely intriguing Ra's al Ghul played by Liam Neeson and Scarecrow Cillian Murphy, introduced a completely new Bruce Wayne, but most importantly — showed that comics could be made expensive, beautiful, and truly dark, without grotesque or stylization. To say that 'Batman Begins' marked the beginning of a new era is an understatement. That's probably why we couldn't ignore it in our top.

3rd Place — Batman Returns

After the dizzying success of the original Batman, Tim Burton didn't lose his nerve and conceived and directed a dream sequel. The colorful Joker Jack Nicholson was replaced by two antagonists: the sinister and touching Penguin (Danny DeVito), and the seductive and damn dangerous Catwoman (Michelle Pfeiffer). The scale of action, as well as the threat to the Dark Knight, increased. Gothic Gotham became even more beautiful. Burton's atmosphere and style reached a new and still unattainable level.

But the main focus of the film remained the characters and their interactions. Each character here gets a story arc written down to the smallest detail (from origin to a clear ending), each has their moment of glory (though every appearance of Pfeiffer on screen is a separate magnificent performance), and they are all literally bound together by threads of a bizarre destiny. Untangling this tangle together with Michael Keaton is fascinating even now, three decades later.

2nd Place — Batman

A masked avenger protects Gotham from the Joker, a maniacal clown. The beginning of the era of superhero cinema, Tim Burton's version. It was this film that revived comic book heroes in cinema and became one of Batman's calling cards.

A charismatic villain, a mysterious protagonist, a beautiful girl by his side, new technology, and colorful fights — all the rules of a blockbuster spiced with Tim Burton's gothic style. Without the success of this film, perhaps we wouldn't be waiting for new adventures of the bat-hero today.

1st Place — The Dark Knight

The three main questions of the universe:

1. If God is omnipotent, can He create a stone He cannot lift?
2. Is there life after death?
3. Where do the Joker's scars come from: because of his wife or because of his father?

Unfortunately, the best philosophers have yet to find an answer to any of these questions, but our editorial team concluded that the best Batman film is 'The Dark Knight'.

Outstanding acting, the realism of a fictional city, excellent dramaturgy, and well-written characters. Plus, it's a goldmine of quotes for VKontakte public pages. Christopher Nolan did an impeccable job. Do you think he had a plan or was he a dog chasing a car? Looking back at 'The Dark Knight' almost 15 years later, it's safe to say the film hasn't aged a bit and still looks amazingly realistic. Amazing Christian Bale as Gotham's protector, Michael Caine as the loyal butler Alfred, and the unforgettable Heath Ledger, still considered the best Joker by many people. Whatever you say, the actor created an inimitable character. 

Today, Hollywood cannot afford a trilogy about a character that takes 8 years to create without side projects. Cinematic universes must constantly evolve and be fueled. Sequels, prequels, spin-offs must come out regularly and preferably with a large number of characters and various cameos (now everyone's a planner trying to control everything), but Christopher Nolan managed to catch a period where the director's conditions and deadlines fit perfectly into the studio's schedule, resulting in a cult trilogy crowned with 'The Dark Knight'. 

Thanks to the moderate pace of the project's development, the talent of the creative team, careful attention to references, and the unforgettable pencil trick, an incredibly cool Batman story came to life. Tracing the hero's fate in subsequent years, one can confidently say: either you go out with 'The Dark Knight Rises', or you keep filming until you become 'Justice League'. Okay, we'll wrap it up, why so serious?

What's your favorite Batman movie? Write in the comments!