How the Batsuit Works

An anonymous reader writes "Batman's outfit plays a much more prominent role in Batman Begins than it did in the previous films. And a lot of the technology actually seems plausible. This HowStuffWorks article explains all its features."

Comments

Hmm

[mister_llah]

This is an improvement over the only noticable feature of "has nipples" from previous Batman films... I approve!

Re:Hmm

[Tet]

This is an improvement over the only noticable feature of "has nipples" from previous Batman films

The suit was made by a friend of mine, who happens to be a big fan, so he put the effort in to make the suit look right. Of all the batman films so far, it's probably the one that most closely mirrors the comics.

Re:Hmm

[That's Unpossible!]

The suit was made by a friend of mine, who happens to be a big fan, so he put the effort in to make the suit look right. Of all the batman films so far, it's probably the one that most closely mirrors the comics.

Who is your friend? The article specifically mentions, "The Batsuit for 'Batman Begins' was created by costume designer Lindy Hemming."

Lindy Hemming is either a woman, or one of the ugliest men I've ever seen.

Re:Hmm

[Toxygen]

He actually had a number of different suits that he would wear depending on the type of combat he was expecting to encounter. Batman had his heavy armor suits for fighting baddies with guns, he had lighter armor suits with more flexibility for melee villains, ultra-light suits for reconnaissance work, even suits built for various climates and elevations. Some writers gave him a closet full of suits, others gave the idea that the suit was modular and Batman could mix-n-match the peices he wanted.

Re:Hmm

[__aaclcg7560]

Bullets just bounce off of him.

That's Superman. Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller shows Batman seriously getting seriously wounded during a confrontation.

Shark Repellent

[hools1234]

As long as it comes with Shark Repellant, you can put me down to buy 2!

Re:Shark Repellent

[NeedleSurfer]

He was making a reference to the old tv serie. In one episode, while climbing the ladder off an hellicopter a shark jumps out of the water and grab Batman by the leg, Batman turns (or look up) to robin and ask him to grab the Bat Shark Repelant off of his belt and hand it to him, Robin executes himself and one aerosol spray later the shark is gone.

This very moment shows that about anything can be found on Batmans belt, anything that will get him out of trouble after the commercial break or at the beginning of the second part of a two part episode.

Contrary to what state the article the belt has about no fix equipement appart from the gun that fire something that let him climb -- nowadays they say magnetic, old times was a boomerang or grapling hook... how a magnetic thingy can attach to the stones of a building beats me but hey it's Batman, and How Stuff Works...

Re:Shark Repellent

[NanoGator]

"... anything that will get him out of trouble after the commercial break or at the beginning of the second part of a two part episode."

Ugh. I caught a Batman episode once where the dynamic duo were tied to a buoy out at sea. It really sucked for them because a torpedo was headed straight for them. *COMMERICAL* When the show came back, Batman and Robin were soaked. After a moment passed, Batman thanked the selfless porpoise that gave its life to detonate the torpedo before it hit them.

Our hero, ladies and gentlemen. You should see him at the roulette wheel.

Real Stuff

[BobPaul]

I remember back in the glory days when howstuffworks.com used to have articles about actual products and phenomena. They still do that sometimes, right?
--
Don't fight Firefox! Let FireFox fight YOU!

Re:Real Stuff

[yotto]

Seriously. I understand that howstuffworks.com (and slashdot, for that matter) has to make money and all, but do they sleep well at night knowing they turned an informative website into a showcase for the latest movie?

Re:Real Stuff

[jayhawk88]

HowStuffWorks: Here are thousands upon thousands of articles on real items, devices, and phenomena that are both interesting and useful to the reader, composed and compiled over many years.
Yotto: *Yawn*
HowStuffWorks: Here are a handful of articles written for fun on technology seen in popular movies.
Yotto: OMG, HowStuffWorks sucks! They are teh sellouts! How can they do this to me?

It must be terrible to live in your serious, serious world.

Re:Real Stuff

[albieomoss]

I think people are a little preturbed by the fact that HowStuffWorks.com has thousands of articles that are based on real things and then they throw in this Pseudo-Science bullsh*t which brings down the credibility of their site. Its like if I was watching the news and they told me what was going on in World of Warcraft or something. It's nothing to get your panties in a bind about, its just out of place.

Batman

[nepheles]

Looking forward to the new Batman -- he's one of the deepest comic book heroes out there. Apart from his own turmoil, documented throughout the series, the madness, brooding insanity and general darkness of Gotham is still an interesting depiction of a vaguely 40s American Urban wasteland. It contrasts fairly starkly with today's forgettable, fluffy all-star heroes.

This Kuro5hin article makes interesting reading.

What we really need;

[jafac]

is a "How the Slasdot effect Works"

So is this movie actually good?

[caitsith01]

May as well ask, as we're clearly just discussing new products and services we plan to buy here on ./ these days...

After the last few Batman horrors I swore I would never go to another Batman-related movie, but this one seems to be faring well on Rotten Tomatoes, and Roger Ebert even gave it 4 stars (although he is admittedly something of a teenage boy when it comes to superhero movies). However, I'm sorely tempted to actually pay money to see this. Especially because Christian Bale is so much more interesting than run-of-the-mill action heroes. I had to kill a *lot* of people.

So, would it be worth it, or is this essentially more Hollywood crap? Are the good reviews merely a product of relief a the fact that it's not monumentally awful, or is it actually _good_?

Re:So is this movie actually good?

[YOU LIKEWISE FAIL IT]

I had to kill a *lot* of people.

???!

Did this just slip out, or what?

-- YLFI

The Batmobile is much more interesting

[Spodlink05]

Partly because it's insane and partly because all of the US manufacturers said it couldn't be done - so they made it in England.

Not all that hath nipples, hath beauty...

[mister_llah]

Remember, my good man, that in addition to fine young women, bald, obese, hairy 60 year old men with severe hygeine problems ALSO have nipples...

Good Investment

[TeacherOfHeroes]

It's very rare that you see anyone in the movie industry taking the time to make their technology realistic. In most cases there's no incentive to do so; The movie will only seem less realistic to a small number of people who really know the difference. This movie, however, has a large enough pre-existing existing fan base that does care, and in this case the higher level of detail is a worthwhile one.

Not mentioned.

[AtariAmarok]

Not mentioned are some of the secret compartments in the Utility Belt, such as the one containing live radioactive spiders, just in case Batman finds the need to shoot goo from his wrists and "Swing the extra mile" over Gotham. Kryptonite is found in another compartment: never know when you need to reduce that overgrown boy scout to such a weak state that he can't cross the street himself (let alone help an old lady across it). Also found in a secret flat part of the belt buckle are those certain photos he took of Robin that he does not ever want anyone to find, but he can't bring himself to destroy them.

Hhrmmm..

[Bananatree3]

Shucks. And I thought I was batman with my batman costume. Oh well, I guess those of us who can burn the hundreds of thousands to get this kind of suit are really batman.

From the Article

[Anonymous Coward]

(The exact nature of Batman's relationship with Wayne Enterprises is unclear at this point.)

How about the fact that Batman is Bruce Wayne and owns Wayne Enterprises?

Go go go Gadget Bat Belt

[ROFLMAObot]

Is one of the features and uses of Bat Utility Belt "...to hold up Batman's Bat Pants"?

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:I really hope they do real articles too

[zerocool^]

Not only that, I was looking there just earlier today, and I thought "What a crock" when I saw the advertisement for the new batman movie (sorry, i meant "informative article"). Howstuffworks used to be useful, but I searched there today for the word roulette (was wondering if they had an article on how a roulette wheel is constructed - commercial ones are like $4000), and I got 300 "paid ads" that weren't even in the paid ads section.

howstuffworks is useless now. Just another website where advertising has replaced content.

~Will

Magnetic grappling gun good for

[planckscale]

1. Catching the bus

2. catching that elevator

3. Climbing those stairs

4. grabbing that beer from the fridge

5. getting to the seat in the middle of that crowded theatre

6. Getting to the front of the Batman rollercoaster line

7. Peeping from the 5th floor fire escape

Sign me up!

I mean, come on, "does it run Linux" ???

[AtariAmarok]

"...but does it run Linux?

Do you think for a minute he'd give The Penguin such satisfaction?

You're actually right about the kryptonite

[Toxygen]

In modern DC Comics lore, Superman gave Batman a chunk of kryptonite after a nasty fight with a villain (I think it was Brainiac) who managed to control Superman's mind. The logic behind it was that in case a situation like that ever happened again and he needed to be taken down, Superman wanted his most trusted ally to have a trump card to stop him from doing evil. Batman's the man he trusted most to both keep it safe from the hands of other villains, and not to be tempted to use it unless it was an absolute emergency.

Re:You're actually right about the kryptonite

[JahToasted]

Yup. And in the Hush series Poison Ivy took over Superman's mind and Batman had to use the kryptonite. That was actually an excellent comic (Batman #612), but then I always enjoy seeing Batman slap around Superman.

Batman: He [superman] is the best at what he does.
Catwoman: That's open to debate
Batman: I said he's the best at what he does, not at what I do.

Plucky Duck....

[Himring]

I thought Plucky Duck did an excellent Batman:

[Plucky Duck as Batman attempts to join the Justice League]:
Justice League: "We have incredible powers! [each displays genetic abilities]. What are your powers?
Plucky Duck: [Looks concerned and then draws attention to his waist] "Well ... I have this really cool belt...."
[Entire Justice League bursts into laughters]

And then Lex Luthor shows up and drains each hero's abilities making him singularly incredible, but then tries to drain Plucky's forcing him into a weakened state and thereby losing it all. Justice League lets Plucky in based on his success as a failure....

How kind of Anonymous Reader

[barakn]

to submit this story right before the movie comes out. There's a 99%$ chance that "anonymous reader" is an employee of the movie or ad industries or of howstuffworks itself. Thanks for giving a large corporation free advertising, Slashdot!

On the Utility Belts

[Anonymous Coward]

On the Utility Belts

* Bat-antidote Powder (used to recover from any form of poison)
* Bat-cillin (also called Bat-acillin, available in lozenge form to prevent infection)
* Mobile Phone Bat-plugs (enable use of a portable Bat-phone)
* Bat-gas (also called Bat-sleep, used to put people to sleep)
* Bat-awake (counteracts effects of Bat-gas)
* Anti Bat-sonic device (deflects energy beams)
* Underwater Bat-sonar Device (can be attached to tracking devices to enable them to work underwater)
* Bat-homing Devices (can be rendered ineffective by some metal alloys)
* Emergency Bat-air Pumps (used for pumping up Batmobile tires)
* Bat-respirators (used for traveling underwater)
* Remote Batcomputer (allows access to the Bat-computer's databanks from any distance)
* Bat-detector (can be set to super laugh track sensitivity)
* Bat-plugs (go in nostrils, to prevent inhalation of poisonous fumes)
* Anti Short-circuiting Brain Bat-electrodes (also known as Anti Short-circuiting Bat-brain Electrodes)
* Mini-charge (puts out 5000 Volts)
* Remote Control Batcomputer Oscillator (activates Radio Frequency Bat-generator in Batcomputer, accepts Batman's voice commands)
* Bat-melter (for locks)
* Emergency Bat-communicator (fits on jacket lapel, or disguised as cufflinks)
* Anti Eavesdrop Bat-plug (placed on telephone mouthpiece)
* Remote Batmobile Control Phase Advancer (brings Batmobile to user's current position)
* Small Echoing Seal Pulsator (tracking device for seals)
* Super-thermalized Bat-skivvies (also known as bat-thermal underwear, protect against Mr. Freeze's freeze gun)
* Batrope (used in the Bat-climb)
* Anti Radioactive Bat-pill
* Bat X-ray deflector
* Special Exploding Batarang
* Bat-cuffs
* Bat-sound Amplifier
* Trusty Bat-deflector
* Bat-fan
* Small Batcave Improvement Loan
* Empty Alphabet Soup Bat-container
* Bat-negative Ion Attractor
* Instant Unfolding Bat-costumes complete with Utility Belts (add warm water)
* Shark Repellent Bat-spray
* Heel-and-toe Bat-rockets (experimental)
* Portable Ultra-violet Bat-ray (used to set off explosions)
* Bat-geiger Counter (detects radiation and indicates which direction it's in)
* Pipe of Fog Bat-reverser
* Anti Blast Bat-powder
* Insecticide Bat-bomb
* Bat-tweezers
* Bat-shield
* Miniature Bat-communicator
* Bat-ear Plugs (block out any sound over 14,000 decibels)
* Anti Thermal Bat T-shirts (provide protection from explosions)
* Anti Lethal Fog Bat-spray
* All Purpose Bat-swatter
* Reverse Thermal Bat-lozenge
* Ice Batarang
* Ice Batrope
* Bat-tools (for picking locks)
* Bat-synchronizer (moves lips of the Bat-dummy)
* General Emergency Bat-extinguisher (can remove fog from a room)
* Batmobile Bat-tracker Device (leads the user to current position of Batmobile)
* Bat-file (for escaping from handcuffs)
* African Death Bee Antidote Pill
* Bat-brush
* Laser Bar Cutter
* Bat-hooks
* Bat-chemical (makes metal 20 times heavier)
* Anti Alvino Ray Bat-disintegrator
* Steam Neutralizing Bat-pellets
* Three-Seconds-Flat Bat-vault Combination Unscrambler
* Anti-percussion Asbestos Bat-flax
* Bat-bomb Machine (defuses bombs)
* Bat-hook (attached to suction cup, allows things to be hung on wall)
* Bat-gauge (used to search for hidden doors)
* Laser-gun (can be used to melt things)
* Special Super Thermal B Long Underwear
* Universal Drug Antidote Pill
* Anti-freeze Capsule
* Anti-mesmerizing Bat-reflector (for deflecting Mad Hatter's Super Instant Mesmerizer)
* Bat-key (though likely highly illegal, can open

Re:Oh definitely.

[karnal]

Congratulations, fatty!

That better?

Be gentle. Cutting back on the cigarettes.... tend to be a little more edgy....