Batmobile (Batman Begins)

The Batmobile in Batman Begins.

The Batmobile, depicted in the 2005 film Batman Begins and the 2008 sequel The Dark Knight, commonly referred to as the Tumbler, owes more to the tank-like vehicle from Frank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns than to the sleek automobiles seen in previous movies. The film's production designer described the machine as being a cross between a Lamborghini and a Hummer. In the various interior sequences of the Batmobile/Tumbler being driven, it appears to drive like a boat, based on throttle placement, use, and construction.

Features

Five individual Batmobiles were built for filming in the movie, each with a special purpose to meet the various stunt needs of the film: two regular, full-size driving Batmobiles for exterior shots; one full-size model with hydraulics for the jump sequences; one full-size functional vehicle with propane tanks to fuel the rocket blast out of the rear nozzle and a 1/3-scale radio-controlled electric model for the most involved stunts in the film (e.g. the roof-top chase sequence). The scale model scenes were filmed on a massive set built on a stage at Shepperton Studios over the course of nine weeks. The full-sized vehicles were driven and filmed on the streets of Chicago.

Role in Batman Begins

In Batman Begins, Bruce Wayne acquires a mothballed Wayne Enterprises military vehicle, called the "Tumbler", to serve as his Batmobile. Originally sporting military camouflage paint, Bruce Wayne requested Lucius Fox to have the Tumbler painted black. The vehicle that he creates is never referred to as the "Batmobile."

Later on in the film, Dr. Jonathan Crane poisons Rachel Dawes after showing her that his toxin, which is revealed to only be harmful in vapor form, was being piped into Gotham's water supply. She was eventually saved by Batman. The police entered Arkham Asylum and arrested Crane while Batman escaped with Rachel in his car.

Afterwards, Batman battled Ra's al Ghul aboard a train, then escaped just as Jim Gordon, who then drives the Batmobile under Batman's permission, launches the missiles from it, leaving Ra's to crash with the train to the ground.

Role in The Dark Knight

The Batmobile made its appearance at a car park, where it was remotely controlled by Batman to fire at some cars to intimidate the Scarecrow and a Russian mob before the Dark Knight himself appeared on the scene. Despite failing to stop the Russian mob from escaping, he successfully caught the Scarecrow and a group of Batman impersonators.

Later in the film, as Harvey Dent was being escorted across the city, the convoy was attacked by The Joker and his gang, who destroyed all of the police vehicles except for the armored car carrying Dent. At that moment, the Batmobile appeared, destroying a garbage truck driven by one of the Joker's goons via head-on collision. Batman then ran the Batmobile full-speed between the Joker's truck and the armored car, receiving the brunt of a rocket-propelled grenade fired by the Joker. After the Batmobile flipped violently on the side of the road, Batman engaged its escape mechanism, converting the front wheels into the Batpod before the rest of the vehicle self-destructed.

Fictional technical specifications

• Length: 15 feet (4.57 m)
• Width: 9 feet 4 inches (2.84 m)
• Weight: 2.5 short tons (2.3 t)
• Acceleration: 0-60 in 5.6 seconds. Under full acceleration, the car could actually rise up on its front "legs" while the front wheels stayed planted on the ground creating an effect like a giant spider.
• Engine: 5.0 liter Vauxhall/GM engine capable of 500 horsepower. The jet engine and vector controls could jump up to 6 feet vertically.
• Fuel: The "jet engine" on the back of the car was fed by propane tanks.
• Tires: Super swampers tires standing 44 inches tall (via titanium axles).

Production process

Nathan Crowley, one of the production designers for Batman Begins, started the process of designing the Tumbler for the film by model bashing. One of the parts that Crowley used to create the vehicle was the nose cone of a P-38 Lightning model to serve as the chassis for the Tumbler's jet engine. Six models of the Tumbler were built to 1:12 scale in the course of four months. Following the scale model creation, a crew of over 30 people, including Crowley and engineers Chris Culvert and Annie Smith, carved a full-size replica of the Tumbler out of a large block of Styrofoam, which was a process that lasted two months.

The Styrofoam model was used to create a steel "test frame", which had to stand up to several standards: have a speed of over 100 mph, go from 0 to 60 mph in 5 seconds, possess a steering system to make sharp turns at city corners, and to withstand a self-propelled launch of up to 30 feet. On the very first jump test, the Tumbler's front end collapsed and had to be completely rebuilt. The basic configuration of the newly designed Tumbler included a 5.7-liter Chevy V8 engine, a truck axle for the rear axle, front racing tires by Hoosier, rear 4x4 mud tires by Interco., and the suspension system of Baja racing trucks. The design and development process took nine months and cost several million dollars.

With the design process completed, four street-ready race cars were constructed, with each vehicle possessing 65 carbon fiber panels and costing $250,000 to build. Two of the four cars were specialized versions. One version was the flap version, which had hydraulics and flaps to detail the close-up shots where the vehicle propelled itself through the air. The other version was the jet version, in which an actual jet engine was mounted onto the vehicle, fueled by six propane tanks. Due to the poor visibility inside the vehicle by the driver, monitors were connected to cameras on the vehicle body. The professional drivers for the Tumblers practiced driving the vehicles for six months before they drove on the streets of Chicago for the film's scenes.

The interior of the Tumbler was an immobile studio set and not actually the interior of a street-capable Tumbler. The cockpit was over-sized to fit cameras for scenes filmed in the Tumbler interior. In addition, another version of the Tumbler was a miniature model that was 1:5 scale of the actual Tumbler. This miniature model had an electric motor and was used to show the Tumbler flying across ravines and between buildings. However, the actual race car was used for the waterfall sequence.

External links

• The Batcave - The Tumbler
• Click on the title to see die-cast vehicles from that movie or TV series.
• How the Batmobile Works
  • In the Beginning
  • Getting Physical
  • Sculpting the Batmobile
  • The Batmobile Test Frame
  • The Actual Components
  • The Assembly Line
  • Inside the Batmobile
  • Understanding the Illusion
• Batman Begins Tumbler Spec
• The History of the Batmobile

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