The Bootleg Files – The Batman: Deadly Madness

Posted on March 4, 2022 by Phil Hall

BOOTLEG FILES 796: “The Batman: Deadly Madness” (2022 Russian film).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None (hey, it just came out).

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: Unauthorized production that borrows copyright protected material.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Nyet.

This week marks the debut of two new films inspired by Bob Kane’s Gotham City-based superhero. There is the big Hollywood film that everyone is waiting for – do I really have to identify it? – and there is the tiny Russian film that no one is waiting for but everyone should see, if only to learn an invaluable lesson on how not to make a fan film.
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Disney Says ‘Nyet’ To Putin, Removes Films From Russian Theaters

Posted on February 28, 2022 by Phil Hall

The Walt Disney Co. became the first Hollywood studio to withdrawing its films from theatrical release in Russia in response to the invasion of Ukraine.
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The Bootleg Files: New Year’s Eve

Posted on December 31, 2021 by Phil Hall

BOOTLEG FILES 790: “New Year’s Eve” (1948 Soviet animated short).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: Not that I can determine.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: It fell through the cracks.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Maybe in an anthology collection of Soviet-era cartoons.

Here we are at the end of another year, and to say goodbye to 2021 I decided to lean back into the Cold War era and dig up a wonderful but obscure animated short from the Soviet Union that takes place on New Year’s Eve. The film, not surprisingly, is called “New Year’s Eve” and it is one of the most delightfully odd relics of the house that Lenin built.
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