Kevin Smith hosts screening of Batman Forever’s Schumacher Cut

As JoBlo.com was founded in 1998, we missed the opportunity to chronicle the reactions to 1995’s Batman Forever. But time works in funny ways, as just last week a rare screening of the nearly three-hour Schumacher Cut of Batman Forever took place – and yes, the reactions are in, with most agreeing it is easily the better version of the movie, which doesn’t exactly have the best reputation…

After teasing he had a copy of the Batman Forever Schumacher Cut last month, he followed through on delivering it to Batfans all over – well, in New Jersey at least – hosting a screening at his home state Smodcastle Cinemas.

According to those that caught the Schumacher Cut, Batman Forever is now a “different experience” altogether. A few examples of the changes include now opening with a sequence involving Two-Face (Tommy Lee Jones) at Arkham Asylum, offering more of Riddler going insane and featuring what is surely the highlight of the movie: the Caped Crusader coming face-to-face with a giant bat. This version also explores more of Batman’s psychological issues, gives future Marvel stalwart Jon Favreau a little more screen time and offers a few other surprises for those familiar with previous Bat-movies…A detailed rundown of the differences can be found here.

This screening of the Schumacher Cut of Batman Forever was apparently so top secret that attendees had to have a ticket for a different event to even get a seat, with the July 1st screening being held after a marathon of all six episodes of the Clerks animated series. By not advertising or charging, Smith could likely have skirted around any potential legal problems, seeing as he didn’t get approval from Warner Bros. It’s expected there will be another screening next month. If you were in the audience for the July 1st showing, let us know your experience!

Those who didn’t or can’t attend but who are clamoring to see the Schumacher Cut of Batman Forever will have to wait quite some time, as the cut is far from complete…and who knows if Warner Bros. even has an interest in officially releasing it.

If given the chance, would you watch the Schumacher Cut of Batman Forever? How do you feel about Kevin Smith’s tactics to show it to the public?