Batman Begins Quotations

Batman Begins is a 2005 American superhero film based on the comic book character created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger. It stars Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Cillian Murphy, and Katie Holmes. It is directed by Christopher Nolan.

Bruce Wayne/Batman

I'm Batman.

I seek … the means to fight injustice. To turn fear against those who prey on the fearful.

My anger outweighs my guilt.

The first time I stole so that I wouldn't starve. I lost many … assumptions about the simple nature of right and wrong. And when I traveled … I learned the fear before a crime … and the thrill of success. But I never became one of them.

I will not become an executioner.

Gotham isn't beyond saving.

[On the duration of his stay in Gotham] As long as it takes to show the people of Gotham that their city doesn't belong to the criminals and the corrupt.

[To the homeless man he traded with earlier in the movie] Nice coat.

[To Detective Flass, hanging upside down from grappling hook] Do I look like a cop?!

[To Detective Flass] Swear to me!

[Talking to a group] Well, a guy who dresses up like a bat clearly has issues.

[To Alfred, in reference to keeping the guests busy] Tell them that joke you know!

I don't have the luxury of friends.

You're not Ra's al Ghul. I watched him die.

It's not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me.

They told me there was nothing out there, nothing to fear. But the night my parents were murdered I caught a glimpse of something. I've looked for it ever since. I went around the world, searched in all the shadows. And there is something out there in the darkness, something terrifying, something that will not stop until it gets revenge. [Pause] Me.

[To Alfred when asked why he chose to theme his gear around bats] Bats frighten me. It's time my enemies shared my dread.

Who said anything about stopping it?

People need dramatic examples to shake them out of apathy, and I can't do that as Bruce Wayne. As a man, I'm flesh and blood. I can be ignored, I can be destroyed. But as a symbol … as a symbol, I can be incorruptible. I can be everlasting.

You're not the devil … you're practice.

[To Lucius Fox after test-driving the "Tumbler"] Does it come in black?

I won't kill you. [Pause] But I don't have to save you.

James Gordon

I'm no rat. In a town this bent, who's there to rat to anyway?

[To Batman] I think you're trying to help … [notices that he is gone] but I've been wrong before.

I gotta get me one of those. [Referring to the "Tumbler" AKA the Batmobile]

We start carrying semi-automatics, they buy automatics. We start wearing kevlar … they buy armor-piercing rounds. And you're wearing a mask … and jumping off rooftops.

Now, take this new guy. Armed robbery, double homicide. Got a taste for the theatrical, like you. Leaves a calling card. [Hands Batman a Joker playing card]

Rachel Dawes

Justice is about harmony. Revenge is about you making yourself feel better. Which is why we have an impartial system.

As long as he keeps the bad people rich and the good people scared, no one'll touch him. Good people like your parents who'll stand against injustice, they're gone. What chance does Gotham have when good people do nothing?

Your father would be ashamed of you.

You enjoy your party, Bruce. Some of us have work to do.

It's not who you are underneath, but what you do that defines you.

I spent a lot of time being scared for you. Then I heard you came back … the man I loved, the man who vanished … he never came back at all. Maybe one day, when Gotham no longer needs Batman, I'll see him again.

Henri Ducard/Ra's al Ghul

The world is too small for a man like Bruce Wayne to simply disappear. No matter how deep he chooses to sink.

If you make yourself more than just a man, if you devote yourself to an ideal and if they can't stop you, you become something else entirely – a legend, Mister Wayne.

To manipulate the fear in others you must first master your own.

Death does not wait for you to be ready! Death is not considerate or fair. And make no mistake: here, you face death.

To conquer fear, you must become fear.

He was a farmer. Then he tried to take his neighbor's land and became a murderer. Now he's a prisoner.

Crime cannot be tolerated. Criminals thrive on the indulgence of society's understanding.

Your parents' death was not your fault. It was your father's. [Bruce attacks wildly and fails to land any blows] Anger does not change the fact that your father failed to act.

You haven't beaten me. You have sacrificed sure footing for a killing stroke.

But I know the rage that drives you. That impossible anger strangling the grief, until the memory of your loved one is just poison in your veins. And one day, you catch yourself wishing the person you loved had never existed, so you'd be spared your pain.

Your anger gives you great power. But if you let it, it will destroy you … as it almost did me.

There are those without decency who must be fought without hesitation, without pity.

You never learned to mind your surroundings!

The training is nothing! Will is everything! The will to act.

Men fear most what they cannot see.

[After Bruce successfully has the guests at his party to leave] Amusing … but pointless. None of these people have long to live.

Only a cynical man would call what these people have "lives", Wayne. Crime. Despair. This is not how man was supposed to live. The League of Shadows has been a check against human corruption for thousands of years. We sacked Rome, loaded trade ships with plague rats, burned London to the ground. Every time a civilization reaches the pinnacle of its decadence, we return to restore the balance.

No one can save Gotham. When a forest grows too wild, a purging fire is inevitable and natural. Tomorrow the world will watch in horror as its greatest city tears itself apart through fear. The movement back to harmony will be unstoppable this time.

Throughout the ages, our weapons have become more advanced. With Gotham, we tried a new one: economics. But we underestimated certain of Gotham's people. Like your parents. Gunned down by the very people they were trying to help. Their deaths galvanized the city into saving itself, and Gotham has limped on ever since. We are back to finish the job. And this time no misguided idealists will get in the way. Like your father, you lack the courage to do all that is necessary. If someone stands in the way of true justice, you simply walk up behind them and stab them in the heart.

[While exiting the flaming ruins of Wayne Manor] Justice is balance. You burned my house and left me for dead. Consider us even.

Gentlemen, it is time to spread the word. And the word is – panic!

Don't be afraid, Bruce. You're just an ordinary man in a cape. That is why you cannot fight injustice and that is why you cannot stop this train.

Have you finally learned to do what is necessary?

[Batman lands on top of a monorail support] Well, well. You took my advice about theatricality a bit … literally.

You will never learn.

Dr. Jonathan Crane/The Scarecrow

The work offered by organized crime must have some sort of attraction to the insane.

[After having gassed Batman with fear toxin] Ah, having trouble? Take a seat. Have a drink. [Splashes gasoline on Batman] You look like a man who takes himself too seriously. You want my opinion? You need to lighten up. [Lights Batman on fire]

Would you like to see my mask? I use it in my experiments. Probably not very frightening to a guy like you, but these crazies, they can't stand it. [Sprays Falcone with fear toxin] They scream and they cry, much as you're doing now.

Patients suffering delusional episodes often focus their paranoia on an external tormentor. Usually one conforming to Jungian archetypes. In this case, a scarecrow.

I respect the mind's power over the body. It's why I do what I do.

This is where we make the medicine. Perhaps you should have some … clear your head.

Dr. Crane isn't here right now. But if you'd like to make an appointment …

There is nothing to fear but fear itself! I'm here to help!

[After being driven insane by his own fear toxin] Scarecrow … Scarecrow …

Carmine Falcone

[Sees Bruce Wayne enter the restaurant] You could've just sent a Thank You note.

[Bruce Wayne is frisked in the restaurant] No gun? I'm insulted.

Look around you. You'll see two councilmen, a union official, a couple of off-duty cops and a judge. Now, I wouldn't have a second's hesitation blowing your head off right here and right now in front of them. That's power you can't buy. That's the power of fear.

Because you think you got nothing to lose. But you haven't thought it through. You haven't thought about your lady friend down in the DA's office. You haven't though about your old butler. Bang! People from your world have so much to lose. Now, you think, because your mommy and your daddy got shot, you know the ugly side of life, but you don't. You've never tasted desperate. You're … you're Bruce Wayne, The Prince of Gotham. You'd have to go a thousand miles to meet someone who didn't know your name. So don't come down here with your anger, trying to prove something to yourself. This is a world you'll never understand. And you always fear … what you don't understand.

Yeah, you got spirit, kid. I'll give you that. More than your old man, anyway. In the joint, Chill told me about the night he killed your parents. He said your father begged for mercy. Begged. Like a dog.

Never underestimate Gotham City. People get mugged on their way home every day of the week. Heh, sometimes … sometimes things just go bad.

[Half-heartedly faking insanity to get out of prison] Yeah, Dr. Crane, I can't take it anymore. It's all too much. The walls are closing in. Blah, blah, blah. Couple more days of this food, it'll be true.

[Having actually been driven out of his mind] Scarecrow … scarecrow …

Various

Thomas Wayne: And why do we fall, Bruce? So we can learn to pick ourselves up.

Thomas Wayne: [last words] Don't be afraid.

Thomas Wayne: Gotham's been good to our family. But the city's been suffering. People less fortunate than us have been enduring very hard times. So we built a new, cheap, public transportation system to unite the city. And at the center … Wayne Tower.

Mr. Earle: You're in excellent hands. We'll be watching the empire. When you grow up, it'll be waiting for you.

Alfred: I give a damn, sir, because a good man once made me responsible for what was most precious to him in the whole world.

Joe Chill: Your honor, not a day goes by that I don't wish I could take back what I did. Sure, I was desperate – like a lot of people back then – but that don't change what I did.

Lucius Fox: [on why Batman's body armor was discontinued] They didn't think that a soldier's life was worth three-hundred grand.

Lucius Fox: … and over here on the throttle: [flips open afterburner guard] flip that open and throttle up. This will boost you into a rampless jump. [Bruce presses the button] Not now!

Police Officer: [trying to describe the Batmobile] It's a black … tank!

Police Officer: Can you at least tell me what it looks like? [Batmobile thunders by] Never mind …

Police Officer: What Road is he on? [2nd Officer looks up at a building] He's not on a road, he's flying on rooftops.

Lucius Fox: You expecting to run into much gunfire in these caves?

Lucius Fox: I don't think they tried marketing to the billionaire base-jumping, spelunking crowd.

Homeless Man: [to Bruce Wayne after he is kicked out of Carmine Falcone's bar] You shoulda' tipped better!

Dialogue

[Bruce Wayne and a prisoner are in the morning chow line, Wayne looks at a fellow prisoner]

Prisoner: They are going to fight you.

Bruce Wayne: Again?

Prisoner: Until they kill you.

Bruce Wayne: Can they kill me before breakfast?

[A fellow prisoner accosts Bruce Wayne in the morning chow line]

Prisoner: You are in hell, little man. And I … am the devil.

Bruce Wayne: You're not the devil. You're practice.

[After a brawl in the prison yard, Bruce is dragged away by guards.]

Guard: Solitary!

Bruce Wayne: Why?!

Guard: For protection.

Bruce: I don't need protection!

Guard: Protection for them.

Thomas Wayne:You know why [the bats] attacked you, don't you? They were afraid of you.

Young Bruce Afraid of me?

Thomas Wayne: All creatures feel fear.

Young Bruce: Even the scary ones?

Thomas Wayne: Especially the scary ones.

Ducard: Are you so desperate to fight criminals that you lock yourself in to take them on one at a time?

Bruce Wayne: Actually, uh, there were seven of them.

Ducard: I counted six, Mister Wayne.

Ducard: If you make yourself more than just a man, if you devote yourself to an ideal, then you become something else entirely.

Bruce Wayne: Which is?

Ducard: A legend, Mister Wayne.

Ducard: You're stronger than your father.

Bruce Wayne: You didn't know my father.

Ducard: But I know the rage that drives you. That impossible anger strangling the grief, until the memory of your loved ones is just poison in your veins. And one day you catch yourself wishing the person you loved had never existed, so you'd be spared your pain. I wasn't always here in the mountains. Once I had a wife, my great love. She was taken from me. Like you, I was forced to learn that there are those without decency that must be fought without hesitation, without pity. Your anger gives you great power, but if you let it, it will destroy you, as it almost did me.

Bruce Wayne: What stopped it?

Ducard: Vengeance.

Bruce Wayne: That's no good to me.

Ducard: Why, Bruce? Why could you not avenge your parents?

Ducard: Your compassion is a weakness your enemies will not share.

Bruce Wayne: That's why it's so important. It separates us from them.

Alfred: Are you coming back for long, sir?

Bruce Wayne: As long as it takes. I want to show the people of Gotham that their city doesn't belong to the criminals and the corrupt.

[Bruce is machining throwing weapons in the shape of bats]

Alfred: Why bats, Master Wayne?

Bruce Wayne: Bats frighten me. It's time my enemies share my dread.

[He throws the completed batarang, embedding it in a wall]

[Bruce looks and points his head at the "Tumbler" resting in the garage]

Bruce Wayne: What's that?

Lucius Fox: The Tumbler? Oh, you wouldn't be interested in that …

[Bruce has just test-driven the "Tumbler"]

Lucius Fox: So, what do you think?

Bruce Wayne: Does it come in black?

[Batman interrogates the corrupt Detective Flass while dangling him off the edge of a building]

Batman: WHERE WERE THE OTHER DRUGS GOIN?!

Det. Flass: I never knew! I don't know! I swear to God!

Batman: SWEAR TO ME!

[Batman drops Flass, then pull him again]

Det. Flass: I don't...I don't know! I never knew! Never! They...They went to some guy for a couple days before they went to the dealers!

Batman: WHY?!

Det. Flass: There was something...Something else in the drugs...Something hidden.

Batman: WHAT?!

Det. Flass: I never went to the drop-off point! It was in the Narrows! Cops only go there in force!

Batman: DO I LOOK LIKE A COP?!

[Batman drops Flass once again]

Jumpy Thug: Where are you?!

Batman: [hanging upside down, right behind him] Here.

Carmine Falcone: [muttering to himself] What the hell are you?

[Batman bursts through the sun roof of Falcone's limousine]

Batman: I'm Batman.

[Batman headbutts Falcone into unconsciousness, then sees the Homeless Man he traded coats with years earlier]

Batman: Nice coat.

[He flies off; the Homeless Man stares after him]

Homeless Man: Thanks.

[On arriving at the docks & noticing drug dealers being arrested]

Cop at Docks: Falcone's men?

Gordon: Does it matter? We'll never tie him to it anyway.

Cop at Docks: I wouldn't be too sure of that.

[They notice Falcone strapped tight to a police searchlight almost forming a bat-like symbol in the sky]

[The jailed Falcone (who has been feigning insanity) has demanded to speak with Dr. Crane, director of Arkham Asylum]

Carmine Falcone: Yeah, Dr. Crane, I can't take it anymore. It's all too much. The walls are closing in. Blah, blah, blah. Couple more days of this food, it'll be true.

Dr. Crane: What do you want?

Carmine Falcone: I want to know how you're gonna convince me to keep my mouth shut.

Dr. Crane: About what? You don't know anything.

Carmine Falcone: I know you wouldn't want the police to take a closer look at those drugs they found. And I know about your experiments with the inmates of your nuthouse. See, I don't go into business with a guy without finding out his dirty secrets. And those goons you used – I own the muscle in this town. Now, I've been bringing your stuff in for months, so whatever he's planning, it's big, and I want in.

Dr. Crane: Well, I already know what he'll say: that we should kill you.

Carmine Falcone: Even he can't get me in here. Not in my town.

Dr. Crane: [sighs, then matter-of-factly] Would you like to see my mask? I use it in my experiments. Probably not very frightening to a guy like you, but these crazies, they can't stand it. [he gets out a mask – a burlap sack stitched and altered to look like a scarecrow's head – and puts it on]

Carmine Falcone: So when did the nut take over the nuthouse?

[Crane sprays a fear-inducing gas into Falcone's face; he begins to scream in terror as the gas takes effect: Crane's voice is altered, and the mask appears to move like a real face]

Dr. Crane: They scream and they cry, much as you're doing now.

[Outside Falcone's cell, where his screaming can still be heard]

Dr. Crane: Well, he's not faking, not this one. I'll talk to the judge and see if I can get him moved to the secure wing at Arkham. I can't treat him here.

[After the power shuts down in Arkham]

Jonathan Crane: He's here.

Thug: Who?

Jonathan Crane: [distantly] The Bat-Man!

Thug: What do we do?

Jonathan Crane: What anybody does when a prowler comes around … call the police.

Thug: You want the cops here?

Jonathon Crane: At this point, they can't stop us. But the Batman has a talent for disruption. Force him outside, the police will take him down.

Thug: [indicates Rachel] What about her?

Jonathon Crane: [grins] She hasn't got long. I gave her a concentrated dose. The mind can only take so much. Now go.

[Batman uses Dr. Crane's fear gas against him, and begins to interrogate. The effects of the gas keep Crane paralyzed with fear]

Batman: [his voice and appearance are altered due to the effects of the gas] Crane … who are you working for?

Dr. Crane: [whispering] Ra's … Ra's al Ghul.

Batman: Ra's al Ghul is dead. Who are you working for, Crane?!

Dr. Crane: [distraught] Dr. Crane isn't here right now … but if you'd like to make an appointment …

[Batman hears the police sirens and start to look around. He then growls into Crane's face and lets go of him]

[Bruce wants Lucius Fox to mass-produce the antidote for Crane's fear gas]

Lucius Fox: Planning on gassing yourself again, Mister Wayne?

Bruce Wayne: Well, you know how it is: it's late at night, and you're out looking for kicks, and somebody starts passing out the weaponised hallucinogens …

Bruce Wayne: I wanted to save Gotham. I've failed.

Alfred: Why do we fall, sir? So that we can learn to pick ourselves up.

Bruce: You still haven't given up on me?

Alfred: Never.

Rachel Dawes: Wait! You could die! At least tell me your name.

Batman: It's not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me.

Rachel: Bruce?

Rachel Dawes: [consoling a scared little boy] It's okay, they aren't going to hurt you–

[A masked and mounted Scarecrow leads the rampaging Arkham inmates; his voice is altered by the gas]

Scarecrow: Of course they are!

Rachel Dawes: Crane?

Scarecrow: No … Scarecrow!

[Batman and Ducard/Ra's al Ghul battle on a speeding monorail]

Ducard: Familiar! Have you learned nothing new? [swings sword at Batman, who traps it with his wrist guards]

Batman: How about this? [pulls wrists apart, shattering the sword]

Ducard: Don't be afraid, Bruce. You're just an ordinary man in a cape. That's why you can't fight injustice, and that's why you can't stop this train.

Batman: Who said anything about stopping it?

[Ducard turns to see that Batman has destroyed the train's brakes, as an explosion destroys the tracks ahead]

Batman: [overpowering Ducard] You never learned to mind your surroundings.

Ducard: Have you finally learned to do what is necessary?

Batman: I won't kill you. But I don't have to save you.

[Bruce has announced his plan to rebuild Wayne Manor "brick by brick"]

Alfred: Exactly the way it was, sir?

Bruce: Yeah. Why?

Alfred: I was just thinking this could be a chance to … improve the foundation.

Bruce: In the southeast wing?

Alfred: Precisely, sir.

[The Batcave is located under the southeast wing of Wayne Manor]

Batman: [knocks on new Bat-signal] Nice.

Gordon: Couldn't find any mob bosses.

Batman: Well, Sergeant?

Gordon: Oh, it's lieutenant now. You really started something. Bent cops running scared, hope on the streets …

Batman: But?

Gordon: The Narrows is lost. And we still haven't picked up Crane or half the inmates of Arkham that he freed.

Batman: We will. We can bring Gotham back.

Gordon: And what about escalation?

Batman: Escalation?

Gordon: We start carrying semi-automatics, they buy automatics. We start wearing Kevlar … they buy armor-piercing rounds.

Batman: And?

Gordon: And you're wearing a mask … and jumping off rooftops. Now, take this new guy. Armed robbery, double homicide. Got a taste for the theatrical. Like you. Leaves a calling card. [hands Batman a clear plastic evidence bag containing a playing card; Batman turns it over to reveal that it is a Joker card]

Batman: I'll look into it. [walks to edge of roof]

Gordon: I never said thank you.

Batman: [turns around to look at Gordon] And you'll never have to.

[Batman spreads his cape and leaps off the roof]

Gordon: The Narrows is tearing itself to pieces.

Batman: This is just the beginning. If they hit the whole city with toxins, there's nothing to stop Gotham from tearing itself apart through mass panic.

Gordon: How are they gonna do that?

Batman: They'll be using the train. The monorail follows the water mains along Gotham's central hub beneath Wayne Tower. If they get their machine into the station, it'll cause a chain reaction that'll vaporize the city's entire water supply.

Gordon: Covering Gotham in this poison.

Batman: I'm gonna stop them from loading that train, but I may need your help.

Gordon: What do you need?

Batman: [holds up the Batmobile remote] Can you drive stick?

[After the Batmobile runs through a police cruiser]

Officer: He is in a vehicle.

Dispatch: Make and color?

Officer: Uhh, it's a black … tank.

Gordon: [hearing bat sounds] What's that?

Batman: Backup.

[In Gordon's Office]

Batman: [holds Gordon up with a stapler] Don't turn around. You're a good cop, one of the few.

Gordon: What do you want?

Batman: Carmine Falcone brings in shipments of drugs every week. Nobody takes him down. Why?

Gordon: He's paid up with the right people.

Batman: What would it take to bring him down?

Gordon: Leverage on Judge Fayden, and a DA brave enough to prosecute.

Batman: Rachel Dawes.

Gordon: Who are you?

[The "gun" is then revealed to be a stapler, unknown to Gordon]

Batman: Watch for my sign. [retracts the stapler and backs off]

Gordon: You're just one man?

Batman: Now we're two.

Gordon: We?

[As Gordon is taking out the trash, he sees Batman perched on a railing next to his house]

Batman: Storm's coming.

Gordon: The scum's getting jumpy ever since you stood up to Falcone.

Batman: It's a start. Your partner was at the docks with Falcone.

Gordon: Yeah, well, he moonlights as a low-level enforcer.

Batman: They were splitting the shipment in two. Only half went to the dealers.

Gordon: Where was it going?

Batman: Flass knows.

Gordon: He won't talk.

Batman: He'll talk to me.

Gordon: Comissioner Loeb set up a massive task force to capture you. He thinks you're dangerous.

Batman: What do you think?

Gordon: I think you're trying to help … [he sees that Batman has already left] … but I've been wrong before.

[As Wayne takes money out of his wallet and gives it to the Homeless Man]

Homeless Man: For what?

Bruce Wayne: Your jacket.

Homeless Man: Okay …

[As he takes it off, Bruce prepares to throw his own into the fire]

Homeless Man: Hey, let me have it. It's a nice coat.

[They switch coats]

Bruce Wayne: Be careful who sees you with that. They're going to come looking for me.

Homeless Man: Who?

Bruce Wayne: Everyone.

[He runs off]

[The Homeless Man holds up the coat, looking at it]

Homeless Man: It's a nice coat …

Gordon: I'll get my car.

Batman: I brought mine!

Gordon: Yours?

[The Tumbler roars past Gordon]

Gordon: I gotta get me one of those!

[Rachel is about to be murdered and pulls out a taser, the criminal runs away]

Rachel: [yelling] That's right, you better run!

[Rachel turns around to see that Batman is standing behind her, startles her and she fires the taser. Batman just looks at the cables and calmly removes them]

Batman: Falcone sent these men to kill you.

Rachel: Why?

Batman: You rattled his cage.

Rachel: [Batman throws some photos at her feet] What's this?

Batman: Leverage.

Rachel: For what?

Batman: To get things moving.

Rachel: Who are you?

Batman: Someone like you. Someone who'd rattle the cages.

[Rachel bends to pick up the photos and as she goes back up, Batman is gone]

Bruce Wayne: You're not Ra's al Ghul. I watched him die.

Henri Ducard: [from behind Bruce] But is Ra's al Ghul immortal? Are his methods supernatural?

Bruce Wayne: [turning to face him] Or cheap parlor tricks to conceal your true identity, Ra's?

Henri Ducard: Surely someone who spends his nights scrambling across the rooftops of Gotham wouldn't begrudge me dual identities.

Cast

Christian Bale – Bruce Wayne/Batman
Liam Neeson – Henri Ducard/Ra's al Ghul
Katie Holmes – Rachel Dawes
Michael Caine – Alfred Pennyworth
Gary Oldman – Detective Jim Gordon
Morgan Freeman – Lucius Fox
Cillian Murphy – Dr. Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow
Tom Wilkinson – Carmine Falcone
Linus Roache – Dr. Thomas Wayne
Rutger Hauer – William Earle
Mark Boone Junior – Detective Flass
Tim Booth – Victor Zsasz