1943

In this first screen appearance of the Caped Crusader, batman battles Dr. Daka, a Japanese mastermind of a wartime espionage-sabotage group. Daka has a radium-powered death ray that pulverizes walls, and a classic alligator pit to dispose of enemies. He has been able to turn men into electronic zombies who do his bidding and transmit video signals to Daka's lab! In this first appearance of Batman, he has no Batmobile or batplane, but there are bats to be found in the Bat Cave. This serial might be objectionable to some Japanese due to its tone, as it was made during a dark period of American History (1943) while feelings were still high against the Japanese, a protagonist against the US in WWII.

I'd rate the quality of the film as a=7 v=7 but is the best currently obtainable.