Do the previous Batman movies adhere to Batman's rules?

Question

Christopher Nolan's take on Batman makes it very clear that Batman has a set of rules, or at least 1 rule that he follows and in The Dark Knight (2008), it's addressed several times. That one rule is that he refuses to kill anyone.

Do the previous Batman movies take this into account as well? I most curious about the very first Batman (1989), because in the final scenes in the belfry, Batman kicks a henchman down the the bell tower. We don't see the henchman fall to his death, but one can assume that is what happens, and this is a direct violation of Batman's rule of not killing anyone. Not to mention the Joker died as a direct result of Batmans actions.

Edit: By "Previous Batman movies" I mean all of the non animated Batman movies (Tim Burton/Joel Schumacher) and this would also include the Zack Snyder versions as well.

Answer 1

It is important to remember that Batman's #1 rule of "Don't kill people" came after the creation of the character. In 1939's Detective Comics #27 (Introducing the Batman) Batman's first appear has him killing the criminal at the end.

Batman punches the murderer, who then crashes through a railing, and falls into a vat of acid. He’s dead. To this Batman says ‘a fitting end to his kind.’ - Detective Comics #27 – Introduction of the Batman

As comic books rose in popularity, particularly post World War 2, there was a growing concern how they influenced children. After the 1953 Congressional Committee hearings on juvenile delinquency, comic book makers came together and created the Comics Code Authority, which put pressure on them to tone down all their comics and the way they dealt with bad guys. (This Authority has since been abandoned by all publishers).

Batman in the movies has always seemed to be fine with a body count (except 1966 Batman). As noted in the comments, Mr. Sunday News did a compilation kill count for Batman before Superman v Batman, including in Batman Begins and The Dark Knight Rises (yes, refusing to save someone from dying in a train wreck is the same as killing them).