How good is Heath Ledger in the Dark Knight

Vedd Hedd · July 2008

Heath Ledger was fucking fantastic......

That said....

I want to give some extra credit to Christopher Nolan and whoever the screenplay writers were for that movie.

They completely mastered the dialogue. It was not campy, it was believable, and it didnt fall into superhero cliches, much like Spiderman and Superman.

Those guys deserve some serious credit.

But back to Heath.....yeah, it lives up to the hype. I didnt believe, for one second, that I was watching someone acting. I saw it as watching the Joker.

His performance was perfect.

Anon · July 2008

the link on the first page has been taken down. here it is again if anyone is interested.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRvsHlGmruA

pouch15 · July 2008

Vedd Hedd wrote:

Heath Ledger was fucking fantastic......

That said....

I want to give some extra credit to Christopher Nolan and whoever the screenplay writers were for that movie.

.

This must be a definitive nomination for best screenplay, Im not kidding, it was masterful

Thorns2010 · July 2008

Few things here.

First how the hell does Maggie Gyllenhaal get work? Ugggh, I can't look at her with her droopy face and all.

Second, the screenplay was written by Christopher Nolan and his brother Jonathan. Great work indeed.

As far as Ledger goes.....is the performance great?? YES!!! But I think we won’t be able to say how good it really is for at least 5 years or so. To see if it stands the test of time and to have the sting of his passing to subside so it can be viewed in a less emotional way.

Also I am getting sick and tired of hearing how good Jack's Joker was in the '89 film. I was 8 at the time that it came out, so I don't really have any idea of how it was viewed at the time, but have any of you actually watched the movie recently??

I watched it again a few months ago after the hype of the Dark Knight started and everyone was saying 'well I don't know if Heath can stand up to Jack's version'

But you know what?? It didn't seem special to me at all, and really was kinda of campy. So for me at the very least I can say Jack's version of the Joker DOES NOT stand the test of time.

Rygar · July 2008

Thorns2010 wrote:

Few things here.

First how the hell does Maggie Gyllenhaal get work? Ugggh, I can't look at her with her droopy face and all.

Second, the screenplay was written by Christopher Nolan and his brother Jonathan. Great work indeed.

As far as Ledger goes.....is the performance great?? YES!!! But I think we won’t be able to say how good it really is for at least 5 years or so. To see if it stands the test of time and to have the sting of his passing to subside so it can be viewed in a less emotional way.

Also I am getting sick and tired of hearing how good Jack's Joker was in the '89 film. I was 8 at the time that it came out, so I don't really have any idea of how it was viewed at the time, but have any of you actually watched the movie recently??

I watched it again a few months ago after the hype of the Dark Knight started and everyone was saying 'well I don't know if Heath can stand up to Jack's version'

But you know what?? It didn't seem special to me at all, and really was kinda of campy. So for me at the very least I can say Jack's version of the Joker DOES NOT stand the test of time.

That's because when you see Nicholson's Joker you've already seen Batman Begins, so it is tainted

It's a different portrayal, anyway.

Thorns2010 · July 2008

Rygar wrote:

That's because when you see Nicholson's Joker you've already seen Batman Begins, so it is tainted
It's a different portrayal, anyway.

Hehe, well no I saw it when it came out on VHS in the early 90's, and have seen it plenty of times since then.

If anything tainted me of his version of the Joker it was Batman: The Animated Series with Luke Skywa.....I mean Mark Hamill as the voice of the Joker.

Rygar · July 2008

Thorns2010 wrote:

Hehe, well no I saw it when it came out on VHS in the early 90's, and have seen it plenty of times since then.

If anything tainted me of his version of the Joker it was Batman: The Animated Series with Luke Skywa.....I mean Mark Hamill as the voice of the Joker.

Yeah but when you saw it on VHS it was incredible, right? Right??

Poor Luke :(

brainofPJ · July 2008

Thorns2010 wrote:

Few things here.

First how the hell does Maggie Gyllenhaal get work? Ugggh, I can't look at her with her droopy face and all.

Second, the screenplay was written by Christopher Nolan and his brother Jonathan. Great work indeed.

As far as Ledger goes.....is the performance great?? YES!!! But I think we won’t be able to say how good it really is for at least 5 years or so. To see if it stands the test of time and to have the sting of his passing to subside so it can be viewed in a less emotional way.

Also I am getting sick and tired of hearing how good Jack's Joker was in the '89 film. I was 8 at the time that it came out, so I don't really have any idea of how it was viewed at the time, but have any of you actually watched the movie recently??

I watched it again a few months ago after the hype of the Dark Knight started and everyone was saying 'well I don't know if Heath can stand up to Jack's version'

But you know what?? It didn't seem special to me at all, and really was kinda of campy. So for me at the very least I can say Jack's version of the Joker DOES NOT stand the test of time.

i like her...at least a hell of a lot more than Katie Holmes. actually, i wish they would have kept Katie Holmes and then i could have seen her get blown to bits instead.

and Burtons Batman has not aged well at all.

Anon · July 2008

Vedd Hedd wrote:

Heath Ledger was fucking fantastic......

That said....

I want to give some extra credit to Christopher Nolan and whoever the screenplay writers were for that movie.

They completely mastered the dialogue. It was not campy, it was believable, and it didnt fall into superhero cliches, much like Spiderman and Superman.

Those guys deserve some serious credit.

But back to Heath.....yeah, it lives up to the hype. I didnt believe, for one second, that I was watching someone acting. I saw it as watching the Joker.

His performance was perfect.

i love this post. you did not use the word 'epic' once.

I agree that ledger was outstanding in his role and i also have much praise for nolan. i posted my thoughts on him in another thread.

http://forums.pearljam.com/showpost.php?p=5678708&postcount=270

in this twilight · July 2008

Jack's Joker may have been "campy" but i think that's how the Joker is.
i may be alone in saying that i didnt really see Heath as the Joker at all, just a crazy dude in makeup. i got bored by all of his crimes involving bombs... i thought the Joker was more creative/whimsical with his weapons, i.e. the deadly handshake buzzer in Batman (1989). [i'm not really trying to compare him to jack, but with all the hype about The Dark Knight, i was expecting more creative crimes rather than typical action movie scenarios]

dont get me wrong, i think Heath's acting in this movie was great, but did he really capture the essence of the Joker?

Anon · July 2008

in this twilight wrote:

dont get me wrong, i think Heath's acting in this movie was great, but did he really capture the essence of the Joker?

He didn't just capture it. He absolutely nailed it. He portrayed the joker exactly how he was meant to be. Psychotic, demented, sadistic, murderous, evil. All with a creepy smile and laugh.

'Let me show you a magic trick'..... hehe. evil.

Porchsitter · July 2008

smithnic wrote:

Did you not see No Country for Old Men? Or There Will Be Blood? Both those performances are better playing a "psychopath"

I disagree. The kind of psychopaths played in TWBB and NCFOM still don't come close to Ledger's Joker or Hopkin's Lechter, and this is coming from someone who loved both of those films and performance.

For one, Chigurh is a contract killer and more sociopathic plain and simple. Sure, his behavior is not what we would consider "socially acceptable," but he's motivated by something deeper than the want of killing. There is a means to his madness. He's searching for Llewlyn because he's been contracted to do so. Therefore, he's not much different than any other contract killer other than he's a much more cold-blooded killer.

Plainview is the same way in a sense. He kills in the end not to kill but because he's motivated by something deeper. It's more of a statement on his part for how his life has turned out. Is he amoral? Absolutely, but I still wouldn't consider him a psychopath because he was motivated by greed for the most part.

Psychopaths (to me anyways) are those who kill for the simple pleasure of killing. Sure, they gain something along the way, but mostly they are motivated only by their want to kill. Lechter and Joker both are like that. Sure, Joker's motivation is to prove a point, but he's not in it for money or revenge. He's out to kill, and that makes him a more menacing psychopath than either of the murderer's in NCFOM or TWBB.

Trailer · July 2008

Pj_Gurl wrote:

'Let me show you a magic trick'..... hehe. evil.

That scene was fucking SICK!!!

intodeep · July 2008

for the record that is how nicholson's joker was supposed to be portrayed as very campy.

In the comic the joker sometimes is a raveing lunatic who is campy or a complete psychopath. It really depends on the writer at the time.

In the script Jacks joker was supposed to be campy. he did a good job with the script he was given.

I think they both did a very good job. i like heath's version better, but that probably has a lot to do with me likeing the joker as a psychopath more then the campy fool he is sometiems portrayed as.

Rygar · July 2008

intodeep wrote:

for the record that is how nicholson's joker was supposed to be portrayed as very campy.

In the comic the joker sometimes is a raveing lunatic who is campy or a complete psychopath. It really depends on the writer at the time.

In the script Jacks joker was supposed to be campy. he did a good job with the script he was given.

I think they both did a very good job. i like heath's version better, but that probably has a lot to do with me likeing the joker as a psychopath more then the campy fool he is sometiems portrayed as.

Good post.

Everyone should probably keep in mind that TDK had a budget over $130 million more than Burton's Batman.
I think the acting in both movies was very good, but they're two different movies and don't compare beyond the names.

pjsteelerfan · July 2008

Rygar wrote:

Good post.

Everyone should probably keep in mind that TDK had a budget over $130 million more than Burton's Batman.
I think the acting in both movies was very good, but they're two different movies and don't compare beyond the names.

I agree. When Burtons Batman came out, that was a huge expensive movie for its time. And also, the Joker has been writen in many different ways over the years. Sometimes, he is very campy and over the top. And some times he is very dark and menacing. Each of these movies portrayed him differently.

catefrances · July 2008

stylo17 wrote:

I think I had a different experience than most people. for me, when I was watching Heath play The Joker it was this whole surreal moment. my mind couldn't stop thinking about how amazing he was, but also he won't be doing anything more like that again. and although it really was NOT Heath Ledger on the screen but instead The Joker, something inside me was very depressed, very nostalgic almost. his ability to completely transform himself into a character like The Joker was brilliant, yet all I felt was sadness knowing that his talent couldn't be further developed.

I remember there was a part in the movie, when he was in jail, that my mind STOPPED, and I saw HEATH sitting there clapping. and knowing that he was now dead and that I was watching the character role that killed him, was very haunting.

what do you mean by this? ledger had moved on from the joker and was filming the imaginarium of doctor parnassus when he died.

myhook · July 2008

After finally getting to see Dark Night last night I though Ledger did a great job as the Joker. He was dark, crazy, and insane. He was awesome. Now, is that what the joker is supposed to be? Maybe. All in all I enjoyed the movie, other than Batman's voice, but to me it was just another action movie but with different characters.

release30 · July 2008

Heath Ledger was awsome!!! Sitting in the theater I was on the edge of my seat everytime he graced the screen.....I didn't want it to end...But for Heath sadly it did...:(

I hope there will be alot of outtakes when the DVD comes out...

StateOfLoveBoatCptn. · July 2008

preeeetty good

How good is Heath Ledger in the Dark Knight

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