Just rewatched The Dark Knight (saw it opening day in theaters) and was even more intrigued and amazed at Ledger's performance than the first time. He plays the Joker to perfection. It's so believable. I think that his version of the Joker has got to be one of the top 5 movie villains ever if not the best

Ledger absolutely stole the show. Too often actors are called "artists", but Ledger was definitely an artist.

Just got done watching TDK again tonight. Awesome movie. Ledger was unbelievable.

he's no Hans Gruber

Toss-up between Ledger's Joker and Hopkins' Hannibal.

Joker is my personal favorite villain. Ledger did the impossible and bumped DDL's Bill the Butcher from my top spot.

He was good, but let's not go overboard.

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He was good, but let's not go overboard.

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agreed...he could easily fit into top twenty, maybe even argued into the top ten, but movies have been out for a long time and there are many more notable villains

Check out the AFI list for a better overview than I could give

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AFI%27s_100_Years..._100_Heroes_and_Villains

I don't think its overboard. I think it is a case of a movie being so big that people have gotten to the point where they are trying to downplay some of its greatness. Its okay to agree with others, people.

If I would have seen Ledger's performance two years ago, he'd still rank as one of the best ever villains.

AFI lists are a joke, by the way. The shark from Jaws? "Man" from Bambi? Okay.

Another one ahead of Ledger.

He did a pretty darn good job as Joker. A shame that he won't be able to reprise his role (doesn't Joker usually break out of prison/asylum often in the comics?) in the new Batman movie.

Darth Vader's a pretty good/famous villian....but that's more from the villian perspective, NOT an acting perspective. From that angle...Heath is one of the best, maybe THE best. I can't think offhand of someone worse. I REALLY didn't like Dwight Yoakam's character in Sling Blade but the Joker is the best I can think of.

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Darth Vader's a pretty good/famous villian....but that's more from the villian perspective, NOT an acting perspective.

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Exactly. That role required little acting if any at all. I'd never belittle anything JEJ has done, but pretty sure all he had to do was read a script.

Chigurh is a good call though.

AFI's top 100 Villian List:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AFI's_100_Years..._100_Heroes_and_Villains

Although it was made about a decade ago, it is still fairly accurate. Heath's Joker definately deserves to be in the top 5. He's an interesting villian because he's just as much a psychological threat as he is a physical threat. I would put him up there with the others mentioned: Vader, Lecter, and Chigur.

jack torrance is ranked way too low on that AFI list

that list loses all credibilty when it put "man" from bambi as the 20th best villian

Looking at that list, he easily makes the top 5. I was surprised Jack's joker was not on or even near the top of that list.

I think you could include Chigurh as well as Vader, Hannibal, and Voldemort from Harry Potter to make the new top 5. This would be mine, with an honorable mention to Bill the Butcher from Gangs as well.

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I was surprised Jack's joker was not on or even near the top of that list.

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then you're either a batman freak or you haven't seen too many of the other movies listed.

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that list loses all credibilty when it put "man" from bambi as the 20th best villian

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That "Man" killed Bambi's Mother..... HAVE YOU NO SOUL!!!!!!

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I was surprised Jack's joker was not on or even near the top of that list.

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Watch Batman again, Jack seemed a lot scarier when I was a kid, when that movie came out. Sure he kills some guys but that is about it. He never really did anything that made you go "HOLY SH*T!" like the stuff the Heath's Joker did

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AFI lists are a joke, by the way. The shark from Jaws? "Man" from Bambi? Okay.

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why? what's wrong with those?

I'm not saying he wouldn't make the top 10, I just think there's no way in hell you can put him as number one, not before Hannibal Lector, Norman Bates, Darth Vader, or maybe even Chigur (sp?), who imo would give Ledger's Joker a run for his money.

I do think it's easily the best performance I've seen this year and one of the tops of this decade so far

Don't get me wrong, I don't think Jack's version is near as compelling as Ledger in TDK, but I thought it was good, and if you are going to have the shark, and man, and the witch from Oz, then it is deserving.

And, I have seen nearly every movie on the list. Not all, but close.

no pennywise?

Definitely top 5.

Some people just love to be contrarian.

I don't know how Man beats out Scar on that list...

agree that Anton Chigurh is ahead of Ledger's Joker...

Chigurh is top 3, if not #1 of all time.

another vote for Chigurh

both chigurh and the joker made you sit on the edge of your seat during any scene they were in. just never really knew what was going to happen next, because they both established anything goes right off the bat.

Ledger was a fine actor and his passing was a tragic loss, but the best I'd say about his work as the Joker was that he did the best he could with a badly underwritten part.

His Joker comes into the story already his menacing self and undergoes no change throughout the action. There's no character arc and nothing for him to work with.

I guess the idea was that he would just be evil without much backstory or motivation. Sorry, but Nicholson's Joker was more complex and better developed. Jack Napier turned Bruce Wayne into Batman. Then years later Batman created the Joker, and the two spent the rest of the narrative trying to destroy each other.

Nap

Pretty sure the character was meant to be that way. The joker is fact a lens that the other characters bounce of, thus realizing their true identity. In part I found that to be the most disturbing part.

i don't have a fully fleshed out top 5, but i'd have to put him in it. hannibal lector is definitely in there as well. after that... not sure.

top 5 would be pretty easy for me.

Hopkins portrayal as Dr. Lector will always be #1 IMO. Ledger's Joker is a close 2nd, followed by Bardem as Chigurh, Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates, and Kathy Bates as Annie Wilkes.

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Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people are conservative. - John Stuart Mill

after thinking about it, i think the actual character is prbly 4th or 5th best ever villain (vader, lecter, chigur up there as well) but ledger and anthony hopkins are 1 and 1a in turns of making their character so believable and real. anytime i see hopkins i see hannibal. and with the combination of the makeup, the mannerisms and the voice ledger put on, you fully believe that the Joker is real. To me I couldnt see Ledger playing the Joker, Ledger WAS the Joker. like there was no acting involved, too say Ledger nailed his part is a gross understatement. he became the character. incredible villain, i shudder every time he makes the pencil disappear

^
You shudder? I laugh almost as much as I laugh everytime I see Indiana Jones shoot the swordsman in Raiders.

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His Joker comes into the story already his menacing self and undergoes no change throughout the action. There's no character arc and nothing for him to work with.

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This is reasonable if follow him through the comics. The Joker has no real origin story, no name, no past.

What kind of change should he go through?