Having seen the new Batman Dark Knight this afternoon, thought I'd do a poll to see who people think has done the best portrayal of The Joker in a Batman movie.

Vote in the poll and discuss.

Just voted for Heath, thought Jack nicholsons Joker was great at the time (He scares me at best of times). There was just something about Heath's performance that had me hooked. He was soooo sinister!!!

As a huge fan of the comics I opt for Ledger, although that is not to say that the other Joker portrayals have been bad. Romero's Joker was perfectly suited to the fun cheese-packed comic capers of the TV series (and movie). Nicholson was a perfect Joker for the time - the embodiment of the capatalistic and commercial excesses of the 80s, a Joker who played on people's love of the materialistic. He was wealth embodied and that was the evil of the moment.

Ledger, however, IS the Joker. He is the Joker of the original comics - a deranged madman who painted his face to hide his features. He is the Joker of The Killing Joke, the perfect flipside to the Bat's nature. He is a perfect Joker for our times - a time when we fear anyone different, when we are told that terrorists wait to kill us at any moment, and a Joker who wants to highlight the real evil of this world (that of the very hearts and minds of your everyday man).

Ledger wins by a long shot for me, and this comes from someone who wasn't convinced that ledger would ever pull it off.

Having not yet seen Heath's performance as the Joker in The Dark Knight, I would have to go with Jack Nicholson's performance. He was brilliant and suited the part perfectly well. I am a big fan of Jack Nicholson... he is a true acting master :thumbsup:

Went to see the new film yesterday, Heath Ledger definately is the best joker, in what has to be the best batman film so far.

I haven't seen Dark Knight yet, but I didn't really enjoy Nicholson's peformance very much. And I am a big fan of his, he has appeared in some of the greatest films of all time. Most notably for me, The Shining and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

Ledger without a doubt, a fantastic performance - truly gripping and terrifiying. Superb acting, put Bale to shame

I thought Ledger was superb, still quite chilling even in the farcical situations. A different joker to the one Nicholson portrayed who was charming this one definitely isn't.

Also a heads up to Maggie Gyllenhaal who made a far better Rachel than Katie "I was in Dawson's creek me" Holmes. I did have an American psycho meets Secretary moment during the film... now THAT would be worth watching!

ps to the film meet members:- the film was... The Gift!

I thought he was great in the new one....by far the best thing about the film!

Yep, Heath for me and all. He had enough echoes of Nicholson's portrayal to give it a certain continuity, but he gave it greater depth and subtlety.

Yep, Heath for me and all. He had enough echoes of Nicholson's portrayal to give it a certain continuity, but he gave it greater depth and subtlety.

have to echo this comment.. may thoughts exactly.. by far the best part of the film.

heath for sure. much darker & more true to comics. seen the dark knight 3 times now. better each time. love it.

r.i.p heath.

While I'm more scared of Jack Nicholson (probably because I first saw him as the Joker when I was about 12 and more easily frightened), I thought Ledger gave a better performance. Deeper? And I loved the pencil trick!

I saw this film yesterday. It was brilliant, and Ledger was phenomanal. Much better than Jack. And much better than any other role I've seen him play. Although I haven't seen Brokeback Mountain and I hear he's good in that. Just a shame he won't be making any more appearances!

I saw this film yesterday. It was brilliant, and Ledger was phenomanal. Much better than Jack. And much better than any other role I've seen him play. Although I haven't seen Brokeback Mountain and I hear he's good in that. Just a shame he won't be making any more appearances!


Well, he will be appearing in Gilliam's next film as he had filmed a good bulk of scenes for it. It is The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus and comes out next year. In a bizarre move that only Gilliam could pull off the role Ledger was playing has been recast by three seperate actors (Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell) who are playing other aspects of Ledger's persona in the scenes that had not been completed. I'm intrigued.

Well, he will be appearing in Gilliam's next film as he had filmed a good bulk of scenes for it. It is The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus and comes out next year. In a bizarre move that only Gilliam could pull off the role Ledger was playing has been recast by three seperate actors (Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell) who are playing other aspects of Ledger's persona in the scenes that had not been completed. I'm intrigued.

Yeah, I read about that. I meant to say appearances as the Joker. Although, as we both mentioned on another thread, Bane would be amazing!

Well, he will be appearing in Gilliam's next film as he had filmed a good bulk of scenes for it. It is The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus and comes out next year. In a bizarre move that only Gilliam could pull off the role Ledger was playing has been recast by three seperate actors (Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell) who are playing other aspects of Ledger's persona in the scenes that had not been completed. I'm intrigued.

Hey Beakerzoid!

Kept an eye out for you on Friday at Cineworld! :P

Went to watch Dark Knight and it was brilliant. It's the first Batman film I've seen and I loved every min of it.

For me obviously, Heath Ledger was a brilliant Joker and a great actor.

Such a waste of a life....

Hey Beakerzoid!

Kept an eye out for you on Friday at Cineworld! :P



I was running from screen-to-screen with the floor team on Friday trying to get them cleaned as quick as possible - so not sure if you spotted me.

I thought noone would be able to beat the Nicholson Joker...... How wrong could I be. Legers Joker was brilliant! I had never rated him as a good actor, but after watching The Dark Knight he has totaly proved me wrong. A posthumous Oscar must be winging it's way to him for that performance.

Heath.........absolutely brilliant! I had a debate (read fight) with my stepdad after seeing the film - he insisted that any half decent actor would have been just as good, that the part and the script is more important, and whilst I agreed to a certain extent (someone has to put words in the actor's mouths after all), I can't see many people being willing to follow Heath's performance - completely mesmerising, he owned the screen and anytime he was in a scene and the camera wasn't on him, you wanted it to be on him - ('I wanna see the joker's reaction to what batman is saying!').
I always thought he was great - Brokeback Mountain is fantastic, Nekro!
Slightly off-topic, there is a facebook group called 'I'd kill off Amy Winehouse to bring back Heath Ledger'...................but somehow I don't think it works like that!