Who is the better Joker?

[<M/>]

When it comes to the role of the iconic character, Joker, who played it best? Jack Nicholson or Heath Ledger?

I believe Heath Ledger played it, by far, the best and no one will ever play the joker like he did. Jack Nicholson on the other hand was more of the comic version of him. I now wonder new variation we get of the joker from Jared leto...

My vote: Ledger

You guys?

[stultuske]

why not Cesar Romero ? (even though those series were a bit to long ago for most of us to remember :) )

personally: I'm going for Ledger.
Nicholson played it well, I don't deny that, but the Joker is not some character to be 'aware' of, he should be feared, even in the scenes he doesn't show up in. Just like in the early comics: the Joker is not just a loon trying to 'put a smile on yer face', he was a certified nutjob that managed to murder whoever he wanted without the police being able to stop him, without even being around at the time the victim died.

but, you must also understand that any vote here is not only about the actor's performances. they weren't the ones deciding what the character should do/say, or even how. I think, that in the days of Tim Burton's Batman, the movie studios would have allowed a more violent Batman movie, we would have seen Nicholson play an entirely different Joker.

But, as the performances are the way they are: Ledger managed to get the whole
"I'm insane. I've done quite a lot to get into the center of attention here, yet I have no interest in what's going on" kind of play I hoped he would. Bit of a psycho that sees the world through his own eyes, which is a completely different view from any other person, and, is able to rationalize it. I'll take psycho and violent madman Ledger over Nicholson any day ... Just too bad he didn't live long enough to rip up Batman in the third movie :)

[Reverend Jim]

My vote goes to Heath Ledger. Jack Nicholson is limited by the fact the every character he portrays is basically just a slight variation of himself. Nicholson's Joker was more like circus clown. Ledger's Joker was more like Tim Curry's Pennywise. It's like comparing Mark Hammil's version of the Joker from the animated TV series with John DiMaggio's Joker from Batman: Under the Red Hood. Hammil's was more fun but DiMaggio's was scarier and more disturbing.

[<M/>]

The performance of heath ledger makes me wonder what Jared Leto will be like... I can garuantee he will not do with Heath did but he will do something different, maybe not better, but different.

[sneekula]

I wish Hollywood could come up something better than endless sequels.

[stultuske]

Sneekula: don't mistake a remake for a sequel. agreed, there are movies that really should not go into the whole "let's create x sequels and milk it for what it's worth" cycle, but sometimes a remake really is worth looking at, and in my opinion, Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy was worth it.

It didn't copy what the previous films did (the previous sequels in the Batman franchise, those I could 've done without) but it told a completely different story, keeping the characters closer to how they were created in the comics about 75 years ago.

[mike_2000_17]

Cesar Romero

[happygeek]

David Cameron is making a pretty good fist of it...

[RobertHDD]

nice one happygeek

[Reverend Jim]

Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy was worth it.

Except for the third one which was too drawn out. Take another look at the mob fight scene later in the movie. Watch the background fighters and you'll see some of them obviously just going through the motions.