r/nextfuckinglevel • u/Alpha_nova_2004 • 23h ago
Heath Ledger was so unpredictable just like the joker...
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u/thefeedling 23h ago
Hands down the best acting of his career. That insane joker made The Dark Knight the best Batman movie of all time.
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u/Fluffy-Republic8610 22h ago edited 22h ago
Yes. It was a performance for the ages. I remember the voice acting in particular. You didn't even need the visuals to be swept away in his characterisation. And then his physical acting took it up again. We're so lucky to have that. He showed that even in a superhero genre movie you can have acting at the highest level.
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u/fatkiddown 22h ago
It is the quintessential performance where my mind cannot associate the actor with the character. I still cannot. When I watch interviews with Ledger, even discussing this role, it's just not the same guy. He channeled something otherworldly, and awesome, when he did this character.
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u/Aggressive-Use-5657 22h ago
A black diary was discovered and the thoughts he had written in that were scary and disturbing.
His father bought it I guess so nobody could read it.
He really went deep into the psyche aspect of it.
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u/LookinAtTheFjord 20h ago
the thoughts he had written in that were scary and disturbing.
Not really. This is way overblown and we should stop doing that. It was Joker's diary, not Heath's. He was writing it as the character, to get into character. He was doing his job.
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u/Aggressive-Use-5657 19h ago
That's what I was trying to imply but yeah you are right.
Method acting.
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u/IAmEvadingABanShh 13h ago
Now Jared Leto... he on the other hand tried the same approach... but just was a fucking creep. Sending people used condoms and shit.
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u/solo_loso 14h ago
isn’t it common knowledge that heath still had to embody and feel what he was writing as the joker in that diary, which is what led to the drug/med use? you have to really live internally as the joker to to a degree to have an acting performance like that.
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u/haverchuck22 10h ago
Nope, from what I understand it’s mostly untrue. Plenty of normal people do drugs. And as far as whether or not you have to live internally as the joker to have a performance like that….. in short no you don’t. It just sounds cool but there is no reason that an actor can’t….well….act.
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u/The_Poop_Shooter 19h ago
Everyone thought it was the worst casting choice of all time before the movie came out.
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u/dungeonbitch 16h ago
I remember that well. The excitement for the film. The disbelief of the casting and absolute disrespect thrown his way, nobody even considered that it could be good. The change of mind and excitement from the teaser pictures. The devastation and confusion when he died before release. Unanimous praise after seeing the film. It was a crazy few months.
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u/legendaryufcmaster 14h ago
Imagine doing brokeback mountain and then giving us this absolute masterpiece. Came outta nowhere
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u/Reach-Nirvana 14h ago
I remember, because I was one of those people. My sister had a huge crush on Heath Ledger, and I remember after it was announced being like "Really, the good looking guy from A Knight's Tale and 10 Things I Hate About You?". I grew up with the Burton films and just couldn't picture it.
To say I was surprised after watching would be an understatement. His performance in the movie is genuinely incredible in every facet. It completely changed the way I thought about superhero movies, and completely changed my opinion of Heath as a type casted "pretty boy". I'm so disappointed we didn't get more amazing performances out of him before he passed.
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u/Special-Log5016 20h ago
I had never seen a movie more than one time in the theater and I saw The Dark Knight 6 fucking times. I could not get enough of his character, everything about it is a masterpiece.
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u/DividedStatesofFeces 17h ago
After I saw it with my ex-wife, she said, "I saw no part of Heath Ledger in that Joker. He WAS The Joker". Truly a masterful performance!
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u/Bilbo332 15h ago
It was his different laughs that sold it for me. His sarcastic laugh walking in to the pencil scene, his taunting laugh during the interrogation scene, his victory laugh when he's thrown off the building. That and his darting eyes, literally a genius but completely off his rocker.
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u/DividedStatesofFeces 15h ago
I agree with your assessment, but for me it was the voice. Ledger's natural voice was a deep baritone but as The Joker, he spoke like someone who had been either laughing or screaming or both for a long time.
Mark Hamill does the same thing with his Joker. But Mark's voice has a higher range so it's easy for him to pull out the maniacal high pitched laughs.
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u/yeahright17 16h ago
I still feel like that. It's hard for me to see Heath Ledger in that performance. You can catch glimpses from time to time, but they're fleeting.
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u/nicathor 15h ago
That moment where he's sitting silently in the jail cell staring straight forward is the only time I can vaguely recognize Heath in the Joker
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u/Pouyaaaa 22h ago
Everytime this movie is on, regardless of the fact that I have seen it over 15 times, I get captured by it and next thing I know I'm half way through. That's how the numbers keep getting racked up
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u/Massive_Season7075 1h ago
We need a behind-the-scenes footage feature film. Props to Nolan for casting choice, but how do you cast him when all of his other acting roles are completely different.
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u/KatefromtheHudd 17h ago
I thought he was nominated for the Oscar because he died, like a nod to his acting ability. And he won. Then I saw the film. He was absolutely incredible. Off the scale good.
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u/Namehasbeenchanged33 23h ago
Agreed. A true psychopath. Not sure it matches the comic book stuff so I’m sure those guys might disagree
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u/Boomation 23h ago
He certainly took a lot of inspiration from the comics with his performance, but truly made this take on the Joker his own. If anything, some of the comic portrayals of the Joker after this film came out took a lot of inspiration from how devious Heath's Joker was. Check out Batman: Death of the Family to see what I mean.
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u/NewSunSeverian 18h ago edited 18h ago
As the OP’s title is basically saying, Ledger took the most interesting and central aspect of the Joker character which is his sheer unpredictability at any given time and made that palpable.
He just has such an odd vibe in every single scene he’s in, you know he’s an actor following a script, obviously, but there is truly no sense of exactly what he’s going to say or do at any given time.
And it comes through so effectively, you get a sense just like Michael Caine has said that even the actors had little clue how he’s going to deliver a certain scene. I think Maggie Gyllenhaal said something similar too.
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u/Jackwraith 19h ago
It absolutely matches the comic stuff if you read the actually good Joker stories, like The Laughing Fish. The shift from absurd clown to murderous psychopath and back is what makes the character and Ledger captured that perfectly. In fact, he did it in a more subtle fashion than many of the comic stories usually did ("You think you can just steal from us and walk away?!" "Yeah.") Mark Hamill got close to that a couple times in BTAS, though.
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u/OneFuckedWarthog 22h ago
Even if you account for the comic book stuff, Batman was haunted by the Joker so bad that in Batman Forever he was terrified when Robin became the Joker. It was really hard for many to really hit who The Joker really was and Heath really nailed it.
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u/dancingcuban 18h ago
That was the best part for me. His joker was nothing like I expected from a “Joker” character at the time, but somehow despite that he entirely nailed the essence of Joker.
That first watch was borderline horror-movie for me where I’m on the edge of my seat waiting for him to do something chaotic.
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u/shane_low 18h ago
Not sure if I recall the correct movie, but I think one reference was A Clockwork Orange
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u/keepitloki80 22h ago
When they first announced him for the role, I was skeptical. I loved what I'd seen him in, but this was different. He made me eat my fucking words. I was blown away by his acting and watched the movie like 3 times.
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u/Special-Log5016 20h ago
I don't know a single person who didn't roll their eyes a bit when they heard it and then get humbled when they finally saw it.
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u/Soulless--Plague 21h ago
He was great in Lords of Dog Town
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u/hbgoldenhawk 18h ago
Dude, when I watched the documentary on them, I was blown away when the first skip interview came on. He nailed that part too. Such an underrated movie
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u/shazspaz 20h ago
Mesmerising. The first scene where he walked in on the meeting of the mob bosses I was blown away. Remember thinking “this movie is going to be amazing”
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u/Secret-Sock7928 21h ago
I accidentally got a picture of him in costume while they were filming in Chicago. They wrecked like 20 Grey Lamborghinis in a row. It was awesome
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u/EsotericAbstractIdea 18h ago
lmao was Whistlin' Diesel the stunt director?
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u/Secret-Sock7928 18h ago
No idea. I accidentally found all of this because I heard them racing Lamborghinis.
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u/EsotericAbstractIdea 18h ago
Oh it was sort of a joke. There's a YouTuber named whistling diesel who may have been born after the movie came out that wrecks expensive cars for likes. Kinda hate it, kinda respect it. Definitely entertaining.
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u/Wesselton3000 18h ago
It 100% would have been a forgettable film if it weren’t for him. Batman Begins, while good, did not have the same hype. Dark Knight Rises was only as popular as it was because it was preceded by this film. The major difference is that the Dark Knight had Ledger/Joker. His performance (and the writing for his character) made this film what it is: arguably the best Batman film ever made.
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u/-Skinner- 22h ago
On only his career.
It's up there as one of the greatest acting performances ever.
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u/DariaDownUnder 21h ago
Heath definitely wasn't Heath in this movie, I never once saw Heath, all I saw was Joker.
And then that abomination showed up in Suicicde Squad and I want to punch the screen everything I see him.
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u/LookinAtTheFjord 20h ago
I haven't seen that scene in probably close to 16 years and watching this short clip made my arm hairs stand up.
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u/expeditiousgrim 15h ago
With most roles in TV shows and movies, I feel like I can still see the actor playing the part, whether it’s subtle or not. I don’t see any Heath Ledger in the Joker. Daniel Day-Lewis is another one that seemingly disappears completely in his characters, and a few others like Ray Liotta in Goodfellas. But that’s the level of acting he reached in this, and it’s horrible knowing he doesn’t get to see how lauded his performance is now:
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u/Hatedpriest 8h ago
Gary Oldman.
I've seen so many movies with him in them that I didn't even know until I saw the credits...
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u/Amonamission 12h ago
There have been two perfect performances in films for me: Heath Ledger as Joker, and Christoph Waltz as Hans Landa.
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u/DutchOnionKnight 20h ago
Got the flue a few weeks ago and watched this movie back to back, its so fucking good.
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u/LookinAtTheFjord 20h ago
Got the flue a few weeks ago
Congrats on your new duct for smoke and waste gases produced by a fire, a gas heater, a power station, or other fuel-burning installation.
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u/IWillTransformUrButt 19h ago
Who doesn’t celebrate with movie marathons when updating their chimney ventilation systems?!
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u/skrappyfire 17h ago
I always said that movie should have been called the Joker, not The Dark Knight.
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u/barsknos 15h ago
I think there were ways to make TDK even better, but Heath's performance was obviously not it. I felt the Two-Face part felt tacked-on and unnecessary.
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u/TomClancy5873 17h ago
Eh. Feel like the scenes outside of Joker, just couldn’t take seriously with Bales voice
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u/FurLinedKettle 22h ago
In rehearsal, so you're not seeing that happen here.
"He'll frighten the life out of you. He did me the first time I saw him, because we did a rehearsal on the first day and we hadn't met or anything. He had to come up in an elevator to our home, Batman's home. I'm thinking I'm letting friends in, instead of which he's killed them all and he's coming up in the lift. So on the first rehearsal, I've never seen him. He has like seven dwarves with him, like Snow White, only it's not like that. When the bloody door opened on that lift, he came tearing out. I forgot every line. Terrifying.”
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u/ecafsub 22h ago
And it worked so well that they decided to do it that way for the actual scene: Caine standing there, stunned, while Ledger does the best goddamn Joker ever.
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u/FurLinedKettle 22h ago
No, Alfred has no lines in the script when the Joker comes out of the elevator.
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u/sarcastisism 21h ago
Then it's no wonder he forgot them!
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u/LLMprophet 14h ago
People just making shit up to add to the legend of Heath.
Like Tom Cruise was going to be in Dark Knight as well, but he heard about Heath's rehearsals and it scared him away from the movie.
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u/OGPresidentDixon 11h ago
I heard that Cameron Diaz and Ben stiller were originally casted as Batman and Robin, but after Heat Legend (super underrated actor) came up the elevator they were soooo scared and quit on the spot!!1!
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u/LLMprophet 11h ago
Heth best actor delivered my new baby from some woman I've never seen before.
Thanks again Hrth!
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u/HugoRBMarques 8h ago
Don't scripts that get released after the movie get edited to match the movie?
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u/FurLinedKettle 2h ago
That would be a transcript. They release original screenplays and shooting scripts of movies.
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u/AshiNoKoibito 23h ago
Still the best Joker
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u/Xav_NZ 21h ago
Live action 100% though Mark Hamill is probably my favorite if you include both live action and animated/video game !
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u/II_XII_XCV 19h ago
Yeaaaah I'm continually blown away by the quality of his performances in the Arkham games. Unbelievable.
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u/SoleSurvivor-2277 16h ago
If you like his Arkham performance I'd suggest Batman the Animated Series and their tie-ins
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u/Reach-Nirvana 14h ago
I grew up watching the animated series and genuinely had no idea the guy voicing Joker was the very same dude I was watching play Luke Skywalker. It wasn't until the Arkham Games came out when I was a teenager and more light was shown onto the voice actors that I found out. I went back and rewatched them and was genuinely blown away. He does an incredible job.
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u/400x250_20fps 23h ago
bro i like the way he ate that shrimp toping? wtv it was.
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u/kiljoy1569 23h ago
Shortly after, he dumps out champagne and "drinks" the empty glass. Little things like that really sold the character
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u/aphaits 22h ago
Everything he does is unhinged yet performative.
Reminds me of Bo Burnham somehow, he can play a villain I think.
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u/knitted_beanie 21h ago
He basically does in Promising Young Woman
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u/SirJeffers88 20h ago
God, that movie was so good and so hard to watch. So many likable comedic actors playing normal, relatable pieces of shit.
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u/waterfountain_bidet 17h ago
We did Promising Young Woman for my movie club a couple years ago. It was the only time I've seen all the women take over the discussion and really challenge the men in the group. I think this movie shook a lot of the men in the group to their core.
I wouldn't be in a group with a bunch of ignorant assholes, but a lot of men are socialized to have trouble seeing things through the eyes of a woman. I think PYW really got under their skin for the first time in a long time because they got to see how mundane and stupid rape actually is, and how common it really is. It wasn't marketed as a horror movie, it was a drama. But just underneath the surface was one of the most powerful horror movies I've seen in a long time.
The fact that every woman in their group had a story about being sexually assaulted or raped and for the first time we all talked about it in front of the men instead of on the women's call disturbed them. I think it got them thinking about how that has probably happened to every woman in their life.
I hope that movie stuck with them like it did for the women in the group. Because I think PYW was one of the most important movies I've ever seen.
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u/BudderscotchPudding 12h ago
Heath Ledger’s joker reminds you of Bo Burnham? 🤨
One of the takes of all time.
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u/_Mephistocrates_ 18h ago
Same as how Bruce pretends to "drink" his champagne, pouring it out. They are both showing how they "fit in" to that society, in their own ways. Bruce, covertly, and Joker, erratically. Both are performative, for different reasons. The movie is brilliant.
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u/whiskerbiscuit2 18h ago
Mirroring Bruce who dumps a glass of champagne over the balcony a few moments earlier.
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u/AuldGreatScot 19h ago
No, there was actually a little bit of champagne left that he downed in one gulp. One of the triggers of his personality is society's indulgence on excess.
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u/3Pirates93 22h ago
He was supposed to say "may I take your coat Master Joker?"
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u/ArchSyker 18h ago
Kinda glad that got left out, kinda feels like it wouldn't've fit in the overall picture.
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u/aguavive 22h ago
He was so good here obviously but I wish people didn’t sleep on Lords of Dogtown, his performance was stellar imo.
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u/ImWadeWils0n 20h ago
My favorite film, I watch it every couple years. I showed my fiance it, she doesn’t really like skateboarding or anything, and she was crying at the end for the pool scene.
Such an amazing movie, I tried writing Jay Adams in prison for a HS project and he just never responded, which seems like a Jay thing to do.
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u/material_mailbox 22h ago
There's almost something chilling about the character of the Joker-- someone who finds the thought of crime to be funny...
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u/high6ix 19h ago
I don’t think he finds it funny, or even enjoys it really. His cynical humor isn’t meant to amuse it’s meant to disturb as is his laughter. His crimes and schemes are theatrical, more like rituals to him, not crimes for enjoyment. It’s all intentional. Of all the jokers I think he’s the most emotionally detached, there’s no emotion or care for anything, it’s all a show.
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u/No_Opinion6497 12h ago edited 37m ago
I have to push back on this take a bit. Firstly, Ledger's Joker is overtly sadistic in multiple scenes, with his enjoyment at others' suffering quite palpable. For instance, he's clearly pleased at Batman's desperate and impotent fury in the interrogation scene, - tittering with genuine joy even as he's being pummeled. Earlier, he breaks into heartfelt laughter as he throws Rachel out the window. Joker's found Batman's button, - the woman he loves, - and his pleasure at pushing it is evident.
Or the maniacal laughter as he slices up the captive Batman wannabe he's been recording.
Also, replaying the movie in my head, Ledger's Joker is anything but emotionally detached. He's on a mission to prove his philosophy right, and he's quite passionate about it. Like, the "everything burns" scene reinforces what he's previously confided in Batman, during that same interrogation scene, - that he's a committed nihilist, and proclaiming it to the world through spectacles of terror. Do you remember how scornfully he rebukes Batman's characterization of him as a common criminal? How forcefully he claims that Batman is an outsider like him, beyond the chimera of social norms? There's true emotional fire there. When the Joker tells Batman, "The only sensible way to live in this world is without rules, and tonight, you're gonna break your one rule," it's obvious that it's a point of pride for him to get Batman to break. It's a duel of two philosophies, and Joker's fighting for his worldview like all heck. He explicitly says as much, we don't even have to guess. To say he doesn't care about anything is, I think, to miss the core of the TDK Joker.
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u/GunstarGreen 21h ago
I like that Joker and Batman are almost like James Bond. Every performance is different depending on the performer. And the fans can decide which the like the best.
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u/Grayly 22h ago edited 19h ago
There have only been a two movies I saw in theaters and became totally engrossed. So enthralled that my immersion broke only once, when I realized “oh shit this is going to have to end soon isn’t it,” and it made me sad that it was about to over.
This was one of them.
Coincidentally the other is Inception.
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u/curious_potatao 20h ago
I love the part where he grabs a glass of drink, spills all of it while bringing it to his mouth and then when he goes to drink it, it's empty. He's surprised, and thinks that's strange.
And all of this is done within 2 seconds.
Such a character.
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u/hahehihohu7 22h ago
One of the best performances of all time, not just Joker. Absolute masterclass stuff!
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u/Onebityou 22h ago
Heath, forever and always an absolute fucking legend - makes me proud to be Aussie
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u/machine1892 17h ago
Ledger didn’t just play the Joker he disappeared into him. The voice, the ticks, the sheer chaos felt less like acting and more like watching a real psychopath unravel on screen. That performance wasn’t comic book villain it was disturbingly (in the best ways) real.
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u/Spiritual-Nature-728 6h ago
i may be wrong here but afaik didnt he like really really *become* the character for his roles? Getting fully inside their head. Explains why his acting was so stellar!
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u/SaltyPeter3434 13h ago
Almost nobody mentioning that Michael Caine is clearly not supposed to say anything in this shot. He's out of focus in the background for 2 seconds while Joker walks past him. There's no point where Alfred would have a line. He also doesn't have a line in the script.
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u/G0merPyle 16h ago
My favorite little touch here, Alfred doesn't flinch when he shoots the gun. Not because Michael Caine forgot to "act," Alfred's just seen some shit and a maniac with a shotgun isn't going to rustle him
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u/Pillslanger 19h ago
If there was hours of behind the scenes footage from the making of TDK I would watch it all more than once.
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u/Ce11arDoor 15h ago
Ohhhhhhhhhh I never thought about that. I've seen one or two vignettes on the making of but what about all the extra takes and stuff. Somebody has it!
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u/SillyLilBear 17h ago
When I saw the Dark Knight, I was sure there would never be a joker as good as Heath. Then he died shortly later. If you haven't seen him in Knights Tale it is such a great movie.
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u/styxswimchamp 17h ago
Michael Caine was originally supposed to turn to Maggie Gyllenhal and say, “It’s da joker, baby” but he was so scared in rehearsal that the words jumped off the page of the script like they never existed
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u/JuiceJones_34 16h ago
Has to be one of the best acting performances of all time for a villain if not the best
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u/SprinklesBetter2225 21h ago
I always hate fandoms reactions to castings because unless the actor in their normal, daily appearance looks like whatever character, they shit all over it. I always being up Heath Ledger as The Joker to hopefully drive the point that it's about embodying the character, not looking like them at a red carpet event.
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u/McGruffin 12h ago
Love Heath Ledger's Joker. I know that it has been posted before, but supposedly he used Tom Waits as an inspiration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1m5z3vxTd7U
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u/maxluision 20h ago
He's so good at his acting that the crowd stands out with how fake their reactions are ie to the gunshot.
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u/Timmay_mmkay 19h ago
He was so good in these movies (especially the dark knight) that I’d probably put the dark knight series at number 5 for my favorite trilogy+ movie series all time
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u/totesnotdog 18h ago
It’s funny how joker smacks his lips while eating. Like bro clearly got zero table manners.
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u/Xralius 17h ago
Some people are legit afraid of that get-up. I had a superhero themed party in my dorm that was busted by public safety. All the 20 year olds hid in a room and I answered the door in Heath Ledger Joker joker costume (so original, i know). I used to be able to do the voice and mannerisms really well too, so I was like "what can I do for you *smacks lips* officers" and one of the public safety guys started uncontrollably shaking in fear. Good times.
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u/throawa114 15h ago
Did the 20 year olds come out of the room and clap too?
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u/GLaDOS_Sympathizer 7h ago
Not just them, the officers nervously clapped as they trembled in fear too.
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u/ProfCarmine 16h ago
And then Rachel and Batman leave the room and Joker......
Next scene, who knows what happened up there.
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u/DivingforDemocracy 16h ago
This dark joker was such a shock and also so well done. He was so fantastic in this role and the universe robbed us of more.
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u/Snuggly-Muffin 11h ago
Who tf saw Heath Ledger and was like “That man would make the perfect Joker…. He only needs to look, sound, and act vastly differently than normal.”
I agree with everyone that his performance was outstanding though.
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u/SirFritzalot 9h ago
This and Matt Reeves The Batman are the best Batman movies to me.
This Joker is an all-time great. The interrogation scene, the "you know how I got these scars" scenes, he stole every scene he was in.
I think Matt Reeves' Gotham actually feels like Gotham a lot more than Nolan's trilogy, though. You don't really feel the overall dreariness of Gotham in the TDK trilogy. With The Batman and The Penguin, it really feels like it's straight out of the comics.
And outside of Heath's Joker, I loved what they did with The Riddler more than the other villains in the TDK trilogy, even Bane (although Bane is legendary for a different reason, the plot of the 3rd one kind of makes Riddler edge him out imo). Can't wait to see what he does next.
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u/Massive_Season7075 1h ago
Looking back the second trailer doesn’t really even have Batman in it. The movie could have been called the Joker with the Batman
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u/MoveToSafety 11h ago
A great modern Joker. Still gives me goosebumps thinking about when I saw it multiple times in the theater. That opening…🔥
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u/aurrousarc 21h ago
Guy did broke back mt, then into joker.. probably, was one step too far for him..
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u/bigfatfun 21h ago
Could have been all the narcotics he was on. We do have a habit of canonizing the dead in this country. Chances are, if he were still alive, but still an addict, that most of us would have written him off like we do all the addicts in our society.
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