You can see the new The Dark Knight trailer right here. Personally, I really like the new Joker. I was never a big fan of Jack Nicholson’s Joker.
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Oh man, this movie is going to be amazing.
Im glad I live in chicago i managed to catch a glimpse when they were filming. This movie is gonna be awesome.
This trailer kicked a@@. But its not what you see if you watch I Am Legend in the Imax theatre. You get to see like 10 minutes of the actual movie, where it shows the joker and his thugs robbing a bank. and then on top of that you get to see clips of this trailer.
Yeah I saw the bank heist as well, so awesome.
Yeah I highly recommend anyone that hasnt watched I Am Legend in Imax, to do so. Its well worth the 11 bucks. Well atleast thats what it costs in Cali heheh.
I think I’m gonna be scared of Heath Ledger for the rest of my life now. @_@;
I have no idea how that could be Heath Ledger. I mean I know it is. But the way he has transformed himself for this movie is amazing. Take those images of Heath as the Joker and compare them to him in any of his other movies and its hard to believe its the same actor.
Thank you for the link to this awesome trailer. I think Heath Ledger as the Joker will make people forget Jack Nicholson’s Joker hands down.
“I was never a big fan of Jack Nicholson’s Joker.”
While I’ve been saying for some time that Heath Ledger is going to make a bad ass joker, I’ve always been a fan of Jack Nicholson’s job. In fact, that was the only good thing about that damned movie. How could you even say such a thing?
I DEMAND ANSWERS!
To me, Jack Nickolson didn’t seem like a psycho clown, simple as that.
i agree with u hawk, he played the gangster clown mofia type thing not the phyco killer like this one i cant wait
I dunno, Jack Nicholson has a very flexible “crazy face”. He can look damn creepy.
To me, Jack Nicholson never played the Joker. He played himself in silly makeup. Heath Ledger is playing The Joker.
EXACTLY! I’ve been trying to convince my friends and family of this for years. They won’t relent.
Heath Ledger is my Joker now.
Both Joker portrayals are accurate. The Joker changes his personality the way most people change their socks (theoretically). Sometimes, he plays the buffoon and sometimes he can make you flesh crawl just by a glance. His mood swing is an “E” ticket ride. Ain’t it great to be kray-zee?
I think you’ve got it right, VB. Even in the animated series, he’s like that. Maybe that’s what’s so interesting about the Joker? You can’t figure him out so you have to keep watching…
Every on screen portrayal of the Joker that I’ve seen has been this really goofy character with a little bit of crazy in them. Before Nicholson’s Joker, the on screen characterd were little more than an individual with bipolar tendancies that had a penchant for guns and violence. Nicholson was an improvement giving the character more intelligence.
Heath Ledger is probably taking the character in the direction it was really meant to be taken - a truely intelligent yet disturbed and insane individual who wears makeup for whatever reason. Joker, I think, was supposed to be the antithesis of Batman. One represents order, the other chaos, one represents logic and sanity, the other insanity and rage. That’s what made Joker scary in the books and I think Ledger and the writers are really trying to go back to that.
I’d have to agree with you Nick. Nicholson’s portrayel had a lot of merit. It was the first time I’d seen the joker as someone other than a mildly annoying clown.
Personally I’m hoping for even more from Ledger. Something along the line of the willfully vicious, obsesive, pathological demantia that considers torture the fastest way to a laugh.
Agree with most everything you said Nick. Adding to the whole “antithesis of Batman” thing… I feel that although in some respects they are polar opposites, such as order/chaos, in some respects they are alike. Both are criminals in the eyes of Gotham, both “have a taste for the theatrical”, both are freaks, and both are insane (dresses like a bat = not sane). I find the comparisons are much more intriguing when looking at the pair, and it’s obvious from the trailer that the Joker feels this way as well.
Jack Nicholson was Jack Nicholson playing Joker. Heath Ledger IS the Clown Prince.
Wow, it’s hard to believe that that voice is Heath Ledger’s. I mean I can tell by looking at him that it’s him but his voice is so different. He’s good.
Wow–if the movie is anything like that trailer, it’s going to *suck*. It looks like someone’s third-rate fan-film, with a really bad Jack Nicholson wannabe as the Joker. I mean, the whole mannerism used is pretty obviously a weak copy of Jack’s from from when Tim Burton did this story the *first* time around. Geeze–if you have to copy someone else’s act, he should at least have tried swiping from Mark Hamill, and put *that* version of the Joker into live-action terms.
Meanwhile–I avoided the last remake, so what *is* with the new Batmobile design? I’m guessing it’s supposed to be some sort of ’stealth’ design, hence the angled planes? Though I’m not sure what the point of that is, what with the large unprotected ‘Just shoot me’ tires…
I think Ledger is going to do just fine, if not better. It seems like the only act he is trying to imitate is the voice, and even then it sounds more angry and demented. We are going from some slapstick joker to a more dark and sinister looking one. from a odd but funny Nicholson to a scary looking Ledger. I think he just fits in with this role
man, what’s up your butt?
lmao. I posted something long earlier but it didnt go through, but it basically said the same thing as hawk lol.
Honestly? I’m sick to death and back again of all these ‘reimaginings’ that are nothing more than someone’s fan-fiction tripe that they managed to bamboozle a big budget for. This, Hulk, Battlestar Galactica, Bionic Woman, and plenty more I can name. Yeesh–can’t anyone come up with their *own* works anymore?
You seem quite upset. Perhaps you should sit down and drink some tea. Herbal tea is quite nice. In all honesty, coming up with your “own” work is rather difficult in today’s time and age. Also… even those who were coming up with their “own” idea used references from things around to come up with it. Many of Leonardo’s inventions for example have influences from nature itself. So in essence, man does not truly create ideas from nothingness but rather discover and adapt things they see and experience. So the next time you think, “Why can’t they be more original?” try and understand that original by man’s definition is near impossible to fulfill.
wowowow ! no need to go in deep transcendental philosophy stuff!
it’s just an ANOTHER batman movie and I already know (entirely) the story. it’s nice for the kids who hate to see a “old” movie , they have a new joker/batman for kid.
for me ? naaah, I will read and watch the hundreds of new art created this year.
–
batman forever was not a good movie. slow, plain old story and not beautiful (some boom, some dark sky and an empty city. disappointing )
oups !
not batman forever ! but batman begins
when Tim Burton directed the film it was Tim Burton’s batman which was good because it gave some of the characters true darkness. With the new films they give the feel of realism which makes the character seem like they could be real, is appeals to those who might not be fans of the comic book and not understand much of the history behide the character. But the main thing im glad about is that Batman no longer looks like he’s wairing a pointy condom over his head and he can acually move his head. I only wish they would drop the stupid voice deepening, its really off puttin.
The fact that you avoided one of the best Batman films ever made is hysterical.
kill me so i don’t have to watch it
The batmobile is designed after Frank Miller’s Batmobile. Frankly I dont like it either. However Batman begins is one of the best batman movies Ive seen, and yes I am a bit dissapointed that Heathledger is taking Jack nicholson’s voice for Joker. But thats because I wont accept anyone elses voice but Mark hammil’s because it is so damn good. Of course we couldnt have Mark hammil play the joker, that would be bad…bad.
Honestly I don’t think Ledger’s voice sounds like Nicholson at all. It’s about three octaves higher with a spastic, awkward quality, like a kid with poorly developed social skills.
Jack was all baritone and bluster. Heath sounds like an ADD-riddled youngster. Personally I think I prefer Ledger’s take.
Well its not that the voices match or anything because I dont think thats actually possible for two people’s voices to sound exactly the same. But the way he speaks as the joker sounds like Jack nicholson. Not Jack Nicholson’s joker per se, but Jack nicholson.
well thats also how the joker has been brought out to sound in all the cartoons and everything. If Jack influenced how the joker was to sound through the years, then thats how Ledger has to base it off of and then add his own spin to it
I’ve always been a fan of the batman movies, even though most of them were made before I was born. But this movie and the last one are making a mockery of all those sweet memories, I would compare them to the “Batman and robin” incident, that movie way was better than batman returns
Ledger is most definately a better Joker than Nicholson, based on this trailer alone. Nicholson played himself if he were a psychopatic clown, like he always plays a variation of himself. Ledger is something else, altogether…
And this voice is most definately on par with Hamill. Lets face it, Hamill is terrific in animation, but transferring that voice one to one on live-action film just wouldn’t work. And this ain’t no Hamill-Joker, no sir’ee…
As I said on one forum about this trailer, Ledger’s Joker looks like the kind of guy who would rape your grandmother’s poodle just to take a picture of your face and pin it on your corpse after bashing your brain out with a brick.
Re: Poodle–now THAT’S a mental image and a half, innit? 0_o
G-ross lol.
i do like how they showed this, but im still not a fan of batman movies… they mess the stuff up allot (i read the comics all the way back from the 70s) and i liked the last joker, this one kinda has a hollow feeling… but as the good little consumer i am im going to see the movie anyway(just like the resident evil movies..)
Okay I’m a fan of the other two Jokers, Hamill and Nickolson so I was worried about this Joker but Damn Ledger got the creepy factor and the laugh down. As well as Joker’s arrogance too. ^_^
The only other thing I worry about is that I grew up raised that Joker killed Bruces parents and well I didn’t like the remake because the guy was killed and wasn’t the Joker…yea, pissed me off quite a bit. I’ll try and get over it, because this one does look pretty good.
Burton’s movie is the only place where Joker killed Bruce’s parents. In the comics and animated series Joker has always been about the same age as Batman.
Thats true, but alot Some of the comics did run with the idea that the Joker killed batmans parents also. But the older comics didnt take that twist. actually I dont think the older comics ever revealed the killer at all, but I may be mistaken…been awhile.
Still, it’s what I’m used to thinking… I know now the Joker wasn’t the Wanes killer in the older ones. It’s going to take time for me to get over it though…hope they don’t kill the Joker off though. >.> love to see Harley.
I think that Nicholson was good Joker. The movies were different from what they are now. Im just wondering whats the story of Joker in this movie… meaning HOW he became like that… was it because of Batman? or has that stayed unaltered.. i think i just have to wait :D
I liked Nicholson, but I think that Ledger looks more psycho than Jack did. In fact I didn’t know it was Ledger ’til I read these posts. I think Burton was going for the Dark Knight feel, so I’m not sure why they wanted to remake this one - but I hesitate to praise or condemn from this brief trailer
im with you on the praise/condemn thing wait for the film to come out before i really make a comment
Everyone else thinks I’m crazy for not liking Jack Nickelson as Joker, good to see there’s one person out there that shares the same opinion.
I still think the new Batman costume needs praise. Tons.
I especially like the new cape-mask separation and the lack of nipple-bevels.
I like that he isn’t smiling ALL the time, only when he’s being a psycho killer or just trying to be creepy.
Such a happy face. Me thinks this joker is no joke. I bet his therapists run screaming. (the ones that get away…) ^__^
“why so serious?”
when i heard that line i suggested heath ledger for an academy award. i’m really digging on the joker and hope that they keep him around so we can have some harley quinn.
I gotta say I think Jack Nicholson portrayed the comic Joker very well indeed. Ledger’s portrayal of Joker is kinda like the real world version of the villain.
There was always a stark difference between comic reality and REALITY itself. The fact of the matter is, if 1/100th of the stuff that happened in the DC comic’s timeline happened on Earth, we’d have been roasted, barbecued, fried, driven insane, vaporized, drowned in an ocean of cream of mushroom soup, and then the forces of darkness would really start to get to work on us.
Good thing comic life isn’t real life. Cause I don’t really like the idea of a miniature man capable of anatomically inverting everyone living thing on Earth and yet keeping them alive at the same time and the only way to stop him is to say his name backwards.
I don’t think that Heath Ledger is going to be good Joker. In my opinion he just doesn’t fit the part. Jack Nicholson just screams neurotic psychopath. Simply put, Heath has some big shoes to fill and I don’t think he’s up for the task.
Did you even watch the preview?
I cant wait to see this looks so sweet.
Interesting spin on the Joker. Clearly not the same kind of Joker (I mean this one has his face heavily caked in make-up while the original was shoved into an acid vat that bleached his skin and bleached his brains), but I think it’s a very workable take on it. I’m looking forward to this movie!
Lovely. I’ve always thought the Joker should be more like this psychotic sinister evil man like this and while I don’t really like the laugh as much as I’d hoped, the actual action and look are what I’ve always been looking for in Joker.
In trying to make Batman more real and more in the roots of the dark being his real weapon, I think they did a damn fine job. The bat-cycle is a tad unnecessary but him being able to look without turning his entire body now and a villain who can really crush his own psyche is going to be quite something to watch. I can’t wait.
Oh sweetness. I enjoyed the last one, and I think I’m going to like this one just as much. Heath Ledger is generally pretty amazing, and I think this was a bold choice that will pan out pretty well. From the sound bytes in the the trailer, I can tell he’s got the character wonderfully, though I’m a bit wary of the makeup. I’m a fan of the classic Joker look, and though I do like the idea of what they did here, I think they may have taken it a bit too far. I mean, he did always look snappy, if deranged. Either way, excited anticipation abounds!
Just saw the trailer, and I have to say i’m not yet sure how I feel about it. I want to like it, but I’m too used to the old stigma of how it all goes. Still keeping an open mind to new ideas is key and I will still be there to see this movie.
the video doesn’t do it justice. i saw it before i am legend and it was epic!
Uh…*passes out from the coolness*
I saw the trailer in theatre… damn, I want this movie to come out RIGHT NOW. This is capturing the Joker in a way that has never been done before… and I like it very much.
I haven’t seen the trailer yet, but the pictures look awesome. I liked Jack Nicholson’s Joker, actually, but this looks better.
Gotta say I’m liking Heath Ledger as The Joker. He’s got the insanity thing going for him, but he’s also, and I mean this in the best possible way, kind of a geek.
I loved Nicholson as Joker in Burton’s first film, but he was always fairly confident and cocky since that’s the way his character acted before the accident transformed him and also because that’s generally how Nicholson comes off.
In the trailer above we see Ledger as awkward and alone, like an unpopular kid who wants attention and lashes out to get it.
This take on The Joker has a lot of potential and I’m no longer worried about how the character will turn out. After seeing this I’m even more excited about the film.
I like batman begins and this one; I like the more REAL feel to it. Its nice to see our childhood heroes put in a more real style. Thats why I liked Civil War. Seeing what would happen to super heroes in the real world is a good change. The real world can be ALOT darker than you think once you get to peeling the layers.
Based on this small snippet, I’m in the “Mmm, I don’t know….” category. I jive with how the Joker seems to be extremely dangerous and creepy. However IMO he’s not the Clown Prince of Crime we all know and that takes getting used to. It’s a different direction and it will be interesting to see what happens.
That said, the SFX look pretty sweet. And yay Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman and William Macy! =) This particular go at the Batman legend is slowly filling in the blanks and is more ‘reality-based’ than the sort of cartoonish Burton version. Both are probably going to be good on their own merits.
I’m a bit relieved and I’m also a bit troubled by this trailer. Okay, the new interpretation of the Joker is awesome, but I really do hope that they also reveal some backstory how he turned into “him”. Then again, I guess I won’t see that part from the Batman TOS Movie where Batman visits Redhood after he fell into toxic and couldn’t calm down from laughing - but his skin wasn’t bleached at that time. So the portation in terms of “wild face painting” really gets off well.
Also, the laugh is friggin scary. Not as good as Hamill, but close - I really liked that performance indeed. What I really didn’t like though in the trailer, and I sure hope that’s not the case in the final version:
a) Joker’s acting like a Hunchback in terms of turning around and walking (watch closely) - that’s so not like him.
b) The “day” shots look so B-Movie (explosion of the large house for example)
c) If the new batcave is all “white and shiny” - go to hell! (where the heck’s the Wayne Manor?! He has the money to rebuilt it, though if the timeline is short after the “Scarecrow/Raaz” incident, it’s understandable for this new hideout - still sucks though)
d) they changed around actors once more (Bruce’s childhood friend - did anybody notice that she looks so darn similar to Kirsten Dunst if she smiles?)
I really liked the reboot of the franchise with Batman Begins, but The Dark Knight is based upon a dark story arc, at the moment this trailer looks like a darn fanproduction with slightly better actors and effects. Then again, if they’re still in postproduction - let’s just hope the best. Will watch it anyway, just for the hell of it. But this time… not in German (don’t want to know how they mess up Ledgers voice, or even use a new voice actor just for that).
I think the poster showing Ledger’s Joker from the back, holding the switchblade pretty much captures the character we can expect. Kinda like the creepy factor Mr. Teatime from “HogFather” has, only with enough concentrated evil to turn us all into hermit crabs.
I even liked Jack’s Joker, but Heath’s laugh sold me. He seems appropriately demented; I very much approve.
I don’t really like the new Joker. He looks like a street corner hobo imo. I’ll still see the movie, but his acting will have to really sell me, and what I’ve seen in the previews so far hasn’t.
He doesn’t capture the essence of the joker’s demented toothy smile but he definitely has the laugh.
As someone else said above, it’s a very different joker than the somewhat campy, somewhat “dark opera” joker seen in Burton’s old movie. Nicholson’s joker was great for that environment; for the very theatricized, melodramatic portrayal seen in the first movies. But there’s a strong disconnect from reality, in those. It’s a role that’s been around so long that the essential ideas that give it emotional force are a little … out of touch. Nicholson’s joker was a fun, kooky character, but he was only about as scary as Dr. Evil. He wasn’t something you could take seriously. He wasn’t something that would be threatening in the real world, because he just wouldn’t … work … in the real world; he’d get his ass filled with lead in the middle of a monologue.
Ledger’s joker, like Bale’s batman, really seems to ask the question “what would the joker be like if he was a real person?” It’s not quite as funny; it doesn’t perhaps have that melodramatic flair. But it’s actually creepy. They guy actually comes off with the same perverse, unpleasant vibe of … I don’t know; a serial killer who thinks it’s funny to kill people and cut them up while wearing clown makeup? Who gets a laugh out of robbing a bank and shooting his partners in the back? Any person who really did what supervillians purportedly do wouldn’t be either glamorous or funny, and I think Ledger really might be onto something here.
We can’t tell until the movie’s out, but the 5-minute prologue thing attached to “I am Legend” really makes this seem to come together; perhaps a lot better than the trailer linked above does. You can see that prologue here:
http://slaughteristhebestmedicine.blogspot.com/
You’ve said exactly what I was thinking. It’s the whole “What would the Joker be like if he was a real person?” thing. Jack’s Joker gave me the creeps in a “oh, wow, he really IS psycho” sort of way, but this…this is enough for full-blown nightmares.
Any supervillian knife obsessed clown in worn make-up is a-okay in my book.
I ain’t a great fan of Nicholson’s Joker either. But Ledger is definitely kicking ass in that trailer. Need to find a cinema that shows motion pictures with the original voiceover.
I saw the trailer when I went to go see I AM LEGEND, it was good, but I think the Joker…I don’t know, I grew up with the Joker that was obsessed with the Bat but this guy…He may seem obsessed, but that’s it. Where’s the jeering almost insane laughter? The craziness…I mean the dude IS criminally insane and almost a sociopath. And where is his SMILE? :B I almost think JIM CAREY should be a better joker. He can get scary! You know that one movie he did? Cable Guy? With Matthew Broudrick?
Anyway, it’s just a trailer, I might go see the movie…After I see the first one of course…
Look again - the trailer, the foto artwork from Variity Fair (or how it’s called), etc. He does smile, and his smile is like the original Joker. His hairdo is not like it, neither are his clothes, but yes… it has to look like drawn into a real world. Much like X-Men or Transformers. And to be honest, that really works.
He doesn’t really smile in this trailer. What I really want to see is that maniacal grin full of off-whites against a pasty white complexion like the joker has in the Batman cartoons. My impression of Nicholson’s joker was that he did manage carry across that particular aspect well. I never really read the comics but loved the cartoons so anything that plays off that works in my book. ^^
The only thing I dont like is really the bat-cycle. I never liked that thing. Infact I never liked the whole bat-gadget craziness that can happen to this franchise. Like hes walking on batboots, burhsing with a bat toothbrush. But then again not liking that is not liking a very pivotal part of the series I guess. Anyway heres to hoping they dont overdo it. Im down with the new joker too.
that looks so awsome!!!
OMG! I think i just crit my pants……damn i can’t wait for the release!!!