Its like comparing great baseball players from different eras... Ruth vs. Aaron etc...
Though only a decade or so apart, Ledger and Phoenix's Jokers were very different acting jobs.
As some have mentioned... Ledger's was already fully formed and he did a great job.
Phoenix shows how a (barely) sane loser slowly turns into a diabolical madman that became Ledger's Joker.
i doubt we would have seen this joker without heath
shareWithout Ledger, probably we would have gone straight to Leto's Joker and he'd be seen as the greatest Joker ever lol.
sharei still have symphathies for jack though
share I'm not sure why but
I just can't find Jacks joker to be creepy. Maby its an 80s thing but Jacks Joker felt the same as he was in the shining. He had that freddy kruger murdours prankster feel more then some one you could be frightened of.
Jacks joker, the shining, Freddy kruger. They all felt the same to me. It wasn't till ledgers rational yet nihilistic joker appeared that a disturbed killer felt plausible on screen.
That makes sense. Tim Burton's Batman and Batman Returns seemed like horror movies for kids.
shareI kind of like the Joker being a bit comedic in Batman 89. I get tired though of people bashing Tim Burton's Batman and going on about how Nolan's are superior. I like Nolan's Batman movies except the 3rd one. Also frankly Batman 89 Batmobile>>>>>>Some standard military vehicle that just doesn't make me think of the Batmobile at all.
shareTim burtons batman was considered the best batman until for some reason every one decided that darker is deeper super hero movies. I can't lie I got caught up in the darker is better but eventually decided to consider movies like tim burtons batman with nolans batman as as apples to oranges. It would be unatural to ask a question like which movie is better Ghost Busters or Alien.
shareYou can't really compare them when they are basically playing two different characters
shareThey are both the same character, the Joker.
share They are totally differen't characters. Phoenix's joker is disabled yet pushed to the edge by society. Ledgers's joker is very capable in executing his well crafted goals which are driven by unorthodox goals of watching the world burn/die.
They have completly different skill sets and goals to plausibly be the same person.
They are different takes of the same character.
shareStrongly disagree.
shareOne of them played the Clown Prince of Crime pretty well with assorted inspired scenes mixed with some underwhelming/poor ones in a moderately good Batman film (which happens to be the best one other than MotP). The other played a mentally handicapped quasi-hobo that killed some folks in self defense, snapped, then killed a guy on tv very very well.
So JP may have been the better actor in this comparison but he was hardly the Joker. The riot at the end made little sense and he being revered made even less. Both films overrated. Both Joker actors did good jobs. One is obviously the Joker and the other has some clown makeup on.
What is MotP?
shareMask of the Phantasm. Animated Batman film based on Batman: Year Two. The best Batman film and the only one that doesn't make me roll my eyes at some point or another.
shareI'll look into it. I've seen Batman: Year One the animated movie, but I don't remember anything special about it. Very forgettable.
shareYear One is a bit overrated. MotP follows Year Two pretty well and is good. They change some names and a few plot points. "The Phantom" instead of "The Reaper," for instance. It is done in the style of BtAS.
shareI don't think either is better than the other, just different. I enjoyed both performances. As others pointed out, Phoenix gets 2 hours of screen time here vs much less for Ledger.
share