Heath Ledger's Joker

**Movie clip links at the bottom of this thread**

How many of you saw The Dark Knight at midnight last night? Theaters around here completely sold out of their midnight showings which consisted of 10 screens, and held a special showing at 3:20 am for those who didn't quite make getting tickets to the 12am showing.


My boyfriend and I attended the 3:20 showings. The movie was extremely captivating, although it was somewhat long the time was hardly noticed. The film focuses it's attention on Heath Ledger's Joker. His performance is amazing, extremely real in a very chilling way. I found myself getting more viewing pleasure out of watching The Joker than Batman.
(Brent, this is one that's definitely worth the money!)

What are your opinions of the movie? Is the production company banking too much of off a man's death? Did Heath become the joker as he was filming, ultimately driving himself crazy, and to an untimely end (Heath's overdose on Ambient was reportedly caused by an extreme case of Insomnia, which lead the actor to take too much of his sleeping aid). Although I was extremely captivated by Heath's performance I find myself wondering if I really think Heath's performance was amazing, or if I have some morbid fascination in watching a dead man walking.

Heath's acting IS amazing though. While watching it really doesn't even seem as though he's acting. He IS the role. This is especially apparent when watching the contrast between Jack Nicholson's Joker and Heath's. Although I realize that the two roles were going for something somewhat different, Heath puts Jack Nicholson's performance to shame. I highly respect Jack Nicholson as an actor, so the stark difference is shocking. I'll post a link at the end of this thread to a video comparing the two performances. Jack Nicholson himself reported that he was humbled by Heath's Joker.

Heath's overdoes was on Ambient, a sleeping aid. Heath was suffering from Insomnia and nightmears. Could his use of Ambient been one of the factors that drove him crazy? Here's my take.. and keep in mind this is PURE SPECULATION. We'll have to have someone who knows more about the brain (Perhaps Stephanie ) to step in and give her opinion.

Okay, so when I am having a nightmare or start to feel uncomfortable in a dream I am always able to pull myself out of it. Even if I am not lucid dreaming there's always a certain point where I find myself pulling up and out of a scary situation if things get too heavy.
I'm thinking that Ambient causes people to sleep more deeply and for a longer period of time. This would cause a longer REM cycle. Also, I'm wondering if Ambient puts the sleeper into a deep sleep that they can't pull themselves out of. What if while having a scary dream you couldn't escape?

Anyway, those are just a few of the thoughts that have sprung up after watching The Dark Knight last night.
Have any of your own?

For those of you who haven't seen the movie yet, here is the first 5 minutes. It's a pretty good intro that sets up the plot of the movie.
http://www.mahalo.com/The_Dark_Knight_First_Five_Minutes

And here's the comparison of Jack Nicholson's Joker to Heath Ledger's.
http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/07/17/votd-joker-vs-joker-jack-nicholson-vs-heath-ledger/

This is what happens when an unmovable object meets and unstoppable force










Here's a sample of my new desktop..
(Yes, I have an image that fits my moniter )
http://moviesmedia.ign.com/movies/image/article/845/845403/the-dark-knight-20080114014322864.jpg


Some men just want to watch the world burn

All I can say is that this movie was WELL WORTH THE WAIT AND SOOOO WORTH SEENING IN THEATERS! lol...i loved this movie soo much..Heath did such a fascinating job as the joker!! Every scene had me anticipating more and more..i would definitely say for those who have not seen to go please go give it a shot..my rating of 1 to 10 would be to give this movie a 9...only because the guy who played batman kept making batman sound like he has Larynjidise...

I agree wholeheartedly! It's been almost a whole day since I saw the move and I cannot get the creepiness of The Joker out of my mind. I want to see The Dark Knight again!

Hey, as a side note, does anyone know why Katie Holmes wasn't Rachel in the second movie? Meggie Gyllenhaal was alright in the role, not really complaining, just wondering if anyone knew why the change in acresses. I'm not very "up" on the celebrity world.

I was at the 1201 showing with about six other people. To be honest, I don't follow or really care about celebrities. I know Heath Ledger is dead, but it makes no difference to me in my evaluation of the film.

That said, the film was amazing. His portrayal of the Joker was just...stunning. Gave me chills at times. The overall atmosphere of the movie is very dark and brooding, as it should be. Christian Bale does a great job with Bruce Wayne/Batman once again. Really, everyone in the movie did a wonderful job. I almost feel as though there is too much focus on the Joker aspect, what with Ledger's death, but one does have to admit that it was the most difficult character in the movie, and trying to follow the original Joker is no easy task.

Definitely recommended! Don't take your kids, though. As I said, very dark and brooding movie. This is not a comic book movie for the youngsters. (The only reason I mention that is, since a lot of folks at work know I went to see it at 1201, I've had 3 or 4 people ask me if they can take their young children to it. x_x )

Oh, and there's an amazing Watchmen preview at the beginning of the movie, too!

My husband took me to a 10:40 showing last night. It was great, but I told him no more movies until after the baby's born (was I ever uncomfortable...every gun shot and explosion Corbin would start kicking up a storm not to mention my butt hurt from sitting down for so long).

Was anyone else surprised by the 2nd bad guy (please, no one give it away for those who haven't seen it)? I could not believe they had him in there! I did put two and two together when the character first appeared at the beginning based on his name and his little chance tick.

I have to say I was surprised he was in THIS movie. I saw the character in the previews, so I knew it was coming, but somehow I thought they'd wait for the third movie.

i loved the movie!!! i was so pleasantly surprised by heath ledger's performance! he did an awesome job at portraying a psychotic killer. i think he is the best joker. also love christian bale as batman. can't wait to see the next one!

Two of my friends went last night, they could only get 2 tickets and I tried to order and cant get any til Tuesdays showings! Made something like 66.4 mil opening night.

I was watching something the other day that said this role killed him. He was so good, he creeped himself out and thats when he started with the sleeping pills, Xanax. My friend called me last night and said "I believe it. He made Jack Nicholson look like a boob"

When your an actor, or a good one you really become your role. I was doing a screen test a few years ago and the screen called for me to basically be assaulted and throw to the floor, held at knife point. I had to scream, cry, beg. We shot the scene and a few hours later I came home and I was physically ill. It was like I was really assaulted. You cant fake emotions with your body, you really feel them.

Now I cant wait to see it. What a shame when someone dies young and doesnt get to relish in their success.

I met him in the city a few years ago, the movie screens didnt do him justice.

The funniest thing happened last night. So my family and I went to the movies for the 12:05 AM showing of The Dark Night. Technically, 12:05 AM would be Saturday. The tickets said "Saturday 12:05 AM". We get to the theater and someone offered to help us find our seats. We looked over to see where we knew we bought seats for, and people were sitting in our seats. The guy looked at the tickets, then at us, and said, "Uh...these tickets are for tomorrow, see? It says 'Saturday'." We explained to him that 12:05 AM technically was Saturday, and when he argued we brought him down to customer service. The people at customer service said that we were right, the tickets were supposed to be for today, but the machines got messed up, and so those tickets were technically for tomorrow. My mom flipped out and started screaming at the people because she spent "so much money" at the theater (we go there all the time) and that she drank two cups of coffee to stay awake. Eventually the manager said he was very sorry for the mistake and he gave us ten free tickets to any show, any time, plus all of our money back. Worked out well in the end, but now we have to wait until tomorrow to see the famous Heath Ledger play the Joker.