Saga Best Sidious/Palpatine performance

For my first post I would like to post a poll about my #2 fave charecter.
I chose Episode I because that was the most serious and down to business Sidious to me.

Good thread. We need more opportunities to talk about Ian McDiarmid.

His performance in the OT is great, but I heavily prefer him in the prequels where I feel he gets more of a chance to shine -- so it's really down to I, II, and III for me. Hmm...I love TPM and his casual manipulation of Padmé, especially when he whispers in her ear during the Senate scene. AOTC also has some good scenes, but nothing quite as personal as TPM's (although the meeting with Anakin comes close).

Honestly, though, I think I'll go with ROTS. Not only does it feature the most Palpatine, but it also contains one of my favorite scenes of the entire Saga -- the opera house conversation. There are a few low points (such as the faces he makes during the duel with Mace), but overall, it's his best performance, in my opinion.

He was WAY over the top in the seduction scene but the opera house scene was wonderfully done.

ROTS

I love his over the top performances.

I chose AOTC but ROTS is very close. He is almost frightening in that film.

For a star wars fan you almost cant picture anything other than him when trying to put a face on the worse evil you can imagine.

Revenge of the Sith -- In the first half, McDiarmid seduces us with I, Claudius In Space; in the second, he treats us to The Second Coming of Walt Disney. (The scene in which he, uh....literally dissolves the Senate never fails to elicit a perverse glee.)

AOTC & ROTS

His performance in both are just perfect.

It is important to keep in mind Darth Sidious's name, which is the adjective insidious. The Oxford Dictionary gives the following definition of the word "insidious":

Full of wiles or plots; lying in wait or seeking to entrap or ensnare; proceeding or operating secretly or subtly so as not to excite suspicion; sly, treacherous, deceitful, underhand, artful, cunning, crafty. (Of persons and things.)

Now if you look at the camera work in his first very shot introduction (as palpatine) in TPM the camerawork says this whole above definition without using words. Just the movement of the images and sound of the music.

So waaay before you even start talking about his acting (which is absolutely outstanding) you feel the character.

What a truly great character. One of the best characters in film history.

I gotta go with Return of the Jedi. Ian really established the character. And even though Sidious is wonderfully over-the-top evil in Revenge of the Sith, and he steals the show, I think of Episode III Sidious as slightly more artificially evil.

In Episode VI he's not holding back or pretending to be anybody's friend. He just oozes nastiness in every scene.

I agree. He is so creepy in AOTC, really. He is hardly there, but whenever he is there, he's hauntingly scheming and subtly evil.
He's great in the others as well, but there is something about his performance in AOTC that captures my attention the most.

Oh I fear the deflector sheild will be quite operational when your friends arrive

I have to say Episode I for the same reason mentioned by jawajunk.

This totally

Have you noticed how differently Sidious speaks from episode I to III? In episode I he speaks faster, in a more agressive way (similiar to episode VI), whereas in episode III (and the new scene in episode V) he speaks veeery slowly, in a contemplative manner.

I don't know- some of his Episode I statements are pretty measured.

"I don't want this stunted piece of slime in my sight again"
"Wipe them out. All of them"

That is pure Sidious there, I liked ROTS Sidious, but Mcdiarmid looked like he overacted the Windu duel, also acted like a fruitcake during the senate duel. A departure from the previous episodes.

I agree completely. My feelings about Ian McDiarmid's performances is that he either is amazing or he completely overacts. Scenes like the opera/Darth Plageius tale are incredible, well-balanced performances while the duel with Mace and the "knighting" of Anakin/Vader is too over the top for my taste.

It's almost a tie between Episodes I and III. Ended up voting for I.

Over acting? Palpatine is the greatest.

III. He's fantastic in that.

Mabye over acting was the wrong use of words, I just preferred the calm collective Sidious to the laughing fruitcake of ROTS.

ROTS, I thought he was amazing throughout the entire film.

Return of the Jedi for me, hands down. It's the definitive performance for the character, and it's why the Emperor is so iconic.

I liked Ian McDiarmid's performance as Palpatine in the first half of Revenge of the Sith. After the duel with Mace Windu, though, I found it way too over the top and cheesy. I get that the idea is that the Dark Lord is finally unleashed, so he's relishing in the moment, but Palpatine has always been more subtle and nuanced than that. I would've preferred a more toned down performance that accomplished the same things without it feeling ridiculous to me.

"Not from a Jedi".

You have to go with Ep III. Thought I agree with other the faces made during the Windu duel and the over the top voice/facial expressions in the pledge scene are ridinky-donky

Do you mean ridonkulous?