Ok so we all know James Earl Jones provides the iconic voice for Darth Vader but a thing I've always noticed is that Vader's voice or at least the tone of it is slightly different in each movie. Until Rogue One came out TESB was always my favourite for Vader's voice. Now with RO I just love the way James Earl Jones delivered his lines. I know it will never happen but I would love Disney to ask JEJ to rerecord all his dialogue for all SW movies to keep them all in sync.
He sounded a bit wheezy and out of breath in Rogue One I thought, which, given James Earl Jones' advanced age, is understandable. I mean it was still him, but the full bass timbre of his tone was slightly off. I agree that he sounds best in TESB. He is quite gutteral sounding in ANH, and by ROTJ his tone had become rather synthesised.
In my headcanon, Vader was like one of those people who are never satisfied with the sound of their stereos. In between movies, he was tinkering with his speakers and amps, trying to get the most intimidating tones out of his sound system, always trying to make it sound a little better.
I actually thought his voice in RO sounded much deeper and richer. Interesting to hear other views on it though
His voice sounds different because Lucas had oscillated as to whether or not Vader would be the cyborg he originally intended or a man in a suit. ANH shows the latter, since Lucas had doubts as to whether or not he could depict him as a cyborg. TESB explicitly makes it plain that he is a cyborg, and the voice reflects that. ROTJ's sound is due to the fact that they were going to unmask Vader, and they wanted the voice to reflect the fact that it was a vocabulator. Jones considered himself to be a special effect, as well as a performer. He's portraying the machine. He only makes his performance more psychological in ROTJ. He sounds angry and expressive in ANH, then he shows cold and mechanical in TESB (albeit sarcastic at times and emotional at the end), and conflicted and remorseful in ROTJ.
I was watching ESB last night and it struck me how much Jones brings to the role. He really should have won some kind of honorary Oscar for portraying Vader. He might of, but I don't think so. There have been plenty of deep voices in cinema, but what he did was so iconic and a big part of Vader's appeal as a villain. He is scary, funny, charming, ironic.
I had forgotten that Vader tells Lando in ESB that he wants imprison Leia (and Chewie) on Cloud City forever. Immuring a Madonna figure in a heavenly floating city. Sadly all too close to what has happened in real life.
What always struck my ear in all of JEJ's performances as Vader are the diversity of sounds he gets, combined with the attention to timing and the use of rests, like in music. There are subtle inflections of breath, like when he says "surface attack" in Empire. It's very breathy, and almost sounds like heat coming off a fire, with an emphasis on the "ck" sound at the end. And he uses an ocassional vibrato like trembling in his delivery, "It is the only way", the word "only" has a slight vibrato. There are several other examples of him using a slight tremble that is a natural part of his voice. Perhaps when he says, "You've found something?" The word "found" has that sound. Sadly, I'm forgetting the other examples I had in mind, but hopefully you guys know what I mean about that vibrato he has. And the slight pauses. "Don't fail me again. *pause* Admiral." And the brilliant pause between syllables when he says "Your sis - ter." With an added hiss on the "sis" part. These examples contrast with his metallic, harsh delivery, almost shouting at times, in the ANH line, "Commander, tear this ship apart..." which is also brilliantly appropriate, especially now that we know how pissed he is after what happened in Rogue One. Later in ANH, he exhibits a much more confident and cool expression in the meeting when he says the lines "Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed..." the use of alliteration with the "Ts" helping to emphasize the robotic and clipped tone of his delivery. I will add that his brief performance in ROTS is quite good, when he says, "Where is Padmé? Is she *pause* alright?" He sounds like a dazed man after the tragic ordeal he had just gone through. Very appropriate voice work. There are so many examples of his brilliant work to choose from; and yeah, agreed that he should have gotten some type of award for it if he didn't. It's one of the most iconic pieces of voice work in cinema history.
It's interesting how his threats and overall demeanor toward Lando were calm. JEJ said he would have preferred to make Vader more psychological in TESB, and Kershner told him that he should remember that he was performing as the machine speaking for the man more than the man himself. Thus, JEJ's lines in TESB come off as mostly spoken with angry growls, but he did different things with his voice, and Jones probably did so based on how he perceived David Prowse's body language. Prowse doesn't give enough credit for the subtlety he brought to Vader's body language. Vader is not a subtle character, but Prowse managed to humanize his movements and gestures. Anyhow, Jones was free to express himself through emotional subtlety and complexity in ROTJ, but he worked it into TESB, as well. That is one reason why Jones is one of the best actors of the second half of the twentieth century. Also, Jones listened to both David Prowse's on-set recordings of Vader's dialogue and Kershner's performance as Vader, which Jones said was "scary as hell." That informed some of his choices. Of course, we got a sense of how Kershner may have done it in the audio commentary from 2004. He was like, "You are my son! I am your father! [Breathes]. You will do as I say. [Breathes.]" I don't think it was that scary, but I can see why Jones chose to portray Vader as coldly angry in TESB after listening to Kershner's take.
Vader's voicework in the OT is amazing. He can be funny, threatening, scary, sarcastic all at the same time. I love how in ESB he completely ignores Lando when talking to Boba Fett. Then he finally acknowledges him to threaten him. As if to say "did you forget who I am?"