David Prowse vs James Earl Jones

Prowse was really upset that they overdubbed his voice with JEJ in Star Wars. If he got his way, and they left his voice in as Darth Vader, how successful (or unsuccessful) do you think Star Wars would be?

 

I don't think Vader would have worked as a villain without the voice of James Earl Jones. Prowse did nothing more than wear the suit; a lot of people could have done that. Vader is characterized by his suit and his voice (and personality), not who wore the suit.

 

Have you heard Prowse's voice??

OMG that is possibly the least menacing voice in the whole world!

 

^^^^ Exactly. My point is Star Wars would have never taken off.... it would have been a joke, in my opinion.

 

I think Star Wars wouldn't have been as succesful and Darth vader wouldn't have seemed as menacing.

 

didn't he also speak with a ridiculous accent?

 

After watching "the empire of dreams" documentry,
I like Prowse's voice as Vader.

He's got talent, charisma, and attitude.

 

It's not DP vs JEJ, it's DP plus JEJ... Try to imagine Vader with Mr. Jones body... (BTW, he doesn't need a body, he has the most marvelous voice I've ever heard)

 

Ditto to the comment about JEJ AND Dave Prowse...they both brought the big guy to life...along with stunt double Bob Anderson.

That being said...James Earl Jones is THE most UNDERRATED Star Wars actor!!

 

James earl was great, if it wasn't jones' voice, SW would have been one of those typical Sci-Fi movies(trying not to comment on Star Trek).

 

It would have been more like Rick Moranis in Space Balls.

 

CountCuckoo posted on 7/27/05 3:51pm

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I think Star Wars wouldn't have been as succesful and Darth vader wouldn't have seemed as menacing.[hr][/blockquote]

I agree. Darth Vader in character is a pop culture idol for being menacing. Taking anything away from that would simply be wrong.

 

anyone could be in the suit (hayden or prowse or whoever) and it wouldnt make a difference

but only james earl jones could do what he did for the darth vader character

jones=vader

 

Prowse's voice as Darth Vader?

Have you seen Empire of Dreams?

"Bring me the passengers, I want them aliiiiive."

Seriously no. His voice his the least menacing thing I've heard since Dark Helmet's.

 

I disagree. Prowse has that certain arrogant, menacing strut that's difficult to reproduce. Prowse is also very well built and fills out that costume nicely, giving Vader that powerful look; while Jones's voice gives him a certain cold, calculating demeanor. You've got to have both to have the true villain.

 

I think the end of ROTS proved that not just anyone could pull off wearing the suit. David Prowse's body language in the suit superb. My favourite scene without JEJ's voice is after the Falcon jumps into hyperspace with Vader watching. He turns to walk away, then turns back for one more look. Good stuff.

 

Many of us have heard Prowse's voice while wearing the suit in some behind-the-scene's footage. Personally, I don't feel that's enough to judge. You would have to hear a post-production dub to make a better decision. Even then, a British accent just wouldn't feel the same.

And I also feel that Prowse is more than just a random guy in a suit. Some of his motions worked really well with the voice. Except of course, for that slight hunch from ANH when he approaches Leia on the Corvette. =\

 

I watched the "Empire of Dreams" documentary and I would have to agree that David Prowse's voice is far from menacing. James Earl Jones suits the voice of Vader well.

David Prowse is great at his silent acting/hand gestures in the Vader suit though.

 

Prowse's voice would not have worked and JEJ was perfect.
Having said that I'd like to state for the record that I think Prowse did an excellent acting job and I don't believe just "anyone" could have done it as well. I've heard a lot of negative comments about Prowse on these boards over the years which I think are unjustified, I met Dave Prowse a few years ago and he had a lot of time for the fans and came across as a genuinely nice bloke.

 

I agree that they both bought Vader alive. JEJ voice is just what you want to hear from a villian like Vader and Prowse brings a great presence to the physical form.

And it's true anyone can be in the suit, however as a previous post said, Prowse had many qualities in handling the suit and struting his stuff, his only downside was fighting in it, which we all know he left to the professionals.

 

Darth Vader is one of the greatest movie villains of all time, if not THE greatest. The reason for that is a mixture of many different elements:

1) The costume. Gas mask, Nazi stormtrooper helmet, flowing cape, black from head to toe.

2) David Prowse. As others have already said, he gave Vader a very intimidating physical stature (Both tall and broad) and did good movements in the role. When he was walking around, he was doing a walk that would part any crowd before him.

3) James Earl Jones. That voice could command armies, and in this case, it did. Even without seeing Vader, that voice can intimidate anyone.

4) The power. He commands fleets of the largest space ships in the films. He has hordes of faceless soldiers at his beck and call. He bosses around admirals and generals. If you fail him, he can kill you without even lifting a finger, without even touching you, without even being in the same room with you. He blocks laser bolts with his hands, can duel you casually with one hand, and lift you up and crush you and throw your dead body across the room.

5) The breathing. Who knew that raspy breathing would somehow make a person seem MORE sinister? Yet it worked.

6) The music. Whenever Vader or his minions come on the scene, John Williams blares an operatic theme that is the "evil galactic empire" personified.

To sum up, I think no one element made Vader what he was on the screen. Many things combine to make him a character that haunted our nightmares as children. To many of us, Vader will always be the ultimate evil, the boogeyman, the dark silhouette at the top of the stairs whose voice resonates out of the shadows, saying contemptuously, "The Force is with you, young Skywalker. But you are not a Jedi yet."

 

No way could Prowse have provided Vader's voice. The cast and crew called him "Darth Farmer," and it wasn't for nothing.

It's too bad that Prowse's ego and hurt pride prevent him from seeing that, and have made him so bitter that more than 25 years later, he goes around badmouthing Lucas to anyone who will have him (and unfortunately, many will, since he tells them the anti-Lucas, anti-PT stuff that is so stylish now). He even at one point claimed that he was a victim of "reverse racism," that Lucas chose Jones to voice Vader to "appeal to black audiences."

Prowse even signs pictures of Vader "David Prowse IS Darth Vader," as if there weren't several other people who also contributed to the character.

James Earl Jones, on the other hand, is very humble and gracious about his contribution.

I'm sure Prowse's upcoming autobiography will be chock full of his usual bitter whining, and will make him a hero among PT-haters and Lucas-haters, which is no doubt at least part of his intention.

It's too bad that behavior like that gets rewarded, and that people actually assail Lucas for NOT rewarding it himself -- he's blasted for not acquiescing to Prowse's petulant demands to be the one to don the suit in ROTS, or else the box office would suffer (his fans would boycott it).

 

You do realize that Vader was walking like that at the end of ROTS because he is still getting adjusted to his cyborg legs.

 

I'd think that would be obvious.

I recall the fuss over Padmé falling out of the ship in AOTC and landing on the sand, then being able to just get up -- a minor blooper, really -- being built up into a major semi-scandal, complete with probably bogus claims of how entire audiences burst out laughing. Had Vader just gotten off the table and walked all intimidatingly and Vader-ish right away, I bet the same people who are complaining about his stiff walk would instead be complaining, "He just got all his limbs replaced and was encased in the suit! He should walk more awkwardly!"

 

Completely agreed, Shelley. As I've said many times before, people looking for things to hate will find them. Prowse definitely gave a good prseense to Vader, but it is something that another actor could have done much more easily than his voice could have been done by someone else. I think it would be an honor to be involved in the production of Vader whether I was dubbed over or not.