James Earl Jones in ROTS?

Just wanted to see what the general consensus was around here regarding James Earl Jones appearance or reported non-appearance in Episode 3. Has there ever been confirmation, or well-found evidence to suggest that the Vader we hear in Episode III isn't James Earl Jones? I only ask as I read a quote recently from him that suggested he may not have been involved. I also just read in another thread something speculating that it may have been the Chad Vader actor/director Matt Sloan! What's everyones opinions? I think it sounds enough like Vader to a satifactory level that I wouldn't question it but I would rather know it was James Earl Jones just for consistency.

Apologies if this has been discussed already.

 

For the umpteenth time...


Hayden voiced the trailer, and every fan on earth ripped it.
J.E.J. voiced Vader in ROTS and all was right again in the movie universe.

 

I fangasmed over Hayden Christensen's voice? Yuk! I feel dirty!

 

any particular reason he would give the following answer when questioned by Newsday in 2008?

Q: You're not credited, but in the very last movie, did you voice the newly minted Darth Vader in that last shot?

A: You'd have to ask Lucas about that. I don't know. I don't know nothing!

Q: You sound a little coy. Maybe they took an old recording of you saying that one word?

A: Anybody could've done that.

It seems odd he would finally decide to take credit for Vader in ROTJ, then all the special editions, then take no credit for ROTS and then claim ignorance when directly questioned about it.

 

"When asked about Episode III, James Earl Jones talks about his role being about 5 minutes in length, right after Anakin goes "bionic" and falls into a volcano."

Click here to go to the article and mp3s of the interview."

And according to IMDB: "In Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005), Darth Vader is severely injured on the planet Mustafar, which necessitates the synthesized voice Jones provides."

JEJ, had this to say: "There are the times he doesn?t mind. For instance, Darth - will he do it again?

"Are you kidding?" he says, which is a good point: Who else are they going to get?

"I saw George Lucas in Idaho and asked, ?Do I work again?? and he said, ?Well, at some point in the third episode [of the new trilogy, which is about the transformation of young Anakin Skywalker into the evil Darth Vader], Darth will become bionic and he should sound like you then.? He said there might be no more than five minutes at the end.

"And I said, ?Fine, I?ll take whatever you can give me.?"

 

yeah i'm aware of those but that first source is from 2003 and the second one is an older quote i'm sure - possibly even before the release of episode 1. its more than possible due to scheduling or payment issues that Jones wasn't used. he wasn't used on The Force Unleashed, where Matt Sloan replaced him for similar reasons. i'm just looking to get some accuracy and relevancy to this. at the minute there's no evidence he voiced Vader in Episode III, though I'm hopeful he did

 

It's clearly his voice in ROTS. FU is just a video game. If they had such a good JEJ impersonator they would have used him in the game or other products. And we have confirmation from the actor that he was used. That's pretty much all she wrote.

 

"¿Dónde está Padme? ¿Está a salvo? ¿Está bien? Etc en muchos idiomas." --About the only ones James Earl Jones didn't say, Fenn.

 

This was the moment I needed to hear something on par with Kirk in Wrath of Khan. The JEJ "No" used almost no diaphragm, had about two or three mouthfuls of air behind it, didn't overblow the vocal cords, and had no duration. That stentorian could have gone farther.

And can someone retcon the difference in height and weight between Hayden Christiansen and David Prowse?

 

No need. Vader got artificial limbs and put on more muscle over a twenty-year period.


Besides, it ain't the size. It's the voice.

 

"That isn't very reassuring." <clunk>

 

But they did use Matt Sloan in FU. And to be honest, as strange as it sounds, when I listen to the Chad Vader clips, I could easily have believed it was JEJ had I not known in advance the context of the clips.

I just don't see why JEJ would deny his involvement in both screen credits (after he reversed his original philosophy on this in the OT) and in the Newsday article if he had been the voice. With the post-production audio tools available now I'm sure you could make most people sound enough like Vader.

But like I've said, I hope it is him. I was just looking to find evidence to back it up, which I still haven't seen.

 

Sloan was great for the game, but I knew the difference the instant he said: "you were weak when I found you..." IMO, Hayden's trailer voice sounds closer to JEJ than Sloan does. But that was only two words.

 

It's definitely James Earl Jones' voice in the theatrical version of ROTS. However, if I recall correctly, the first teaser featured a voice made from a combination of JEJ and Hayden's digitally altered voice.

 

Really? I thought sloan was almost unparalleled in skill matching JEJ, and I didn't feel like Hayden could ever pull that off...then again youre right in saying that it was after all only two words.

 

Yeah... when u play the sound files, one after the other: Hayden's "Yes, Master..." is alot more JEJ-esque than Sloan's "You were weak line." I must admit to warming up to the rest of Sloan's vocal performance. I mean I think it was great for the game, but I wouldn't use him for a movie.

 

Yeah, I think Hayden does a pretty good job of mimicking JEJ's inflection in how he says certain words, like Obi-Wan.


And of course, "Yes, Master" from the ROTS teaser is pretty-spot on. Heck, I thought it was JEJ until I was told otherwise.

 

Except Jones name was removed from TESB in 04. Also, it should be noted that Vader said more than one word. Now, I don't know anything about this, but he was at the ranch and he did record for TESB and ROTS.

 

Good call Sinister!!

I totally forgot about the ESB-DVD pickups....

 

I too thought the trailer was quite passable for Jones, but I did question back on the 3SA boards if it was Jones, due to the way "masterrrrr" trailed off. It was unlike JEJ's succinct, incomparable dialect that gave Vader his voice.

I suspected the trailer voice was digitally altered, and Hayden was a possible perpetrator. I was relieved to hear "the true voice" of Vader emerge from the operating room table in ROTS. It is unmistakably him.

 

Yes and I doubt Hayden knowingly voiced the trailer (just like he didnt knowingly appear in ROTJ). I imagine they took one of the parts in the movie where he says "yes, master" and altered it to sound like Jones. I was never a fan of that trailer at the time for all sorts of reasons (seemed a rushed job in every sense) though the one that followed (the theatrical trailer) was the best of all the prequels.

I'd still like to see it confirmed that Jones was the voice for the film, but if nobody else here doubts I see no reason why I should. Thanks.

 

I'm pretty sure in some interview, Matthew Wood said he worked with him.

Here's the clip, starting at about 2:05: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4YJj4t06GM&feature=related

 

I'll see if I can dig up an official article or something to that effect but IIRC, James Earl Jones himself confirmed that he did some audio work at the end of ROTS.