CT The way Vader's voice changes in each film & James Earl Jones' performance

It seemed there was less filtering in A New Hope, as it was all still being developed as the series went on.

That being said, Empire will always be the most recognizable to me.

"The Force is with you, young Skywalker. But you are not a Jedi yet."

 

Palpatine's voice makes me cringe in some scenes of ROTS.

 

Looking forward to see how Vader sounds in Rogue One. His voice in ESB was dark and disturbing and by far, my favorite.

 

ESB is definitely my favorite. He sounds very menacing and no-nonsense. In ANH, I think his voice is a bit too high so we'll how well Rogue One transitions into that. I imagine it'll sound something like his Rebels voice which I would say is a little robotic (the effect, not his speech).

 

I'm not faulting him James Earl Jones, because people's voices change as they get older, and that's okay, but Vader definitely sounded a bit off in Rogue One. To me it was noticeably different than the Original Trilogy, and if they were to do a spin-off with Vader, or use him any more, it might be best to look at other options for the voice.

 

I don't think it's different enough to make it necessary to have a different voice.

 

i think i like Empire the best.

 

Yea much as i love JEJ its time to hang up his voice as Vader. His voice is much older now and carries none of the booming gravitas it once did. Rouge One would be a great final performance but we need new actor the next Vader appearance in the films.

 

Empire!

 

I thought it had a reasonable amount of boom and gravitas in Rebels.

 

In Empire his voice is much more menacing than in ANH. He almost growls during the whole "I am your father" exchange. His entire demeanor in Empire is damn terrifying if you ask me. He is much more subdued after he confronted Luke in Empire. It was like he would have killed anyone to talk to his son, and after seeing his son would rather attempt suicide than join him, some of his evil died in the process. The thought of overthrowing the emperor and ruling with his son reinvigorated him, then when his son made it clear that would never happen, Vader changed on a profound level, like he accepted his fate as the emperor's lap dog.

 

Rogue One added another flavour to James Earl Jones' performance, I was ready for it because I had heard his Rebels performances and it was pretty much exactly that. I still think he sounds super-menacing but I'd wager for Rebels and Rogue One, Jones is actually putting more emotion into his line readings. It's a bit more on the bombastic side, kind of like his ANH performance actually (which kind of makes sense because all of this is pre ANH content after all). But it isn't quite as high but he's definitely hitting the syllables a bit harder. Which totally works, his final parting line to Director Krennic is a perfect Vader line delivery.

I still love hearing him do Vader anyway even if you string all of his performances from ANH-ESB-ROTJ-ROTS-Rebels-R1 you can sort of hear a progression of different ways he's tackling the character. They're all just subtly different versions of the awesome that is his Darth Vader.

 

I felt JEJ put a lot more menace in his voice for Rogue One, than for Rebels. While the voice has aged, there's a distinct quality to his voice, that are just unmistakable. I feel, the character of Darth Vader is scary once more, because of Rogue One, and I think it would be a good send-off.

 

Love the discussion - Vader definitely had a certain quality in his voice in ROGUE ONE, that took me back to ANH. Not sure how to define it. The comment above - bombastic? - is a pretty good take on it. Snarky? Smug? I almost laughed the first time I heard him in ROGUE, not because it was silly, but because it was such a fun nostalgic rush.

 

I don't think I ever noticed a difference, and if I did, I don't care. Because I'm not that nitpicky.

 

In all honesty, it probably just comes down to them likely using different microphones and recording equipment for the 3 films. I’ve always noticed that it doesn’t sound quite as metallic in the 1st film as it does in the other 2.

 

I think the slight voice change is deliberate, showing the difference in how Vader is meant to be portrayed. In ANH, he is portrayed as a muscle henchman, while Tarkin is the main antagonist who is truly in control. In TESB, Vader is the one with the ultimate power, in control of the entire Imperial troops, with only a small glimpse of the position above him. Vader sounds the most confident in this film. The plot of the film is caused by his actions, unlike the prior movie. In ROTJ, he is more subservient to his master, and he sounds meeker. He is also less certain of his future as a Sith, now that he has met his son. Its all up to interpretation, thats just mine.

 

I like Jones's voice-acting in TESB and ROTJ. For the former, it's all about Vader being emotional and power-hungry. For the latter, it's all about pathos and uncertainty. Jones manages to come off as both mechanical and emotive, and it's brilliant work.





It appears that directors Kershner and Marquand allowed Jones to do more of what he wanted with Vader's voice, and obviously, Kershner had a lot of ideas of his own, as he did for every character.

 

I thought JEJ's voice was outstanding in Rogue One. Obviously it sounds deeper and doesn't really match up with how his voice sounds in ANH but fits perfectly with ESB & ROTJ.

Wouldn't it be great if JEJ was to re-record all his dialogue for ANH.

 

His voice was menacing and imperious in Rogue One. I think my favorite lines were the "choke on your aspirations" line and the "my apologies" line.

Nah, I like his performance in ANH. I think his best line in that is, of course, this one: "I find your lack of faith disturbing." His dialogue with Tarkin and his lines in his TIE-Advanced fighter are his best in that film.

I believe that they adjusted the recordings where possible to make his voice sound like it did in TESB and ROTJ for the Special Editions. Anybody know if that's true? I read that somewhere over a decade ago.

 

I have no objections to Vader's voice changing between films. Remember that Anakin has always been a tinkerer, always adjusting and modifying things. He's that guy who's always fiddling with the settings on his stereo for the best balance and clarity. He always thinks he can tweak his sound system so that his voice is a little more menacing.

 

That's a great way of thinking about it, Sarge.

 

Empire is by far his best vocal performance, but Jedi isn't far behind . The only blot on Empire is the changed line on Cloud City from "Bring my Shuttle" wo whatever it is now and it sounds too different.

 

I liked his voice acting for all of the films. It's also possible that he's tweaked his performances over the years, maybe?

 

ESB. Vader in this movie is like, a perfect existing character (from ANH) getting even BETTER in the sequel. The delivery of his lines are absolute perfection.

"The Force is with you young Skywalker, but you are not a Jedi yet!" - just typing that sends hivers down my spine.
"Apology accepted, Captain Needa"
"You found something?"
"Perhaps you feel you are being treated unfairly"
"Asteroids do not concern me Admiral, I want that ship, not excuses"
"Obi-Wan has taught you well"
"I am your farther"

I could go on and on here.