The same character.Different actors. Who's the best?

[Et3rnal L1ght]

Here in this thread, we will compare differents actors who had the same role to see who was the best in that role. It's kind'a like the 'Hot Chicks in Comic Book Flicks' thread but unlike it, in this thread, we won't compare only actresses but also actors, we won't compare only their looks but also their acting. Get it? Here we go. There are 4 different actors who were casted as Batman in feature movies. They are:

Michael Keaton (Batman & Batman Returns)

http://batman.ugo.com/images/galleries/batman_1989_filmtv/batman_1989_9.jpg

http://www.solarnavigator.net/films_movies_actors/film_images/batman_michael_keaton_alfred_the_bulter.jpg

Val Kilmer (Batman Forever)

http://www.movie-poster.ws/movies/action/images/batman/val-kilmer-batman.jpg

George Clooney (Batman & Robin)

http://eur.i1.yimg.com/eur.yimg.com/ng/mo/cinemasource/20060217/18/834690453.jpg

And the newest, Christian Bale:

http://batman.ugo.com/images/galleries/batman_begins_filmtv/3.jpg

http://www.alicia-logic.com/capsimages01/bb_076ChristianBale.jpg

So, who's the best? You decide it :D

[Le_Big_Mac]

Bale. None of them exactly gave great performances, but he's the only one that was well-cast.

[APzombie]

What it comes down to is the material. All are great actors. Keaton fits the Burton Batman perfectly. He's in the shadows and he has the mystery. Bale fits the Nolan Batman perfectly, hes the only one i believe can become Batman in the realistic world. Both give great performances. Kilmer and Clooney are both great actors, unfortunately acting wasn't something Schumaker cared about with those films. So its not entirely fair to judge them. I do think though that Clooney is miscast and that Kilmer would have done Burton's or Nolan's Batman extremely well at that time in his life.

[ilovemovies]

Bale is the best one however, I love Keaton a lot too.

Clooney isn't as bad as people (or he himself for that matter) make him out to be. He was actually okay. He did the best job possible given what he had to work with. I think he's a little underrated because he fell victim to the movie itself since it was a pretty bad movie.

[Et3rnal L1ght]

What it comes down to is the material. All are great actors. Keaton fits the Burton Batman perfectly. He's in the shadows and he has the mystery. Bale fits the Nolan Batman perfectly, hes the only one i believe can become Batman in the realistic world. Both give great performances. Kilmer and Clooney are both great actors, unfortunately acting wasn't something Schumaker cared about with those films. So its not entirely fair to judge them. I do think though that Clooney is miscast and that Kilmer would have done Burton's or Nolan's Batman extremely well at that time in his life.

So, that means you give 1 point to Bale and 1 to Keaton, right :)

[bigred760]

Keaton was a better Batman . . . Bale was a better Bruce Wayne.

[Rick-James]

Bale.

[blankpage]

Keaton was a better Batman . . . Bale was a better Bruce Wayne.

Bingo.

[Stumbling Block]

The best Batman was Mr. Mom.

[Robot]

Michael Keaton is Batman.

[Donnie_Darko]

Michael Keaton best Batman.
George Clooney best Bruce Wayne.
Christian Bale best Clint Eastwood impersonation as Batman.

[Frank the Tank]

Bateman but only in Batman Begins (That Batman voice got too silly in The Dark Knight) followed by Keaton, Clooney, Kilmer (I usually like Kilmer, but man he was boring as Batman), and Adam West.

[Hannibal21]

Christian Bale in Batman Begins gives the best performance as Bruce Wayne & Batman out of all the actors that played the character, and he continued to be equally amazing as Bruce Wayne in The Dark Knight (no one matches him in the role as Batman's alter ego), but I have to agree that the Batman voice was definitely overdone in certain scenes in the movie.

So, the overall rankings would be....

1. Christian Bale - Batman Begins
2. Michael Keaton - Batman Returns/Christian Bale - The Dark Knight (tie, only because Keaton is somewhat lacking as Wayne)
3. Michael Keaton - Batman
4. Val Kilmer - Batman Forever
.
.
.
.
.
5. George Clooney - Batman and Robin

Bale wins overall though.

[Jig Saw 123]

Best Batman + Best Bruce Wayne= Christian Bale

[athf1980]

Bale & Kevin Conroy were both my favorites as Batman

Keaton was solid as Batman

[Et3rnal L1ght]

OK. After 3 days of election, here the result:

Christian Bale: 11 votes
Michael Keaton: 6 votes (I think. Some people didn't give the exact choice)
George Clooney: 1 vote
Val Kilmer: 0

Congratulation! Mr. Bale, or should I call you Mr. Wayne!

http://digitaljohnny.cementhorizon.com/archives/bale-batman.jpg

MATCH no.2

The Hulk / Bruce Banner

Eric Bana (Hulk)

http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/movie/gallery/1123219/photo_17.jpg

http://img5.allocine.fr/acmedia/rsz/434/x/x/x/medias/nmedia/00/02/54/34/p1.jpg

Edward Norton (The Incredible Hulk)

http://arterialspray.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/edward-norton-in-the-incredible-hulk.jpg

http://antigravidade.files.wordpress.com/2008/01/edward-norton-incredible-hulk.jpg

[athf1980]

defently Edward Norton

[Natty]

Both were really good in my opinion, but if I had to choose I guess I'd pick Norton.

[bigred760]

Gonna go with Norton.

[Jig Saw 123]

Norton gave the Hulk shape, Eric made Bruce seem two-dimensional. So obviously Norton.

[ilovemovies]

Bana, he had more to work with. And I just think it's an infinitely better movie. Bana gave a great performance in a great, underrated movie.

Norton was solid and his movie was decent but it doesn't even compare to Ang Lee's great movie even though it does contain several terrific action scenes.

[Et3rnal L1ght]

OK, 4 days and only 5 votes, quite disappointed :(

However, the result is:

Ed Norton won 4 to 1 :cool:

http://greencotton.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/blog-edward-norton.jpg

Match #3: (hope this one's gonna better)

Rachel Dawes

Katie Holmes:

http://www.independentcritics.com/images/batman%20begins%20SPLASH.jpg

Maggie Gyllenhaal:

http://l.yimg.com/img.movies.yahoo.com/ymv/us/img/hv/photo/movie_pix/warner_brothers/the_dark_knight/maggie_gyllenhaal/darkknight.jpg

Attention! we're talking about both looks and acting here, OK :)

[Jig Saw 123]

Looking: Katie
Acting: Maggie

[athf1980]

looks-Katie Holmes
actng-Maggie

[Sonny488]

Looks: Katie
Acting: Maggie

[JackassFan]

Same as what everyone else is saying: Katie is the better looking, but only Maggie can actually act, so I'm going with Gyllenhaal.

[zombievictim]

Maggie FTW

[sarah1980]

Same as what everyone else is saying: Katie is the better looking, but only Maggie can actually act, so I'm going with Gyllenhaal.


same

[ilovemovies]

Katie Holmes - better looking AND had better chemistry with Christian Bale IMO. I liked Rachel better in Begins than in The Dark Knight. Maggie is a great actress but something about her didn't feel right in The Dark Knight.

[Robot]

Katie Holmes - Both
Like ilovemovies said above she had better chemistry with Christian. I feel she fit better in the bat verse Nolan created and the way Rachel is portrayed in Begins makes her character more inviting and likable.

[Natty]

Katie Holmes, just because she had a better role in the film really.

[bigred760]

I thought they were both pretty good. Neither was the worst part of their respective movies and completed the roles as they should've been.

If I had to choose . . . I'd go with Katie Holmes . . . by a hair.

[Sonny Corleone]

Maggie for sure.

[Hannibal21]

Looks - Katie but only by a hair; I personally think that Maggie, while not conventionally beautiful by any means, is pretty attractive as well. Neither are drop dead gorgeous though.

Acting - Maggie by far. The role of Rachel was more interesting in Begins, but Katie, while by no means terrible or even bad, was pretty wooden in her delivery. Gyllenhaal brought more warmth, vulnerability, sassiness, and intelligence to the character in a way that elevated what is otherwise a relatively bland character (I personally think she gave a better performance than Bale in the film, and is just ranked below Ledger, Eckhart, and Oldman acting wise).

Maggie Gyllenhaal gets the vote in the end

[Le_Big_Mac]

Looks: Katie
Acting: Katie

[Sad man]

Looks and Acting: MAGGIE

Amazingly talented and beautiful, yes, BEAUTIFUL...BEAAAUUUUUTIIIIFULLLL.

[jawsismyno1]

Katie is my favorite of the two- (but I won't hide the fact that I love Dawsons Creek)

[Cronos]

Looks: Katie
Acting: Katie

[Burnsy1101]

Id say maggie for both. IMO she kept the love interest side well balanced and added more of a personality then katie did. and she gets two thumbs up looks wise.

[breedppts2fight]

Holmes is by far the better looking of the two in my opinion

Maggie is the better actress normally but she just seemed lifeless and bland in TDK. TO an extend so did Katie in BB but i liked her as Rachel a lot more.

So Katie gets my vote

[shawn-o]

i want Maggie G to have my babbies really bad!

Other than that...I like what one of the schmoes said about the batmans...Bale fit perfectly into the Nolan Universe and Keaton fit perfectly into the Burton Universe...they are both great actors who played the role to a tee.

Between Bana and Norton...I choose Norton. Eric Bana is a badass nonetheless

[Mr. Creasy]

Looks: Katie
Acting: Katie

.

[Potter82]

While I agree that Katie is better looking, this isn't a freaking swim-suit competition - we're talking about who did a better job playing the same character. On this basis, Maggie by far.

Katie actually got on my nerves a bit, she struck me as being condescending and self-righteous at times towards Bruce Wayne in Begins while I never got that vibe once from Maggie in TDK. She seemed cooly confident as opposed to annoying.

[eljefe15]

Michael Keaton best Batman.
George Clooney best Bruce Wayne.
Christian Bale best Clint Eastwood impersonation as Batman.

LOL! Nice.

It's hard to judge who did a better job when the people behind the film were so different. How good would Micheal Keaton, George Clooney or Val Kilmer be in a Nolan film? I personally like Michael Keaton better but enjoyed Nolan's film more than Tim Burton's film. It's kind of tricky, I think.

[Et3rnal L1ght]

Wow, It's a tie :eek: 9 for Katie and 9 for Maggie :) I guess they're right that Katie got the looking and Maggie got the acting ;)

http://cdn.news.aol.com/aolnews_photos/0d/06/20070723073309990001

Match #4

Alfred Pennyworth

Michael Gough

http://www.nndb.com/people/857/000086599/gough2.jpg


Michael Caine

http://scifipedia.scifi.com/images/thumb/f/fb/Michael-caine.jpg/270px-Michael-caine.jpg

:)

[Le_Big_Mac]

Michael Caine

[ilovemovies]

I like Gough a lot but Caine's Alfred has a lot more personality and was much more of a father figure. Of course that also may be because Caine's Alfred was FAR more developed. Gough, good as he was, was never ever really given anything much to do.

So definitely Caine gets my vote.

[bigred760]

Gotta go with Michael Caine. Nothing against Gough, but Caine's Alfred was more developed and had a hell of a lot more to do in his role. He was a bigger part in Bruce Wayne's plan to become Batman. His Alfred was better written and Caine delivered a performance worth mentioning.

Michael Caine.

[Natty]

Michael Caine

[JackassFan]

Neither of them did a bad job, but Caine nailed the role better.

[Sonny488]

Definately gotta go with Caine.

[Hannibal21]

I agree with the consensus, Gough was good, but Caine just consistently has that mentor/grandfather figure quality to him that makes him the perfect Alfred. His chemistry with Christian Bale was one of the most heartfelt elements of Batman Begins (he has less to do in The Dark Knight, but still manages to be powerful and understated in the few scenes he has).

[Et3rnal L1ght]

so, Michael Caine FTW :)

http://www.ziyue.com/box/oscar/MichaelCaineB.jpg

I was going to start a match between James Bond's actors but I realised that s.o. has already posted that :( so the next match is:

Superman / Clark Kent

Kirk Alyn
http://www.patfullerton.com/superman/pix/superman/kirkalyn2.jpg

George Reeves
http://i1.iofferphoto.com/img/item/254/904/27/o_AOS-Season1-1024wp.jpg

Christopher Reeve
http://www.nirvanaclub.com/news/reeve.jpg

Brandon Routh
http://img5.allocine.fr/acmedia/rsz/434/x/x/x/medias/nmedia/18/35/78/09/18480230.jpg

Tom Welling
http://images.starpulse.com/Photos/Previews/Tom-Welling-sm01.jpg

Dean Cain
http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/MMPH/212036~Dean-Cain-Posters.jpg

Note: If it's too hard for u to decide, u can make a list :D

[bigred760]

Christopher Reeve - no question.

[Natty]

Christopher Reeve

[bychance]

Superman - Christopher Reeve
Clark Kent - Dean Cain

/end

[Ayestrain]

To recap just for myself..

Damned if Katie Holmes doesn't somehow stand out in her role as Dawes, yes partly for being cute, but I've also seen Begins more recently. I remember Maggie G. being good in Dark Knight, but she's basically the latest in a long line of what are mostly a revolving door of love-interest roles for the actresses. Maggie's role however was probably the most involved and evolved.

Michael Caine was born to play Alfred.

Norton was a better and more relatable Banner. Bale also wins with me as the best Batman & Bruce Wayne.

Chris Reeve will always be the best Superman as well. The other guys I've seen (save for Alyn & Reeves) are so forgettable in the role. It doesn't help that the last two starred on what are pretty much a soap opera interpretations of Superman.

[cerealkiller182]

Christopher Reeve

I dont particularly like him all that much in general. But he is far better than the rest

[bychance]

Christopher Reeve

I dont particularly like him all that much in general. But he is far better than the rest

Curious as to why...?

[HurricanesR1]

1. Christian Bale (not even close...he's #1)
2. Michael Keaton
3. Val Kilmer
4. George Clooney

The Joker:
Heath Ledger > Jack Nicholson

[cerealkiller182]

Curious as to why...?

very bland as an actor.

[Trail_Blazer]

Going to go with:

Bale = Batman

Norton = Hulk

Holmes = Bruce Wayne's Bitch (can't remember her name)

Reeve = Superman

Caine = Alfred

[bychance]

Can we do Lex Luther next? :o

1. Christian Bale (not even close...he's #1)
2. Michael Keaton
3. Val Kilmer
4. George Clooney

The Joker:
Heath Ledger > Jack Nicholson

What about Caesar Romero and Mark Hamil? I'm tired of them being ignored! :D

[Mr. Creasy]

Batman / Bruce Wayne - Christian Bale
Hulk - Edward Norton
Rachel Dawes - Katie Holmes
Alfred - Michael Caine
Superman - Christopher Reeve
Lex Luthor - Gene Hackman

[Jig Saw 123]

Superman - Christopher Reeve
Clark Kent - Dean Cain

/end

yup