Why is Darth vader one of the greatest movie villains?

Just saw the original star wars trilogy, don't mean to disrespect all you Vader fans just want somebody to give me their opinions on him, i dont understand, at the end of Return of the Jedi he goes all touchy feely, thats just bad Villainy to me, maybe it was because i wasn't born when the movies originally came out but the Vader effect is lost to me. He doest even seem all that scary, maybe it was the prequels that sullied his image to me, knowing that underneath all that black armor is a whinny little teenager.

Who is my choice for Greates movie villain???
Dont hate me for this, and im not a Batman Fanboy (not even in my top 10), but Heat Ledgers Joker seems so much more badass.

__________________
"Do not cite the Deep Magic to me Witch. I was there when it was written"

I don't dispute your complaints about Vader, but that's like missing the forest for the trees. For the bulk of the original series, Vader is quite vicious. He's not above torturing and killing his own subordinates (mainly through Force chokes), to say nothing of how he treats the series' heroes (he tortures Leia and Han, to say nothing of the fact that he cuts off Luke's hand, even when he knows that Luke is his son). Not to mention the fact that he killed Obi-Wan as well. His actions towards Lando in Cloud City prove that he is all about maintaining his power over others no matter what.

The prequels do go overboard in trying to create an alter-ego radically different from Vader, if only to show just how much the Dark Side can change someone from an idealistic little boy to a child-killing, wife-choking Sith Lord. Whether that is better or worse than giving him virtually no backstory (as with Heath Ledger's version of the Joker, who has none of the Joker's original backstories) is still something I'm not so sure about.

__________________
Iro's Top 100 Movies v3.0

Vader was never scary. It was Star Wars for ****s sake.

Vader was a badass and cool, to boot.

I agree that Return of the Jedi more or less emasculated him, which is one reason I don't like the movie nearly as much as ANH and ESB. Still, it's a message of redemption and all that, so I guess it's not all bad.

Anyway, in the first two films, Vader is supremely vicious, deceptive, and completely without mercy. Also, as I said before, somehow I find him very cool; maybe it's that James Earl Jones voice. He also has some of the best theme music around. Somewhere on my hard drive I have a list of the 50 coolest movie characters that I put together a few years ago. Vader is in the top five.

By the way, I do also love Heath Ledger's Joker.

Speaking of Star Wars, have you guys seen Snatch Wars, featuring Brick Vader? I'm sure there's a thread on it, but this seems like a good spot to post it:
(For our younger members who may not have seen Snatch, please be warned that there is some language in this video.)

In retrospect, he was a fallen hero and all that, especially after his past has been flushed out in the Prequel films. But up until 1983, when he was redeemed in Return of the Jedi, he was hated by lots of people, especially after torturing and freezing Han Solo and essentially handing him over to a crime lord, then taking Luke's hand and "lying" to him about his father (many people didn't belive him after Empire came out).

Some kids loved Vader because he was the quintessential badass dark knight, some feared him (my female neighbor was terrified of him lol), some just hated him, but they were all mesmerized by his image.

He's an OK villain, but I don't see the mass appeal. He was cool in Empire, aside from that... meh.

__________________
"A candy colored clown!"
Member since Fall 2002
Top 100 Films, clicky below

http://www.movieforums.com/community...ad.php?t=26201

Darth Vader was one of the best villains because he wasn't above hurting the people closest to him to get power. Someone else mentioned it before he cuts off Luke's hand even after realizing that Luke is his son I would say that is a pretty villain-y thing to do. He also blows up an entire planet just because Leia wouldn't give him some information (I can't remember what it was exactly that he wanted right now). Really what it came down to was that he did really what ever he wanted as long as it benefited him.

I really can't say much about how the prequels fit in simply because I saw each once and that was enough for me. Hayden Christensen acting was terrible and was just painful to watch.

Go watch Star Wars again. Vader uses the interregation probe thing on Princess Leia. That doesn't work, so it's Moff Tarkin (sp?) who decides he's going to test the Death Star by blowing up Alderane... not Darth Vader. Tarkin is a way cooler villain as far as Star Wars goes.

And sure he chopped off his son's hand, but did he ever have sex with his daughter ala Noah Cross ?

I don't think I've heard of Noah Cross. I based my opinion off of a viewing I had a long time ago so I don't remember the exact detail so I apologize for having them wrong. I think I'll have to go back and rewatch the movies.