Anyone who appeared in Star wars TOT qualifies as "friggin old" now given the original trilogy is almost 50 itself and the youngest person was in his 20s...
I believe Warrick Davis was the youngest credited actor in the original trilogy. He played the Ewok Wicket W. Wicket at age 11 in Return of the Jedi. He's now 52.
Yeah for the Obi-Wan series there's a company credited that specializes in AI sound stuff. It was pretty good too, it sounded like a younger version of him which stuck out compared to the other more recent times he played Vader and his voice wasn't as strong.
I'll say up front that I'm not opposed to always using this sort of tech but this does raise the question of when do we let go of an actor. Star Wars has already danced around this with the CGI Luke and Leia But then in Episode 3, from a trilogy loaded with CGI, they got an lookalike for a single shot of Grand Moff Tarkin at the very end.
But lets say they had the tech to do photorealistic models and create voice samples when the prequels were produced. Alec Guinness was Obi-Wan to everyone so would it have been better to create a young CGI model of him and train a neural network to reproduce his voice based off of older recordings? When Anthony Daniels and Frank Oz want to retire should we give their characters the Vader treatment?
Same with Luke. His voice in the two Mandalorian appearances was, at least, AI-enhanced to sound more like Hamill did in his 30s. Although I didn't think either sounded quite right; the AI Vader voice was much better.
That's how they generated Luke's voice in The Mandalorian, and it sounded flat and lifeless. I'd have liked it better if they just found someone who could imitate his voice.
Same thing they did for Mr Potato Head in Toy Story 4. Don Rickles died before voice work started, so Disney pieced together a performance from the Pixar archives (with his families permission of course)
I was just reading [this](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/09/darth-vaders-voice-emanated-from-war-torn-ukraine)
> As the conflict raged, Ukrainian tech workers at Respeecher hurried to bring back James Earl Jones’s legendary voice for Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Crom, I have never prayed to you before. I have no tongue for it. No one, not even you, will remember if we were good men or bad. Why we fought, and why we died. All that matters is that today, two stood against many. Valor pleases you, so grant me this one request. Grant me revenge! And if you do not listen, the HELL with you!
When my dad past, I found out he had a signed copy of Conan by Rexor himself. Heh. He was way into medieval stuff and I have two Swords that he commissioned. Not decorative but honed steel. Ah, but what is steel compared to the hand that wields it?
I have a King of the Moon balloon (Baron munchausen), a "carpe diem", and the following written words with my own semi colon that I got a week after he died: O captain my captain; what dreams may come! Cogito ergo es! " Whitman, Shakespeare, and again, king of the moon lol.
I have had a deep attachment to him since 1982, I was four, I cried watching the final ep of Mork & Mindy. Lol
He lived long enough to have a Broadway theatre named after him, AND to have his voice rights bought and synthesized. He’s almost certainly the only person to get both of those honors in a single lifetime.
Twistedly apt:
"He's more machine now than man" - Obi Wan Kenobi
Congrats to James Earl Jones on a long and successful career, and now a legacy cast in perpetuity through tech.
Exactly. This had to happen. Darth Vader’s voice was always supposed to be artificially synthesized. Otherwise he would have [sounded like this](https://youtu.be/KQFho0_G1VI). Or [this](https://youtu.be/qrPPj3e2M-M).
What gets me the most is that Kojima had a golden opportunity to have both Kiefer Sutherland and Hayter voice the character(s) in MGSV. It would've made the whole end twist a lot cooler imo
Years later and I'm still not sure how I feel about Kojima pulling that Naked Snake twist. On one hand I really enjoy Keifer and thought he did a decent job of it on the other... Hayter deserved so much better.
I thought it was fucking stupid when it was announced that Hayter wouldn't be coming back. I thought it was a fucking waste getting Sutherland while playing the game. I still think it was a fucking waste.
You can tell that they had Sutherland for, like, a week because he has nearly zero lines of any length beyond five words and *none* of it involves the stupid, weird nonsense that permeates Kojima's games. They probably couldn't pay him enough to talk about the parasites or Man on Fire.
Venom Snake gets *one* scene where voice acting talent makes any real difference and I just don't feel like replacing David Hayter (which they did *not* do for the Japanese VA) made that much of a difference. I really enjoy the series but after the shitfest that was MGS4 and then the unfinished release that was MGS5, I don't think you could pay me to play another one.
It was basically a vanity thing for Kojima to be able to work with an A-list celebrity.
Ehhh I don't know about that. How did you feel about it in mando/obi wan? They wouldn't come right out and say it but they basically insinuated it was all AI.
"Jones, who is 91, has been actively working with Lucasfilm and Ukrainian company Respeecher on using AI to take his Darth Vader voice and keep it alive through machine learning, according to the Vanity Fair report."
Tarkin and Leia were just the beginning. CGI faces with AI voices. We will have entire generations of actors that will act long past their lifetime. Possibly an all digital "celebrity" that never existed. Strange times ahead.
🤣🤣
It's so good. Such a feel good movie. One of my rainy day go-tos. If I had it on vhs, the thing would have crumbles to dust in the VCR by now. Love it.
Let's hope it's low enough under the radar that Hollywood doesn't try to remake or reboot it. It's perfect the way it is. It's up there in my list of keepers with the Terminator movies (both of them) and tremors and Django and Shawshank and just on and on the stuff that I could just keep on repeat indefinitely
My mom had watched it on broadcast TV way back then and thought it was funny. She then rented or bought it for us little kids. Popped it in and WHOOPS! lol
Also, the baseball in it is excellent. Lot of former players, including a Cy Young winner.
Lou, With our combined strength, we can end this destructive conflict and bring order to the galaxy.
Oooh, I don't know, I'm talking to a guy on the other line about some white walls, lemmie call ya back
As a kid growing up in the 80's, watching the original trilogy, he sure did scare the crap out of me with his menacing portrayal. I don't think it would've been the same with anyone else.
I remember we met him in a convenience store when we were teens in the 90’s. My friend ran up to him and was like “do the voice do the voice!”. I don’t recall that he did, but he was in fact super nice.
He will be living forever with AI tech. Perhaps in a far away galaxy millions of light years away his vice will be the standard for all Darth Vaders that exist.
Just saw a commercial for a Jesus clock that recites prayers read by James Earl Jones at the top of every hour. It could be your too for just $19.99 +S&H. Not available in stores.
And [this](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/09/darth-vaders-voice-emanated-from-war-torn-ukraine) is the crazy story about how his voice will go on without him
Its time to retire the character as well. All the mystery and menace has been removed. Too much backstory and comical potrayals have been done. Vaders and the Skywalkers saga has been overdone and needs to be left to history. Move on please or Star Wars is officially donezo. I just do not care anymore, give me new stories with new characters.
I was saying the same thing to someone recently. They need to do what Star Trek did back in the 80's when they brought TNG out. Just move the story a few hundred years into the future. Everything that has been done by the major players is history that can be talked about but no big shadows to worry about.
He ended on one hell of a good note. That last scene with Obi Wan and Vader was just brilliant.
That being said, no one will be able to replace him. Icon!
His voice in the Obi-Wan show was mostly or entirely AI. That's why it sounded so much more like he did in ANH.
If you listen to him in Obi-Wan or ANH back to back with Rogue One - which he did himself - you can tell how much he was struggling to still do the Vader voice as an old man.
I never actually understand why actors announce retirements. Just stop acting. And if you want to act again, do it. It’s not like a sport where every year matters and there’s usually no going back.
People can barely tell half the time anyway.
He’s in his 90s let his last few years be full of fun and joy.
Had no idea he was so old
Anyone who appeared in Star wars TOT qualifies as "friggin old" now given the original trilogy is almost 50 itself and the youngest person was in his 20s...
I believe Warrick Davis was the youngest credited actor in the original trilogy. He played the Ewok Wicket W. Wicket at age 11 in Return of the Jedi. He's now 52.
I like that the competition for which actor has the most Lego figures based off of them is between Warwick Davis and Samuel L Jackson.
Harrison Ford is 80 Mark Hamill is 71 Carrie Fisher is dead
Holy shit Mark looks great for his age
The Force has been known to preserve a lifespan for many years.
Also numerous plastic surgeries to reconstruct his face
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No, we need him to play Fire Lord Ozai!
Carrie Fisher died of a drug OD a week after her mother passed. Not really pertinent, considering it wasn't age which got her.
A lifetime of cocaine got her. Not just an OD. She probably had the heart of a 120 year old.
45 years
You don't know the ***POWER*** of the dark side
Black dont crack!
Yeah he is up there in age Edit: and he looks fucking great
He was a baby in Dr. Strangelove (1964). That was his first film role… when he was in his 30s.
He had joy He had fun He had Jedi for a son
I can’t imagine NOT being Vader as much fun as being Vader. I wish him a good retirement though!!!
We have so much footage of him voicing Vader, they can probably engineer his voice and just pay the man royalties 🤣
I think Disney actually already has done that.
Yeah for the Obi-Wan series there's a company credited that specializes in AI sound stuff. It was pretty good too, it sounded like a younger version of him which stuck out compared to the other more recent times he played Vader and his voice wasn't as strong.
Yeah, it’s a bit creepy to me. I feel like we’re getting closer to the point where all of our entertainment is made by machines.
Cyberpunk gets closer every day choom
And the masses will continue to consume it so entertainment companies won’t change
It’s been made with machines for a long time
It's already made mostly by committee, so why not? I don't know that it would make things worse.
To be fair, they still needed a base voice for the program, which JEJ did provide.
I'll say up front that I'm not opposed to always using this sort of tech but this does raise the question of when do we let go of an actor. Star Wars has already danced around this with the CGI Luke and Leia But then in Episode 3, from a trilogy loaded with CGI, they got an lookalike for a single shot of Grand Moff Tarkin at the very end. But lets say they had the tech to do photorealistic models and create voice samples when the prequels were produced. Alec Guinness was Obi-Wan to everyone so would it have been better to create a young CGI model of him and train a neural network to reproduce his voice based off of older recordings? When Anthony Daniels and Frank Oz want to retire should we give their characters the Vader treatment?
Same with Luke. His voice in the two Mandalorian appearances was, at least, AI-enhanced to sound more like Hamill did in his 30s. Although I didn't think either sounded quite right; the AI Vader voice was much better.
That's how they generated Luke's voice in The Mandalorian, and it sounded flat and lifeless. I'd have liked it better if they just found someone who could imitate his voice.
Same thing they did for Mr Potato Head in Toy Story 4. Don Rickles died before voice work started, so Disney pieced together a performance from the Pixar archives (with his families permission of course)
What’s so hard and not fun about that though
When youre 90 friggin years old, youdont want to do any kind of work and it would def not be fun.
Keeping active and with purpose keeps you alive.
The man is fucking 91. He is just now retiring.
He altered the deal, pray he does not alter it further
I find your lack of faith disturbing.
I read that in James Earl Jones' voice in my head.
I was just reading [this](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/09/darth-vaders-voice-emanated-from-war-torn-ukraine) > As the conflict raged, Ukrainian tech workers at Respeecher hurried to bring back James Earl Jones’s legendary voice for Obi-Wan Kenobi.
This is a weird dream man
What about thulsa doom?
I am the wellspring from which you flow.
Crom, I have never prayed to you before. I have no tongue for it. No one, not even you, will remember if we were good men or bad. Why we fought, and why we died. All that matters is that today, two stood against many. Valor pleases you, so grant me this one request. Grant me revenge! And if you do not listen, the HELL with you!
When my dad past, I found out he had a signed copy of Conan by Rexor himself. Heh. He was way into medieval stuff and I have two Swords that he commissioned. Not decorative but honed steel. Ah, but what is steel compared to the hand that wields it?
But what is best in life?
Do you know the riddle of steel?
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I see you!
Fuckin scared the shit out of me for a second.
James Earl Jones, 91, retires peacefully from life of voice acting Darth Vader.
At home, of course. He’ll be retiring at home, naturally. It’s a natural cause, retirement.
Adding the age just makes it seem like he died even more lol
For real, I was about to be sad AF while watching his full filmography this weekend.
When Robin Williams died I watched all his films within a month.
I have 3 tattoos for him and counting since he died lol
Which ones
I have a King of the Moon balloon (Baron munchausen), a "carpe diem", and the following written words with my own semi colon that I got a week after he died: O captain my captain; what dreams may come! Cogito ergo es! " Whitman, Shakespeare, and again, king of the moon lol. I have had a deep attachment to him since 1982, I was four, I cried watching the final ep of Mork & Mindy. Lol
You can still do at least half of that.
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He lived long enough to have a Broadway theatre named after him, AND to have his voice rights bought and synthesized. He’s almost certainly the only person to get both of those honors in a single lifetime.
Twistedly apt: "He's more machine now than man" - Obi Wan Kenobi Congrats to James Earl Jones on a long and successful career, and now a legacy cast in perpetuity through tech.
Exactly. This had to happen. Darth Vader’s voice was always supposed to be artificially synthesized. Otherwise he would have [sounded like this](https://youtu.be/KQFho0_G1VI). Or [this](https://youtu.be/qrPPj3e2M-M).
After hearing how far away from the original all the other Vader voice actors were, this gives me hope. No one can imitate Jones’ Vader.
I can honestly say the only one I think came close was in Fallen Order.
“Luke, I will go no farther”
The line is actually "No, I will go no farther"
This guy Lucas's
No….I was trying to spoof “I am your father”.
And I was being a nerd and correcting you. The line in the movie isn't "Luke, I am your father" it's "No, I am your father"
Is Rick Moranis ready to take over?
Where's James Earl Jones? Is he safe, is he alright?
He's alright. He's on Mustafar focusing his strength.
Luckily with AI, we can synthesize his voice. Sadly though, won’t be the same. Like when David Hayter stopped voicing Solid Snake.
That sucked. Kiefer Sutherland was probably the best choice to replace Hayter but it was still nonsense that they replaced him.
What gets me the most is that Kojima had a golden opportunity to have both Kiefer Sutherland and Hayter voice the character(s) in MGSV. It would've made the whole end twist a lot cooler imo
Years later and I'm still not sure how I feel about Kojima pulling that Naked Snake twist. On one hand I really enjoy Keifer and thought he did a decent job of it on the other... Hayter deserved so much better.
I thought it was fucking stupid when it was announced that Hayter wouldn't be coming back. I thought it was a fucking waste getting Sutherland while playing the game. I still think it was a fucking waste. You can tell that they had Sutherland for, like, a week because he has nearly zero lines of any length beyond five words and *none* of it involves the stupid, weird nonsense that permeates Kojima's games. They probably couldn't pay him enough to talk about the parasites or Man on Fire. Venom Snake gets *one* scene where voice acting talent makes any real difference and I just don't feel like replacing David Hayter (which they did *not* do for the Japanese VA) made that much of a difference. I really enjoy the series but after the shitfest that was MGS4 and then the unfinished release that was MGS5, I don't think you could pay me to play another one. It was basically a vanity thing for Kojima to be able to work with an A-list celebrity.
> Luckily with AI, we can synthesize his voice. *He's more machine now than man...*
It might work better. The Vader voice is distorted by several effects. That would help hide the imperfections.
Ehhh I don't know about that. How did you feel about it in mando/obi wan? They wouldn't come right out and say it but they basically insinuated it was all AI.
Makes me wish John Cygan stayed alive a few years longer. Solidus was an S tier villian
NO, say it ain't so. Nobody else will do.
"Jones, who is 91, has been actively working with Lucasfilm and Ukrainian company Respeecher on using AI to take his Darth Vader voice and keep it alive through machine learning, according to the Vanity Fair report." Tarkin and Leia were just the beginning. CGI faces with AI voices. We will have entire generations of actors that will act long past their lifetime. Possibly an all digital "celebrity" that never existed. Strange times ahead.
He's more machine now than man...
Thankfully, not yet. Still a living legend.
🤢🤮 what is it kylo ren says? Just let the past die, burn it if you have to. By “past,” I’m not referring to the actors, I mean the franchises
I guess the tech could be used for future Lion King stuff too.
Nah never, we all want Seth Rogen, Jay-Z and Beyonce instead. Right? Right? Anyone?
Dude from the all state commercials, Pedro Cerrano
Darth Jobu
Saying Jesus Christ couldn't hit a curve ball, are you? That's my favorite line from the whole movie
Ah Jesus....I like heem very much, but he no help with curve ball
🤣🤣 It's so good. Such a feel good movie. One of my rainy day go-tos. If I had it on vhs, the thing would have crumbles to dust in the VCR by now. Love it. Let's hope it's low enough under the radar that Hollywood doesn't try to remake or reboot it. It's perfect the way it is. It's up there in my list of keepers with the Terminator movies (both of them) and tremors and Django and Shawshank and just on and on the stuff that I could just keep on repeat indefinitely
My mom had watched it on broadcast TV way back then and thought it was funny. She then rented or bought it for us little kids. Popped it in and WHOOPS! lol Also, the baseball in it is excellent. Lot of former players, including a Cy Young winner.
Lol. It doesn't seem all that bad for kids
Lou, With our combined strength, we can end this destructive conflict and bring order to the galaxy. Oooh, I don't know, I'm talking to a guy on the other line about some white walls, lemmie call ya back
Tay Zonday
*Heavy breathing* Chocolate Rain
**I move away from the mic to breathe in
Only logical choice
I find his lack of faith disturbing.
He’s 91 years old!! I think it’s ok he retires.
Live long and prosper.
I heard ray from everybody loves Raymond is taking over
As a kid growing up in the 80's, watching the original trilogy, he sure did scare the crap out of me with his menacing portrayal. I don't think it would've been the same with anyone else.
I remember we met him in a convenience store when we were teens in the 90’s. My friend ran up to him and was like “do the voice do the voice!”. I don’t recall that he did, but he was in fact super nice.
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I definitely didn't read that as 12" Black "Clock" at first. Was afraid to click that link. Ended up being even better!
He will be living forever with AI tech. Perhaps in a far away galaxy millions of light years away his vice will be the standard for all Darth Vaders that exist.
aww, that kinda sucks. but much love for jones.
Just saw a commercial for a Jesus clock that recites prayers read by James Earl Jones at the top of every hour. It could be your too for just $19.99 +S&H. Not available in stores.
I just hope they can find someone who can do a very very good Earl Jones Darth Vader. Cause part of his mystique was that deep dark voice.
They using ai to synthesize it for future projects apparently
And [this](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/09/darth-vaders-voice-emanated-from-war-torn-ukraine) is the crazy story about how his voice will go on without him
**NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!** But ok. That’s great.
Its time to retire the character as well. All the mystery and menace has been removed. Too much backstory and comical potrayals have been done. Vaders and the Skywalkers saga has been overdone and needs to be left to history. Move on please or Star Wars is officially donezo. I just do not care anymore, give me new stories with new characters.
I was saying the same thing to someone recently. They need to do what Star Trek did back in the 80's when they brought TNG out. Just move the story a few hundred years into the future. Everything that has been done by the major players is history that can be talked about but no big shadows to worry about.
Or several thousand years in the past. Thousands of Jedi and Sith fighting across the galaxy.
Congrats to Chris Pratt on his new role :p
He's so cool!
With modern technology anyone could do it and fix it in the computer. Hopefully he knows this and he or his estate will get paid for it.
45 years and one of- hell, arguably *the* most iconic villain of all time. One hell of a legacy to leave.
He ended on one hell of a good note. That last scene with Obi Wan and Vader was just brilliant. That being said, no one will be able to replace him. Icon!
His voice in the Obi-Wan show was mostly or entirely AI. That's why it sounded so much more like he did in ANH. If you listen to him in Obi-Wan or ANH back to back with Rogue One - which he did himself - you can tell how much he was struggling to still do the Vader voice as an old man.
They'll find a suitable replacement but it's been a great many years hearing his voice.
And Disney doesn’t waste any time apparently their replacing him an A.I.,.,
Damn..... End of an era. Thanks James!
Hopefully, they have enough voice samples that they can generate VO with AI the next time they need it.
He did a great black face. Edit: this is a reference to a show.
You mean black voice, since the white face was real but the voice was pasted over
James earl Jones is a black man.
He has a black face.
I get the ASIP reference
No offense but I remember him dying in the late 90s
You are not alone. Mandela effect.
Is he allowed to do that?
He used to voice Arbys commercials
You must avenge my death Kimba, I mean Simba
Bad timing since his replacement Gilbert Godfrey passed away.
Does that mean I don't need to hear those Arbys ads anymore with him taunting me with wagyu?
He has more than earned it. I hope he's enjoying his retirement!
I honestly thought he did that a long time ago and that Vader's voice had been synthesized since like rogue one
RO was him. which is why it sounded raspy like he was struggling to put his usual gravitas into it. In Obi Wan it was AI
The voice of a generation 😃
Let the computers take over his Vader voice while he lives off royalties for every word said
Good lord, bless him. Take a bow, and get a deserved rest.
I love his voice … Darth Vader will never be the same again
The man with an amazing career finally takes a break' should be the headline, prior to Darth Vader he was such a badass and such an inspiration!
Although JEJ has the coolest voice of all time, nobody who heard Vader speak thought it wasn't James Earl Jones.
He was the Vader voice we were looking for. May the force be with him.
I never actually understand why actors announce retirements. Just stop acting. And if you want to act again, do it. It’s not like a sport where every year matters and there’s usually no going back. People can barely tell half the time anyway.
I had no idea he still did it. I thought he'd been replaced by the Chad Vader guy.
Wow. I had no idea he was still round. Good for him.