VIDEO Darth Vader, “human” again, not AI. One actor’s performance proved exactly what fans were trying to explain to Star Wars producers

A new edit of Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back features a shockingly accurate dubbing of the recognizable voice of James Earl Jones, who played Darth Vader for so long.

The Empire Strikes Back brought Star Wars fans back to a galaxy far, far away as Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) face the wrath of the Galactic Empire. The film, which is directed by Irvin Kershner, is considered the best Star Wars film of all time.

In a new audio edit, actor Evan Michael Lee dubbed the voice of Darth Vader from a famous scene in The Empire Strikes Back. Lee’s voice is shockingly accurate, the actor’s intonation, inflection and accent match Jones’ voice from the film almost perfectly.

Luke Skywalker praised Evan Michael Lee’s attempt

Luke Skywalker seems to have been quite impressed with the performance. Mark Hamill commented “Great job, Pops!”.

When Jones gave up being Darth Vader in Star Wars, he also gave the franchise permission to recreate his voice using artificial intelligence.

This technology has already been used in projects such as The Book of Boba Fett, as well as Obi-Wan Kenobi, though fans weren’t too thrilled. While the accuracy with which the AI has done its job is impressive, the human emotion is sorely lacking.

Lee’s editing seems to make a strong case for this. It seems that, going forward, however advanced the technology is, it still needs humans, actors.

It remains to be seen how Darth Vader, Luke and other Star Wars characters will be portrayed in the years to come. While the AI version is one solution, fans seem to want real voices, despite the fact that this is, after all, a sci-fi franchise.

@MarkHamill Do I have what it takes to be your Father? pic.twitter.com/Dylplrdw11

– Evan Michael Lee (@Evanmichaellee) September 26, 2022