How could you rank Darth Vader at 84? It’s not that I think he should be number one, but, really, 84?!? After all, you ranked Lloyd Dobler (72), Judy Benjamin (70), The Jerk (66), The Dude (55), Freddy Kruger (51) and Dr. Evil (35) higher. Okay, so George Lucas hasn’t made us care much about how Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader in the prequels, but he’s still one of moviedom’s greatest villains ever. And when it comes to villainy, I was disappointed to find that Chinatown’s Jake Gittes (37) wasn’t joined by his nemesis, John Huston’s Noah Cross. Cross was the kind of villain that real nightmares are made of-smart, powerful, ambitious, and "capable of anything" as he freely admits-and Huston’s portrayal was pitch-perfect. Another change I’d propose is to replace E.T. (26) with HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey. HAL provided at least a half-dozen classic movie moments and showed us how our humanity can be transferred to inanimate objects through our creation of them. HAL also made us care more about its eventual destruction than we did about so many other movie death scenes.

—Jack Peterson, Roseville, CA

When I bought this month’s issue, I was very skeptical about "The 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time." I expected to find a plethora of new actors along with a few friendly nods to the great actors of the past. (This is the usual attitude of most publications; i.e., any list made by Rolling Stone.) Instead, I was pleasantly surprised by your list. I thought that both the classics and the modern era were balanced and well-represented. Overall, it was a great job. Way to go, PREMIERE!

There was, however, one very major flaw. Where was the man who defined character acting as we know it? I am speaking of Lon Chaney, otherwise known as "The Man of a Thousand Faces." In a time when the other big actors like Chaplin and Pickford were playing clean, lovable characters, Lon excelled in the grotesque and psychological. He turned movie makeup into an art form in his immortal portrayal of the Hunchback of Notre Dame. He even wore a painful harness on his legs for The Penalty, so he could portray a crippled man. Today many actors take similar steps to "live a role," like Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean or even Jim Carrey in Man on the Moon, but it was Chaney who set the template. In The Unknown, he was brilliant, and in The Phantom of the Opera he played the phantom without sound. Perhaps the greatest "character" actor of all time, he should never have been forgotten.

—Rebecca Schleider, Baltimore

Excellent choices, but there are ten essential characters that were left out and cannot be ignored:

1. Catherine Tramell played by Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct. "What are you gonna do? Charge me with smoking?"

2. Jim Stark played by James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause. "You’re tearing me apart!"

3. Col. Nathan Jessup played by Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men. "You can’t handle the truth!"

4. Karl Childers played by Billy Bob Thornton in Sling Blade. "Mm hmm."

5. Tom Joad played by Henry Fonda in The Grapes of Wrath. "I’ll be everywhere."

6. Gunnery Sgt. Hartman played by R. Lee Ermey in Full Metal Jacket. "Do you maggots understand?"

7. Dr. Christian Szell played by Laurence Olivier in Marathon Man. "Is it safe?"

8. Luke played by Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke. "Where are you now?!"

9. Max Cady played by Robert Mitchum and Robert DeNiro in Cape Fear. "Come out, come out, wherever you are."

10. Ensign Frank Pulver played by Jack Lemmon in Mister Roberts. "What’s all this crud about no movie tonight?"

—Carey Scott, San Diego

Let me start this by simply asking: WHAT??? How in the world can you justify placing Tony Montana at 74? I would love to know the thought process that placed him behind LlOYD DOBLER??!! You have to be kidding me. Not only was Say Anything a horrid movie, but how can you justify putting that character ahead of one of the greatest roles Pacino has played in his career? Let me go on: Judy Benjamin, no way. Edward Scissorhands? HA! You cannot explain in any rhyme or reason how these three characters belong ahead of Montana, in any way shape or form. You’ve got some explaining to do, so start explaining.

—Gary Magnus, Lindenhurst, NY