Saga Obi-Wan Kenobi: Ewan McGregor vs Alec Guinness

Nah, but I like McGregor's Obi-Wan TBH.

 

It will always be Guinness for me. Despite Guinness only had a limited amount of screen time, he became the embodiment of the character and held that status until his passing in 2000. 22 years of embedded culture overshadows McGregor's first appearance.

As Cushing's Admirer said - it depends what generation you are from - but McGregor had some huge boots to fill and while a younger generation may prefer his take on the Jedi Master, for me personally he couldn't get it right.

 

I think it depends on who you are talking to. For younger Star Wars fans, sure. After all, you have not one, not two, but three movies extensively featuring the younger version of Kenobi. If you ask die hard fans of the OT, chances are they will tell you otherwise. However, I do not feel these two versions of the same character compete against each other for fans' preferences. I feel both McGregor and Guiness did a terrific job. The rest is just a matter of taste.

 

Plus five series' worth of TCW, don't underestimate that viewing audience - and that's basically McGregor's Obi-Wan, he created the younger version of the character, the animators and voice actors follow his cue.

It'll always be Alec Guinness for me, but I completely understand why younger audiences would prefer Ewan McGregor, as opposed to an older 'cameo' of the character in the OT.

Mod action: Merging with the existing Guinness vs McGregor thread.

 

Shouldn't it be Ewan McGregor, Alec Guinness and James Arnold Taylor then?
Anyway as someone who grew up in the PT years I like Guinness better.
"The Force will be with you, always, the whole Force Ghost thing, "Use the Force, Luke" etc.

 

Heck, I *was* grown up during the OT and Alec infused his character with tons of depth and understated backstory.

Ewan took that and elaborated on it, breathing life into that backstory.

They're both Obi-Wan - but Alec is Ben and Ewan is Obi-Wan to me.

 

It looks like McGregor is the popular vote so far.

 

Ewan McGregor: Not only did he actually enjoy the role, I saw him other stuff and hid pretty awesome

 

Both there the same guy and id say McGregor is on par with Guinness.

 

I'm going to say Guiness simply because Ewan had to "become" the obi-wan that we see in ANH,

this isn't the fault of McGregor nor was it the fault of Lucas or anyone else, but McGregor couldn't really make the character his own in my opinion.

 

As impressive as Ewan McGregor's performances in the Prequels was, I have to choose Alic Guinness. Alic created a character that you wanted to be your mentor. True, he was not capable of the acrobatics of his youth, he had wisdom and a tone that kept the Principles of the Jedi in your mind and heart.

 

Guinness for sure. He performed the "wise old mentor" role in ANH as well as anyone has in a film IMO. It's worth remembering he was nominated for an Oscar for this performance, the only SW performance to do so.

McGregor was very good, although he got off to a shaky start in TPM. His performance in RotS was excellent so I definitely think he was great casting in hindsight. I hope he gets a spin off film.

For me James Arnold Taylor is good but screws up the English accent too often. English fans will know what I mean. What I'm curious to see is, if Obi-Wan is in Rebels will JAT change his voice to be closer to Alec Guiness' older sounding one, since the character is far closer in age to that Obi-Wan than the PT version ?

 

& that statement by Obi-Wan is in itself an absolute

 

I'm not voting in this one. How can I decide?! They are/were both amazing!

 

both.

 

Alec Guinness' performance in Star Wars IV is the best performance of Kenobi throughout the entire series. However, I'd say McGregor's performance in Star Wars III is a close second.

Alec Guinness is Obi-Wan to me. But I must say, Ewan did a phenomenal job and, hands-down, put on the best performances throughout the entire prequel trilogy.

 

WriterMan, you put it most eloquently. Alec Guinness will always be the Obi-Wan I know, but Ewan McGregor does deserve recognition for his outstanding performance in Revenge of the Sith.

 

Both alec Guinness and ewan mcgregor are good for obiwan kenobi role

 

I say both are good, one is not better than the other bt yh......

 

Alec Guiness is Obi-Wan Kenobi. He really did a great job in the role.

 

When I was little, I thought that Alec Guinness and Ewan McGregor were the same person, made to look older in the OT and slightly younger in the PT.
Turns out Obi Wan was played by different actors. That just goes to show how well Ewan McGregor did at giving the audience an impression of a younger Alec Guinness.

 

I think that was just due to the reason that he was portraying Obi-Wan as a young man as opposed to what he would be like later on.

 

This necro tho

 

I even changed my avatar to Rasputin from Hellboy for just such an occasion.

 

Ewan. He's just perfect.