Palpatine's look in Episode III...

Why is it that Palpatine looks older in Episode II than he does in Episode III? Its like they aged him to be a little closer to ROTJ Emperor for AOTC, and they forgot about that idea in ROTS and just made him look like Ian in real life.
[image=http://pluto.spaceports.com/~lms/p2.JPG]Episode II
[image=http://www.homestead.com/anakin_sky/news_ep3_palpatine01.jpg] Episode III

See what I mean? Did he get a facial chemical peel between AOTC and ROTS or what?

 

You'll be right at home on various other threads about this!

 

I think it was a case the Lucas was changing his mind about it being a slow transformation into what we see.

 

Well they at least should have stuck with what they already established in AOTC. It seems pretty sloppy to me.

 

Snake venom?

 

See what I mean? Did he get a facial chemical peel between AOTC and ROTS or what?

They probably DID change his appearance so he could maintain the confidence of the Senate. If he looked older from AOTC to ROTS, they might fear that the war was taking a toll on him and remove him from office. Of course, after the attack by Mace, it didn't matter.

Edit: I don't think it was sloppy, I think it was intentional. Do you really think they missed something like that? I don't. It makes too much sense to do it the way they did.

 

I think Lucas definitely changed his mind while writing ROTS, and unfortunately we're left with an odd looking Palps in AOTC. It does bother me a little, but Palps isn't in AOTC all that much so not the end of the world.

 

I think it's just one of those little moments in the PT that make you wonder. I don't have a good answer for it, it does appear sloppy. I remember seeing AOTC for the first time, and thinking, God he looks old! His skin looked so thin and weathered, and you could see all the veins, underneath. But in ROTS he does look younger. Good question, maybe he will be changed like TPM Yoda as well. Not likely.

 

How about this for an explanation:

Palpatine is deceptive thru and thru.

Perhaps, even his appearance is deceptive.

 

Yeah, maybe he decided to get a little cosmetic surgery done between AOTC and ROTJ.

 

Go back to the scene where Anakin realizes Palpatine is the Sith.

Watch how his face and manner flutuate back and forth between sweet and sinister.

I'm telling you, he's a chameleon.

 

Maybe it was one of Palpatines clones that he transferred his body into.

 

I didn't like the full frontal view we have of Palps face during this movie. Such a big difference from ROTJ.

 

Well, I put this together, in doing so I realized that in EP2 there were very few close-ups shots of Palpatine in the entire movie. Based on publicity pics alone it may well have been originally George's plan to age Palpatine up to Ep6 gradually. But in the context of the actual movie EP2 all it looked to me is that Palpatine was really tired at most. Especially in his pretty much sole close-ups in the senate scenes, he looks like he hasn't slept much in a few days. The rest of his scenes are pretty distant and his face is quite shadowily lit.
But he definitely does NOT look all liver-spotted up in the context of the movie(AOTC) as he does in those early AOTC publicity pics.
Here's movie to movie comparisons. This mountain is really a molehill, if that.



[image=http://img378.imageshack.us/img378/8633/palpcom232ux.jpg]

[image=http://img364.imageshack.us/img364/7600/palp3oh.jpg]

 

I don't know if this really even belongs in this thread, but here goes.

Did anyone else notice that after Palpatine changes to Sidious, he hands are always limp at the wrist and prepared to shoot lightning? After that encounter with Mace, he's always at the ready to blast some punk.

 

finally someone else who sees it

 

With Lucas's attention to detail and continuity on so many other things, I'm surprised how this mistake could have happened.

 

I know exactly what you mean about the aging thing. It's bugged me ever since ROTS. A lot of people like to say that it's just in the publicity photos that AOTC Palps looks older but in the movie he looks right on track. But seriously the guy looks way older and actually really sick in AOTC than in ROTS. There doesn't seem to be any EU related to this, even though I've tried to come up with one myself so it doesn't stick out so much, but I guess the answer just lies in Lucas' decision to abandon the detailed makeup of AOTC in ROTS.

Whenever you find an inconsistency in the Star Wars movies, do you ever try to make up your own explanation, like oh, I bet this character did this, that's why things are the way they are, even if it's never stated in the movies or in EU? I know it's a part of following a story, but in a case like this with Palps, I just assume that Palps was trying to look really stressed and aged to give the impression that he's an innocent, good-hearted politician. Look at Bush or Clinton. Compare their inagural photo with the one now or when their term ended, it's shocking. So the guy is just aging because of the stress of the job.

Now when ROTS rolls around, why would he look healthier/younger especially during the first galactic war since the formation of the Republic? There could be multiple answers, some that work for his advantage and others that don't: a) the dark side is growing, b) his "plan" is working, c) looks healthier so people would think he's fit to carry on more powers. However, if I were a Jedi and were getting suspicious of the all the extra powers this guy is getting, I'd prob question why he looks so healthy all of a sudden.

I kinda wish they would have switched the Palps in AOTC and ROTS. This way, it would show the Clone Wars effect on the Chancellor, even if it might be a farce. Then maybe as the dark side is growing before his reveal, you see him get healthier. Or maybe when he reveals himself to the Jedi he just snaps to some healthier state, the farce disappears.

 

Yeah, I too usually make up my own version of any inconsistancy in the film. And I agree that they should have switched the makeup from AOTC to ROTS.

 

maybe he was more stressed about the war starting in episode II and whether or not his plan would kick start properly

 

Or maybe he realized that he was starting to look unpleasant...

...and gave himself a little boost of whatever it is that he's using to pull the wool over everyone's eyes.

 

I wonder if they could fix AOTC for a future saga box set. Might not be hard to just remove the liver spots and bags under his eyes. Maybe color his skin a bit.

 

It's not a mistake.

It's part of the character that he is not what he appears to be.

Like a guy who secretly wears ladies' undergarments...

...his 'slip' is showing.

 

Me and one of my buddies always have a good laugh at his expense when he has his hands like that. That and the little rat thingy at Jabba's palace.

 

I honestly can't see how it isn't a mistake. Lucas was in AOTC going for the gradual change of appearance over time due to the dark side, then changed his mind for ROTS. I don't think there is another explanation that makes sense. He blew it.