Who is the "MVP" of each of the movies?

In the "Which Obi-Wan" was your favorite thread, I seemed to be in the minority that said that the AoTC Obi-Wan was mine. I began to think about why I liked the AoTC Obi-Wan the best and than it hit me. Take away Obi-Wan from AoTC and the movie isn't nearly as good. I started thinking and I determined that for each movie in the Saga, one character/actor comes to mind as the one who made the movie. Here is what I came up with. I was just curious to see if others thought the same way.

TPM: Qui-Gon/Liam I think Liam carried this role very well. I went in unspoiled and didn't even really know about this "Qui-Gon." He was unique amongst Jedi and a very alluring character. (I'm guessing enough people might answer "Darth Maul, though I don't think he had enough screen time."
AoTC: Obi-Wan/Ewan What a flat story this would have been without Obi-Wan. With the exception of the needed Anakin/Padme romance and Tusken Slaughter, Obi-Wan carried the first 3/4 of this movie.
ROTS: Palpatine/Ian (Runner up Anakin/Hayden). This movie was the payoff of the Saga, and Ian had to nail the Sith Lord role to make it work. From the IH sequence, to the opera sequence, to the "Appointing you as my personal representative", to the moment he revealed himself to Anakin, Ian was spot on with his manipulation of the situation, notably Anakin. This was his movie.
ANH: Han Solo/Harrison Ford. Seriously, I'm guessing more kids wanted to be Han Solo than Luke Skywalker or Ben Kenobi when this came out. I could be wrong, but it seems Han was at his best in ANH and was the coolest bad good guy ever.
ESB: Vader wasn't in this movie that much, but when I think ESB, I think of all the great Vader moments. "He's as clumsy as he is stupid." "Apology accepted." "We'd be honored if you would join us." "Pray I don't alter it any further." "Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your father." ESB = Vader unleashed.
ROTJ: Luke Skywalker/Mark Hammil It was a long journey from "BUT I WAS GOING TO THE TOSHE STATION TO PICK UP POWER CONVERTERS" to the Cool, Calm, Collected badass Jedi knight we see in RoTJ. He certainly WAS a Jedi.

This may be a more social "Community" thread and if so, move it over there. However, I don't really like that forum and this topics DOES pertain to the saga.

Carnage

 

R2D2 FTW!

 

I like what you've got there, Carnage. For me, the characters that make the movies are:

The Phantom Menace -- Qui-Gon. It was nice to have a "new" Jedi take centre stage and he was a great one. He was too good, maybe, because I miss him now in all the rest.

Attack of the Clones -- Obi-Wan. He has great adventures in this one, keeps the episode grounded, and also adds humour. The way he kills the Acklay in the arena on Geonosis is worth the price of admission alone. LOL.

Revenge of the Sith -- Anakin. Oh he definitely owned this movie. He made it so heartbreaking and he was certainly the heart and soul of this episode, for better or worse.

A New Hope -- A tie/ Darth Vader. After seeing him created in ROTS, it is chilling to see how evil he has now become. Also Luke Skywalker. The OT just wouldn't be the OT without him, so my answer is him for the rest of the movies

The Empire Strikes Back -- Luke Skywalker.

Revenge of the Sith -- Luke Skywalker. The hero fulfills his destiny.

 

The Phantom Menace - Qui-Gon. Though I would have preferred a lot more Obi-Wan (still think there was no need for Qui-Gon), he was the one who drove the plot.

Attack of the Clones - Obi-Wan. Finally, Obi-Wan gets some airtime. If not for him, we would have been stuck with a movie that was all about Anakin's and Padme's oh so boring and bland love.

Revenge of the Sith - Obi-Wan (runner-up Palpatine). Ewan's performance once again carried the movie (with Ian's). To me, Obi-Wan is ultimate Jedi of the saga while Palpatine is the ultimate bad guy and this movie shows it. They are like the angel and the devil on Anakin's shoulders.

A New Hope - Luke Skywalker. It was his story. How he went from the farm to destroying the Death Star.

The Empire Strikes Back - Luke Skywalker/Vader. The whole Vader is Luke's father was the major point of this film.

Return of the Jedi - Luke Skywalker. Luke finally fulfills his destiny.

 

I think most of these are right on, but I would probably nominate Solo/Harrison Ford for the MVP of ESB. That particular movie was very dark; almost depressing. One of the most important aspects of the film's greatness was Ford's consistant, beutifually played comic timing throughout the movie. Its such a startling contrast to the Luke/Yoda and the Empire scenes, and keeps that part of the film nessasarily light. He also pulls off the romance bit better than any actor in any star wars film.

 

I think all the characters are equally important...

 

The Phantom Menace - Liam Neeson He really seems like a father figure to young Anakin. His death is one of great greif, his funeral is a very tragic scene. The runner up here is Ian McDiarmid.

Attack of the Clones - Christopher Lee Lee brings class to the PT that perfectly mirrors Peter Cushing. Unfortunatley, Lee is underused, but he shines quite brightly. Runner up is Ewan McGregor

Revenge of the Sith - Ian McDiarmid He basically saves RotS acting-wise. He makes all of these things seem rooted in a basic reality, you can easily see why Anakin turns.

A New Hope - Alec Guiness Nuff said.

The Empire Strikes Back - Harrison Ford Nuff said.

Return of the Jedi - Mark Hammill He really makes Luke's conflict real. Totally believable.

 

TPM: Qui-Gon. The brilliancy of Liam Neeson. Need I say more?
AOTC: OBW. McGregor is amazing
ROTS: Palpatine!! 2nd. Anakin and OBW: Finally some good acting from Christensen, and McGregor is amazing (redundant
ANH: OBW. I just loved the mystique and wisdom of OBW here. Han Solo is cool as well.
ESB: Vader
ROTJ: Luke, I think... I don't think he's a bad actor as many claim. He's at least as good as Hayden Christensen...

Should have had Yoda in there somewhere.... hmmm, not enough screen-time. A good third in ROTS?

 

Episode I- Obi-Wan

Episode II - Palpatine

Episode III - Anakin

Episode IV- Luke

Episode V- Vader

Episode VI- Vader

 

Most important characters:

I: Qui-Gon. Possibly the wisest Jedi in the Saga.

II: Obi-wan. Shows the tension between him and Anakin well, and saves the movie from the often cringeworthy Anakin/Padme scenes.

III: Palpatine. The driving force behind Anakin's turn and the extermination of the Jedi, and Ian McDiarmid makes it all believable.

IV: Tie between Obi-wan and Leia. Luke is the main character, but he mostly just follows along with others' plans. Obi-wan and Leia are the characters most responsible for Luke's transformation from farm boy to Rebel hero.

V: Another tie between Luke, since Luke's Jedi training is central to the film, and Vader, for some of the most memorable lines of the saga.

VI: Luke. More than anything else, ROTJ is about Luke completing his quest and redeeming his father.

 

This is really difficult to answer.

TPM: Qui-Gon Jinn. Palpatine/Sidious almost steals the show despite his limited screentime.
AoTC: Hmmmmmm. Probably Anakin or Obi-Wan.
ROTS: Sidious. We kind of see the events through Anakin's eyes, but Sidious has the strongest 'presence'.
ANH: Obi-Wan Kenobi and Leia.
ESB: Luke / Vader.
ROTJ: Easily Luke Skywalker.

 

To me it's about who's scenes I was most interested in getting back to...

Also, I'm thinking about my first viewing of the film...


I) Qui-Gon was just easy to admire... he and Maul save this film. But Maul's moments are too brief for him to beat out Qui-Gon

II) Anakin. Terrible movie that nobody saved, but the "love" story and traces of the dark side in Anakin were what I was compelled to watch for. Jango actually almost slips in to steal it, which shows how bad I think this movie was. The Fett is cool, but he's not supposed to steal the show.

III) Tied: Anakin/Vader, Obi-Wan. Watching Anakin's slide to Darth Vader is darkly delicious, and Obi-wan is so strong and noble. Both, I wanted to see what they would do next... wanted to see Anakin do more evil things, and Obi-Wan do more heroic things. Both "become" in this film.

IV) Can't decide. I guess because the scenes are basically split between the good guys and bad guys, collectively. The whole ensemble does it.... no one person's scenes rise above the others.
Perhaps Obi-Wan, Luke, and Vader stood out most to me.

V) Luke. Wanna get back to Dagobah and his training, wanna see Luke face Vader in the cloud city.

VI) Luke. Constantly want to get back to see how Luke is doing with Vader and the Emperor. Big time entrance in the film too.

 

MVP of each movies. to me MVP means if you take this person out of the movie/sports team then the impact would be the greatest.

TPM ... Qui-Gon ... its hard to believe that any one had a bigger impact on this movie than him.

AOTC ... Anakin, the movie is about him and without him it could have gone no where. Obe-wan was just a another actor in this one.

ROTS ... Palpitine, the movie was some what about Anakin but I saw it mainly about this one sith lord was able to destroy nearly the entire jedi clan.

ANH ... Han Solo ... his ship, leadership and his late save at the end are enough to grant him the MVP award.

ESB ... Tie, vader and yoda. The movie would have not been nearly as good without Yoda and I would argue that it might have fell flat with out him. Vader's performance at the end is amazing.

ROTJ ... who else is going to get this award but Luke ... he flat out carried the movie and just about the entire movie was centered around him.

 

Phantom I'd say has to go to Qui-Gon/Liam. Liam gave a great performance and portrayed a likeable, if somewhat, worthless character in the long run.

Clones I'd give to Anakin/Hayden. Believe it or not, I actually think Hayden is a tad underrated in Clones. His confession of the Tusken slaughter is absolutely awesome. Ben/Ewan is a close runner-up.

Revenge, again, I'd give to Anakin/Hayden. Hayden gave such a powerful performance that I just couldn't stand to watch him suffer anymore in that lava. It's still pretty disturbing for me to watch to this day. Ben/Ewan is runner-up yet again.

New Hope I have to give to Vader. After watching Revenge, then going straight into ANH, I get kind of misty-eyed when I see Vader enter the Tantive. To see his transformation, then see him in the OT makes me look at Vader different in the OT.

Empire and Jedi both get the same vote as ANH, Vader, and for the same reasons. I look at Vader different after seeing the PT, then watching the OT.

 

I: Qui-Gon Jinn - What an unexpected and wonderful new character! He seems to me to be the example of what the Jedi should have been all along to prevent their tragedy. Indeed, Yoda becomes HIS apprentice after ROTS. I really understand the prequel trilogy thanks to his character.

II: Obi-Wan - Tough desision on this one. Props to Anakin and I loved Dooku and Yoda in this one, but Obi gets more screen time and has really come into his own as a badass Jedi in this one. I cheered when he jumped out the window of Padme's apartment. How cool was that! Also loved his biting sense of humor - "Good job!".

III: Palpatine - Creepy as hell in this flick. Way more awesome than I expected. I was absolutly entralled every second he was on screen. Who else could pull 5 minutes of dialog in an action sci-fi movie? Overall the most sucessfull emotional acting in the entire saga from all the actors.

IV: Han Solo - Very different type of lead character than the prequels have now set-up. He sets the tone for the new trilogy, and he was just the most fun to watch especially when Leia gets involved. Very close runner up is definitly Ben. His exposition about the Jedi seems to have been the basis for the whole prequel trilogy. I LOVE his delivery of his explaination of Luke's father. Always liked the way he hesitates just for a moment before he decides what story to tell Luke. It's funny how Luke manages to catch the cool collected Jedi Master of his guard like that.

V: Darth Vader - Hands down victor here. He drives the whole plot and you really get to see how ruthless and evil he has become only to see some shred of Anakin at the end as he tries to save his son as he tried to save Padme. Granted he arguably had selfish motivations still but he manages to come off a little more human anyway. Must give close runner up status to Han though. I still manage to tear up just a bit when I hear "I know." Almost I better line than "I am your father.".

VI: Luke Skywalker - Finally becomes a full fledged Jedi Knight. Awesome grand entrance and stirring finale as he saves his father after rejecting the rage that destroyed Anakin to begin with. Again Palpatine has the most quotable lines of the flick though. I use them often in my daily life.

 

Oh this is a great idea!

TPM: Qui Gon - I think he really stepped up and was a great character, although i gotta say, he barely edges Maul for the MVP in my book, because Darth Maul was just a great start for a badass in the PT.

AOTC: Obi Wan - he does it all in this movie: fight, some investigating, the bits of humour.. he's great. I also have to give props for Yoda, because it was the first time we saw him fight and it was awesome!

ROTS: very very tough, but i'm gonna go with Obi Wan again - emotionally Obi Wan delivers 110% in this film, and it's a fantastic setup fot where we will find the character in ANH. Honorary mention goes to Palpatine, because he just comes out as the strongest bad guy in the Saga.

ANH: Han Solo - the scoundrel with a heart, what else can i say about him, he's fantastic and to this day my second favorite character of SW. Close comes of course Ben Kenobi: his character in this one takes a whole new meanning for me after watching episodes I-III, and i still get chills when he smirks and lets Vader get him .. fantastic!

ESB: Yoda - he's a very profound character, and his teachings about the Force and the way he handles Luke's trainning is awesome. Close second comes to Vader ; of course, because who can forget "No, I am ur father"

ROTJ: Luke Skywalker - he faces ultimate evil, and comes out with victory in the end: he brings the Chosen One back to fulfill his destiny

 

John Williams.

John Williams.

John Williams.

John Williams.

John Williams.

And John Williams.

 

Two interesting things that people have posted and that I considered was AoTC: Dooku and ESB: Yoda. I thought about those two and Dooku did bring quite the touch of class to the Sithiness and ESB back Yoda has some of the most profound lines of the saga - probably the lines that kept many people coming back to StarWars. I felt that they both didn't get enough actual screen time to carry the movies, but they certainly made major contributions. (This of course, is perception, if you told me Yoda was onscreen in ESB more than Vader or Han I wouldn't be surprised, but I felt like he didn't get a lot of time.) Same with Dooku. I think he was one of the more underused characters in the saga. I was very upset at his beheading. Count Dooku, we barely knew you!

I also noticed a few people rushing to the side of Hayden in AoTC or RoTS. I certainly think that he did a great job. I like him more and more everytime I watch the movies, but I really think that he is overshadowed by Obi-Wan in AoTC and Palpatine/Obi-Wan in RoTS. All great characters and portrayals though.

Carnage

 

Great post Carnage. Couldn't agree more. I just love Lee's portrayal of Dooku - the villain with class. You can just imagine him sitting reading Shakespeare or something, drinking a fine glass of Cognac or wine and listening to classical music - perhaps John williams
The fact that Dooku and Yoda are so memorable with their limited screenplay (thinking about OT Yoda) says something about their characters.

 

This is probably the only major criticism of ROTS I have that still stands. Enough Dooku dialogue is all that was missing for me.
I think a lot of the Maul/ Vader mirroring is because they were the apprentice types Sidious actually wanted, with Dooku always being planned as temporary. Perhaps Sidious didn't want any competition with his own class/ intelligence?

Yoda and Luke's ESB dialogue gives a great deal of meaning to all six movies. Perhaps moreso than any other sole Episode's dialogue.

 

Yes, Dooku is the most severely underused character in the whole saga IMO. Lee plays the part perfectly. Just listening to his voice tells you all you need to know about his character. Also, when you watch Lee's face, you can tell he (or at least Dooku) is really in the moment. Thinking things like "I'm gonna duel this punk" in AotC or "O CRAP!" when his hands go bye-bye in RotS. Puls, the saddest scene for me in RotS was Dooku's beheading

 

TPM. Qui-Gon Jinn, There's a reason that he has a massive fan base even though he looks fairly normal for a Jedi and is only in one movie.

AOTC. Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ewan's acting was amazing and did a great job of creating a bridge between Episode 1 and Alec Guiness

ROTS. Obi-Wan and Anakin, The two characters are both key to the movie and while I think Hayden did fine in AOTC, he does his best when he's allowed to do darkness and conflict.

ANH. Alec Guiness, 'nuff said

ESB. Luke Skywalker/Han Solo, Luke beginning to achieve his destiny was great and Han was great as comic relief in order to keep it from getting TOO dark

ROTJ. Luke Skywalker, Hamill carried this movie.

 

I think so as well. Only I never feel sorry for a bad guy. Perhaps with the exception of Sarumann's defeat in the extended version of Return of the King, which was horrible!!

There simply is something about the voice of Christopher Lee. It's amazing, terrifying and luring at the same time!! Dooku is my favourite villain I think - but again, Vader is amazing as well. Palpatine is TOO evil, not making him quite as complex as Vader I think.

 

Since there was a LoTR reference, there is one anecdote that I have about Dooku......My wife is a quasi-geek....likes Star Wars but is not fanatical. She is a MUCH bigger LoTR fan. I loved the Tolkien books (Unfinished Tales, Simarillion and all), loved the Peter Jackson movies even with some of the cheesy deviations. She is one of those "purest" types and got angry about many of the changes....but liked the movies for the most part. She thought Christopher lee was a brilliant Saruman and loved him and his character. When her and I watch Star Wars, I rave about Dooku. She can't stand the character. I was enraged and made her read things that fleshed out Dooku....LoE, RoTS novel which IMO, makes Dooku even cooler. She still hates him. Never could figure that one out.

Carnage

 

hehe
He was cool in the novel. I've read comments that it made him look too evil, but I think it was intended that he was a little more evil than in AoTC. It happens to all the Sith, despite any initial good intentions. By that stage his more honest qualities had been "consumed" (to use Star Wars lingo).
I liked the way he dismissed Anakin's and Obi-Wan's antics in the elevator as juvenile. He's like an OT purist (j/k).
It was also good to hear his vision of the future Empire. It did hint that the Empire would be 'racist' against aliens, something I think Lucas was afraid to portray in the movies. It isn't that important really.
It also has that conversation with Sidious before the Jedi arrive, that was great. At the end they describe Dooku as basically going "into character" for when the Jedi arrived.

At least we got "Twice the pride, double the fall" in the movie. I love that line.