ST Anakin Skywalker in the New Films

Id absolutely love an Anakin scene in the ST. I, however, see no valid reason for Anakin to be played by Hayden Christensen again. I don't view the special edition as canonical, especially since Hayden's anakin being the ghost makes no sense neither thematically, nor contextually.

To be honest, I think it was a mistake having Anakin be a ghost anyways, since it doesn't seem right that he's one of only three (four including qui-gon) Jedi to learn the ability, and the given timeline for Anakin being able to learn that ability makes no sense.


(Sorry if that's grammatically horrible. I'm super tired and off to bed.)

 

Some of us aren't bothered by Jar Jar at all.

 

Yeah right...

Jar Jar may have been annoying - But Hayden was flat out terrible! His acting is some of the worst I have ever seen...

 

No, what makes no sense is the idea that coming back as a Force ghost is some kind of special ability a Jedi needs to learn. Remember the days when it didn't need some ridiculous metaphysical explanation, it was simply meant to show that their spirits were at peace now. Anyway, Hayden's ghost makes perfect sense. "Anakin Skywalker" died in Palpatine's office in RotS. When Vader dies on the DS2, "Anakin" returns, not "old broken down Vader" (Sebastian Shaw). The point of Hayden as the ghost was to show Anakin as he was when he was the good Anakin. Makes perfect sense to me.

 

I love Jar Jar! I grew up on the prequels and me and my brothers always thought he was funny. I still do!

If you have seen his other roles he isn't a bad actor at all. Also a lot of people like the prequels who aren't hardcore fans. Kids in my generation (I'm a senior in high school) know Star Wars as the prequels and they like them. I know some kids who have never seen the OT but they have seen the PT.

 

Before even getting into Hayden's acting abilities and ruffling some overprotective feathers, how about starting with Anakin the character? Did other people actually find him interesting? Because I didn't at all, which is just the opposite of what I thought of the Vader character. They're so different it's hard to see Anakin as the guy in the Vader suit for me at all really.

I'll assume that people hoping for HC to appear in this new series disagree and feel PT Anakin did work. I'd still say consider how non-essential he is at this point.

In this new sequel trilogy I think the only people/things you absolutely must have or at least account for are Luke (and by extension the Jedi), Leia, and arguably Han. A lesser case for Chewie and the droids but that's only if the big 3 were involved as they are.

All of the dead characters that come up often are most strongly associated with Luke, and if he is the supporting character I think he's likely to be in this series (say OT-Yoda screen time), I just don't see a lot of time being spent on his network. If Luke talks to Ghost Dad and others I'd think it would be an offscreen thing for novels and whatever else. Or put another way, I think they're going to focus on the people directly connected to Rey and the other new heroes, and not get into people 2+ degrees of separation apart from them.

 

The risk stands in no relation to the possible reward.

 

Another reason I don't care for the idea is that I like the "Last Jedi" concept. I think Luke can carry the weight of mentor/master himself, so why not let him? He's alive for one and I'd assume he's fully qualified all these years later. Plus we've already seen the raw, conflicted Luke who needed a lot of guidance anyway.

Given the institutionalized problems with the Old Jedi Order and Luke's outsider background, I imagine a fully-realized Jedi Master Luke would probably have some differences in philosophy with Anakin and other ghost Jedi from the PT era. He's just cut from a different cloth...I hope they recognize that when they're writing his character. Inking him as a straightforward old school Jedi and carrying everything from the PT Jedi would be a mistake to me for several reasons.

 

It's not going to happen, but if for some reason it did, I'd choose the Anakin from TCW over Hayden.

Yes, I'd rather have cartoon Anakin. More believable than live action Anakin, which is the real tragedy of Darth Vader.

 

Lanter doesn't seem to look the part, unfortunately, but there's always recast.

 

I don't just mean the voice of cartoon Anakin. I mean cartoon Anakin.

In fact, I would re-edit the PT in a Dra--- Special Edition where all versions of Anakin, even TPM kid Anakin, were substituted with TCW cartoon Anakin. That would improve the PT by miles in one single move.

 

I never watched more than a few TCW episodes so I don't really remember that...

But I do remember the PT movies and just thought Anakin was an immature punk, somewhat dumb, and kind of a creep besides. They called Episode 6 "Return of the Jedi" referring to Anakin Skywalker so I expected to see him as a Jedi in the PT. Not just a Jedi in name/affiliation only or in terms of force skills. I don't know that he was a true example of a Jedi at any point we actually saw. Episode 1 he's just a kid and from the first point we see him in Ep 2 he's already got serious un-Jedi-like issues and it isn't long before he's out a-murderin'. Obviously things get even worse in Ep 3.

So when "Anakin the Jedi" comes up I have no idea who people are talking about. I hope TCW addresses that for the fans who watched it. Because I definitely don't know what wisdom the ghost version would have to give to Luke.

I've said it before, but I think it was Luke who finally taught Darth Vader/Anakin what it meant to be a Jedi with his actions at the end of ROTJ. Because Anakin sure as hell didn't get it before that.

All things considered, Anakin got a good deal in the end. After betraying and murdering his mentor, his wife, his friends, children and who knows how many people, he was redeemed to the light side. The quick ghost scene at the end of ROTJ is as far forward as his story should go for me. Presumably he can rest in peace and we can probably forget whether he deserves to.

 

But... but... cartoon Anakin isn't a practical effect.

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So some people complain how it was disrespectful to change Shaw in the end of ROTJ, but it is completely fine to cast another actor to play force ghost Anakin just because you don't like Hayden.
Interesting. That is what I call double standard.

As for this..

Yes I found him interesting. I had no expectations about Vader so it was never hard for me to see them as the same person.

 

What the?

There's a difference between altering an existing movie and recasting a character for a new movie.

Maybe you can spot it. If not, I am willing to explain.

 

It's not a double standard at all if you start with the principle that Shaw shouldn't have been replaced in the first place and that having Anakin suddenly be the young version of himself is preposterous, (GL's reasoning be damned). Then it simply becomes a matter of having to replace a deceased actor in the role.

I've said myself that I don't think HC is a good actor, which to me is reason enough to keep him away from any future SW movies.

 

Thankfully Disney is releasing the original unaltered versions of the OT on bluray which should, thankfully, put Shaw back in his rightful place and make that "canon" again, making this subject moot.

 

Another point. If GL never changed Shaw to HC, would there be any kind of push by the fan base to change him? It's seems more of some defending GL after the fact then a genuine need to make the change.

 

As a fellow Canadian, I feel a passing need to defend the acting talents of Mr. Christensen. I'm not saying he's a great actor, but he has displayed some ability in the past. His performances in Life as a House and Shattered Glass were both good. Did he have a more "hands-on" director in those instances resulting in better performances? Perhaps. Could he competently execute a performance as a Force ghost for Mr. Abrams in Episode VII? Of course he could. Just for the sake of continuity--should Anakin appear--Christensen is the logical choice.

 

I am SO ******* SICK of the 'Hayden Hate'!! Hayden IS Anakin in 1-3, and no amount of whining or P&M'ing by a Ioud mouthed few wiII change that! So if Anakin shows up in any form in the ST, be it as hoIogram, force ghost or huIa-dancing fIashback, it wouId IogicaIIy be HIM. More Iikely by either using a bit of digitaI de-aging or using cutting room fIoor cIips.

That being said, I agree that Yoda wouId most Iikey be the onIy 'Force ghost' we'II see as we are moving forward, but I do hope once TFA is reIeased and the New-EU is aIIowed to dip into those times post-Jedi pre TFA, we do get a IittIe more father/son interaction.

HammerEdit - Got to star out the whole word.

 

2-3, but who's counting...

 

Pre 7AM coffeeIess post is who!

 

It is the same to me. Hayden is Anakin now, I don't need another actor to play Anakin. I respect Shaw and his work and I am happy they will release original versions. Like this people will be able to watch whatever version they want. I personally have both.

Those movies are not erased from existence, you can still watch whatever version you want. Well you are not involved in making those movies, so that are just your personal preferences.
Also watch the double posts. You have the edit button.

You and me both. My point exactly, no one else should even be considered.

 

Disney is re-releasing the unaltered OT to make more money. Period. Not out of any intrinsic respect for any particular fan-base or for canon reasons.

 

Exactly, they know that some people will be ready to pay big cash for those movies.