Do you like Ewan McGregor's portrayal as Obi-Wan Kenobi?

TPM - no. I thought he was too corny sounding at times, like he was just reading his lines.

AOTC - meh...he was getting better, but, I still wasn't overly impressed.

ROTS - Ewan completely blew my expectations away. He was superb, especially during the final duel with Anakin. I totally bought the whole "you were my BROTHER!!" etc and felt his emotions as he spoke. Ewan did a great job in Revenge.

 

Yeah definitely. Hes one of my fave actors and he does a great job with Obi-Wan. His resemblance to Alec in ROTS is just scary. I think he got better with each prequel.

ROTS is definitely his best performance, I totally believed him as Ben Kenobi.
the transitions were great. from uptight too serious padawan to annoyed dad like master to good natured guy who doesnt take himself so seriously.

In honesty, I believe I have found 3 people on these forums who did not care for Ewan's performances. And I searched them out to try to find such people. Then they were all laughed at and properly berated by the other members of the community
SoloJones.


HHAHAHAHAHAHA!

well done my friend, well done.

 

The only problem I had was the way they had to artificially age him. There's no way he should have looked *that* old in ROTS when he was so young in TPM. Why not just have the PT happen over a longer period of time (so that the aging would have seemed natural)? I understand that he had to be aged so that he would match more with the age of Obi-Wan in the OT but it's still annoying.

 

I didn't see it as they were trying to age him...just change his look gradually to be closer to Alec's final look in the OT, especially the hairstyle. And Obi had matured considerably during the Clone Wars and in really getting closer to Anakin.

I think the only consistency issue (that you can't do much about) is that Obi's in his early to mid-30's in ROTS, and twenty years go by, and then he looks like he's in his late 60's, even early 70's.

Guess those Tatooine suns are just hell on your body.

 

Alec Guinness would have been proud of him. In my mind, Ewan was the only choice for the role. He was the only credible actor who could have filled such a potentially intimadating part..following Guinness's act was no picnic.

 

As I said, I know why they did it, but it was still too forced. The aging just wasn't natural. He shouldn't have looked that old in ROTS. They either needed an older actor to play Obi-Wan (God forbid because Ewan was perfect) or they should have made the PT occur over a longer period of time (so the aging would have appeared more natural). That's my only quibble with the character.

 

He did a great job, especially in the third installment of the prequels. Of course, he could act more freely then, I guess. In TPM he had to be this "yes, Master, no Master" Padawan, but in RotS he was a Master and could do his thing.

for Ewan!

 

I actually thought of someone that could have done it, and would have been more age appropriate to match Alec Guiness from ANH...How about Kenneth Brannagh? (if you don't know who Kenneth Brannagh is, go rent Henry V from Blockbuster. He is a BRILLIANT shakespearean actor who bares a passing resemblence to Alec Guiness. He is also in one of the Harry Potter movies.)

[image=http://www.thegoldenyears.org/alec_guinness.jpg][image=http:///hnryv.tripod.com/realken3.jpg]

I don't know what age Alec Guinness is in the photo, best guess puts him at about 40 or so, so we can see how Obi-Wan would have looked as played by Alec Guinness at a younger age...(plus a beard, of course)

 

Ewan was awesome, enough said.

 

I agree, Ewan did a fantastic job...at least in ROTS....but, with Ewan, we are left trying to explain how Obi-Wan manages to age 40 years in a 20 year timespan...

 

Like, no, absolutely love it. I liked him in TPM, and even more in AoTC, but in ROTS - oh my. My 1st five viewings or so of ROTS, I thought he totally stole the show, (though with repeated viewings my opinion of Hayden has improved). I never thought Ewan was playing Obi-Wan: he IS Obi-Wan.

I probably got hooked with his "oh, that's not good" line when he realized he was about to go over the side at Tapoca City in AoTC. A fantastic character, courtesy of a great actor.

 

Kenneth Branagh? Hmmm..a bit too on the classical side. Great interpreter of Shakespeare's plays..but as Obi Wan?

"To be..or not to be..a Jedi, that is the question. Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to resist the blaster bolts and lightsabers of outrageous fortune.."

"Destroyed..by the Empire I fear"

 

Exactly my point about the aging! They had to age him very quickly because of how old Obi-Wan looked in the OT.

 

Alec Guinness was 62 in A New Hope. 24 years older than the character of Obi-Wan in RotS, and year younger than Harrison Ford today.

 

Alec was an old looking 62. My father is 61 and easily looks 10 years younger than Alec did in ANH.

 

I LOVED Ewan as Obi Wan and he did a bang up job. His mannerisms were what set off his performance.

Oh and I think people are forgetting how much time the PT covers. This trilogy covers about 13 years with each movie happening over a couple weeks. The original trilogy went down in almost 5 years.

Here's the ages - they all match up:

TPM: Obi Wan - 25
Anakin - 9
Padme - 14
Master Yoda - 863

AOTC: Obi Wan - 35
Anakin - 19
Padme - 24
Master Yoda - 873

ROTS: Obi Wan - 38
Anakin - 22
Padme - 27
Master Yoda - 876

ANH: Obi Wan - 58
Darth Vader - 44
Luke/ Leia - 20
Master Yoda - 896

ESB: Darth Vader - 46
Luke/ Leia - 22
Master Yoda - 898

ROTJ: Darth Vader - 48
Luke/ Leia - 24
Master Yoda - 900

There you go. Lucas got it right.
oNE

 

I guess the problem for me is that Sir Alec looked far older than 58 in ANH. I'm shocked that he was only in his very early 60's when ANH was made. I thought he was much older.

 

He was great. Obi-Wan to me is THE classic jedi. He never really strays from the path and isn't as dogmatic (because of qui-gon) as other great jedis like yoda and windu are. McGregor captured this perfectly. He starts Obi-Wan off as the nice young student and leads him into a mature Jedi at the top of his game. Jackson as Mace always seemed too angry to me (not let go enough to be a jedi).

 

5551212...you're close, but not quite right on all of them, it should be like this...

TPM: Obi Wan - 25
Anakin - 9
Padme - 14
Master Yoda - 864

AOTC: Obi Wan - 35
Anakin - 20
Padme - 24
Master Yoda - 874

ROTS: Obi Wan - 38
Anakin - 23
Padme - 27
Master Yoda - 877

ANH: Obi Wan - 57
Darth Vader - 42
Luke/ Leia - 19
Master Yoda - 896

ESB: Darth Vader - 45
Luke/ Leia - 22
Master Yoda - 899

ROTJ: Darth Vader - 46
Luke/ Leia - 23
Master Yoda - 900

 

I think he did a very fine job ad Obi-Wan Kenobi. Sure he had big shoes to fill but he got the job done.

 

Even though I thought Ewan did a great job (Next to Liam and Ian as the best actor in the movie), I would have liked to see a more older looking Jedi in ROTS. Alec I think was 63 in ANH but had aged much older while Ewan has more younger features.

 

I don't know. I think the aging they did to him didn't look all that natural. Could have been worse if they had tried to age him even more.

 

I live with the thought that all that time on Tattooine was not good to Obi-wan. Desert climates on humans are not pleasant.

I think many liked Obi-wan in ROTS because he was closer to our first preconceived view of him. Shorter hair and all.