re: Who Should Have Played Anakin in Return of the Jedi?

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I'm sure they got news on bad at and the imperials from time to time.

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"He DEERED to kill a king's DARE!....Dared...to kill a king's deer."

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Sebastian Shaw, the actor who played Anakin was born in 1905! That means he was 78 freaking years old in Jedi which means he was 50 years older than he should have been. The burns don't excuse that.

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True but it's not uncommon to see 40 year olds that look that bad due to hard living. IMO.

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While there's nothing wrong with the line, Luke and Leia being siblings was the first real sign of Lucas slipping. No way that was planned out even in The Empire Strikes Back.

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IDK, when Luke is hanging off the bottom of Cloud City, Liea has a moment of force like connection where she "hears" him and tells Lando to turn around.

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Well, Obi Wan certainly told Owen who Luke's father was, but no way would Beru have some fond memories and say "he's just like his father". The original trilogy seems to imply that Owen has a personal vendetta against Obi Wan, and all he's done that we know of is dropping Luke off with them, who they clearly cherish. If instead Owen and Anakin were very close, but Obi Wan then trains Anakin in the Force and that brings out the worst in him, then I think Owen would personally despise Obi Wan for what he did to his brother and blame him for the person Vader turned into

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this is a great example of the numerous ways the prequels flat out contradict the OT.

I always pictured it was Anakin was like Luke growing up, yearning for "adventure" and wanting to get out. Maybe an existing conflict draws him in and ObiWan sees him as a great pilot that's strong with the force and tries to train him since the Jedi were being hunted down or something, he thought he could do it was well as Yoda and he was wrong.

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The dark side takes a toll on your physical appearance. Makes you look older than you actually are.

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That's how I always looked at it.

In the expanded universe stuff, apparently the dark side doesn't include the healing properties, so Anakin is a charred mess supported by a machine.

There's a cool part in the Shadow's of the Empire book (which takes place between Empire and Jedi), where Vader channels the light side of the force and actually starts to heal but can't hold it and his injuries return.

Also, as far the choice of actors, the scene was pretty heavy and Lucas and Marquand wanted someone who could carry the weight and also help mask that Mark Hamill wasn't a great actor.

They also wanted someone who wouldn't be a recognized name because they wanted the reveal to be more about the characters and less about an A-list cameo.

Sebastian Shaw did a really good job and the scene is very powerful and well done.

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If anyone should have played Anakin it should have been Swayze for sure.

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Better question: Why wasn't the Obi Wan character in Episode 1 Anakin and why wasn't the Qui Gonn character in Episode 1 Obi Wan?

Bingo! No one wants to see a child actor really. Let's catch up with the character in his teens and see how Obi Wan handled (or didn't handle) his training. Qui Gonn was an unnecessary character.

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Totally agree with that. Anakin as a kid was absolutely pointless. It was purely so we could see these wacky hijinks and remind us that once Darth Vader was a precocious, toe-headed little boy.

Dumb.

Episode 3 should have been Episode 2 and we should have gotten some legitimate younger Darth Vader action and Clone Wars stuff in Episode 3.

It's like what Patton Oswalt said about the prequels:

"would you like some ice cream?"
"Sure, I'd love some!"
"Ok, well here's some sugar and cream and rock salt."

"I don't want to know how the stuff I like became they way they did. I just want the stuff I like."

Lucas' downfall was trying to make Anakin's story the exact same as Luke's with a different ending.

Ep 1- Introduced to force and blow up enemy ship
Ep 2- Display skills and have hand cut off by bad guy
Ep 3- Courted to slay the emperor's apprentice and join the dark side

Looking past the fact that the Clone Wars should have began in Ep1, Anakin should have killed Dooku in Ep 2. I don't see the reason for drawing out that storyline, other than tying AS story to Luke. Anakin looking weak does nothing for the story.

Other than killing Dooku in Ep 3, the prequels failed horribly in showing on screen how powerful Anakin was. They talked about it a lot but never showed it.

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I always pictured it was Anakin was like Luke growing up, yearning for "adventure" and wanting to get out. Maybe an existing conflict draws him in and ObiWan sees him as a great pilot that's strong with the force and tries to train him since the Jedi were being hunted down or something, he thought he could do it was well as Yoda and he was wrong.

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That's not really how I imagine how Anakin should have been. I think Anakin should have been Han Solo like, but if Han had Force powers and had some idea how to use it. So from the start he'd be likable, but he'd use his force powers in rigging gambling in his favor and intimidating others who defy him or oppress the helpless. When he's not using the Force, Anakin would be a swell and fun guy to be around, but it's clearly obvious when he uses the Force he's doing it mostly for power and glory. When Obi Wan comes along, Anakin becomes intrigued on becoming a Jedi simply for glory and making himself more powerful. Owen would see through this and beg Obi Wan not to train his brother in the ways of the Force, but he would not listen to him.

And with that said, Obi Wan would not be a stick in the mud either. He'd be an outcast Jedi who would want to prove the Jedi Order wrong by training Anakin. They'd be very fast friends, and Obi Wan himself would be frustrated with the Jedi Order. He'd think that with Anakin's raw talent in the Force, he'd be looked at as a great Jedi Master. Unfortunately, Anakin would truly succumb to the power of the Dark Side by his own will (instead of being tricked into it like in the prequels), and in their final encounter, I think Anakin would initially treat Obi Wan friendly thinking without question he'd join him in changing the galaxy, but in the end, both in tears, they'd have to fight to the death.

I don't think Anakin should have been a mass-murdering psychopath at the end of Episode 3 and should have had a large degree of humanity left to him before entering the Vader suit. 20 years is plenty of time for him to become a mass murdering psychopath, especially when your mentor tries to kill you, you've murdered your wife (which I would have had him point blank do in Episode 3), and your current mentor is holding you captive to be his eternal servant. I don't think the final duel between Anakin and Obi Wan should have been epic, but with each swing of the sword at one another, you can tell that it takes all the fiber of their being to do it and neither can believe it has come to this.