His final confrontation with Vader and the Emperor was handled reasonably well, but the musical chairs with actors depicting Anakin destroyed the emotional impact of Luke taking off the helmet and the ghost scene later.
Yeah, I hated how the lack of a change in actors for the unmasking scene destroyed the emotional impact of the scene. And don't even get me started on the eyebrows.
Were you just... advocating replacing Sebastian Shaw completely with Hayden Christensen in ROTJ?
Nah. I'd replace both with the guy in TCW, except that sadly he doesn't exist as flesh & blood, so that might look a little weird.
TCW Anakin is the first time I've really felt that the character was the same guy as Vader
and someone who could have been Luke's father. Shaw was just a fat old guy who didn't synch up at all with the notion that Vader had been a kick-ass warrior at some point in his life, and we all know the problems with Christensen.
No, I was expressing incredulity at the idea that Hayden could ruin a scene he's not even in.
The point was that the emotional impact is reduced because the ghost isn't Sebastian Shaw anymore. And I agree with that.
While
my point is that neither actor was right for the part. Shaw and Christensen
both ruined their scenes.
Shaw had the benefit of less screen time and therefore less ruination (although since the moment was pivotal, that counts for more.)
I think I've figured out why some people prefer RotS to RotJ. The original trilogy is like you're happily breathing clean air (ANH & ESB) and then someone comes along and farts (RotJ) -- your natural reaction is "Urgh, you befouled my air!". The prequel trilogy is like you're drowning (TPM & AotC) and then you finally surface and breathe in a lungful of air polluted with industrial fumes (RotS) -- your natural reaction is "Oxygen! Sweet, sweet oxygen!" Even though, viewed objectively, the industrial fumes are much worse for you than the fart.
our nominal hero Obi-Wan Kenobi does barely anything important
He kills General Grievous and defeats and cripples the Chosen One
And what did either of those things ultimately accomplish? Nothing, really. Did he hurt Palpatine's schemes in any way?
The good-guy characters in the PT accomplished nothing, which wouldn't have been all that bad, since it was supposed to be an overarching tragedy, but they should have been allowed to make a better accounting of themselves, to be given the opportunity of knowing what was going on in time to come up with intelligent countermeasures. And if those countermeasures didn't work, it should have been because Palps was just too smart for them. The PT really made the good guys look like total chumps who didn't lose so much as, they were still in the locker room when the game ended. It's a pretty boring game when only one side is ever on the field.
If Anakin was at full strength he would have turned on Sidious almost immediately; would he have won?
I've never bought the bizarre argument that Vader didn't turn on the Emperor immediately because he was "too weak." If he had a mind at all, and it was still his own, he still should have been plotting against Sidious. The minute he was able to strike back, he should have done so.
At some point in that 20 year span, Vader would have become strong enough. Since he thought his children were dead, it makes no sense that he'd be waiting for them to grow up. He should be seething with anger, and should have struck just as soon as he was able. Judging from his vigor in ANH, he would have been able much sooner than 20 years later.
What held him back was a feeling of loyalty towards the Emperor, and it's a mystery why he'd feel loyalty to a guy he made an alliance with, who didn't live up to his end of the bargain. The Mortis Arc showed that the Dark Side works at least in some cases - and as far as we know, in
all cases - by mind control. Not a very satisfying explanation, but it works logically at least to explain Vader's behavior.
Even with his arms and legs chopped off, Anakin's torso is bigger than Yoda's whole body. Since he's Mr. Midichorlian, he should have still been immensely powerful. And that's not even addressing the problem that equating power with something as mundane as body mass is absurd. Power should be equated with something more elevated, like purity of spirit. This is just another example of how Lucas drained all the magic, myth and mystery from
Star Wars with the PT.
God I hate midi-chlorians. Lucas should have been shot out of a cannon... into the sun for that one.
Yeah pretty much.
