Worst acting in Star Wars?
- Thread starter Dale Sams
- Start date
I just can't resist bashing Christensen's performance. Truly awful. WTF was Lucas thinking?
I actually have given Lloyd pass ever since I heard SLJ defend him with words to the effect of...
"He was a kid playing a kid and didn't get the direction he needed. Now leave him alone"
Lucas was very good at getting inferior performances from good actors. So this thread is a little unfair because we're dealing with a director who is just not good at directing. He's a 2nd unit style director who knows how to choreograph action scenes but is in over his head trying to convey real drama.
In this respect he's kind of the opposite of someone like Quentin Tarantino who is known for being able to get awesome performances from actors who had destroyed their reputations with B-movie dreck (like David Carradine who was riveting for every frame he was in Kill Bill).
Also direction. It is the directors responsibility to get the right takes from the actors. Somebody mentioned Guiness earlier--my guess is that the problem comes from a "shoot it and wrap" mentality where there was no waiting for the right delivery from any of the actors. Ford shines above the rest because this style probably suits him.
Look at Shatner's brilliance in STII compared to his acting in STV for example. In Khan many takes were done until Meyer (sp?) got the performance he wanted.
I'd say the award for worst acting in the original Star Wars film goes to the guy who played "Mauler" Mithel, a.k.a. Black 2. I guess I should blame the director, but his facial expressions were completely unreadable. I just couldn't make an emotional connection with him.
John Ratzenberger
You would have thought that he would have acted like he did on Cheers.
But nooooo...
You would have thought that he would have acted like he did on Cheers.
But nooooo...
The guy who played N. Papanoida could certainly have used better direction... 
What about Rick Ollie or Sebulba?
Lloyd and Christensen I can agree with--easily the worst of all 6 films, but Prowse was fine in the way he carried himself; it was a seamless blend with the voice of JEJ.
I doubt that. The actors on the original Star Trek--a decade before A New Hope's shoot--rolled out technobabble like they were raised doing it, which went a long way in selling TOS. This applies to Lockwood and Dullea in 2001 (not matter how few lines were delivered).
Doesn't that undercut your point? If Harrison Ford was able to sell his lines, that means it's possible to give the lines effectively.
I disagree. Hamill was the reason anyone cared and bought into the fantasy situation. It was his journey, and people wanted to see where he was going in that first film based on how the role was played.
Contrast that with Hayden Christensen--who had two films as the character making the pivotal journey, but he was awful in every frame, without any sort of growth in either movie.
I agree Christensen was far worse than Hammill but for the purpose of this thread I thought we were only evaluating New Hope actors - the oriignal group.
The OP listed some obscure actor as the best example which I think is absurd. You have to choose a principle and of the New Hope principle's I still contend Hamill was worse than Fisher.
However, I also agree that by the end of the trilogy Ford was the worst only because he wasn't into it anymore.
Although whatever that look on Leah's face when her planet got destroyed probably could have been better 
Although whatever that look on Leah's face when her planet got destroyed probably could have been better
Well. Fisher didn't have as much screen time as Hamill did for her to be as awful IMO as he was in the original film. Worst Hamill scenes:
1. In the garbage bin with the monster
2. Learning to use the force on the Falcon with the blast sheild down.
3. Anytime he was acting next to Alec Guinness
4. Witnessing Obi-one's death and faux anger and saddness
5. Blowing up the death star and the contrived sense of urgency.
Sure, Hayden Christensen was worse, but, he wasn't in A New Hope, so, I'm not sure how Hayden Christensen being worse in his movies negates my belief that Hamill was the worst in A New Hope? If you want to challenge that belief, you should stick to the Movie that was asked about (A New Hope) and point at someone worse than Hamill.
I thought he sold his death scene pretty well.
"Look out!" <BOOM>
Threepio, on the other hand, shouldn't be allowed anywhere near a set. He has the facial range of a hunk of metal.
Maria De Aragon. She just never convinced me that Greedo shot first.
Ford on the other hand totally sold me that Han was the only one who shot at all.
Ford on the other hand totally sold me that Han was the only one who shot at all.
I think we have a winner.
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