Should Hayden Christensen entirely replace Sebastian Shaw in Return of the Jedi?

[greygoose]

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[Darth Snoopy]

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He's even wearing my Darth Snoopy™ brand headphones!

 

[Mondragon]

Old Anakin

Anakin

Hypothetical Anakin with:
Luke - Leia

Hypothetical Young Anakin

CG re-insert back David Prowse, believable as young Anakin, as Luke & Leia's father, also de-age cg a young version of him into the prequels. From the on-set takes, synth-render all new dialogue and give Vader back his ___ accent!

 

[Khev]

No, cg re-insert back David Prowse, believable as Luke & Leia's father, then de-age cg a young version of him into the prequels. From the on set takes synth-render all new dialogue and give Vader back his Scottish accent!

A few years back some fans who had completed film school contacted Prowse and ended up filming the ROTJ unmasking scene with him in the costume and then they edited his scenes into the movie to make it look like he and Mark Hamill did that final scene together. Lucasfilm found out about it advised them that under no circumstances could they release that footage to the public. So IIRC they ended up renting a theater and showing it to just Prowse to allow him to get at least a small degree of closure on being denied that opportunity by Lucas way back when.

They had a Making Of video on YouTube a while back showing everything but the finished footage but now it seems that that might have been taken down as well.

 

[medicomsucks]

Had this thought after watching the finale of Obi-wan Kenobi last night. I already have mixed reactions to some of the tweaking to the OT over the years but thought this might be an interesting and perhaps polarizing question.

With Hayden’s return on Obi-Wan Kenobi, acceptance of him as Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader is higher than ever before. Should Disney take the next step and have him replace Sebastian Shaw in Vader’s unmasking/death scene at the end of Return of the Jedi now? He already replaced Sebastian Shaw’s force ghost of Anakin, should they go all the way and remove Shaw entirely?

I would like to see the david prowse version instead. One was made for the Prowse documentary some years ago.

 

[ebor]

I met the 'man' Mr Prowse. He is a true gentleman and will always be Vader to me!

 

[TaliBane]

If they only enhanced the duel between Vader and Kenobi for ANH I'd be okay with that.

​

Oh, I can't wait to see what the phone/OCD-on-steroids generation makes of SW in another 30 years. It'll be just a rapid blur of colors and sounds accessible only on the Metaverse.

A few years back some fans who had completed film school contacted Prowse and ended up filming the ROTJ unmasking scene with him in the costume and then they edited his scenes into the movie to make it look like he and Mark Hamill did that final scene together. Lucasfilm found out about it advised them that under no circumstances could they release that footage to the public. So IIRC they ended up renting a theater and showing it to just Prowse to allow him to get at least a small degree of closure on being denied that opportunity by Lucas way back when.

They had a Making Of video on YouTube a while back showing everything but the finished footage but now it seems that that might have been taken down as well.

A Lucasfilm that still despises David Prowse - even posthumously - but tearfully worships Reva is such a perfect snapshot of how SW got to where it is today.

And the reason we embrace LFL's own Twitter advice: "we resist."

 

[Khev]

Found it! Definitely worth a watch:

 

[Mondragon]

Found it! Definitely worth a watch:

That's fantastic, thanks for sharing, and kudos to Marcos Cabota for his passion for the man behind the mask, pursuing Prowse and putting that together.
Would love to see what they shot.

Curious at the documentary's end is added (maybe as a disclaimer?) - "The idea of Darth Vader being Luke Skywalker's Father is officially taken from George Lucas' story line."
Not surprising to anyone. Yet the documentary itself somewhat whimsically entertains Prowse having some prophetic insight into this when he "reveals" it in a 1977 interview.
Then doubles down "that interview was taken before Leigh Brackett wrote the first draft of ESB" further conflating that the idea did not exist before then.
Yet we also know Lucas floated many ideas before they were cemented in any drafts. So what came first?
The doc further emphasis David Prowse's vilification for supposed leaked material.
Specifically for ROTJ, yet wouldn't the 77 interview and ESB reveal, have been the incriminating "leak" ?

They somewhat (maybe by design) obfuscate things, so what exactly is the timeline there, and who knew what before?
Just curious.
Though doesn't effect or take away anything from the passion and purpose of the project documentary , which I thought was terrific.

Thait said, they should also add (I can imagine and hope they shot that too) Prowse to the final Force Ghost scene.

#ReleaseTheProwseacut!

 

[DiFabio]

One of the biggest disappoints I had with Return of the Jedi as a kid was Vader’s reveal. The pasty, chuckle head, the caterpillar eyebrows. The dude looked like an old uncle fester. Never liked it. The smiling force ghost is sappy and goofy too. Kenobi is much closer to what I envisioned Vader looking like under the mask. That demented gleam in the eye. Sebastian Shaw as the man behind the mask is a let down.

I wouldn’t care if Hayden Christensen was edited in. Most of the special edition and home video changes ruined ROTJ to begin with, I figure another one is going to hurt.

 

[freestyla85]

Short answer: **** no

Long answer: All for special effects enhancements with modern technologies. However replacing actors in original movies should never become a trend. Vader's appearance was a shock because no one expected it. Its not hard to believe the amount of damage the dark side and Darth Sidious' influence did to Vader. That is why he looks the way he does and its understandable that Hayden's Anakin will transform in that ghoulish monster after all that time.

 

[Evil_Deadite]

As a kid, I also disliked the Vader reveal. It always took me out of the film (still does) and looked silly & comical to me (still does).

I realize Disney cannot alter the OT, but if it were possible, then so long as the original, unaltered versions were also made available, I'd be perfectly okay with Hayden being inserted into the ROTJ unmasking scene.

In an ideal world, it would have originally been Prowse, and had it been, it would always remain so.

 

[guyver1]

I don’t care about the Force lore..the fact that Hayden didn’t even smile big when they did his force ghost effect in the ROTJ was insulting.

The one thing that Shaw did right as a force ghost was showing Anakin smile giving the idea that Anakin was finally happy and content and maybe proud of Luke and at peace being a ghost completely normal alongside his friend Obi Wan and his mentor Yoda

As far as Shaw as Vader ..I also liked it that he was older , he’s not immortal , you can’t expect him to look like a burnt young man forever, Luke was a full grown man when he finally saw his father’s face.

Lucas was smart to show that Anakin should be an older man in the ROTJ despite the disfigured face

It wouldn’t be logical if Vader never aged

 

[Dark_Knight_89]

I don’t care about the Force lore..the fact that Hayden didn’t even smile big when they did his force ghost effect in the ROTJ was insulting.

The one thing that Shaw did right as a force ghost was showing Anakin smile giving the idea that Anakin was finally happy and content and maybe proud of Luke and at peace being a ghost completely normal alongside his friend Obi Wan and his mentor Yoda

As far as Shaw as Vader ..I also liked it that he was older , he’s not immortal , you can’t expect him to look like a burnt young man forever, Luke was a full grown man when he finally saw his father’s face.

Lucas was smart to show that Anakin should be an older man in the ROTJ despite the disfigured face

It wouldn’t be logical if Vader never aged

Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader was only 45 when he died, not an old man. Hayden Christensen (41) is rapidly approaching that age.