Bring_My_Shuttle said:

What good, selfless acts did PT Anakin perform?

He had sex with Padme in order to allow his son to be born so that he could be redeemed when he killed The Emperor before The Emperor could kill his son.

I'm the type of guy that can normally just take the changes with a grain of salt and say "oh fxcking well" and move on with my life. This alteration was a little bit much though. Despite the fact that Hayden had an awkward look of "Yeahhh, sorry about all that killing stuff..." on his face, it was just insincere. When I was little, I would cry when I saw Anakin at the end because he looked so peaceful, and so happy.

They should have done something with like, Hayden Christianson fading into the old-guy Anakin. That would have been an acceptable change in my books.

thewolfnears said:

Paramecium302 said:

I'm the type of guy that can normally just take the changes with a grain of salt and say "oh fxcking well" and move on with my life. This alteration was a little bit much though. Despite the fact that Hayden had an awkward look of "Yeahhh, sorry about all that killing stuff..." on his face, it was just insincere. When I was little, I would cry when I saw Anakin at the end because he looked so peaceful, and so happy.

They should have done something with like, Hayden Christianson fading into the old-guy Anakin. That would have been an acceptable change in my books.

 

Speaking of which, is there any truth to Hayden Christensen's claim as to not knowing he was going to be edited into the end of "Jedi"; I read that some where

Hmm, not sure. I didn't hear that one. I did however hear that Hayden got all butthurt when someone made fun of him in some parody, and apparently actually called George Lucas to tell him lol. I think George just said something along the lines of "Get used to it."

But no, I didn't hear this rumor. Interesting thought, though, but it looks like it was filmed intentionally for that scene... so I feel like he would have had some idea of it.

Paramecium302 said:

Hmm, not sure. I didn't hear that one. I did however hear that Hayden got all butthurt when someone made fun of him in some parody, and apparently actually called George Lucas to tell him lol. I think George just said something along the lines of "Get used to it."

I'll bet it was that scene in Robot Chicken where they call him "you special edition motherfucker"... heh

Paramecium302 said:

But no, I didn't hear this rumor. Interesting thought, though, but it looks like it was filmed intentionally for that scene... so I feel like he would have had some idea of it.

It was recently discovered that it was an alternate angle from a scene in one of the prequels. I wish I could find the thread for it.

My first reaction upon seeing him?  Honestly, it was "Who the hell is that?"  I really had no idea who this goober was, but I was able to piece together from context that it was supposed to be Vader.

The two or three scenes I can actually remember from the prequels do not feature Hayden Christensen, which actually speaks well of him because my only memories of the PT are of the bits that caused me to leave the theatre.

silverwheel said:

It ruined one of the most powerful lessons of the series.  The ghost of Old Anakin symbolized that while he could not undo the many terrible things he had done, he could still make amends and seek forgiveness.  Old Anakin symbolized a wasted lifetime.  Hayden's ghost basically gives the character a free pass.  Plus, Old Anakin fits with what we had just seen in the movie - a tired old man trapped in an iron lung, desperately wanting to get out.  Now, in death, he has his release.  The notion that his ghost can just "go back" makes no sense, literally or metaphorically.

This. Would somebody buy this guy a beer?

EDIT- Oh, one other thing. I used to be fairly onboard with the special editions. I felt like there was some merit in altering the trilogy. Ghost Hayden was the first step in me seeing the error of my ways.

You will not find many people around here who will disagree with you...

An original version - before all the 1997 Special Edition extra's - is already available on DVD as part of the Limited Edition releases of 2006 as a "bonus disc" to the versions you already have. These are are from perfect but better than the other DVD release.

Hayden in ROTJ cancels out the moral of the whole movie. George Lucas back then was not as secular and was a lot more focused on the moral lesson. 

Darth Vader DID become good at the end when he sacrificed himself to save Luke. That's what "Old Anakin" as the ghost shows. 

Luke: I've got to save you!

Anakin: You already have, Luke.  You were right...you were right about me. 

Growing up I always assumed that Anakin meant that Luke saved him from going to hell or something like that. 

But whatever the original intent was, Hayden at the end completely cancels it out.

WTH was my first reaction to seeing Hayden. I was like what happened to the old guy Anakin? 

My first reaction was one of shock and disgust, quickly followed by anger...

otaxe said:

Microwaving the 2004 ROTJ dvd

Isn't it supposed to be how Anakin sees himself? That's what I always thought and it's never upset me. Saying that the so-called apologists will go to any lengths to rationalise it, well it's no different (and certainly no worse) than folk rationalising their hatred for the fact that George Lucas dares to continue to draw breath - and to think, all of us here probably once thought the fella was the best thing since sliced bread. Ah well, let's not get bogged down on that note, I just find it a little depressing.

My son - who has never seen the scene with Sebastian Shaw as Anakin's ghost - pointed out to me this morning that Anakin never worse those clothes when he was alive. Ashamed to say I never noticed it when I first saw the so-called Special Edition and I was considerably older than he is when I first saw it. How could I explain this to him? I couldn't and didn't even try. "They messed up" was all I could offer by way of explanation.

walking_carpet said:

one day lucas will insert jimmy smits into ANH freaking out because he sees the death star ready to blow him away.  :(

You know... if Lucas still had Star Wars in his big fat grip, I would bet actual money that he would make this change. Thankfully, now that Disney owns it and Lucas is out of the picture, we can finally rest assured that the constant butchering of these classic films will stop!

...hopefully.