On a scale of 1-10, how convincing was Hayden as Anakin/Darth Vader?

Based purely on Obi-Wan's description in the original Star Wars movie, on a scale of 1 to 10, I'd rate Hayden about a 0.

On a scale of 1-10 i rate him a negative -10.

Even on a superficial level Hayden does not give the feeling of Anakin from the description of the original trilogy.  Hayden is a young actor so maybe someday he might make a good movie, learn to act.  But he was terrible in the prequels, and jumper.  Also in Awake.   Not going to go out of my way to see any more movies with him in them because he sucks.

Lucas could have cast an actor who could pull off the nuance a character like Anakin should have been.  He should have written the turn believably, actually had Anakin fall from grace instead of starting out an asshole and a murderer to being an asshole and a murderer. 

There were no layers to his characterization , and what lucas did was not even remotely mediocre it was pitifully bad.  Hire a good screenwriter and character director and a good actor and the star wars saga would need not to have gone out as a joke that people laugh about wooden dialogue and unbelievable romance and zero chemistry.

I mean Anakin only reason for turning to the darkside is to save padme then he tries to kill her, laughably bad.  Then instead of living for her two newly born babies padme dies of a broken heart.  I wanted to scream at the theater screen.  I thought only a moron could so ineptly carry through these three movies when you have the money and the talent all around you there is no excuse for 3 bad movies.  Episode 1 and II were bad films but episode III was an abomination.

Vaderisnothayden said:

I'd rate him less than 0. Hayden as Anakin is some of the worst casting in the history of film.

This just in: vaderisnothayden doesn't think Hayden was a good Vader.  Film at 11.

I tease. :-D

skyjedi2005 said:

On a scale of 1-10 i rate him a negative -10.

Dammit! I was going to say that! You beat me to it.

-10 for me too. And I am not just saying that to show how much I hate the PT, I really felt Hayden was the opposite of convincing as Darth Vader. In fact, he did a hell of a job in not convincing us, and for that fantastic job, he definately deserves the highest marks in the opposite direction.

I dunno, even as a guy on fire who is slowly sliding into a molten river, he fails as Darth Vader. The Darth Vader I know would have used the force to force choke the piss out of Obi-Wan who he standing on the bank expressing his disappointment and undying love for Anakin while simultaniously watching his flesh burn off of his body.

Except that the way Hayden delivered it, it seemed more like a four year old throwing a temper tantrum after being put in time out rather than a turncoat possessed by unquenchable rage.

For his portrayal of what George wanted (a creepy, leery, whiny, bratty, self-absorbed sociopath), I'd give him a 4.5. Mediocre job. He did manage to be plenty creepy, whiny, bratty, and self-absorbed, but the woodenness with which he delivers virtually all of his lines makes him adequate and forgettable at best.

For his portral of Anakin Skywalker as described in the OT and Darth Vader as depicted in the OT, I'm with C3PX and SkyJedi: -10, maybe even -11. Deplorable representation totally untrue to the character previously developed. I can live with a few minor continuity errors, but I hate how they butcher Anakin's character in this trainwreck of a trilogy. Better to forget the PT ever existed than to watch the OT and try to reconcile the two Anakins, as well as the two Vaders.

C3PX said:

I dunno, even as a guy on fire who is slowly sliding into a molten river, he fails as Darth Vader. The Darth Vader I know would have used the force to force choke the piss out of Obi-Wan who he standing on the bank expressing his disappointment and undying love for Anakin while simultaniously watching his flesh burn off of his body.

Or loosened the gravel under Obi-Wan's feet, so he lost his footing. Or hurled lava over his own body towards Obi-Wan. Mustafar had too interesting of a terrain for my version of Vader not to exploit it.

That's why I think it would have been more acceptable to have Vader become immediately "unavailable" after being de-limbed. No romantic confessions, no exchange of words at all. As soon as he's defeated, Vader is somehow dragged away from the scene.

I've spent accumulated hours thinking of a scenario of how to do this. My favorite one I've come up with is Obi-Wan Force Pushing Vader (after he was de-limbed), off a giant narrow cliff. Obi-Wan pries Vader's lightsaber from the hand on the disembodied arm, he walks to the edge of the cliff, looks down far below, but doesn't see Vader. So he assumes Vader fell straight into the river and was destroyed.

Then we don't see Vader until ANH. We don't need to know exactly where he landed. All we need to know is that Obi-Wan defeated him, and he was horrifically injured further from the lava afterwards (a given because of the new suit, iron lung, and burn marks later revealed in ROTJ).

rcb said:

one line that will always haunt me from that scene is, "I HATE YOU!" just the way he said it, and realizing how close they were. it just sucked.

And this is a fact that cannot be emphasized enough. Those three words (it just sucked) sum up that whole scene, and the entirety of the PT beautifully. ;)

As far as choking Obi-Wan being the last thing on his mind, he is taking the time to yell out "I hate you" in rage while burning to death. Seems like trying to hurting Obi-Wan's feelings would be the last thing on his mind. The darkside is suppose to make you stronger, seems like while Anakin was burning to death, filled with rage of his friends betrayal, filled with fear, knowing that death would soon take him, filled with suffering as his flesh melts off his body and his internal organs begin to cook, this guy ought to have been nearly bursting at the seams with the darkside at this moment.

Surely all that fear, uncertainty, hatred, and suffering built up inside him, he could have lashed out at Obi-Wan with an attempt to physically hurt him, rather than just shouting like a spoiled child who isn't getting his way and wants to make his daddy feel badly by saying he hates him.

DarkFather said:

I've spent accumulated hours thinking of a scenario of how to do this. My favorite one I've come up with is Obi-Wan Force Pushing Vader (after he was de-limbed), off a giant narrow cliff. Obi-Wan pries Vader's lightsaber from the hand on the disembodied arm, he walks to the edge of the cliff, looks down far below, but doesn't see Vader. So he assumes Vader fell straight into the river and was destroyed.

Then we don't see Vader until ANH. We don't need to know exactly where he landed. All we need to know is that Obi-Wan defeated him, and he was horrifically injured further from the lava afterwards (a given because of the new suit, iron lung, and burn marks later revealed in ROTJ).

I think it should have been more tragic. And should probably have happened at the end of Episode 2. I don't think he should have lost all his limbs at that point either. Vader has years of fighting ahead of him to lose limbs. From the time Anakin falls to the darkside to the time we meet Vader in ANH, he is suppose to have fought and killed many Jedi. That leave plenty of chances for slipups and lost appendages. It would have worked a lot better had Obi-Wan obviously beaten Anakin, knocked his saber out of his hand and then disengaged his own saber.

At this moment he could have begged Anakin to come back, to see that good that is still in him, at which point, Anakin not wanting to give up so easily reaches out with the darkside to attack Obi-Wan, they fight with the force for a bit, then suddenly and unexpectedly the ground under Anakin's feet gives way. Obi-Wan not prepared to let his best friend die lunges forward catches his arm. There is a quick, "Anakin, let me pull you up" scene, maybe a few more words exchanged, then defiantly, Anakin either reaches over with his non robotic arm and detatches his robotic one, allowing him to plumet into the black smoke below, or Obi-Wan has a hold of his good arm, and Anakin reaches over with his robotic arm and claws into Obi-Wan's arm causing him to let go.

I like the idea of him disappearing into thick clouds of smoke that we know are over a molten river, we and Obi-Wan are to assume he is dead, but it gives the possibility of him surviving. I also like the idea of Obi-Wan trying to save him up until the very end, rather than intentionally killing him. I don't think Obi-Wan would have accepted that his friend was gone forever. Also it fits with "Obi-Wan once thought as you do".

I think this should have been the climax to the second film, and that sometime near the end of the last film we should have been introduced to Darth Vader, but never be told directly that it Anakin, he is just the new right hand man of the Emperor. Sometime between films Obi-Wan figures it out, which will only be revealed to us in Return of the Jedi. In this film (ep.3) Obi-Wan should have dealt with his friends death. There could have been a touching scene where Obi goes to visit his fallen comrade's wife, she could tell him that she just found out she is pregnant, and right before he leaves he could turn to her and say, "if there is anything I can do to help, just know that I am here for you." This should have been the very last we hear of Anakin's widow in the PT. This leaves just enough connection that we can connect the dots.

I believe by "cloud your judgment" means thing like, say, trying to kill you wife to save her life, and deciding your best friend is the key to all the universe problems, etc. The darkside would do a pretty lousy job if the people who have their minds clouded by it sit back like idiots and die in extreme pain while being preached at by the person who defeated them. Causing you to lose control is causes you to lose control as in a burst of anger, like hacking someone's hand off because they threaten your sister. I cannot imagine the darkside making you lose control as in not realizing you could hurt someone when you could.

Imagine if in Return of the Jedi when Luke began to give into his anger and drift toward the darkside that he sat down, crossed his arms and started shouting, "I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!!!" like a little kid, instead of screaming out, charging at Vader and violently slashing at him until he took off his hand.

The darkside is suppose to cause death and destructon. Not dumbfound people into giving up and letting the good guy get away without a scratch. Have you ever been in a situation where you feel totally defeated? Ever been beaten up or humiliated by someone? Imagine a group of thugs beat you down, you're out numbered and you feel completely weak and helpless. It is an awful feeling. As you're watching these cock monkeys walk away from you laughing, your mouth filled with the taste of blood, your body numb from the beating, you'd probably wish you could bounce right back up and beat each of them to a pulp. I imagine that must have been how Anakin felt after having his freakin limbs hacked off. If there was ever times I wish I could reach out to some dark force and inflict great pain with it, it would be at one of those moments when I'm lying bruised and bleeding, completely humiliated and beaten. At moments like that I'd give anything to have the power to reverse the tides.

The whole success of the saga hinged on Anakin acting like a  2 year old on mustafar.  Whose daddy has just denied him a cookie.

Way to Go George.

I mean this in the end is how Lucas great arc of the story of the fall and redemption of a classic screen villain was reduced to.

I mean if he really wanted 1-6 to be a super epic he should have done better writing, better directing and better casting.  I mean even with Hayden and the minimalist script where only the very end of the film in Episode III leads into episode IV, it still did not have to be done in such an inept and lazy fashion.

I've given George and the Prequels a lot of slack and leeway, but the whole success of the prequels hinged on making Anakins turn believable. What we got was mad magazine level of laughable and self parody which also was done on indiana jones IV.  If George got so old he no longer believed in the material and decided to go for the lowest of lows derision and mockery of his own works, replacing adventure stories and the human element with liberal politics.  It is time for him to retire.

So okay Lucas grew up and his heart died and he became a businessman over being an artist, still does not excuse not giving star wars over to someone who could do it justice.

In the end it turned out so bad there really is no excuse for not hiring a different director or screenwriter to help.

Episode III Anakin " If you're not with me then you're my enemy"

Obi Wan "Only a sith deals in absolutes. i will do what i must"

Anybody else notice Hayden Delivering a Bushism taken directly from Bush United Nations Talk.  I think it was something like "If your not with us then you're against us"  Bush most likely slamming France for remaining out of the second iraq war.

Hardy har har.  George made a joke, Bush is a sith lord.  I hope Lucas is happy with Ruining Star Wars and Indiana Jones for tirades against the right wing.

Well... i didn't like at all his performance in the part, most of the time he is not in character, just here saying his lines, but i'm a bit indulgent 'cause of the writing and the directing of Lucas. We all know the good acting and dialogues from the OT didn't came from GL: thanks to Kurtz, Huyck, Katz, Kasdan and Kershner (wow! lots of K!!!) and to the actors 'see the work done by Ford and Kershner on Han).

On 1 to 10? 3...

McGregor was a lot more convincing in the part of Obi Wan (and a far better actor...)