FrankT said:

slask said:

Anakin's real look in his 40s is the one we see when Luke removes the helmet. His ghost had an unreal appearence, so Lucas decided to show him as he appeared last time he was by the light side.

A vast oversight on his behalf, because the last time he was alive (on either side) he looked like Sebastian Shaw, and Obi-Wan and Yoda's ghosts look exactly as they did when they died. And don't tell me "he metaphorically died when he turned to the dark side" - again, he looked like Sebastian Shaw when he redeemed himself - see what I'm saying?

It's not about metaphors. The only ghosts we see in the saga are the ones of light side Jedi. "Old Shaw" was not a Jedi, not anymore.

The trouble with that change in the '04 is Lucas's lazyness. Instead of putting Christensen's head from an unused take on Shaw's body, he could have had him playing the part specifically for that scene. It would have been much better.