The Force is with me (Star Wars)

[butterfly]

So, I've now rewatched the entirety of the Imperial Trilogy (saw someone use the terms 'Republic Trilogy' and 'Imperial Trilogy' and went... oh! That's a much better way of putting it than 'Original' or 'Classic' versus 'Prequel'.).

So, I can't see Darth Vader anymore. All I see is Anakin Skywalker. There were several moments, over the course of the films, when I would say, "Oh, Ani," in this mournful way. Because... it hurts, to see him like that, trapped in so many ways.

And Luke and Leia have such cute kisses (I may have to make myself an icon of at least one of them). The two surprise ones in ANH, the big 'showing Han' one in ESB and then I could swear that Leia kisses Luke after she's recovered him from Cloud City (and I think he kisses her good-bye in RotJ).

Han really reminded me of Anakin, which was amusing, because so does Leia! Like attracting to like, I suppose.

I loved the new films so much because of how they've changed my view of Anakin, Obi-Wan, Yoda, and Artoo and Threepio. The whole thing is just so much deeper. I was amazed at how much I cared about all the characters.

The first two movies of the Republic Trilogy have already arrived via netflix. I was shocked at the speed! I now plan on watching them tonight.

Comments

[honorh.livejournal.com]

*So* need to borrow the Imperial Trilogy (nice term!) and watch it with the Republic Trilogy in mind. Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker has become such a deep character now. I want to see his redemption again.

Yes, Leia does remind me of her father, with her quick temper and daring. Luke resembles Padme especially in RotJ, with his Jedi reserve. Vader/Anakin offered the same temptation to both Luke and Padme, and both mother and son refused it--though it broke the mother, and nearly the son, they were both too strong and moral to go where Vader had gone.

And I do think it'd disturb Leia to realize just how much Anakin and Han favor each other, with one crucial difference: Anakin never got jaded.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

*So* need to borrow the Imperial Trilogy (nice term!) and watch it with the Republic Trilogy in mind. Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker has become such a deep character now. I want to see his redemption again.

It also really helps with the whole 'feeling down about Anakin's fall' issue. Being able to watch his love for his son save him, after hearing him say that love can't save people... it's nice. He finally understands that saving people isn't all about their physical body.

Yes, Leia does remind me of her father, with her quick temper and daring. Luke resembles Padme especially in RotJ, with his Jedi reserve. Vader/Anakin offered the same temptation to both Luke and Padme, and both mother and son refused it--though it broke the mother, and nearly the son, they were both too strong and moral to go where Vader had gone.

Plus, Padme could see where it was taking Anakin and Luke could see where it had taken him. Plus, Padme had a strong dislike of the idea of a dictatorship in the first place. Oh, I wished she'd realized (or been able to admit to herself) that Anakin hadn't been teasing her about thinking the system doesn't work. That he meant it.

And I do think it'd disturb Leia to realize just how much Anakin and Han favor each other, with one crucial difference: Anakin never got jaded.

Very true. Anakin was still an idealist when he fell. Hell, still trying to be one twenty years down the road, when he's going on about 'ending this conflict' and bringing peace. He just couldn't see that the way you do something does matter, that some roads, once taken, destroy the very thing that you want to save. So his idea of 'bringing peace' meant 'killing everyone who disagrees' ('they should be made to agree')

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

I feel the same way! I watched ANH and ESB last weekend and it's always Anakin. There were so many scenes that played differently after the Republic Trilogy. You're right, that's a great way to title them.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

I really can't not see Anakin now. Now that I know he's trapped in there.

There were so many scenes that played differently after the Republic Trilogy.

And for the better, I think -- they're so much deeper to me now.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's a brilliant idea for naming the trilogies. I shall adopt it at once.

And yes, I see him as Anakin throughout the Imperial Trilogy now, too.

Luke and Leia: guiltily,I agree.*g*

Han and Leia and Anakin: fernwithy's "Father's Heart" saga which centres on Leia really plays on her similarity with Anakin, and "The Penitent" which is something she cowrote with a couple of other authors and is an AU in which Anakin stands trial after RotJ plays on the Han similarities (which shock the hell out of Han for a moment when he realizes that Darth Vader, of all the people, gets what flying means to him...). Anakin laughing when he and Obi-Wan pursue Zam because of the speed thrill, or saying "this is where the fun begins" in RotS? Definitely something Han would do as well.

And amen to the Republic Trilogy making the story, and the characters, so much deeper.

[thalia-seawood.livejournal.com]

Han pursueing the stormtroopers on the Death Star without being armed now makes me think of Anakin as well. It's so spontaneous. :-) They have this tendency on rushing into things without thinking too much.

Hm, just realized that the plan to rescue the chancellor in ROTS is even more impulsive than the plan to rescue Leia in ANH. "Next move? - Spring the trap." I mean how more detailed can you get. :-)
Seems as if Anakin's impulsiveness has rubbed off on Obi-Wan, too.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

I love what the RotS novelization says about that, about Anakin's influence softening Obi-Wan, making him into the great Jedi he was capable of being. I think that there's enough evidence of that in the movies to make that argument.

[thalia-seawood.livejournal.com]

Yes, I like the novelization a lot. I got the feeling Stover really cared about all the characters.

His Obi-Wan + Anakin scenes are great. (Thanks to slash it has become impossible to write Obi-Wan/Anakin. :-) Though Stover's scene about Obi-Wan contemplating Anakin's butt is actually close to crossing the boundary. :-)))

I have to admit that ever since ROTS, I'm looking for Obi-Wan/Anakin stories. I'm looking for plot-driven stories though and they aren't that easy to find (yet).

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Well, imadra_blue is starting a plotting Obi-Wan/Anakin story. The first chapter is really good.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's a brilliant idea for naming the trilogies. I shall adopt it at once.

Now, I really wish that I could remember where I read that! It does work so well.

Han and Leia and Anakin: fernwithy's "Father's Heart" saga which centres on Leia really plays on her similarity with Anakin, and "The Penitent" which is something she cowrote with a couple of other authors and is an AU in which Anakin stands trial after RotJ plays on the Han similarities (which shock the hell out of Han for a moment when he realizes that Darth Vader, of all the people, gets what flying means to him...). Anakin laughing when he and Obi-Wan pursue Zam because of the speed thrill, or saying "this is where the fun begins" in RotS? Definitely something Han would do as well.

I loved hearing that line echo from Republic to Imperial. Those stories do sound interesting. How well do they mesh with what we now know from RotS?

[selenak.livejournal.com]

"Father's Heart" (http://fanfic.theforce.net/pdafanfic.asp?ID=368) which is a fantastic story set between the trilogies, showing us a strange relationship develop between Leia and Anakin which goes from odd friendship to the hostility we see at the start of ANH, holds up perfectly, with the only problem being that Leia remembers her mother, which is so George's fault.*g*

"The Penitent" is down right now but will be up again in a few days. There are a few more continuity problems with it because it was written after TPM, so for example it's Amidala, not Padme, and the assumption is she never stopped being Queen of the Naboo until the fall. Otherwise, though, it holds up well, though I'd say the depth of Obi-Wan's attachment to Anakin is underestimated, but hey, again, written after TPM.

Let me also recommend this, also by Fernwithy: "Family Portrait" (http://fanfic.theforce.net/pdafanfic.asp?ID=664), a terrific story set between TPM and AotC (but written after AotC was released, so with knowledge of it), centring on the relationship between Obi-Wan and Anakin, and fits very well with RotS. It has plot, it has character, and it should be a published book because it's way better than what I've read of the EU, which admittedly isn't much.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

"Father's Heart" which is a fantastic story set between the trilogies, showing us a strange relationship develop between Leia and Anakin which goes from odd friendship to the hostility we see at the start of ANH, holds up perfectly, with the only problem being that Leia remembers her mother, which is so George's fault.

Hee, clearly.

"The Penitent" is down right now but will be up again in a few days. There are a few more continuity problems with it because it was written after TPM, so for example it's Amidala, not Padme, and the assumption is she never stopped being Queen of the Naboo until the fall. Otherwise, though, it holds up well, though I'd say the depth of Obi-Wan's attachment to Anakin is underestimated, but hey, again, written after TPM.

Which is funny, because I always figured that Obi-Wan cared about Anakin a great deal, just from the way he talked about him in ANH. I wasn't expecting the level of attachment that we did get (because, if I had been, I would have been paying more attention to the Republic Trilogy the first time around, let me tell you), but I knew that Obi-Wan had loved Anakin. Just the wistful way that he says, "And he was a good friend." always struck me as one of the more powerful moments of the movie, before I saw any of the rest. Luke was, I think, my favorite character before the Republic Trilogy came out, but Obi-Wan was second. Of course, I didn't care anywhere near as much about them then as I do now, but I did like the movies. I just wasn't a 'fan'.

Let me also recommend this, also by Fernwithy: "Family Portrait", a terrific story set between TPM and AotC (but written after AotC was released, so with knowledge of it), centring on the relationship between Obi-Wan and Anakin, and fits very well with RotS. It has plot, it has character, and it should be a published book because it's way better than what I've read of the EU, which admittedly isn't much.

I will definitely check it out. I've read a few SW essays by fernwithy that I thought were interesting.

[thalia-seawood.livejournal.com]

Fernwithy's stories are all excellent! She's among the very best Anakin/Vader writers out there. She really does a brilliant job in portraying him.

[thalia-seawood.livejournal.com]

Yes, now you *care* when Vader appears in ANH. Before the Republic Trilogy (I will so adopt this term - it's great) he's just the villain entering the scene. But now you see how great he was and what has been lost and you just hope for him...
I think watching ANH will also be more intense, because you'll be worried that Vader might kill Luke or Leia without knowing they are his children.
EBS has a new twist: When Vader reveals to Luke that he's his father it's a different kind of shock. Not "Wow, he's Luke's father", but "Wow, Vader is acknowledging his past again", because that's obviously something both Obi-Wan and Yoda have never considered at all. (See Yoda's: "Told you he did?. Unexpected this is.")

And I can't state often enough how absolutely brilliant Hayden Christensen is. He really took over Vader's body language and speech patterns and blended them with Jake Lloyd's performance. The way he walks, e.g. into Palpatine's office when the fight between Mace and Palpatine is already on going, is just perfect. Or the way he stands in meditations, turns his head, ... It's all there. I think that's a big part of why we now can see Anakin in Vader so clearly.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

And I can't state often enough how absolutely brilliant Hayden Christensen is. He really took over Vader's body language and speech patterns and blended them with Jake Lloyd's performance. The way he walks, e.g. into Palpatine's office when the fight between Mace and Palpatine is already on going, is just perfect. Or the way he stands in meditations, turns his head, ... It's all there. I think that's a big part of why we now can see Anakin in Vader so clearly.

Hayden did such a great job. And I have a lot of respect for little Jake Lloyd now, too (part of that was seeing the audition with the other two boys -- I agree with Lucas that Jake had a quality, a sweet naturalness about him).

[thalia-seawood.livejournal.com]

I agree about Jake Lloyd. It makes me angry that he gets bashed by so many people in the SW fandom. He was a little boy who played a little boy convincingly. He was not supposed to be creepy, but a kind-hearted enthusiastic boy. So I don't agree with the popular idea that Haley Joel Osmond should have been cast for "young Vader".
During repeated viewing of TMP I also realized that Jake integrates some of Vader's body language quite nicely, e.g. the way he sits in the speeder and is totally concentrated; how he tilts his head at times; how he points at Qui-Gon to emphasize his words.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

During repeated viewing of TMP I also realized that Jake integrates some of Vader's body language quite nicely, e.g. the way he sits in the speeder and is totally concentrated; how he tilts his head at times; how he points at Qui-Gon to emphasize his words.

I really was impressed by that, this time around. There's a great deal of character continuity.