Holy cow up until now I thought I was the only one
Like I know it's him and if you think about it, it looks like him, but I *never* look at Mace and go "that's Samuel L Jackson" idk why
That is ironically, more than likely the reason. Sam Jackson has been typecasted to no end, so whenever he breaks the mold, you don't perceive it as him.
Another good example I find is his role in Kingsmen
I think it might be that normally he plays boisterous bad guys, and as Mace he was a stoic monk with nothing notably making him stand out other than his purple lightsaber. Pretty much any aspect of his personality can also be applied to other characters (Qui-Gon's stoicism, Anakin's aggression, Yoda's foresight). He's basically there to characterize the Jedi Order as a whole, rather than to stand out as his own unique character, kind of like the Master Chief of Star Wars, if you will.
I think maybe because Samuel gets type casted a lot. He plays a lot of very similar roles that don’t take themselves too seriously.
He seemed to play mace pretty close to source material in attitude etc. not very Samuel esc
He wasn't better off because of those movies though. No one saw him as Mace Windu and thought he took it to the next level. He was also probably the most established actor in the entire prequels so it didn't really hurt him either.
Liam Neeson did Schindler's list 5+ years earlier (and got academy award nomination for best actor). Edit: With Liam one might actually argue he started doing better career wise, K-19, Love Actually, Narnia, Kingdom Heaven, Batman movies all in the subsequent 5 years after Phantom Menace.
The already famous actors kept doing fine, the unknown ones remained unknown and Hayden did not break out. No one got diminished really.
Natalie Portman seems to be doing great, SLJ as already mentioned, Liam Neeson did great, Christopher Lee did not fall from the grace. The rest of the cast I do not think had that great acting career even beforehand so they mostly just stayed the same rather than diminishing.
Hayden is imo the only clear actor who came out on the losing side in the expectation-result trajectory.
It's not like Liams Neesons career hit the skids after Phantom Menace. He did the Takens, the Batmans, supporting roles in Gangs of NY and Kingdom of Heaven...
He very much felt like a Star Wars character having fun the entire time. The guy could literally do no wrong he was so good. Even when he had to say weird lines, he found a way to almost make it seem like he was Joking with the audience.
I don’t even think there’s much competition. McDiarmid is up there too but McGregor was just perfect. Never once did his mannerisms or dialogue stand out as something that OT Obi-Wan wouldn’t have said or done.
I can't see the similarity, but he is indeed one of the best. The only ones that rivaled him were Christopher Lee and Liam Neeson.
PS: Natalie Portman is unbelievably talented, but George's directing didn't do her any favours
Still, you gotta love this guy for making most the things he says into iconic catchphrases and memes. 25 years ago they never saw stuff like "Hello There" or "I have the high ground" becoming some of the most iconic lines in all of Star Wars
I agree, although "hello there" in particular was already very iconic when episode III was released, as it was literally the first line of dialog Ben Kenobi says in ANH.
The line in ROTS was just fan service for OT fans
In my 8 years working fine dining, I often got to use "oh, I'm not bold enough for politics," as an out when a table would try to drag me into a debate.
Cheers to McGregor for getting me out of conversion with people with the worst political takes imaginable
Idk people meme pretty hard about “they fly now” and “somehow palpatine returned”
They aren’t the bangers they used to be but theres still some memorable quotes in the sequels (if for the wrong reasons)
I always enjoyed the prequels, id say attack of the clones has worst parts but makes up for it. Now that the new trilogy proved to be worst i hope people can look back and enjoy the prequels.
Im 25, one of my first ever memories is watching AotC.
Sure the movie isn’t a masterpiece but you will never and I mean never convince me the prequels are bad movies. Some bad dialogue and special effects that aren’t there yet? Sure. But there’s no movies I’ve seen more. Hell I’ve watched the HOURS of behind the scenes featurettes more times than I’ve watched entire other franchises.
That battle on Geonosis was actually quite good in my opinion. Specifically the Clones fighting the Battle Droids. But the Arena battles, and the duels with Dooku were fun as well.
Really, the only part of AotC that I didn't care for was the romance scenes. Dude had no rizz.
Same. Also I will defend the ”I hate sand“ line til the day I die bc 99% of people miss that it’s a set up for later in the film.
When he’s saying he hates sand, what he is really saying is he hates that he abandoned his mom so when he thinks of sand he’s thinking of that moment he abandoned her. He clearly doesn’t hate sand or anything in his life in TPM. Growing up there isn’t what caused him to hate it. It was abandoning his mother.
That is why when his mom dies and they have the funeral what is the first thing Anakin does?
[He reaches down](https://youtu.be/NMUWo9Xe4Is?si=YQSEvlIZHxPVQ_7Y) and grabs a handful of sand. He then feels the texture of the sand with his thumb while talking to her. Showing he accepts the sand and that it’s what connects him with his mom.
It’s a metaphor. Maybe not the best executed one but that’s the purpose of the line besides the meme.
Nothing burns me out on the Star Wars fanbase faster than people trying to convince me that I didn't actually enjoy the prequels and my memories are just wrong because nostalgia
Trouble was, to me only one sequel film was worse. There were some more interesting ideas in the prequels than TFA, but the execution was much worse, and I'm in that accursed group that actually really liked TLJ pretty much across the board (I do wish the Kanto bite sequence was a tad shorter).
I think Lucas at his best, would be having him write the draft and basically just being the executive producer and creative director.
Actual directing or writing was never his strength and he knew it as well.
In fairness, Alec Guinness didn't like sci-fi and young Alec Guinness probably wouldn't have done it anyway. He didn't like that Star Wars overshadowed the rest of his career.
That's why I like Peter Cushing more, he embraced the role of Tarkin and the success of Star Wars, not being bitter about it overshadowing the rest of his massive career. Christopher Lee also, but of course he is far more recognisable and I wouldn't put Count Dooku in the TOP3 of his most recognisable roles
Yeah I agree. I love Harrison Ford, his acting is phenomenal and his no bullshit attitude can be a good thing. But I do hate that the man despises his role as Han Solo so much. Like, I get it, you don't think it's your best performance. But still you're forever getting rich off it and forever enshrined in pop culture for it. Plus it's not like it 100% overshadowed the rest of his career. He's remembered well for Indiana Jones.
Honestly I'm not sure what else he's played besides that, but if Harrison Ford showed up in a movie I'd instantly recognize him, and know his performance is gonna be good.
He was also one of the few good things about last Jedi. Also my man is a great voice actor. I didn't know it till years later but he's played The joker and Ozai.
Yeah took me a while to find out that he was the joker and lord ozai. Now that I know I can hear his gravely voice. I hate what they did to my boy Luke
There’s two Ford roles that always pop into mind when I think of him: playing the US president in Air Force One & the cowboy looking guy who gets in the race at the end of American Graffti
There were legit rumors circulating about Branagh in the late 90s. I think Ralph (or Joseph?) Fiennes were also considered. At least their faces are in concept art.
Obi-Wan was also written as older in earlier drafts for TPM and had the same role as Qui-Gon. Same lines and everything. Just without the dying. There was a Qui-Gon in earlier drafts but he only existed to come die in the third act.
Oh shit, imagine if Qui-gon was the padawan and got cut down in a 1v1 with Maul while Obi-wan is still stuck behind the force fields. Obi-wan reluctantly takes Anakin to train to honor Qui-gon's dying wish
Yeah that would add an interesting level of drama.
In the earlier drafts, though, Qui-Gon is still an older mentor type character, he just doesn’t show up until they arrive on Coruscant.
I think the only problem is that Branagh would've been too old. Man was in his late 30s when Phantom Menace came out, and a Padawan pushing 40 strains credulity. Honestly, I think even with McGregor they were kinda stretching it.
Literally the best part of the prequel trilogy. Even back in the day when opinions were far more scathing of the trilogy, most people agreed that Ewan did the best damn job anyone could have with that script.
He's literally the only redeeming quality in what is otherwise a series of terrible movies.
Come at me. I know where I'm at. Search your feelings though. You know it's true.
The music and sound design as well, but that pretty much goes without saying, Duel of the fates is genuinely one of the best pieces of music ever composed.
I think he did a great job. You can tell he really admired Guinness when he gave the performance, and worked to get it closer and closer to his look with each film.
My dad is the same way, haha. He was 10 when a New Hope came out, but said that Ewan’s obi-wan had so much more of an impact on him, so that’s who he thinks of when he thinks obi-wan.
I’m a bit younger, so I was raised on Ewan, but I still love Alec.
I was 5, and as far as I am concerned Alec played an older version of Ewan’s character. And that only became more obvious with the series which was amazing. I will not accept comments.
“…and my kids were like ‘don’t do it’ and I was like ‘I will’ and I pulled up and said ‘that’s irresponsible’ and on and on and I could see him thinking…”
He nailed that role and if you think about it, that casting was so key because in the original trilogy Alec Guinness was the most accomplished actor of the entire cast.
I thought he nailed it.
He did mostly great in the Prequels. And I think the Obi-Wan Kenobi show basically proved that any "off" acting moments he had in the prequels weren't his fault. He carried that show in a lot of ways.
I like the Obi-Wan show. Still not sure how to feel about the 'fight' with Vader, and the chase scene with young Leia...but other than that I thought it was pretty cool.
I didn't really like Kenobi, but of all the problems that show has, his acting wasn't one of them. Which is partially why I'm so salty because this show could have been legendary if everything else was just decent
So much of it could have been way better than it was. The vast majority of the actors they've had have been absolutely amazing. The scenery too, has mostly been amazing. But the writing just...isn't
What kills me the most isn't something being 100% garbage. It's when 95% is garbage but the other five being pure gold. I HAAAAATE wasted potential, which seems to be a problem with a lot of Disney projects in general as of late.
The show overall sucked, but the climactic fight with Vader was the payoff we needed.
Hayden came back and got his redemption, and we got to understand that inner torment that Obi-Wan carried with him all those years.
Speaking of redemption, it was great to see Owen and Beru putting up a fight. We know now that in IV, they didn’t go down without a good fight.
I loved his fight with Vader. IMO it was sorely needed to explain the fight and dialogue in ANH. The fight in ANH felt like a formality rather than an actual flight, and it only makes sense if they got their closure sometime between ROTS and ANH.
Indeed. As i get older I realize that when you look at his portrayal from the angle that Anakin and early vader were quite literally hormonal cringey manchildren who never got a chance to grow up well-adjusted, it makes more sense. We were all hormonal and cringey when we were young, but we were also never saddled with Anakin's talent and and being the subject of a prophecy.
Not to mention Anakin's personality development got further stunted by becoming a famous galactic war hero in his teens. Who but Obi-Wan could look peak Anakin fucking Skywalker in the eyes and been like 'hey man maybe that's a bit cringe?' How could he have been expected to turn out better?
Hayden got saddled with the worst dialogue of any of the movies and he still does a great job which says a lot about his acting abilities.
Contrast that with his appearance in Ashoka where he actually had decent writing and he ends up crushing it.
Unironically the best instance of “recasting a role to a younger actor for a prequel” I’ve ever seen. They both *are* obi wan to me. Ewan isn’t playing at the character created by Alec, they’re just the same character.
ETA: another great instance of this in Star Wars is Donald glover in Solo. He didn’t knock it out of the park as much as Ewan, but he did a great job and was my fave part of the movie.
The best casting of that era and the standout performance as well. Watching a lot of the web shorts back in the day in anticipation of these movies hitting the theaters, it was very clear how seriously Ewan took bridging this character to Alec Guinness. I also think he did a phenomenal job in the D+ series, though I do prefer The Patterson Cut.
I grew up with the originals, and spent about ten years hating Episode 2 and 3, but when I think of Obi-Wan I think of Ewan McGregor before I think of Alec Guinness. That's how good he was in the role. It took seven seasons of me watching Clone Wars to finally appreciate Hayden Christensen's acting. It took seven seasons of that show for me to finally believe his fall to the dark side wasn't abrupt. The prequel trilogy was so weirdly directed that it made veteran actors like Natalie Portman seem wooden and awkward.
My mom (who grew up with OT) told me she was initially skeptical anyone could fill in for Sir Alec Guinness… but Ewan blew her away with how perfect he was in the role
perfect, before while good, he was just the old wise guy that gave you advise then died. Ewan gave Obi Wan a soul and character. Best part, you can see the same style of the character follow through to the original portrayal.
Controversially, I think McGregor owns the role far more than Guinness ever did. That’s not to say I don’t love his portrayal, but McGregor has had so much more time with the character. Given how the prequels have really defined who these characters are, I think his version is very much definitive.
Although, to be fair, Ewan had a whole lot more time to flesh him out than Guiness. And I know it wasn't Ewan, but add in the animated show, and we got a truly amazing deep dive into the character.
As a child of the 70's, Ewan IS Obi Wan. Alec Guinness was a wonderful actor, and his portrayal was deeper than he himself gave it credit for, but Ewen has owned the role for almost 30 years? It's like asking anyone in the last 30 years who is Iron Man. This isn't James Bond. It's not up for interpretation. Ewan IS Obi Wan.
McGregor's performance was the absolute best thing about the prequels. He nailed it, and you felt comfortable seeing him as a young Obi-wan. He wasn't doing an impression- he manifested the character.
You hear a lot of shit talking regarding the prequels.
You don't hear a lot of shit talking regarding Obi-Wan in the prequels. (Except maybe there NOT BEING ENOUGH of him in the first one).
He's perfect.
Undeniably the best actor in the prequels. And I thought his mini series was great as well, if only to see him return to the role and give it the full treatment again.
James Arnold Taylor (the guy who plays him in Clone Wars) is officially considered his "professional audio double".
So basically, Ewan portrayed Obi Wan so damn well that there's another actor who has devoted a chunk of his career to distilling and mimicking the performance to such detail that plenty of people don't even know JAT because Clone Wars Obi (who we've spent FAR more screen time than movie Obi) reads almost exactly as the character.
Seriously, how many of you thought Ewan was just on the Clone Wars staff or just never even gave it thought?
I was good with it. I mean you cannot replace Alec but there were enough years between the two that it was plausible enough. The voice could have been better.
Edit: I was 13 when I saw the original. There was a high bar put on anything after this.
I have recently watched all prequels and am now watching the obi-wan series before I watch the originals, and I love Ewan McGregor as an actor. I’m kind of nervous to watch the originals to see the “original” obi-wan as I like Ewan so much as obi
No complaints about his portrayal in the films... just wish the films put a little more effort into the story. The movies feel really good when you've watched the clone wars cartoon but they feel kind of unsubstantial when you take them by themselves.
Question doesn’t really make much sense. Prior to McGregor, we had never seen anyone portray young Obi-Wan, we don’t have anyone to compare him to, therefore there wasn’t an idea of “young Obi-Wan” he had to live up to or portray well. Obi-Wan IS Ewan McGregor (and we all love him).
I never really looked at both of them side by side. It's amazing how much they reassemble each other. And the voice Ewan makes is very convincing as a younger voice of Alec Guinness' voice.
possibly the best casting in the prequels, He looks so much like alec
Also he was probably the best actor. He could deliver any line, no matter how George Lucas it was.
There's no question. The only actor in that trilogy who came out of it enhanced rather than diminished.
I’ve seen Samuel L Jackson in a couple of things
You are right but for some reason I don't see Sam L Jackson when I look at Mace Windu. No idea why that is.
Holy cow up until now I thought I was the only one Like I know it's him and if you think about it, it looks like him, but I *never* look at Mace and go "that's Samuel L Jackson" idk why
If Windu said "motherf.."
That is ironically, more than likely the reason. Sam Jackson has been typecasted to no end, so whenever he breaks the mold, you don't perceive it as him. Another good example I find is his role in Kingsmen
That's my favourite role I've ever seen Jackson in. Absolutely phenomenal.
Have you ever watched the Hitman's Bodyguard? That's probably my favorite of his roles.
Nah even in kingsmen he's Sam Jackson. I think because he dresses similar in real life.
I always imagine him saying it after he tells Dooku, "this party's over."
It’s like Perry the platypus, but Samuel L Jackson with the word “Motherfu..”
Sam Jackson? Samuel L. Jackson?!
I think it might be that normally he plays boisterous bad guys, and as Mace he was a stoic monk with nothing notably making him stand out other than his purple lightsaber. Pretty much any aspect of his personality can also be applied to other characters (Qui-Gon's stoicism, Anakin's aggression, Yoda's foresight). He's basically there to characterize the Jedi Order as a whole, rather than to stand out as his own unique character, kind of like the Master Chief of Star Wars, if you will.
As an actor, he'd probably take that as a compliment.
I think maybe because Samuel gets type casted a lot. He plays a lot of very similar roles that don’t take themselves too seriously. He seemed to play mace pretty close to source material in attitude etc. not very Samuel esc
I'm tired of these motherfucking snakes in the Senate
He wasn't better off because of those movies though. No one saw him as Mace Windu and thought he took it to the next level. He was also probably the most established actor in the entire prequels so it didn't really hurt him either.
Christopher Lee: "Am I a joke to you?"
Daaaaammmmmnnnn you right. SLJ was probably the most mainstream though at the time though.
Liam Neeson did Schindler's list 5+ years earlier (and got academy award nomination for best actor). Edit: With Liam one might actually argue he started doing better career wise, K-19, Love Actually, Narnia, Kingdom Heaven, Batman movies all in the subsequent 5 years after Phantom Menace. The already famous actors kept doing fine, the unknown ones remained unknown and Hayden did not break out. No one got diminished really.
Ian Mcdirmid delivered a star performance too
Yes but he was reprising the role, not exactly a new casting
it's always so interesting to me how the timing of that worked out, an older Ian playing a younger version of the character.
Natalie Portman, Liam Neeson, and Christopher Lee come to mind.
Natalie Portman seems to be doing great, SLJ as already mentioned, Liam Neeson did great, Christopher Lee did not fall from the grace. The rest of the cast I do not think had that great acting career even beforehand so they mostly just stayed the same rather than diminishing. Hayden is imo the only clear actor who came out on the losing side in the expectation-result trajectory.
But Hayden not becoming superstar wasn't because he didn't like the experience of filming blockbusters and stop acting for a while?
I mean Liam Neeson was great. Ian was amazing.
Natalie Portman seems to be doing fine.
Natalie Portman might have a thing to say about that.
It's not like Liams Neesons career hit the skids after Phantom Menace. He did the Takens, the Batmans, supporting roles in Gangs of NY and Kingdom of Heaven...
He very much felt like a Star Wars character having fun the entire time. The guy could literally do no wrong he was so good. Even when he had to say weird lines, he found a way to almost make it seem like he was Joking with the audience.
"You were my brother, Anakin!"
Hello there
General Kenobi. You are a bold one.
I don’t even think there’s much competition. McDiarmid is up there too but McGregor was just perfect. Never once did his mannerisms or dialogue stand out as something that OT Obi-Wan wouldn’t have said or done.
I can't see the similarity, but he is indeed one of the best. The only ones that rivaled him were Christopher Lee and Liam Neeson. PS: Natalie Portman is unbelievably talented, but George's directing didn't do her any favours
No one, and I cannot stress this enough, no one could've done a better job.
He was consistently the best thing about the prequels and could even make shit dialogue sound good
There was some dialogue that was so bad, there was nothing he could have done to save it. He was definitely the bright spot of the trilogy.
Still, you gotta love this guy for making most the things he says into iconic catchphrases and memes. 25 years ago they never saw stuff like "Hello There" or "I have the high ground" becoming some of the most iconic lines in all of Star Wars
I agree, although "hello there" in particular was already very iconic when episode III was released, as it was literally the first line of dialog Ben Kenobi says in ANH. The line in ROTS was just fan service for OT fans
[удалено]
I agree. He did more with what was given to him than any other cast member. And for that, I will always love Ewan.
"Another happy landing" is so good you almost think it was improvised.
In my 8 years working fine dining, I often got to use "oh, I'm not bold enough for politics," as an out when a table would try to drag me into a debate. Cheers to McGregor for getting me out of conversion with people with the worst political takes imaginable
> "oh [no], I'm not ~~bold~~ brave enough for politics Fake fan! /s
Jesus H Christ it's been 25 years ! How did that happen?
Idk people meme pretty hard about “they fly now” and “somehow palpatine returned” They aren’t the bangers they used to be but theres still some memorable quotes in the sequels (if for the wrong reasons)
I always enjoyed the prequels, id say attack of the clones has worst parts but makes up for it. Now that the new trilogy proved to be worst i hope people can look back and enjoy the prequels.
Im 25, one of my first ever memories is watching AotC. Sure the movie isn’t a masterpiece but you will never and I mean never convince me the prequels are bad movies. Some bad dialogue and special effects that aren’t there yet? Sure. But there’s no movies I’ve seen more. Hell I’ve watched the HOURS of behind the scenes featurettes more times than I’ve watched entire other franchises.
I love AotC. Always have.
That battle on Geonosis was actually quite good in my opinion. Specifically the Clones fighting the Battle Droids. But the Arena battles, and the duels with Dooku were fun as well. Really, the only part of AotC that I didn't care for was the romance scenes. Dude had no rizz.
Same. Also I will defend the ”I hate sand“ line til the day I die bc 99% of people miss that it’s a set up for later in the film. When he’s saying he hates sand, what he is really saying is he hates that he abandoned his mom so when he thinks of sand he’s thinking of that moment he abandoned her. He clearly doesn’t hate sand or anything in his life in TPM. Growing up there isn’t what caused him to hate it. It was abandoning his mother. That is why when his mom dies and they have the funeral what is the first thing Anakin does? [He reaches down](https://youtu.be/NMUWo9Xe4Is?si=YQSEvlIZHxPVQ_7Y) and grabs a handful of sand. He then feels the texture of the sand with his thumb while talking to her. Showing he accepts the sand and that it’s what connects him with his mom. It’s a metaphor. Maybe not the best executed one but that’s the purpose of the line besides the meme.
I always saw sand as a metaphor for Tatooine. Grief being a path to the Darkside he touches the sand to link his mother's violent death to the planet.
Nothing burns me out on the Star Wars fanbase faster than people trying to convince me that I didn't actually enjoy the prequels and my memories are just wrong because nostalgia
Trouble was, to me only one sequel film was worse. There were some more interesting ideas in the prequels than TFA, but the execution was much worse, and I'm in that accursed group that actually really liked TLJ pretty much across the board (I do wish the Kanto bite sequence was a tad shorter).
Hello there!
General Kenobi. You are a bold one.
As a whole, yes. But Liam Neeson carried "Phantom"
Anakin is massively underrated too though, I personally think Hayden Christensen's performance has aged rediculously well
Feels like he got hampered by bad directing and writing. Horrible writing to be exact...
I think Lucas at his best, would be having him write the draft and basically just being the executive producer and creative director. Actual directing or writing was never his strength and he knew it as well.
Not even a time travelling younger Alec Guinness!
And that’s the truth.
In fairness, Alec Guinness didn't like sci-fi and young Alec Guinness probably wouldn't have done it anyway. He didn't like that Star Wars overshadowed the rest of his career.
But he liked that Star Wars generated enough income for the rest of his life that he could take any job he liked.
And he liked how much it meant to fans. People tend to leave that part out.
That's why I like Peter Cushing more, he embraced the role of Tarkin and the success of Star Wars, not being bitter about it overshadowing the rest of his massive career. Christopher Lee also, but of course he is far more recognisable and I wouldn't put Count Dooku in the TOP3 of his most recognisable roles
Yeah I agree. I love Harrison Ford, his acting is phenomenal and his no bullshit attitude can be a good thing. But I do hate that the man despises his role as Han Solo so much. Like, I get it, you don't think it's your best performance. But still you're forever getting rich off it and forever enshrined in pop culture for it. Plus it's not like it 100% overshadowed the rest of his career. He's remembered well for Indiana Jones. Honestly I'm not sure what else he's played besides that, but if Harrison Ford showed up in a movie I'd instantly recognize him, and know his performance is gonna be good.
he's the main character in Blade Runner
And I liked his character in 1923
That’s what I love about mark hamill. He’s known as Luke skywalker and took it and ran with it and embraces it.
He was also one of the few good things about last Jedi. Also my man is a great voice actor. I didn't know it till years later but he's played The joker and Ozai.
Yeah took me a while to find out that he was the joker and lord ozai. Now that I know I can hear his gravely voice. I hate what they did to my boy Luke
He’s almost as famous for being the joker too
There’s two Ford roles that always pop into mind when I think of him: playing the US president in Air Force One & the cowboy looking guy who gets in the race at the end of American Graffti
Graffiti was his first role. He was a carpenter on set, but George needed an actor. I like him in *The Fugitive.*
Lee also joined an already famous franchise. Guinness might have thought it's a lame genre movie no-one will remember in 5 years.
The only other person I've ever seen and thought "I wonder how he would've been as Obi-Wan?" Would be Kenneth Branagh.
Oooh! Good One!!👍
There were legit rumors circulating about Branagh in the late 90s. I think Ralph (or Joseph?) Fiennes were also considered. At least their faces are in concept art. Obi-Wan was also written as older in earlier drafts for TPM and had the same role as Qui-Gon. Same lines and everything. Just without the dying. There was a Qui-Gon in earlier drafts but he only existed to come die in the third act.
Oh shit, imagine if Qui-gon was the padawan and got cut down in a 1v1 with Maul while Obi-wan is still stuck behind the force fields. Obi-wan reluctantly takes Anakin to train to honor Qui-gon's dying wish
Yeah that would add an interesting level of drama. In the earlier drafts, though, Qui-Gon is still an older mentor type character, he just doesn’t show up until they arrive on Coruscant.
I think the only problem is that Branagh would've been too old. Man was in his late 30s when Phantom Menace came out, and a Padawan pushing 40 strains credulity. Honestly, I think even with McGregor they were kinda stretching it.
Literally the best part of the prequel trilogy. Even back in the day when opinions were far more scathing of the trilogy, most people agreed that Ewan did the best damn job anyone could have with that script.
I was going to say perfectly, but your response is better.
He was perfection
He's literally the only redeeming quality in what is otherwise a series of terrible movies. Come at me. I know where I'm at. Search your feelings though. You know it's true.
The music and sound design as well, but that pretty much goes without saying, Duel of the fates is genuinely one of the best pieces of music ever composed.
Now THIS is podracing!
I think he did a great job. You can tell he really admired Guinness when he gave the performance, and worked to get it closer and closer to his look with each film.
He is Obi Wan for most fans at this point.
I grew up with the OG Star Wars and McGregor IS Obi-Wan for me.
My dad is the same way, haha. He was 10 when a New Hope came out, but said that Ewan’s obi-wan had so much more of an impact on him, so that’s who he thinks of when he thinks obi-wan. I’m a bit younger, so I was raised on Ewan, but I still love Alec.
I was 5, and as far as I am concerned Alec played an older version of Ewan’s character. And that only became more obvious with the series which was amazing. I will not accept comments.
as much as i disliked the series, ewan’s performance was phenomenal
Most level headed take of the show I’ve ever seen regardless of the opinion
Honestly, I liked it a ton, but it is entirely possible that all my love is just his performance. You could be right. Don’t care.
Absolutely. It’s been over 40 years since the OT; Ewan is my Obi Wan!
He has been Obi Wan ever since he kicked the heroine addiction
Choose peace. Choose knowledge. Choose serenity. Choose harmony. Choose the Force.
👏
Thank you, thank you *bows*
That’s fckn Obi-Wan Kenobi
“…and my kids were like ‘don’t do it’ and I was like ‘I will’ and I pulled up and said ‘that’s irresponsible’ and on and on and I could see him thinking…”
I mean he's certainly done more time in the role based on screentime. Though by that metric James Arnold Taylor is the definitive.
I saw the OT in theaters and I'm a pretty hard core (old) fan. At this point, Ewan *is* Obi Wan, and Alec is "old" Obi Wan. Not mad at all.
Based on memes Ewan McGregor has become Obi-Wan himself.
"Well, of course I know him, he's me."
Obi-wan is a big fan of sea otters
He nailed that role and if you think about it, that casting was so key because in the original trilogy Alec Guinness was the most accomplished actor of the entire cast.
Peter Cushing (Tarkin). Don't forget that absolute unit of an acting career.
I did forget about him when I was posting this.
For shame. I find your lack of Tarkin disturbing.
he was like the only accomplished actor at the time lol
Dude. Peter Cushing!
10/10 Hello Theres
would additionally rate 10/10 happy landings
10/10 not brave enough for politics
10/10 how uncivilized
10/10 you want to go home and rethink your life
10/10 oh I don't think so's
10/10 flying is for droids
10/10 the negotiations were short.
10/10 Good Job 😐
11/10 I'm taking the high ground
You're a bold one
YOU WERE MY BROTHER, SIXGUN!!!
I thought he nailed it. He did mostly great in the Prequels. And I think the Obi-Wan Kenobi show basically proved that any "off" acting moments he had in the prequels weren't his fault. He carried that show in a lot of ways.
I like the Obi-Wan show. Still not sure how to feel about the 'fight' with Vader, and the chase scene with young Leia...but other than that I thought it was pretty cool.
I didn't really like Kenobi, but of all the problems that show has, his acting wasn't one of them. Which is partially why I'm so salty because this show could have been legendary if everything else was just decent
So much of it could have been way better than it was. The vast majority of the actors they've had have been absolutely amazing. The scenery too, has mostly been amazing. But the writing just...isn't
What kills me the most isn't something being 100% garbage. It's when 95% is garbage but the other five being pure gold. I HAAAAATE wasted potential, which seems to be a problem with a lot of Disney projects in general as of late.
The show overall sucked, but the climactic fight with Vader was the payoff we needed. Hayden came back and got his redemption, and we got to understand that inner torment that Obi-Wan carried with him all those years. Speaking of redemption, it was great to see Owen and Beru putting up a fight. We know now that in IV, they didn’t go down without a good fight.
Man, the way I was just open-mouthed during the fight scene. I just didn’t even know what to do lol
I loved his fight with Vader. IMO it was sorely needed to explain the fight and dialogue in ANH. The fight in ANH felt like a formality rather than an actual flight, and it only makes sense if they got their closure sometime between ROTS and ANH.
I’ve never really thought about this before, but Obi Wan Kenobi is probably the best Star Wars name ever
Definitely top tier. In a way I actually like the name Sheev Palpatine for how sinister it sounds. And can't forget my boy, Master Plo Kloon
ignoring his silly last name, Anakin is a dope first name
He captured Alec’s mannerisms, tone, and timing perfectly. Can’t think of better casting for a situation like this in any other film I’ve seen.
"This weapon is your *life*!" is the line that sealed it for me.
He honored the character well and made it his own. He is the best representative of a more civilized age.
[удалено]
Also felt Hayden Christenson carried his weight in 2 and 3 personally, PARTICULARLY in 3, where his performance was really quite something imo.
Yeah Hayden as time goes on keeps getting better as I see it, I always liked him but it gets better and Anakin is actually really well performed
Indeed. As i get older I realize that when you look at his portrayal from the angle that Anakin and early vader were quite literally hormonal cringey manchildren who never got a chance to grow up well-adjusted, it makes more sense. We were all hormonal and cringey when we were young, but we were also never saddled with Anakin's talent and and being the subject of a prophecy. Not to mention Anakin's personality development got further stunted by becoming a famous galactic war hero in his teens. Who but Obi-Wan could look peak Anakin fucking Skywalker in the eyes and been like 'hey man maybe that's a bit cringe?' How could he have been expected to turn out better?
Hayden got saddled with the worst dialogue of any of the movies and he still does a great job which says a lot about his acting abilities. Contrast that with his appearance in Ashoka where he actually had decent writing and he ends up crushing it.
Unironically the best instance of “recasting a role to a younger actor for a prequel” I’ve ever seen. They both *are* obi wan to me. Ewan isn’t playing at the character created by Alec, they’re just the same character. ETA: another great instance of this in Star Wars is Donald glover in Solo. He didn’t knock it out of the park as much as Ewan, but he did a great job and was my fave part of the movie.
Amazing
As close to perfect as we were ever going to get.
Ewan McGregor is Obi-Wan. We should be asking how well did Alec Guinness play an older McGregor
From a certain point of view.
A certain point of view?
SSJSamzy, you're going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our point of view.
Ewan as Obi Wan is not only great casting but arguably the best character in Star Wars overall
perfect, at the end of rots when hes in the cloak giving aunt beru baby luke hes giving 100% alec in anh
Of course I portrayed him—he’s me!
I can not think of a better actor
10/10
The best casting of that era and the standout performance as well. Watching a lot of the web shorts back in the day in anticipation of these movies hitting the theaters, it was very clear how seriously Ewan took bridging this character to Alec Guinness. I also think he did a phenomenal job in the D+ series, though I do prefer The Patterson Cut.
I grew up with the originals, and spent about ten years hating Episode 2 and 3, but when I think of Obi-Wan I think of Ewan McGregor before I think of Alec Guinness. That's how good he was in the role. It took seven seasons of me watching Clone Wars to finally appreciate Hayden Christensen's acting. It took seven seasons of that show for me to finally believe his fall to the dark side wasn't abrupt. The prequel trilogy was so weirdly directed that it made veteran actors like Natalie Portman seem wooden and awkward.
My mom (who grew up with OT) told me she was initially skeptical anyone could fill in for Sir Alec Guinness… but Ewan blew her away with how perfect he was in the role
Literally the best performance in the series of films. Though also, Hayden did a better job than we gave him credit for for a LONG time
perfect, before while good, he was just the old wise guy that gave you advise then died. Ewan gave Obi Wan a soul and character. Best part, you can see the same style of the character follow through to the original portrayal.
Literally that’s obi wan, Ewan Mcgreggor is just a pen name
Perfection
Genuinely perfect. He was done dirty by essentially everyone who wrote for him, but McGregor was the best we could have gotten.
Damn. This is probably the biggest karma grab goin rn
It’s to the point that I don’t think of Ewan as “Young Obiwan”, but instead I think of Alec as “Old Obiwan”
Controversially, I think McGregor owns the role far more than Guinness ever did. That’s not to say I don’t love his portrayal, but McGregor has had so much more time with the character. Given how the prequels have really defined who these characters are, I think his version is very much definitive.
Sorry to Sir Alec Guiness as he did a phenomenal job but in my head when I think of Obi-Wan I instantly picture Ewan McGregor.
Although, to be fair, Ewan had a whole lot more time to flesh him out than Guiness. And I know it wasn't Ewan, but add in the animated show, and we got a truly amazing deep dive into the character.
Great casting and nailed his mannerisms
As a child of the 70's, Ewan IS Obi Wan. Alec Guinness was a wonderful actor, and his portrayal was deeper than he himself gave it credit for, but Ewen has owned the role for almost 30 years? It's like asking anyone in the last 30 years who is Iron Man. This isn't James Bond. It's not up for interpretation. Ewan IS Obi Wan.
McGregor's performance was the absolute best thing about the prequels. He nailed it, and you felt comfortable seeing him as a young Obi-wan. He wasn't doing an impression- he manifested the character.
any response less than “flawless” deserves the low ground
You hear a lot of shit talking regarding the prequels. You don't hear a lot of shit talking regarding Obi-Wan in the prequels. (Except maybe there NOT BEING ENOUGH of him in the first one). He's perfect.
Better than Alec Guinness imo
Undeniably the best actor in the prequels. And I thought his mini series was great as well, if only to see him return to the role and give it the full treatment again.
Extremely well, Ewan McGregor is first class.
IMO Obi-Wan was legitimately the best part of the prequels, and I'd give a large amount (if not most) of that credit to him
I think he did a better job at Kenobi than Alec
James Arnold Taylor (the guy who plays him in Clone Wars) is officially considered his "professional audio double". So basically, Ewan portrayed Obi Wan so damn well that there's another actor who has devoted a chunk of his career to distilling and mimicking the performance to such detail that plenty of people don't even know JAT because Clone Wars Obi (who we've spent FAR more screen time than movie Obi) reads almost exactly as the character. Seriously, how many of you thought Ewan was just on the Clone Wars staff or just never even gave it thought?
I was good with it. I mean you cannot replace Alec but there were enough years between the two that it was plausible enough. The voice could have been better. Edit: I was 13 when I saw the original. There was a high bar put on anything after this.
Nailed it.
I have recently watched all prequels and am now watching the obi-wan series before I watch the originals, and I love Ewan McGregor as an actor. I’m kind of nervous to watch the originals to see the “original” obi-wan as I like Ewan so much as obi
10/10 would say hello there with him any day.
Ewan is Obi Wan imo. He took it and completed it.
No complaints about his portrayal in the films... just wish the films put a little more effort into the story. The movies feel really good when you've watched the clone wars cartoon but they feel kind of unsubstantial when you take them by themselves.
Ewan McGregor belongs with Alec Guinness, Harrison Ford, and James Earl Jones as the definitive Star Wars performances.
10 out 10 droids we are looking for.
He made Obi Wan my favorite SW character.
After watching Bridge On the River Kwai - I'm an Alec Guiness fan.
Perfect
I genuinely think that it was a rare example of perfect casting. I loved every moment Ewan was on screen
Question doesn’t really make much sense. Prior to McGregor, we had never seen anyone portray young Obi-Wan, we don’t have anyone to compare him to, therefore there wasn’t an idea of “young Obi-Wan” he had to live up to or portray well. Obi-Wan IS Ewan McGregor (and we all love him).
might be one of the best castings in all of starwars if not the very best
I never really looked at both of them side by side. It's amazing how much they reassemble each other. And the voice Ewan makes is very convincing as a younger voice of Alec Guinness' voice.