Star Wars: 10 Nonsensical Changes In Various Special Editions

2. Hayden Christensen (Return of the Jedi)

primaryignition It might be argued that the most annoying changes in the Star Wars films come as a direct result of trying to fit in with the prequels. The nadir of this kind of tinkering occurred when Lucas inserted Hayden Christensen€™s face over Sebastian Shaw€™s, when Anakin Skywalker€™s ghostly form appears at the end of Return of the Jedi. Now OK: if I take my fanboy hat off here, and try to get over my childhood memories of Sebastian Shaw€™s paternal smile disappearing from Star Wars, I sort of get where this is going. Shaw ain€™t nowhere near the prequels; it makes sense to have the guy who is in those films €œreprise€ the role. But what on Earth is he doing? Next to a warm, proud looking Alec Guiness and Yoda Puppet, we are suddenly faced with the terrifying specter of Christensen trying for €œI€™m proud of my kids€ but communicating, €œMan, I really want to sleep with your girlfriend.€ Obi Wan and Yoda look regal; Anakin looks like a shuffling teenager you wouldn€™t trust with your daughter. Having Hayden Christensen, who looks way younger than Mark Hamill, also throws the scene out of whack. Whatever else you might say about Sebastian Shaw, he was clearly a paternal figure; it just looks strange to have Christensen acting like Mark Hamill is his son.
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C.B. Jacobson pops up at What Culture every once in a while, and almost without fail manages to embarrass the site with his clumsy writing. When he's not here, he's making movies, or writing about them at http://buddypuddle.blogspot.com.