Post by Tolif Espen on Apr 17, 2006 16:47:15 GMT -5
I’ve often considered the differences between Vader’s characterizations in the original films. His transformation echoes the evolution of the style of the films of the original trilogy.
In A New Hope, we have the essence of Vader – he’s in black armor, he’s mean, he’s good at choking (first-hand or through the Force), and he’s handy at cutting down old men with a lightsaber. His voice is harsh and tinny. His mask is often crooked, and his armor looks scratched, dusty, and not as black. He’s the shoestring-budget Vader, much like the rest of A New Hope. He fits in very well. Now that we’re finally able to watch I-VI together, the Vader in Episode IV seems completely absorbed into the Empire with all signs of Anakin stripped from him and forgotten. When he first emerges through the blasted hatch on the Tantive, we have the impression that he’s been relaxed into this Sith role for over 20 years. The complications represented by the appearance of his children don’t exist.
The Empire Strikes Back is my favorite film. Empire’s Vader is my favorite Vader. Gone is the lackey who takes orders from Tarkin. No one like Admiral Motti would dare scoff at him (see what happens to Admiral Ozzel). His armor is darker and perfect, but still lived in. His voice is richer, deeper, and musing at times (“You feel as though you’re being treated unfairly?”). It’s as though he received a survivor’s promotion after escaping the Battle of Yavin. The biggest change in him is that he now knows that his son in out there, and it has changed him. In ANH, he was content being a bully sheriff pawn of the Empire. Now that Luke is on his mind, he’s got purpose, an agenda. “Always two there are,” and he’s got his eye on the throne with Luke at his side. He commands an entire fleet of the Empire in this film not to serve the Empire, but to serve his own needs.
In Return of the Jedi, Vader is tormented. He’s quieter. The conflict is bubbling right below the surface from the beginning of the film. He’s physically bigger. His armor is much shinier (as is everything in Jedi). His voice is lower still. He has become a caricature of his former self – but unlike the other characters in Jedi, this is by design. He walks around commanding fear as he did in Empire, but he doesn’t care. It’s empty to him. Luke is the only thing on his mind. Instead of a character that moves the plot along, Vader becomes the plot, and it reverberates back to Episode I to reveal him as the hero/anti-hero of the saga.
As a footnote: I do get a kick out of Admiral Piett in Return of the Jedi. After all of the gulping and ducking in Empire, he’s not afraid of Vader anymore. He knows to tread carefully around him. Listen to his delivery of “I was about to clear them. Shall I hold them?” and “Very well…” to release the shuttle when the Rebels are testing their code clearance. His tone says, “You’re a silly person. Here you are again with these strange secrets and goings on. Please let us get on with this now before you kill another of my officers…”
In A New Hope, we have the essence of Vader – he’s in black armor, he’s mean, he’s good at choking (first-hand or through the Force), and he’s handy at cutting down old men with a lightsaber. His voice is harsh and tinny. His mask is often crooked, and his armor looks scratched, dusty, and not as black. He’s the shoestring-budget Vader, much like the rest of A New Hope. He fits in very well. Now that we’re finally able to watch I-VI together, the Vader in Episode IV seems completely absorbed into the Empire with all signs of Anakin stripped from him and forgotten. When he first emerges through the blasted hatch on the Tantive, we have the impression that he’s been relaxed into this Sith role for over 20 years. The complications represented by the appearance of his children don’t exist.
The Empire Strikes Back is my favorite film. Empire’s Vader is my favorite Vader. Gone is the lackey who takes orders from Tarkin. No one like Admiral Motti would dare scoff at him (see what happens to Admiral Ozzel). His armor is darker and perfect, but still lived in. His voice is richer, deeper, and musing at times (“You feel as though you’re being treated unfairly?”). It’s as though he received a survivor’s promotion after escaping the Battle of Yavin. The biggest change in him is that he now knows that his son in out there, and it has changed him. In ANH, he was content being a bully sheriff pawn of the Empire. Now that Luke is on his mind, he’s got purpose, an agenda. “Always two there are,” and he’s got his eye on the throne with Luke at his side. He commands an entire fleet of the Empire in this film not to serve the Empire, but to serve his own needs.
In Return of the Jedi, Vader is tormented. He’s quieter. The conflict is bubbling right below the surface from the beginning of the film. He’s physically bigger. His armor is much shinier (as is everything in Jedi). His voice is lower still. He has become a caricature of his former self – but unlike the other characters in Jedi, this is by design. He walks around commanding fear as he did in Empire, but he doesn’t care. It’s empty to him. Luke is the only thing on his mind. Instead of a character that moves the plot along, Vader becomes the plot, and it reverberates back to Episode I to reveal him as the hero/anti-hero of the saga.
As a footnote: I do get a kick out of Admiral Piett in Return of the Jedi. After all of the gulping and ducking in Empire, he’s not afraid of Vader anymore. He knows to tread carefully around him. Listen to his delivery of “I was about to clear them. Shall I hold them?” and “Very well…” to release the shuttle when the Rebels are testing their code clearance. His tone says, “You’re a silly person. Here you are again with these strange secrets and goings on. Please let us get on with this now before you kill another of my officers…”
