Man! Darth Vader was not a healthy man! (1 Viewer)

[Inspector Hammer!]

I just got through reading a very intriguing, and lengthy, article at 'The Force.net' in the 'Technical Commentaries' pages, about the true extent of Lord Vader's injuries that he sustained both as a healthy human, and one's he sustained from the Emperor in 'ROTJ'. It went into very intricate detail about just how much of his body is human, and how much is cybornetic. This article speaks as if a forensic pathologist examined his body. They discuss, in tremendous detail, exactly what the funtion of his suit is, from how he is able to breath, and speak at the same time, to how he is able to eat.
Reading this article has raised the bar for me considerably regarding what will happen to this poor man in 'EP III', he doesn't just get injured, he get's seriously f***ed up! It sounds like Obi Wan really did a number on him.
They also provide photo's from the film's to back up their claims, and the amazing thing about those pics are that they reveal things that I never noticed were their before. Thing's like when Palpatine's lightning washed over Vader's body, his skull and torso bones were revealed. Now that part I knew, but what I never saw before was that upon closer inspection, you can see that a couple of Vader's vertibre were metal, his right arm was, at least partially, still human, his left arm was attatched to his torso by a round metal disc, and his skull was deformed compared to a healthy human his age.
They claim quite plauably, that the reason he was so helpless after his fatal cofrontation with his former master, was that the lightning damaged the artificial vertabre that were implanted into his spinal chord, rendering Vader a parapalegic no longer able to walk on his own.
They bring up a couple of instances during the films themselves that provide clues to Vader's injuries. One is in 'TESB', when he and Luke are dueling on the platform on Cloud City, Luke hits Vader on the shoulder with his sabre, causing Vader to moan in pain for an instant, this indicates that he still has living flesh under his armor, at least on that shoulder, and can still feel real pain like a normal human.
I don't want to give away everything, but I was hanging on every word in this article, I was captivated by every sentence. If you havn't done so, you should definatly check it out, it's a great read. Of course it's all fictional, but they sure do a great job of making you believe this stuff, and they provide evidence to back it all up! It's a great way to prepare for the next two installment's.
I would gladly provide a link, but me being the dummy that I am, am not familliar with exactly how to do that. :b

 

[Mike Voigt]

Very interesting read! It's funny, though, how much "evidence" can be accumulated based on other people's imaginings about a person. After all, a lot of the stories were written by people other that Lucas, and thus added their own $.02 into the conversation...
Here's the link:
Explanation of Vader's Injuries
It IS long...
Mike

 

[Richard Kim]

In Episode III, Anakin is supposed to suffer some kind of horrific injury which necessitates the suit, cyborg limbs, breathing device, etc. It may not be from falling into lava, like the ROTJ novel says. After all, the novel is wrong about Uncle Owen being Obi-Wan's brother.

When we see Vader unmasked in ESB and ROTJ he looks terrible. He's supposed to be in his 40s, but he looks much older. My guess is that besides his injuries the dark side of the force is taking a toll on his body, much like the Emperor.

 

[MikeCD]

I've read the articlefrom The ForceNet and it seems clear that Hayden Christinsen would not be able to play Anakin in Episode III, due to his height.

 

[Richard Kim]

I think you mean Christensen will not play Vader. He'll still be Anakin in Episode 3.

 

[Tom-G]

Hayden's height is insignificant. Vader's stature is probably a result of being part machine. I'm pretty sure Hayden's contracted to be in Episode III, so we will just have to wait and see how Anakin's injuries are brought about.

I hope that he doesn't suffer his injuries from falling into lava. It doesn't seem plausible that someone could fall into something of such extreme heat and be able to survive. I'm guessing that Lucas has something else in store for Anakin. I'm guessing that there will be a big battle between Anakin and Kenobi and that's where most of the injuries will be sustained.

After seeing ROTJ in the theaters, people I knew speculated that Darth Vader could not survive without the Emperor, that somehow they were living off each other symbiotically. They further speculated that was the reason the Emperor wanted Luke to take Vader's place, i.e. would have invigorated the emperor.

 

[Hubert]

Have you guys seen Hayden? He's pretty tall. From what I could tell he would be a good 3-4 inches taller than Ewan McGregor. He's tall enough. The suit would make him even taller.

 

[Vince Maskeeper]

Hayden's height is insignificant. Vader's stature is probably a result of being part machine.

• Anakin Skywalker had the torso of an exceptionally tall man. When he was penetrated by lightning in ROTJ we saw that his torso is essentially original.

• As Darth Vader he was riddled with prosthetics, but his body was in excellent proportion. His limbs were not out of scale with his head and torso.

• When Anakin reappeared in spirit form in ROTJ he towered over Obi-Wan Kenobi. His spirit image was free of cybernetics and presumably reflects the natural condition that his body should have been in, as a man aged in his forties.

-Vince

 

[MikeCD]

Hayden has three years to "bulk up" between shoots. He should appear larger in EpIII. The way he looks now would be too much like "Darth Helmet" from "SpaceBalls"

 

[Pete-D]

Man, after reading that, and remember the Return of the Jedi novel (the part where Anakin is unmasked and the description that the author goes into is definitely...well heart wrenching)...Lucas has some prime material here.

Storywise, in terms of human drama, Episode III should take the cake, even LOTR (which is more epic, but...) doesn't quite stack up. It's almost too dark IMO, I don't know if it can really work within the "fun" context of the SW films. I mean Empire was one thing, but watching little Ani become a badly burned, broken, and hideous servant of evil...yikes.

 

[Tom-G]

When Anakin reappeared in spirit form in ROTJ he towered over Obi-Wan Kenobi. His spirit image was free of cybernetics and presumably reflects the natural condition that his body should have been in, as a man aged in his forties.

I forgot all about that. I remember debating someone on another message board that Anakin would have to be large in stature and I pointed to the fact that Anakin was much, much taller than Kenobi at the end of ROTJ.

Is this something else that Lucas will change for the supposed new special editions? I guess we will just have to wait and see.

 

[Pete-D]

I imagine one thing that will be changed is that last shot with Anakin. Not the height thing, I don't think George really even cares about that, but I think they will add Qui-Gon (Liam Neeson) there to the side of Anakin.

 

[Elbert Lee]

I don't think height was even close to the top of the list when casting for Anakin for EPII. How they bridge the continuity gap between his physical stature between the prequels and Episode IV is probably something they will tackle during EPIII.

Elbert

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

As facinating as that article is, their is one point i'm not quite clear on, it states that Vader is able to eat in the confines of his pressurized meditation chamber, but later it states that his entire lower body is most likly cybornetic, so that would mean that his lower intestinal tract, including his stomach is probably missing, so how can he take any nourishment from what he eats?
Maybe he eats a paste like Robocop that sustains the organic portions of his body.
I also found it interesting that he chooses to strangle people with the force because he knows just how aweful it is not being able to breath, as someone with asthma, I can relate. He's so angered by his inability to breath on his own that he want's to make other's feel his pain. I thought that was so cool!

 

[Hubert]

I still think Anakin is tal enough to make that transition without any troble whatsoever. In the grand scheme of things, this is a monir obstacle at best.

 

[Graeme Clark]

I imagine one thing that will be changed is that last shot with Anakin. Not the height thing, I don't think George really even cares about that, but I think they will add Qui-Gon (Liam Neeson) there to the side of Anakin.

While you're at it, add Luke mouthing "Who the f*ck is that guy?"

 

[Hubert]

: laugh:

 

[JonZ]

Rich,

I read somewhere(I dont remember where)that the Dark Side rots your appearance.

That would explain the Emperors appearance,Vaders looking older than he is and Mauls dental problem.

Concerning Anakins size - Man, where were u guys when TPM came out? I could have usedsome help.

When the DiCaprio rumor came out I argued he was WAY to small to play Anakin. Look at ROTJ when Vader and Luke are standing in the elevator getting ready to meet the Emperor.Vader towers over Luke.Luke only is as tall as Vaders shoulders.(Im not sure how tall Mark Hammill is though- I would guess 5'8- 5'10)

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

re: Mr. Christensen's height.
If Elijah Wood is small enough to play a hobbit, I think Hayden can pull it off.
Regards,

 

[Craig S]

Im not sure how tall Mark Hammill is though- I would guess 5'8- 5'10

I (and a number of other fans) got Mark Hamill's autograph after a performance of "Amadeus" in NYC in 1983. (Mr. Hamill was excellent in the the title role and was a nice guy to boot, giving of his time uncomplainingly, in what I'm sure was a nightly occurrance for him.) I'm only 5'9", and I felt like I was towering over him. He's no taller than 5'7", probably closer to 5'5" or 5'6".
And yes, it's true - he never finished Jedi school!