Why do Anakin, Owen, Beru, and Obi-Wan age so horrifically in the 20 years post-ROTS?
 

It seems like 40 years should have passed instead.

Might be a little nitpicky, but it's a valid point --- they all aged horrifically.

Have you ever lived in a desert with 2 suns? Double the sun we would get plus it never rains.

Perfect example: Check out a co-worker who has hit the tanning bed a few more times than they should...talk about premature aging! :)

Yep, desert with 2 suns and the stress of the Empire and Vader knocking on your door at any time.

Interesting rationalizations :lol:.

Well, assuming Kenobi in EP3 is supposed to be mid-30s, he'd been in his mid-50s in EP4, but Guiness was in his mid-60s. And Sebastian Shaw was nearly 80 years old when EP6 was filmed, yet Anakin was supposed to be in his 40s.

So, easy answer: casting discrepancies between the trilogies.

They look fine to me. Sit back and enjoy the films.

Kenobi is 59 in ANH, Guiness was 61 when they filmed.

If they were all 35 in ROTS then they're 55 in ANH. They look fine to me.

The Shaw problem was fixed in the 2004 SE DVD so it's not longer an issue.

because Lucas doesn't have any idea of consistency

Considering all the changes Lucas made for the DVDs, I kind of wish he would've just reshot/CGIed the Sebastian Shaw scenes with Hayden in 'older age/messed up face' makeup. I know this sounds like heresy, but considering he'd already changed so much else he might as well have done this just for some consistency.

As for the others, Obi-Wan was a problem just because the prequels required him to be convincing as a 25 year old one year and then be a 35 year old three years later. Owen and Beru, I think they cast a bit too young.

looked right to me.

For some reason this topic keeps coming up, apparently due to the fact that some people incorrectly assume that Alec Guiness was older than he actually was when filming ANH. As has been said, he was 61 years old when ANH was filmed, and the character he played was around 58-59. I really don't see a 2-3 year age discrepancy as a huge issue.

To be fair, the age discrepancy between the young Owen and Beru and their older counterparts is somewhat more apparent. In ANH, Phil Brown (Owen) was 59, and Shelagh Fraser (Beru) was 52. In ROTS, Joel Edgerton was about 30, and Bonnie Piesse was just 20. This creates about a 10 year "problem" for the characters. Personally, I don't really have a problem chalking it up to them having lived a hard life on a desert planet. I mean, making a living as a moisture farmer can't be the easiest way of life. ;)

Too many death sticks.

Well, Obi Wan and the others have been addressed, but as for Anakin, methinks being dismembered, burned alive, locked inside of some constricting life support armor and festering in your own evil for 20 years will definitely age you a bit.

Also, as I pointed out in another thread, these people are NOT human, despite their outward appearance. They are humanoid aliens who lived a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Maybe they age faster than we do. Maybe their lifespans are shorter.

Well you see when A New Hope was made Lucas had no idea he could ride the money train for 5 more movies. That's why not everything meshes perfectly with 20 years ago.

I wonder how many more questions are going to get asked over the next month, many of which need only a little thought. Just proves there was no way Lucas could answer every question fans came up with. If he did, they'd come up with some nobody ever thought of.

And for what it is worth, the timelines do match up pretty well. Some of the actors in the original trilogy just look older than they actually were.

Probably the best answer. Though even if he did have every detail mapped out for 6 films, it's doubtful it would perfectly match up no matter what he did, especially considering he made two trilogies 16 years apart.

I don't think I've read this thread you're talking about... but it isn't correct.

They're not human? I don't want to get too deep into the biology of a fictionalized universe, but there's nothing to indicate that these people are not human. And, in fact, dialog in ESB directly contradicts this notion:

C-3PO (referring to Luke): He's quite clever, you know. For a human being.

Yep. Especially Alec Guiness. He simply looked 70-75 even though he was in his early 60's then.

did you see how much clinton aged in 8 years?

Well thankfully we have your great insight to help our feeble little minds...

Every question? Age discrepancies aren't some weird thing I conjured up. The relative ages of the actors have no bearing on the ages of their characters. I'm 26 and could be made to look 106 or 16.

If Obi-Wan was supposed to be 39 in ROTS, that's hilarious.

Ewan McGregor is 34 in real life. It's not that big of a leap to say that his character is 39.

Again, the age of the ACTOR is irrelevant.

Well, it's not like they tried to make him look younger than he really is for the movie. Actually, the beard I think makes him look older. I'm assuming though that you think he looks young for age. Well then, why can't his character look young for his age also? And then, as other people have said, he just ages more rapidly in the deserts of Tatooine.

I don't buy the fan-created myth of deserts increasing the aging process...but assuming I did, how does one explain that Anakin looks like an 80-year old geezer in ROTJ.

Wait...wait...I know what's coming --- "duh dude, it takes so little thought, he's in a mask all the time!"

He was roughly - what, 25 in ROTS? Tack on 25 more years at most and he's 50 by that time.

It just doesn't fit. I won't be losing any sleep over it mind you, and it doesn't detract from the film: but it is something that caught my eye upon watching ANH after watching ROTS --- if some of you haven't, I suggest you do ... you might catch something odd as well.