Age of Darth Vader?

[barondave]

Star Wars Ep III ranges from hideously bad to okay, with the best parts coming in the last third, rescuing the movie. Ep II also saved the best for last, obscuring another awful movie. At the moment, I give it about an 18 (on the Shockwave scale from 9 to 23). But I'll write a more formal review later.

The question I have for the LJers: How old is Darth Vader at the end of Return of the Jedi?

I always assumed (without any real data) that the kids in Star Wars (Luke, Leia) were the age of the characters in George Lucas' previous film American Graffiti. That puts them roughly High School age. In Ep II, Anakin is clearly (to me) a teenager, and in Ep III he's a bit older but still "Young Skywalker". If Anakin is still a teen/young adult in III, that makes him in his late 30s in VI.

Did Darth Vader reach his 40th Birthday?

Comments

[laurel]

I'm no expert and it's been too long since I read any of the books or anything that might give more data.

I would guess that Luke and Leia were 17 or 18 at the beginning of episode IV. (I'd guess Anakin was about that same age for Revenge of the Jedi). Leia was a senator, though, so sometimes I thought maybe she was closer to 20. I'm using my Earthly assumptions that Luke would have to be under a certain age to still be stuck on the farm with his aunt and uncle. And lord knows Padme didn't have to be very old to rule her world.

Keep in mind that Empire Strikes Back definitely didn't occur right after Star Wars, some time had passed (years, even?).

The guy under the mask in Return of the Jedi sure looked to be in his 40s or 50s at least and not in the best shape, but then he'd been through a lot and could've prematurely aged.

In the DVD edition of Return of the Jedi, Lucas changed it so we see Hayden Christiansen as Anakin. (When Kevin and I got to the end of Jedi, we weren't aware of this and you should've heard us scream and curse a bit when we saw that).

[morgantisofkent.livejournal.com]

Well:

He was 9 at the end of of Ep I

End of Ep II he was about 19 as it was 10 years after the first.

At the end of Ep III he was roughly 22

It is my understanding that there is about 17 years between Ep III & Ep IV

There is also 3 years between Ep IV & V.

But, there is only 6 months between V & VI

There by making Lord Vader 42-43 yrs old at the time of his death on the second Death Star.



I think my math and timeline is correct. I might be off a little but I'm sure I'm right.

[morgantisofkent.livejournal.com]

Thereby showning that not only has he reached 40 but surpassed it.

[barondave.livejournal.com]

Maybe, but not by much.

I any event, that puts Darth Vader in IV at about the same age as Groucho Marx in Duck Soup. Two rulers; what Vader needed was Harpo and Chico to bring him down to Earth.

"Hail, hail the Empire land of the brave and free!"

[skylarker.livejournal.com]

He looked like he was at least in his 60s during his death scene.

Of course we are not accounting for the relativistic effects of interstellar travel. I don't think Lucas gave it much thought, either.

[barondave.livejournal.com]

Lucas keeps saying he has it all planned out, but I suspect you're right. Still, I don't think Vader is as old as 60. That would be a very long courtship between Leia and Han. In III they keep zipping around the universe but months pass, not years.

[skylarker.livejournal.com]

I'm just saying how old he looked. He was a young man when Luke and Leia were born, but looked about 60 when Luke was still a young man. They did show Vader's face during his death scene. Maybe he aged unnaturally due to being evil and all.

[morgantisofkent.livejournal.com]

Need I remind all concerned about the Emperor? Sith lords age unnaturally and, in my opinion, horribly because of their use of the Dark Side of the Force. Tio back this up, I would refer you to books and comics, however, I fail to remember what the titles are of what I have read that referenced this fact.


Ergo: Vader LOOKS sixty sumpin but in fact is merely forty sumpin.



Thank you.

[morgantisofkent.livejournal.com]

I'm such a dork.


:)