An elegant gentleman from a more civilized age. I could have definitely imagined him playing a part in a LOTR adaptation. He is a one of a kind actor from that classic breed of Ian McKellen, Christopher Lee, Peter O'Toole.
@@SamvedIyer Imagine being so deluded thinking that society back then or throughout history was ever civilised 😂 ever heard of the Holocaust, Vietnam, Hiroshima or read any history book? Take off those rose-tinted glasses idiot
Well the hobbit and the chronicles of narnia were some of the biggest inspirations of fiction-fantasy since their release.. so in a world were books are a bigger medium than movies, you can see how more people knew that work in comparison to today.
+GamleErik100 Actually, Lord Of The Rings was technically being developed as early as 1910, since that was when Tolkien started developing some of the Elf-languages, and he did it just because he had a massive passion for languages. Then he wanted people to speak all of his fictional languages, so he made up various creatures like Elves (which I prefer to think of as "Quendi", since they really aren't "elves" in the traditional sense), Dwarves, Hobbits etc, and this grew into very epic things like the creation of Arda by the Gods, the Blessed Realm, the theft of the holy Silmarils, the rebellion of the Noldor Elves, the power of the evil Morgoth, the War Of Wrath and then the rising of Sauron and his creation of the Rings Of Power etc. Tolkien took these things VERY seriously, and worked on them pretty much his entire life. Du verkar ha ett svenskt namn, förresten. =P
Lord of the Rings was released between 1954 - 1955, and the Hobbit was published in 1937. By the 1970s, LOTR and Dungeons and Dragons had a significant fandom in the fantasy genre which itself had a large following in the counter culture (a lot of heavy metal bands of the 70s like Led Zeppelin and Rush drew quite heavily on inspiration from Tolkien). So yeah, its not like LOTR was an unknown property that was sitting around, waiting for Peter Jackson to make a film adaptation. It was still one of the most significant high fantasy novels, which is why there were numerous attempts to make film adaptations before Jackson did his version in 2001-2003.
Wasn’t he alive after the release of the Phantom Menace, don’t have any info on him meeting or acknowledging Ewan but I’m pretty sure he was alive during then
@@guapoindustries5030 I think he passed away shortly after it. Not sure of his mental health at the time though. I've heard he was never really proud with his role as Kenobi and didn't care for it very much. Still it would've been interesting to see what his thoughts on Ewan's performance are.
There certainly are some inspirations from The Lord of the Rings in Star Wars, I don't know why it isn't mentioned more often. I won't mention the typical elements of the hero's journey and the old mentor characters, very common to a lot of stories, BUT the thing with the force and the temptation of the dark side is pretty clear an inspiration from LOTR's temptation from the One Ring.
Also Dune plays a great role, it was written before Star Wars. If people first know about Dune with the recent movie, they will think the Voice is replicating a Jedi Mind Trick / The Force 🤣
Alec Guinness may not have enjoyed the impact that "A New Hope" made but I bet he didn't mind all the money he made - and from his cameos in episodes 5 and 6!
Alec Guiness started his stage career in 1934. He debuted in 1946 in David Lean's Great Expectations. He brought a deep dignity to his role as Obi-Wan in Star Wars. It also made him a very rich man.
I think they should just leave dead people alone. No one should have the rights to someone's likeness after their death, it just seems disrespectful to me. Would Peter Cushing really have wanted to be digitally re-created in a new Star Wars film? We don't know, and that's the thing, we can't ask dead people.
I heard he hated working on Star Wars. I heard he had them kill him off. I heard he hated working on so he had them kill him off. But here he seems to be a little more nice about it in this interview. I thought he was great as Obi-Wan Kenobi I really liked him as Obi-Wan Kenobi. One time a kid said he watched it 100 times Then Alec Guinness said "Promise me you will never watch it again." Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope is my favorite Star Wars movie.
My first comment after seeing Star Wars was that it was a tragedy that he would be remembered as Obi-Wan rather than for the many other truly outstanding roles.
Was promised 2.5% of the profit from the film but was only in the end give 2.25%. Not that there is any report of Guinness complaining as 2.25% in the end gave him $70M
his mention of Tolkien makes me sad he didn't get to see those films. although what with his disapproval at star wars being taken too seriously, lord of the rings probably would have made it worse for him
It's ironic how Star Wars symbolized the shift of movies into appealing to youth culture by killing off its two veteran, gray-haired actors before the sequels.
The two are hardly comparable in the truest sense. One is a galactic space opera with episodic Flash Gordon vibes made for kids (though enjoyable by people of all ages) and other was written to be like the basis for England's new mythology. Different goals, different original mediums, different target audiences, etc. They do have some similarity in that they both are inspired by enormous amount of other works - Star Wars by movies and tv series George watched, and Tolkien by different mythologies and languages he studied. They are also both very fantasy like - Star Wars is likely closer to LOTR than it is to Star Trek for one. Still, apples and oranges.
@@Magnifico145 nah man, LOTR is better. More emotional, epic, grand in scale, moving soundtrack, more atmospheric, like could go on and on with lotr. It is both a literary and cinematic masterpiece.
@@ogbee9690 I don't think you're understanding my point. They have different goals. Even stuff like "more emotional", that might be bad for a movie targeted primarily at kids - New Hope is PG while Fellowship is PG-13 for example. I also don't get where you get "grand in scale" - one is literally galactic and another is essentially about a continent on Arda - are you talking "grand" in the sense of some fuzzy cinematic sense?
@@Magnifico145 Exactly. Star Wars is for kids and lacks the depth of LOTR. LOTR themes are more universal and can connect on some level to essentially everybody. And I mean I terms of the way they are shot, specifically, LOTR has a much more grand, polished, but still very grounded high scale feel to it that SW severely lacks.
@@ogbee9690 Just because something is made to be watchable for kids doesn't mean it's a lesser form of entertainment. This short of mentality certainly has lead to a lot of trash-tier kids show but it isn't an universal truth. One thing to understand is that Star Wars isn't going for grounded feel - it's going for a high-pitched soap opera style - going even into camp at times, which works for it extremely well. I definitely wouldn't suggest doing that for a work like LOTR though. Obviously Tolkien spent a lot of time to write an internally consistent mythology with the beginnings of Silmarillion and so on. It isn't made for the style that for example the Clone Wars tv series has with its radio host style introes of "in the last episode of Clone Wars" which has that Flash Gordon influence behind it.
It seems,he wasn´t that nice at all. www.buzzfeed.com/chowdad/alec-guinness-hated-star-wars-and-i-should-know-20egr THIS is a shame! I never expected this from Alec Guinness who proved that if one get paid enough,one would do anything for money.
I love that voice so peaceful
his narration scenes in _Doctor Zhivago_ are so nice to the ear
I don’t even see him as wearing a costume. I look at him and just see Obi-Wan. What an amazing actor.
That’s what he hates
@@Deathmare235 you just need to witness his other work, he’s a magnificent actor.
@@FPC387 you should be telling that to everyone else
Holy cow, it's a real Jedi Knight pretending to be Alec Guinness!!!!
You fool! It is Sir Alec Guinness! He actually lives on Tatooine!
@@mushroomhead3619 chill
@@Merylcaine are you stupid?
@@TwistyBons No he plays as a wise man, playing stupid, playing wise stupid.
@@Merylcaine chill
An elegant gentleman from a more civilized age. I could have definitely imagined him playing a part in a LOTR adaptation. He is a one of a kind actor from that classic breed of Ian McKellen, Christopher Lee, Peter O'Toole.
OK Boomer
@@thomsboys77 Imagine deluding yourself with the belief that it is a substantive response.
@@SamvedIyer Imagine being so deluded thinking that society back then or throughout history was ever civilised 😂 ever heard of the Holocaust, Vietnam, Hiroshima or read any history book? Take off those rose-tinted glasses idiot
Having Guiness in Obi Wan costume mention Lord Of The Rings has got to the nirvana moment for Nerds
it was for me lol
Sitting in front of the Millennium Falcon.
Hell yeah, that was awesome😂
0:50 Seeing Ben Kenobi smile this big is so wonderful
His voice is awesome
Damn. A mention of Lord of the Rings in 1976.
True. I just like how it was influencing things even back then.
Well the hobbit and the chronicles of narnia were some of the biggest inspirations of fiction-fantasy since their release.. so in a world were books are a bigger medium than movies, you can see how more people knew that work in comparison to today.
+GamleErik100
Actually, Lord Of The Rings was technically being developed as early as 1910, since that was when Tolkien started developing some of the Elf-languages, and he did it just because he had a massive passion for languages.
Then he wanted people to speak all of his fictional languages, so he made up various creatures like Elves (which I prefer to think of as "Quendi", since they really aren't "elves" in the traditional sense), Dwarves, Hobbits etc, and this grew into very epic things like the creation of Arda by the Gods, the Blessed Realm, the theft of the holy Silmarils, the rebellion of the Noldor Elves, the power of the evil Morgoth, the War Of Wrath and then the rising of Sauron and his creation of the Rings Of Power etc.
Tolkien took these things VERY seriously, and worked on them pretty much his entire life.
Du verkar ha ett svenskt namn, förresten. =P
+Laurelindo What was being discussed was LOTR in the public consciousness, which certainly does not include Tolkein's earliest work with proto-Elvish.
Lord of the Rings was released between 1954 - 1955, and the Hobbit was published in 1937. By the 1970s, LOTR and Dungeons and Dragons had a significant fandom in the fantasy genre which itself had a large following in the counter culture (a lot of heavy metal bands of the 70s like Led Zeppelin and Rush drew quite heavily on inspiration from Tolkien). So yeah, its not like LOTR was an unknown property that was sitting around, waiting for Peter Jackson to make a film adaptation. It was still one of the most significant high fantasy novels, which is why there were numerous attempts to make film adaptations before Jackson did his version in 2001-2003.
I wish he lived to see the entire prequel trilogy and comment on Ewan McGregor's performance.
Съгласен.Юън се представи на ниво според мен.
I doubt highly he would have seen the prequels.
@@RarelyEvenn I was talking if he hadn't passed away!
Wasn’t he alive after the release of the Phantom Menace, don’t have any info on him meeting or acknowledging Ewan but I’m pretty sure he was alive during then
@@guapoindustries5030 I think he passed away shortly after it. Not sure of his mental health at the time though. I've heard he was never really proud with his role as Kenobi and didn't care for it very much. Still it would've been interesting to see what his thoughts on Ewan's performance are.
Waves hand before the interviewer -- "This is not the question you wanted to ask me ..."
"It seems to me to present far more problems for the Robots."
(young Obi-Wan slashing Battle Droids apart)
Audial Architect LOL
Audial Architect LOLZ 😆
Padme: "Fighting in a robot war must be very difficult."
Obi-Wan: "Yes, for the robots."
0:51 great final frame, youthful smile
His voice was just so lovely. Very special.
Who else just loved seeing the Falcon's ramp in the background?
I'm glad Lucas was a good enough director not to break anyone's leg with it.
Seems like such a gentleman.
I admired Alex Guinness so much as Obi Wan :) . I am so happy Ewan McGregor got the opportunity to take on
Obi Wan in his younger days :) .
There certainly are some inspirations from The Lord of the Rings in Star Wars, I don't know why it isn't mentioned more often.
I won't mention the typical elements of the hero's journey and the old mentor characters, very common to a lot of stories, BUT the thing with the force and the temptation of the dark side is pretty clear an inspiration from LOTR's temptation from the One Ring.
Also Dune plays a great role, it was written before Star Wars. If people first know about Dune with the recent movie, they will think the Voice is replicating a Jedi Mind Trick / The Force 🤣
Star Wars was based off medieval mythology. Lightsabers being swords and Jedi being wizards. It always was that just in a futuristic setting.
Also the fact that there is a role for short, diminutive characters in each Star Wars movie. Jawas, Ugnaughts, Ewoks and R2 himself.
Alec Guinness may not have enjoyed the impact that "A New Hope" made but I bet he didn't mind all the money he made - and from his cameos in episodes 5 and 6!
He enjoyed the story and the movies themselves, just not the commercial and fanatic aspect that resulted from them.
He was given 2% of A New Hope's box office, which is a LOT of money. But he appeared not to care much about wealth anyway.
A true sparkle in his eyes. This is a man who has lived a fantastic life.
Alec Guinness: (walks in for interview) *"Hello there"*
(sees reporter) "Come here, my little friend!"
what a musical voice
*As a British schoolboy I read Lord of the Rings and remember the film coming out in 1978 Sir Alec Guinness sure was HIP*
That amazing voice though. Not deep as James Earl Jones, but such an intriguing voice.
0:50 he looks so much like ewan here
Damn, hearing him mention Lord of the Rings....
I can’t not picture him as Gandalf.
Alec was only 8 years older than Christopher Lee. But 25 years older than Ian McKellen.
Sir Alec Guiness ¡ Brithish Legend actor ¡ always on us memory !
He did a great job in that role Wow
Wow, I wasn't expecting to hear The Lord of the Rings mentioned in an old Star Wars interview. But it's awesome.
amazing
Goos bye obiwan kenobi! We will remember you forever!!
Au revoir, Pee-wee!
You were best Obi Wan.
I just saw Obi-Wan Kenobi say "Lord of the Rings. All is now right with the world.
Alec Guiness started his stage career in 1934. He debuted in 1946 in David Lean's Great Expectations. He brought a deep dignity to his role as Obi-Wan in Star Wars. It also made him a very rich man.
who is that handsome guy
Obi-Wan Kenobi that you
Well of course I know him. He is me.
I love you mr alec😍😘😘😘
good clip!
Can you imagine him as Gandalf or Dumbledore…!
I just learned recently that he was actually considered for the role of Bert in *Mary Poppins*
They could CGI him as a force ghost in Star wars episode 8 or 9.
Andrew Dexter or use Ewan McGregor :^)
I think they should just leave dead people alone. No one should have the rights to someone's likeness after their death, it just seems disrespectful to me. Would Peter Cushing really have wanted to be digitally re-created in a new Star Wars film? We don't know, and that's the thing, we can't ask dead people.
George Lucas likes the way you think Alex Teller
HyperGolem well we can ask dead people. The lack of reply is another issue
No need of that. Ewan looks almost exactly like him. A bit makeup here and there... And Boom got yourself a slightly younger Alec Kenobi.
This needs sampling in a dance track
If there was a *Thor* movie made back in the '70s or '80s, I can most definitely see Sir Alec Guinness portraying Odin.
Not as clumsy or random as a blaster; an elegant weapon for a more civilized age
Not as clumsy or random as a Gen Z movie star; an elegant actor for a more civilized age.
He nailed it
0:50 hello there!
I feel like if they made a live action Lord of the Rings trilogy back in the 1970’s or early 80’s, Alec Guinness would be Gandalf
Possibly
A Nobel man.
U can see why they cast Ewan Mcgregor because he could pass for a young version of Guinness
I heard he hated working on Star Wars. I heard he had them kill him off. I heard he hated working on so he had them kill him off. But here he seems to be a little more nice about it in this interview. I thought he was great as Obi-Wan Kenobi I really liked him as Obi-Wan Kenobi. One time a kid said he watched it 100 times
Then Alec Guinness said "Promise me you will never watch it again."
Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope is my favorite Star Wars movie.
Until he saw the check 😂 payment
Please seek out Alec Guinness in the Lady Killers and The Bridge on the River Kwai. Seriously, go check them out. He was much more than Star Wars.
My first comment after seeing Star Wars was that it was a tragedy that he would be remembered as Obi-Wan rather than for the many other truly outstanding roles.
Is that you, Alec?
Hunting Karla in space
the guy would of been gandulf probably if he was born like 15 or 20 years later.
Not tall enough
@Michael Sperling hardly since he died in 2000
Was promised 2.5% of the profit from the film but was only in the end give 2.25%. Not that there is any report of Guinness complaining as 2.25% in the end gave him $70M
0:29
I wonder if Alec got to fly the Falcon
HELLO THERE
Hello there!
if you know you know
his mention of Tolkien makes me sad he didn't get to see those films. although what with his disapproval at star wars being taken too seriously, lord of the rings probably would have made it worse for him
I wonder if he was considered for any roles in it. The movies actually started shooting months before he was diagnosed with cancer, apparently.
Oog
its a shame they decided to kill him off. it would've been cool to see what the rest of the trilogy would've been with him
It's ironic how Star Wars symbolized the shift of movies into appealing to youth culture by killing off its two veteran, gray-haired actors before the sequels.
he hated star wars and felt it was beneath him
Lies!
@@jedijones not lies. Its a well known fact
Wow. He actually admitted they took from LOTR. More proof that LOTR is far superior.
The two are hardly comparable in the truest sense. One is a galactic space opera with episodic Flash Gordon vibes made for kids (though enjoyable by people of all ages) and other was written to be like the basis for England's new mythology. Different goals, different original mediums, different target audiences, etc.
They do have some similarity in that they both are inspired by enormous amount of other works - Star Wars by movies and tv series George watched, and Tolkien by different mythologies and languages he studied. They are also both very fantasy like - Star Wars is likely closer to LOTR than it is to Star Trek for one. Still, apples and oranges.
@@Magnifico145 nah man, LOTR is better. More emotional, epic, grand in scale, moving soundtrack, more atmospheric, like could go on and on with lotr. It is both a literary and cinematic masterpiece.
@@ogbee9690 I don't think you're understanding my point. They have different goals.
Even stuff like "more emotional", that might be bad for a movie targeted primarily at kids - New Hope is PG while Fellowship is PG-13 for example. I also don't get where you get "grand in scale" - one is literally galactic and another is essentially about a continent on Arda - are you talking "grand" in the sense of some fuzzy cinematic sense?
@@Magnifico145 Exactly. Star Wars is for kids and lacks the depth of LOTR. LOTR themes are more universal and can connect on some level to essentially everybody. And I mean I terms of the way they are shot, specifically, LOTR has a much more grand, polished, but still very grounded high scale feel to it that SW severely lacks.
@@ogbee9690 Just because something is made to be watchable for kids doesn't mean it's a lesser form of entertainment. This short of mentality certainly has lead to a lot of trash-tier kids show but it isn't an universal truth.
One thing to understand is that Star Wars isn't going for grounded feel - it's going for a high-pitched soap opera style - going even into camp at times, which works for it extremely well. I definitely wouldn't suggest doing that for a work like LOTR though.
Obviously Tolkien spent a lot of time to write an internally consistent mythology with the beginnings of Silmarillion and so on. It isn't made for the style that for example the Clone Wars tv series has with its radio host style introes of "in the last episode of Clone Wars" which has that Flash Gordon influence behind it.
*In a letter, he didn't like the screenplay and did SW for the paycheck only!*
*Can't blame him.*
Apparently he talked to George and had a lot of the dialogue changed
Well back then they didn’t have all the edits in for the movie. It came out differently
He read it and kept turning the page , which is a good sign ,
@@msg.v4309 Yeah, he was like, "Let's get through this shit as fast as possible!"
It seems,he wasn´t that nice at all. www.buzzfeed.com/chowdad/alec-guinness-hated-star-wars-and-i-should-know-20egr THIS is a shame! I never expected this from Alec Guinness who proved that if one get paid enough,one would do anything for money.
Your seriously quoting buzz feed! Jeez you might as well compare it to performing heart surgery after playing the board game operation 🤦♂️