Best duel of the saga

[C Of K]

Originally Posted by Delvo

The funny thing there is that it was choreographed to give HIM more time by making THEM waste it (such as by spinning around).

Really? Is that what the problem was? I knew something was amiss. Someone should have died in that fight a whole lot earlier than they did.

I liked it until the end, which completely ruined it by suddenly having Darth Maul transform into someone else completely idiotic and incompetent for no reason.

Too true. It was bad enough that we knew OBi Wan had to survive that fight. They could have ended it better for that reason alone, me thinks.

[Feordel]

I think:
Duel of the Fates in Phantom Menace, Maul was amazing.
Palpatine VS Mace
Yoda VS Sidious
Anakin VS Obi Wan
And Luke VS Vader in ROTJ

[Kostmayer]

The thing I like most about the Luke/Vader duel in Empire Strikes Back is the lack of unnecessary jumping and twirling about. All the moves seemed functional, rather then just for show.

[Darth Infinitus]

1. Yoda vs Darth Sidious
The Grand Master Jedi and Supreme Sith Lord finally face-off. It's not the longest (lightsaber) duel, but it was awesome none the less. I loved seeing them push their ancient abilities to the limit. It really showed how much power they really have. Jumping through the huge Senate Chamber, like it wasn't that big at all. Throwing huge Senate pods through the room with relative ease. Their force abilities are as highly skilled as they can get.

2. Yoda vs Count Dooku
Amazing to see Yoda fight for the first time. We knew he was powerful, but we didn't really got to see it. He could lift the X-Wing, which was kinda surprising. But seeing him block the force lightning and fight faster than anyone else just made me fell off my cinema seat.

3. Mace Windu vs Darth Sidious
The thing I loved the most about this fight were the sounds Palpatine made during and after the lightsaber duel. ''No.. No! No!'' You could just hear the Emperor, yet we were unable to see him. Until his became deformed of course. Palpatine's lightsaber abilities also surprised me a lot. As was Mace Windu's ability to stand his ground against it.

4. Obi-Wan & Anakin vs Count Dooku (III)
Although it was shorter than the fight from episode II, I did find it more interesting this time. Especially Count Dooku's ability to hold against both Obi-Wan and Anakin at the same time while using only one lightsaber (unlike Maul, who had a double). He lost the fight, eventually, but fought brilliantly till the end.

5. Qui-Gon & Obi-Wan vs Darth Maul
There is something excited about two Jedi's fighting one Sith Lord. Although the Phantom Menace felt a little disappointing, this fight was quite refreshing compared to what we were used to. It was also interesting to see the introduction of the double-lightsaber.

6. Obi-Wan vs Anakin
It was spectacular, had all the special effects and excitement. But somehow it didn't felt more interesting than the ones I mentioned above. Perhaps it's because Anakin didn't really felt like a true villain. Maul, Dooku, Grievous, Vader and the Emperor had something evil about them. Anakin was just a naive and confused child. I didn't really liked that, although I did fell sorry for him.

7. Obi-Wan vs General Grievous
This lightsaber battle was way too short. I enjoyed the rest of the fight, but I would have preferred a longer lightsaber battle. It was quite amazing seeing Grievous using four lightsabers at the same time. It was even more amazing seeing Obi-Wan being able to fight them off quite easily while using just one.

8. Luke vs Darth Vader (VI)
I'm sorry, I just thought the lightsaber battles from the original trilogy were quite boring. Especially because all three of them were performed by the same villain, while two of them had the same hero. Now that's not a lot of variation. And have you seen Luke fight? Really, what was he doing? He waved his lightsaber around like it was a branch or something. But still I have to admit that the final battle in episode VI had something special. Perhaps because it was one of the most important fights of all.

[Captain Campion]

Originally Posted by Kostmayer

The thing I like most about the Luke/Vader duel in Empire Strikes Back is the lack of unnecessary jumping and twirling about. All the moves seemed functional, rather then just for show.

Agreed.

The Jedi went from knights to super heroes.

[C Of K]

I have to say, Kostmayer's avatar is absolutely one of the greatest I have ever seen. Any fan of DS9 would instantly remember it--and then Laugh out loud.

It's a fake...

If he is no longer an active member, I will carry it in tribute.

[Darth Infinitus]

Originally Posted by Captain Campion

Agreed.

The Jedi went from knights to super heroes.

And that is wrong because? I think the new movies made the lightsaber duels a lot more interesting. I still enjoy the lightsaber fights from the original movies, but I do not consider them better in any way. The original lightsaber battles were slow and simple, why is that any better than what we have today? People hang on to the old lightsaber duels because it was what they were used to. I'm pretty sure that at the time episode 7 comes out, people will say the fights from the prequel trilogy were a lot better. Simply because they won't be able to adapt to the new lightsaber duel style.

[Rodders]

Originally Posted by Captain Campion

Agreed.

The Jedi went from knights to super heroes.

The newer fights did look good, but this fight was pivotal to the entire movie and is much more important.

[Captain Campion]

Originally Posted by Darth Infinitus

And that is wrong because? I think the new movies made the lightsaber duels a lot more interesting. I still enjoy the lightsaber fights from the original movies, but I do not consider them better in any way. The original lightsaber battles were slow and simple, why is that any better than what we have today? People hang on to the old lightsaber duels because it was what they were used to. I'm pretty sure that at the time episode 7 comes out, people will say the fights from the prequel trilogy were a lot better. Simply because they won't be able to adapt to the new lightsaber duel style.

Because it turned them into cartoons.
The Jedi suddenly could leap tall buildings, fall from great heights, and basically function on par with Morphius in The Matrix without suffering a scratch. They went from a kind of honored order of knights to the Justice League. No limitations, and hence not nearly as much tension.

The Luke-Darth Vader fight in IV was gritty and real. Other than the Darth Maul duel in I, the rest of the prequel fights felt like highly choreographed ballets with lighted sticks (although I did enjoy Emperor's two fights).

I hate what Lucas did with the Jedi in the first three movies. I mean seriously, Anakin jumped out of a flying car hundreds of feet in the air and landed, without a scratch, on another flying car waaayyy down below.

[soulsinging]

Originally Posted by Captain Campion

I hate what Lucas did with the Jedi in the first three movies. I mean seriously, Anakin jumped out of a flying car hundreds of feet in the air and landed, without a scratch, on another flying car waaayyy down below.

Agreed, stuff like that always rubbed me the wrong way. Even Yoda v Dooku felt like watching the Tazmanian devil cartoon with a lightsaber. Though the fights in episode 3 were pretty good in spite of that, especially Yoda-Palpaltine and Obi-Anakin. Still, it always bothered me that Yoda concentrates so hard to lift the x-wing, but is here just flinging massive senate pods around like it's nothing, as all the jedi do. I know some of it was due to technology, but it always bothered me that the jedi could destroy whole armies solo and then be summarily wiped out with such ease. It seemed very inconsistent at times... like they had limits when the plot called for it but were supermen when they could milk it for a nice CGI effect.

But my favorite is Luke-Vader in episode 5. Vader has never seemed more menacing than in that scene, standing in the mists of the carbon chamber. Watching him toy with Luke was a joy as well, but the tension in this one was palpable. This was before anyone really got to see Vader in action (the Obi-Vader fight in 4 was relatively quick and subdued) against an equal and you can feel the fear of knowing Luke is clearly outclassed and struggling to simply to stay alive and escape. Far more dramatic and intense than the Superman v Zod style superhero battles in the prequels, which were a lot of style and of limited substance.

[Captain Campion]

Originally Posted by soulsinging

Agreed, stuff like that always rubbed me the wrong way. Even Yoda v Dooku felt like watching the Tazmanian devil cartoon with a lightsaber. Though the fights in episode 3 were pretty good in spite of that, especially Yoda-Palpaltine and Obi-Anakin. Still, it always bothered me that Yoda concentrates so hard to lift the x-wing, but is here just flinging massive senate pods around like it's nothing, as all the jedi do. I know some of it was due to technology, but it always bothered me that the jedi could destroy whole armies solo and then be summarily wiped out with such ease. It seemed very inconsistent at times... like they had limits when the plot called for it but were supermen when they could milk it for a nice CGI effect.

But my favorite is Luke-Vader in episode 5. Vader has never seemed more menacing than in that scene, standing in the mists of the carbon chamber. Watching him toy with Luke was a joy as well, but the tension in this one was palpable. This was before anyone really got to see Vader in action (the Obi-Vader fight in 4 was relatively quick and subdued) against an equal and you can feel the fear of knowing Luke is clearly outclassed and struggling to simply to stay alive and escape. Far more dramatic and intense than the Superman v Zod style superhero battles in the prequels, which were a lot of style and of limited substance.

Outstanding post.

[Darth Infinitus]

I understand what you mean from your point of view. I always had that feeling while watching the terminator movies. The first and second movie felt realistic and plausible. The third and fourth felt not convincing at all. It felt like the story didn't matter anymore. That it didn't matter if the movie was plausible, as long as it was funny, entertaining and packed with as many special effects as possible. So I understand your point of view. The sequels and prequels don't share the same soul. Yet somehow I think the prequels and it's lightsaber duels are far more interesting. Perhaps it's because I never took the Star Wars movies that seriously anyway. And the characters within the prequels do have limitations, they're just different than the ones you were used to.

[Harry Kilmer]

Originally Posted by C Of K

I have to say, Kostmayer's avatar is absolutely one of the greatest I have ever seen. Any fan of DS9 would instantly remember it--and then Laugh out loud.

It's a fake...

If he is no longer an active member, I will carry it in tribute.

He is active, but posting under a new name due to problems logging into his old account Feel free to use the avatar.

Luke shouldn't really be that skilled with a lightsabre anyways, he hasn't had nearly as much training with one as the Jedi we've seen in the prequel.

I dunno, I just think the lightsabre duels in the prequels seem a little too choreographed. I have the same issue with fightscenes, paticularly ones involving martial arts. Some come off like dances, whilst others have a girtty realism to them.

The fight between Frank Sinatra and Harry Silva in The Manchurian Candidate for example. Or John Cusack and that hitman fella in Grosse Point Blanke. I love those scenes.

[C Of K]

Originally Posted by Harry Kilmer

He is active, but posting under a new name due to problems logging into his old account Feel free to use the avatar.

Thanks, Harry! I will carry that avy in tribute then.

[Deathpool]

Originally Posted by alpierre

The Jedi lightsaber is the weapon of elegance of a more civilized time. In the hands of a Master, a Jedi lightsaber is unstoppable. It slashes through blast doors or whatever type of enemies. Using the Force, a Jedi can predict and deflect incoming blaster rays, and fire them back at the opponent.

Light Sabers can be stopped by both forcefields and shields so they aren't unstopable. In fact if I were fighting the jedi that's exactly what I'd do. Remember the destroyer droids? I like the battle between Darth Sidious and Yoda the best. I like the show of power.