The Empire Strikes Back is by far the best storytelling a lightsaber battle has ever had. Smoky oranges - a metaphorical hell for Luke to confront his demons. Begins by nervously jabbing at Vader to size him up. Vader turns up the heat and throws Luke back. Luke falls down the pit but uses the force to jump free before his death. This impresses Vader enough to let Luke slip away - maybe Luke's got a chance?
Luke moves through a tunnel - things are getting more maze-like and cold. He's dirty and sweaty. The sounds of Vader's breathing can be faintly heard. Chilling. Then Vader steps out of the shadows and ramps it up another notch - he'd been toying with the boy. He starts flinging shit at Luke with the force without moving. A slow, brooding Imperial March kicks in - inevitable and foreboding. Luke has no defensive response. The window behind him shatters and he gets sucked out into the void - an endless nightmarish sci-fi horror. He clings on for dear life onto the bridge and pulls himself up. What the fuck has Luke got himself into?
He finds another corridor, but Vader jumpscares him out the side, Vader's breathing is now faster and more energetic. He's a fucking pitbull ravaging at Luke now. And Luke's being pushed backwards further and further with every strike.... back out into the cacophonous abyss, with only a small pier keeping him alive. And that space is running out as Vader keeps pushing, chopping off antenna and railing. Luke has nowhere to move - a physical endpoint and a place where he has to make a character-defining decision. Luke has his hand chopped off and the rest is history.
The important thing here is that the story hasn't stopped when the lightsabers come out - every department is working in harmony to communicate the complete and utter disparity in skill levels between the two characters. How Luke thought he'd have a chance but was slowly but surely outclassed entirely.
No other lightsaber fight in the series does such heavylifting from a storytelling perspective. ROTJ's final flurry from Luke is up there with ESB's, but the first segment of the battle is comparatively dry and uninteresting storytelling.
like this?
The Empire Strikes Back is by far the best storytelling a lightsaber battle has ever had. Smoky oranges - a metaphorical hell for Luke to confront his demons. Begins by nervously jabbing at Vader to size him up. Vader turns up the heat and throws Luke back. Luke falls down the pit but uses the force to jump free before his death. This impresses Vader enough to let Luke slip away - maybe Luke's got a chance?
Luke moves through a tunnel - things are getting more maze-like and cold. He's dirty and sweaty. The sounds of Vader's breathing can be faintly heard. Chilling. Then Vader steps out of the shadows and ramps it up another notch - he'd been toying with the boy. He starts flinging shit at Luke with the force without moving. A slow, brooding Imperial March kicks in - inevitable and foreboding. Luke has no defensive response. The window behind him shatters and he gets sucked out into the void - an endless nightmarish sci-fi horror. He clings on for dear life onto the bridge and pulls himself up. What the fuck has Luke got himself into?
He finds another corridor, but Vader jumpscares him out the side, Vader's breathing is now faster and more energetic. He's a fucking pitbull ravaging at Luke now. And Luke's being pushed backwards further and further with every strike.... back out into the cacophonous abyss, with only a small pier keeping him alive. And that space is running out as Vader keeps pushing, chopping off antenna and railing. Luke has nowhere to move - a physical endpoint and a place where he has to make a character-defining decision. Luke has his hand chopped off and the rest is history.
The important thing here is that the story hasn't stopped when the lightsabers come out - every department is working in harmony to communicate the complete and utter disparity in skill levels between the two characters. How Luke thought he'd have a chance but was slowly but surely outclassed entirely.
No other lightsaber fight in the series does such heavylifting from a storytelling perspective. ROTJ's final flurry from Luke is up there with ESB's, but the first segment of the battle is comparatively dry and uninteresting storytelling.
Throne Room scene.
Doesn't matter which one you're talking about, because the other throne room fight is the 2nd best.
For everyone saying the fight from Episode 1
Like if you just want a bunch of dumb flips with no one actually trying to hit each other sure :P
I watched the film twice, and it wasn't until i saw it slowed down on Twitter that i even noticed the missing weapon. So for me, that doesn't ruin it. It's obviously a stupid thing to do, but at speed i'd never of noticed it.Have any of you seen the Throne Room fight? There's a disapperaing lightknife, a guys throwing away his weapon, so he can get killed, a straight kick that throws away 3 guys at the same time and a guy running away from the frame to just come back into it. It's laughably bad.
I watched the film twice, and it wasn't until i saw it slowed down on Twitter that i even noticed the missing weapon. So for me, that doesn't ruin it. It's obviously a stupid thing to do, but at speed i'd never of noticed it.
Have any of you seen the Throne Room fight? There's a disapperaing lightknife, a guys throwing away his weapon, so he can get killed, a straight kick that throws away 3 guys at the same time and a guy running away from the frame to just come back into it. It's laughably bad.
You've of course noticed all that on your own during your first watching in the theater.
Yeah, i'm not dismissing it, because it's a thing. However at first and second watch, at full speed, i never noticed it and the scene still holds its value as a memorable fight for me. You can break anything done to the nth degree and show how fake it is, but sometimes you just gotta enjoy it.The missing weapon is one thing, but there's also the spinning attack that goes over Rey's head, the guy running out of frame for no reason and the guy that THROWS HIS WEAPON AWAY WHEN CHARGING SO HE CAN GET CUT DOWN :D
This thread is a mess. So many people saying "Throne Room" and I have no clue if they're referring to the correct answer or not.
Well, both throne room scenes are fantastic. The fact that the Darth Maul fight is getting the most votes is a bit disheartening to me thiough.
Yep, it's like a Disney World lightsaber show. Maybe the fantastic Duel of the Fates music confused people into thinking that fight was good.Well, both throne room scenes are fantastic. The fact that the Darth Maul fight is getting the most votes is a bit disheartening to me thiough.
It is kind of telling, isn't it? Casts all the TLJ hate in a new light.