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Best Lightsaber fight in the Star Wars movies

  • Darth Maul vs Obi-wan/Qui-Gonn Jinn (Phantom Menace)

    Votes: 280 30.8%
  • Obi-Wan vs Anakin (Revenge of the Sith)

    Votes: 91 10.0%
  • Luke vs Darth Vader (Empire Strikes Back)

    Votes: 190 20.9%
  • Rey vs Kylo Ren (Force Awakens)

    Votes: 36 4.0%
  • Throne room Scene (The Last Jedi)

    Votes: 217 23.8%
  • Luke vs Vader (Return of the Jedi)

    Votes: 96 10.5%

  • Total voters
    910

hydruxo

▲ Legend ▲
Member
Oct 25, 2017
20,436
The ROTJ Luke vs Vader fight doesn't do a whole lot for me. I vastly prefer their fight in ESB. The atmosphere is killer and the tension is off the charts.
 

Deleted member 2802

Community Resetter
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
33,729
maxresdefault.jpg

It's so sad they couldn't translate the Clone Wars GG to the bigscreen
 

RumbleHumble

Member
Oct 27, 2017
7,128
Maul/Qui-Gon/Obi-Wan for best pure fight choreography/music

Best overall (Thematic relevance, music, choreography, cinematography) gotta go with Throne Room.
 
Oct 31, 2017
9,623
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.

I agree with your points about both ESB and RotJ's duels

One of the things that I really like across the two scenes is how in Empire Vader jumps confidently, strikingly towards Luke. In Jedi, Luke kicks Vader ass backwards down the stairs.
 

DIE BART DIE

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,847
I voted "The Throne Room" assuming it meant RotJ and now the option has been amended. This is a worthless poll.
 

Blackpuppy

Member
Oct 28, 2017
4,203
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.

THIS right here is why Empire's duel is the best answer. It's not as flashy as other battles, but it's storytelling in fighting.
 

shnurgleton

Member
Oct 27, 2017
15,864
Boston
Darth Maul fight for the music alone, but the whole thing is brilliant and nearly redeems the whole prequel trilogy. The tension build with the laser gates is inspired and serves as a reminder why Lucas was revered

Burned into my memory
 

CassCade

Banned
Nov 2, 2017
2,037
In terms of visual spectacle its the Throne room scene, outside of the sequel series, all the fight scenes range from laughably bad to okay at best.
For emotional impact, i would say Luke v Vader in Empire.
 

Igorth

Member
Nov 13, 2017
1,309
Darth Maul, no doubt, the movie is the worst of the whole saga but that choreography is really good.
 
Dec 2, 2017
1,544
Episode I. No contest.

My secret fave is Sheev and Yoda though - it's peak Star Wars campy goodness. And Star Wars is always best when they full-on embrace that they are a campy space opera.
 

TheZjman

Banned
Nov 22, 2018
1,369
Man, i absolutely love the Obi- Wan v Anakin battle in Revenge of the Sith. The speed, the stakes, the background. Its so good. My personal favourite followed by TLJ.
 

Mockerre

Story Director
Verified
Oct 30, 2017
630
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.
 

TheZjman

Banned
Nov 22, 2018
1,369
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.
 

Mockerre

Story Director
Verified
Oct 30, 2017
630
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.

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
 
Oct 25, 2017
11,089
The Darth Maul fight. It helps that Ray Park knows actual martial arts to help with the choreography.

It wasn't enough to save the Phantom Menace from being a terrible movie, but the fight scene by itself is the best of the series.
 

DiipuSurotu

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
53,148
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.
 

Aftermath

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,756
I love them all even in the films i'm not too fond of (note there is not a single SW film I hate just some are a bit meh)

I wanted to choose Darth Maul vs Obi Wan because it's quite good, but in the end I went Luke vs Vader Obi Wan though I do like Luke vs Vader rotj and the throne room in tlj is great too
 

Tomasoares

Member
Oct 28, 2017
4,532
Luke vs Ben is the only that feels a samurai duel imo, reminding me a lot of Obi vs Vader in Episode IV, but this time with some actual cinematography.

Everything else is kinda okay-ish.
 

Shopolic

Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
6,865
Darth Maul scene is still the best one.
That beautiful scene in The Last Jedi was so good too.
 

TheZjman

Banned
Nov 22, 2018
1,369
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
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.

if, at full speed on first watch it was extremely noticeable, then fair enough. but it wasn't.
 

zma1013

Member
Oct 27, 2017
7,686
I voted for Empire Strikes Back only because Return of the Jedi wasn't on the list. The fight in the throne room in ROTJ is the best one. The emotions, the music, the way its shot. Its all great.

Darth Maul fight is neat with how it starts and the force field doors and the incredible music but it's ruined by how the villian is a blank slate devoid of character and how comically bad the fight ends.
 

Gunslinger

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
2,401
I voted for throne thinking it was RoTJ then I see its TLJ. I feel disgusted. Ewwww. This poll is not well setup imo.
 

Jarmel

The Jackrabbit Always Wins
Member
Oct 25, 2017
19,337
New York
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.
 

Doc Holliday

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,815
Return of the jedi or empire. The story and cinematography in those two fights destroy all the others combined.
 

Rendering...

Member
Oct 30, 2017
19,089
Not in terms of choreography, but overall staging and impact, it's gotta be Luke VS Vader in ESB. The progression, the iconic frames and moments, the part when Vader decides to show Luke how outclassed he is by using his crimson saber for dramatic punctuation while he trashes Luke with Force-propelled blunt objects... And that devastating ending, with Luke in extremis, cowering at the edge of oblivion, when Vader drops one of the most memorable bombs in cinema history.

The throne room duel with Luke VS Vader in ROTJ is a close, close second though. Probably equal. A strong case could be made that it's the best. Anyway, the part under the stairway after Vader threatens Leia, when Luke brings the fury while that haunting, unforgettable music plays, is the single most impactful moment from any duel in the entire series. Star Wars is not Star Wars without that perfect scene.

After those two, it's definitely the TLJ throne room scene. The sequels have magnificent lightsaber action. Really great choreography and effects that make lightsabers feel dangerous. And unlike anything in the prequels, the duels speak volumes about each character through their fighting styles.
 

Rendering...

Member
Oct 30, 2017
19,089
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, that and Maul's cool factor. He is indeed very cool, in a flashy and every so slightly juvenile sort of way. Great character design though. Good job Iain McCaig, Ray Park, and Peter Serafinowicz.

Explains alot of SW discussions on ERA for me. Lmao.
It is kind of telling, isn't it? Casts all the TLJ hate in a new light.
 

striderno9

The Fallen
Oct 31, 2017
2,344
New York, NY
In my old age now, I say Vader and Obi Wan in episode 4. As a younger man I got the most hype out of seeing Count Duku and Yoda.

Also, the Darth Maul fight is unbelievably good still, to this day. Terrible movie, amazing fight scene.