Excuse me, historical documentaries have no place in this thread.
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Best Lightsaber fight scene in the Star Wars movies
- Thread starter Saucycarpdog
- Start date
Excuse me, historical documentaries have no place in this thread.
The throne room in ROTJ literally looked like the cheapest setpiece in the galaxy. Compare that setpiece to the carbonite chamber in TESB, or TLJ's own throne room, or even the snowy forest in TFA...
In a sense, you're right. I dislike TLJ, so I'm more critical of it.
However, we're talking specifically about the best light saber fight, so I feel a higher degree of scrutiny is warranted. The throne room fight also seems the least important of the bunch, as it's against faceless, nameless goons after a more significant moment in the story; there are also no personal stakes in the fight, while each other scene has them. It's a void just like the movie its... ah, here I go again ;)
Back on topic, I would nominate this light saber battle from Rebels:
It's pretty low key and not as flashy as all the other, but contrary to most of these fights, it tells you a lot about the story and characters. There's a lot of charisma here from both Obi-Wan and Maul, one is at peace, while the other burns with rage and regret. It's a callback to the Ep VI scene (Maul senses Obi-Wan is protecting someone and only then does Obi-Wan engage) and the Ep I and Ep II fights, with Obi-Wan showing his later stance, then switching to Qui-Gon's stance to bait Maul. The exchange is short, but has a great payoff, it shows that Maul has failed to evolve (trying the old trick), while Obi-Wan transcended who he was.
In terms of action its Anakin vs Obiwan
in terms of emotional weight its Luke Vs Vader (Ep 6)
Also im sorry but...none of th sequel fights do anything for me
in terms of emotional weight its Luke Vs Vader (Ep 6)
Also im sorry but...none of th sequel fights do anything for me
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Nothing new about the light. There's a high correlation between TLJ haters and prequel lovers.
I'll second this. And in terms of emotional weight, the Empire Strikes Back duel is not far behind ROTJ.
Hold up? You mean the pole initially had Throne Room as an option without actually specifying it meant TLJ and not RoTJ?
How long was it like that?
How long was it like that?
in terms of being an exciting fight with the best choreography - Darth Maul vs Obi/Qui Gon
In terms of being the most dramatic, iconic, Visually pleasing- Luke vs. Vader- Empire strikes back (and Luke vs Vader in ROTJ is VERY closely behind it)
I will say this though- Kylo vs. Rey in Starkiller base forest and the Throne Room romp in The Last Jedi are both VERY well done, and really well shot. But nothing will ever top Luke/Vader in empire.
In terms of being the most dramatic, iconic, Visually pleasing- Luke vs. Vader- Empire strikes back (and Luke vs Vader in ROTJ is VERY closely behind it)
I will say this though- Kylo vs. Rey in Starkiller base forest and the Throne Room romp in The Last Jedi are both VERY well done, and really well shot. But nothing will ever top Luke/Vader in empire.
That only enhances its significance, imo.
Vader combs through the dark corridors beneath the Emperor's throne, searching for his son, at long last, taunting him, and bam!, in a fit of hatred Luke ambushes him from the shadows of the staircase, and father and son trade blows in this intimate yet vastly profound encounter, a bitter, venomous display of strength that belies weakness, set to a perverted musical hymn as though the Emperor is luring Luke ever closer to evil and relishing in their mutual defeat.
The spectacle lies within.
The Throne Room
No wait,
Phantom Menace
The problem with the throne room was way too many guards, which just made it sloppy. Two or three would have done the trick given how much of elite fighters they were. Palpatine only had a couple of guards himself.
The Throne Room
This reminds me of The Dark Knight Rises fight scene where the dude just falls down as he gets hit by nothing.
You're just highlighting how badass everything else is about the throne room fight. In your description I don't see how the cheapness of the room "enhances" the fight's significance?
ESB = RotJ > TPM >>>
TPM has the best choreography in the series and is quite a dramatic fight because you fear for Qui-Gon. ESB and RotJ have inferior fighting, but not terrible, and are far more significant in importance and significance.
Surprised people listing TLJ fight. Kylo Ren suddenly forgets he can literally freeze blaster bolts in mid air---even people! I could forgive that, but there's too "style" in the fight itself. And Ridley is not as good here as she was in TFA. The moment before the fight is a high point in the series of course, but its not really woven into the fight with literal henchmen fodder.
I'd rank it higher if it was a "best star wars sequence" and not "best lightsaber fight" list.
TPM has the best choreography in the series and is quite a dramatic fight because you fear for Qui-Gon. ESB and RotJ have inferior fighting, but not terrible, and are far more significant in importance and significance.
Surprised people listing TLJ fight. Kylo Ren suddenly forgets he can literally freeze blaster bolts in mid air---even people! I could forgive that, but there's too "style" in the fight itself. And Ridley is not as good here as she was in TFA. The moment before the fight is a high point in the series of course, but its not really woven into the fight with literal henchmen fodder.
I'd rank it higher if it was a "best star wars sequence" and not "best lightsaber fight" list.
I voted for the episode 3 duel.
Yes it does get ridiculous with the whole swinging from chains over a lavafall, excessive twirls, and fighting while on the floating droids. But it's a really incredible piece of choreography, it's also got the absolute best musical score backing it, the setting is amazing, the build up to the duel is strong even if the acting and dialgoue are weak and it does go on for a bit too long.
But the question was best lightsaber fight scene, and I take that to mean best fight choreography, and by that metric non of the OT duels compare, I even rewatched the throne duel from ROTJ last night and the reason that duel is good is because of the dialogue and tension running through it not the actual saber duels.
Yes I am being pedantic about this.
Technically the best duels are in TCWs / Rebels but OP said movies.
Yes it does get ridiculous with the whole swinging from chains over a lavafall, excessive twirls, and fighting while on the floating droids. But it's a really incredible piece of choreography, it's also got the absolute best musical score backing it, the setting is amazing, the build up to the duel is strong even if the acting and dialgoue are weak and it does go on for a bit too long.
But the question was best lightsaber fight scene, and I take that to mean best fight choreography, and by that metric non of the OT duels compare, I even rewatched the throne duel from ROTJ last night and the reason that duel is good is because of the dialogue and tension running through it not the actual saber duels.
Yes I am being pedantic about this.
Technically the best duels are in TCWs / Rebels but OP said movies.
Let's not get into all that. These are movies and what was done was for entertainment purposes. Kylo Ren didn't just force push them and freeze some because it would provide for a less interesting fight, so they didn't do it. It's really that simple.
So what we got was a straight up melee affair which is cool. Just didn't rank high on my list of fight scenes.
God the direction and editing in the lightsaber battle for Return of the Jedi is still spectacular.
Add in the emotional stakes, which are incredibly substantial and built up over the three movies, and its not even fair to compare to other movies to the OG trilogy.
In all of the modern movies the choreography is much better, but it doesn't carry the same weight as the immaculate direction and editing you see in Return or in Empire.
Add in the emotional stakes, which are incredibly substantial and built up over the three movies, and its not even fair to compare to other movies to the OG trilogy.
In all of the modern movies the choreography is much better, but it doesn't carry the same weight as the immaculate direction and editing you see in Return or in Empire.
Apparently one of the poll options was originally just "Throne room Scene" without specifying ROTJ or TLJ, which may have caused some confusion. I would have voted for the ROTJ one if it was an option, as it's a very good scene overall, and the throne room scenes are the highlight of ROTJ. Although the actual athletics are not impressive, but the scene is so powerful it really doesn't matter.
In the end I went with Darth Maul vs Obi-wan/Qui-Gonn Jinn. The fight itself is great and I love the force shields bit where they're just waiting to start fighting again.
I watched this this morning, and yeah, it's still pretty great, but a little slow at times. I've also watched it so many times that the magic has likely worn off a bit.
I went with the TLJ throne room scene. Great camera work, great action, "whoa" ending.
No. It would have been cool as shit to see Rey and Ben duel only to be interrupted by the Raddus splitting the ship in half.
How in the fuck is phantom menace beating empire strikes back? Do you people seriously thing that is a better executed sequence? And why is Return of the Jedi's fight, the second best in the series, not on here? This game is rigged, I call a mistrial.
Voted Luke vs Vader, until I read comments that pointed out that the poll was for Empire, when I was really thinking Return.
Rewatching Return of the Jedi before seeing The Force Awakens for the first time, turned out the movie wasn't anywhere near as good as I remembered.
But that final battle scene? Fucking amazing, from start to finish. Seeing Luke go into rage mode while Palpatine cackles on, followed by every emotional thing that comes afterwards, just makes it so much more interesting than any other lightsaber fight.
Rewatching Return of the Jedi before seeing The Force Awakens for the first time, turned out the movie wasn't anywhere near as good as I remembered.
But that final battle scene? Fucking amazing, from start to finish. Seeing Luke go into rage mode while Palpatine cackles on, followed by every emotional thing that comes afterwards, just makes it so much more interesting than any other lightsaber fight.
Official Sephzilla Approved Star Wars Lightsaber Battle Rankings
- Luke vs Vader (ROTJ)
- Luke vs Vader (ESB)
- Rey & Finn vs Kylo Ren (TFA)
- Jinn & Kenobi vs Maul (TPM)
- Kenobi vs Maul (Rebels)
- Rey & Kylo vs The Guards (TLJ)
- Kenobi vs Anakin (ROTS)
- Kenobi vs Vader (ANH)
- Kenobi & Skywalker vs Dooku (AOTC)
- Yoda vs Emperor (ROTS)
- Yoda vs Dooku (AOTC)
You know, looking at this list really makes me realize that across 8 films there really aren't many good lightsaber fights. The majority of them range from alright to bad which is disappointing. The top three in the poll are probably the only ones I would consider actively good.
ROTJ, Vader vs Luke. When the music swells, and then turns into something more and more ominous as you realize that Luke is succumbing to his father's mistakes. Then, changing his mind, and throwing the lightsaber away.
I always get goosebumps from it.
I always get goosebumps from it.
The Phantom Menace one was like something out of a freaking video game.
My personal favourite is Luke vs Kylo Ren, because Luke winning without taking a single aggressive action is what Jedi should be about.
My personal favourite is Luke vs Kylo Ren, because Luke winning without taking a single aggressive action is what Jedi should be about.
I went with Phantom Menace but Revenge of the Sith does impress me a lot more after seeing the footage of them practicing the run throughs and seeing how much they just did themselves.
Movie wise Best choreography goes to Obi and Qui-gon VS Maul in Phantom. Best emotional battle I'm split between RotJ or ESB for Luke VS Vader for best emotional setpiece.
We all know the Old Republic MMO trailers and cutscenes are the prime time when it comes to Saber Combat though.
We all know the Old Republic MMO trailers and cutscenes are the prime time when it comes to Saber Combat though.
The Maul fight is incredible but that throne room scene undeniably has the most impressive choreography, camera work and general impact of all the fights in the franchise. Even the most vehement TLJ detractor has to admit that it's an incredible scene, arguing the contrary is almost outright arguing in bad faith.
I think it is fair to leave RotJ off the list, but only because I think it is clearly #1. I think it would be the winner by quite some margin on a poll, though obviously not 100% unanimous. In that sense, it's more interesting to see what would be the runner-up.
Considering the lightsaber blade is practically weightless therefore Obi Wan vs Maul wins hands down because of how fast and aggressive those strikes and slashes Obi Wan & Maul are throwing at each other which imo how LightSaber 1v1 battles should have been.
If it's raw emotions and power then ROTJ Luke vs Vader wins.
If it's raw emotions and power then ROTJ Luke vs Vader wins.
What do people see in the Darth Maul fight? There are zero stakes, the protagonists aren't developed and Maul is barely a character, the choreography is terrible, it looks bland as hell visually.
Luke Vs Vader (ROTJ) > ROTS (AvsO interlaces with Yoda vs Emp) > ESB > Darth Maul Fight > TFA Fight > TLJ Fight (zero stakes in this one)
Luke vs Kylo though not a lightsaber duel is almost on par with Luke Vs Vader in terms of stakes, intensity and emotion (feel like I have to mention this before I am labelled a TLJ hater for putting its fight at the bottom)
Luke vs Kylo though not a lightsaber duel is almost on par with Luke Vs Vader in terms of stakes, intensity and emotion (feel like I have to mention this before I am labelled a TLJ hater for putting its fight at the bottom)
