Favorite Lightsaber Duel

[Landen Se-Sentien]

I was messaging with another forum member, and I commented that although I know it’s not everyone’s favorite duel, I really love the Anakin vs. Kenobi duel in ROTS. He said he did, too. This got me wondering, what are other people’s favorite lightsaber duels?

To me, a great lightsaber duel needs to have at least these three things. Without these, it can be good. It can be really good, but it won’t be great.
1)   Skill. That doesn’t mean flash, but there does have to be some skill evident. Let’s be real, there are a lot of things in movie fights that are pointless, but there does need to be an overall sense, with or without flashy moves, that these combatants know what they’re doing.
2)   Emotional importance. Friend vs. friend. Brother vs. brother. Teacher vs. student. Father vs. son. Arch rival vs. arch rival. Why did it come to this? Why are we here? You get the idea. A great story behind the fight can often make the fight that much better.
3)   Big picture significance. If the result changes, then what else changes? Yes, the speed, skill and ferocity of Maul vs. Kenobi in TPM is top notch, but what if Kenobi lost but still lived and withdrew? For that matter, what if Kenobi got the upper hand and Maul withdrew? In the grand scheme of things, what would’ve changed if there had been a slightly different outcome? A different outcome in a fight should have a big ripple effect, if we are to consider that fight great.

What is your favorite lightsaber duel of all time, and why?

Yes, it has to be a lightsaber duel, and it has to be in either a movie, cartoon, fan film, etc., because not all of us have read the books, and sometimes words just don’t do a fight justice. You are free to use whatever criteria you wish in order to judge your chosen duel. Maybe you like flips. Maybe you hate them. Maybe it's great positioning in a 2 on 1 situation. It's your choice, so it's your call.

If you answer with a lesser known duel (i.e. a recent episode of Rebels, a fan film, etc.), then please, if you can, provide a link for all of us to enjoy.

Also, please don’t turn this into a debate thread. Comments are fine, but don’t squabble or get into a right/wrong type of argument. This is strictly opinion, and it’s tough to quantify these things, so have fun with it.

[Landen Se-Sentien]

Anakin/Darth Vader vs. Obi-Wan Kenobi – Revenge of the Sith

I know a lot of people say that there was too much going on with the environment, it dragged on for too long (kind of like this explanation   ), and the Obi-Ani nonsense a couple minutes into it makes their eyes roll (I’m with you on that one!). However, George Lucas said that these two were at the pinnacle of their skills, powers, and abilities. I believe there were only a few Force wielders alive who could have fought at the level they did in that environment and survived it, and we got to see two of them do it. Lucas also stated that, due to his experience, Kenobi could have taken Vader virtually any time in that fight, but that was not his goal. His goal was to turn Vader back to the Light, so he intentionally dragged it on hoping Vader would come to his senses. When he realized that wouldn’t happen, he sought the high ground and ended it.

1)   Skill. The speed and ferocity of Vader’s attacks combined with the masterful artistry and equally blazing speed of Kenobi’s defense, especially in the beginning, puts this one right up there with Maul vs. Kenobi. Yes, the mirrored Obi-Anis are a detriment to this duel, but there is no doubt that these two were at the top of their A game, and they brought it. Add to that the environmental hazards, and this one shows a skill level that is unmatched.

2)   Emotional importance. This is the weakest of my categories. We know that these two have known each other for years. We know they’ve trained together, fought together, worked together, and watched each other grow through different phases in their lives. We know these two saved each other countless times. But we never got to really see it until TCW. Better story telling could have really driven this one home, but it didn’t. Although we know these things, we are left to assume and wonder too much. We never truly know how deep this bond is. There was still plenty of emotion, though. The betrayal of your best friend. The hope of turning him back. The disappointment of failure. The anguish of watching your best friend come to their horrific, assumed end and having to walk away, because it was unbearable to see.

3)   Big picture significance. Are you kidding me? The fate of the galaxy hung in the balance of two duels occurring simultaneously, and this was one of them. It’s up there with Luke vs. Vader in ROTJ, and it easily surpasses any of the other prequel duels except for maybe Palpatine vs. Windu or Yoda. If Vader had died, then Palpatine would have been without an apprentice, and any apprentice he would have found would not have compared to Vader’s potential. During that time, the Jedi who survived could have rallied and joined the Rebels, making Palpatine more vulnerable and his reign drastically shorter. If Kenobi died, Vader would have discovered Padme was still alive, and he would have been able to possibly save her, or he would have at least known about Luke and Leia surviving. Would Palpatine have assumed that they would’ve been a threat to him and killed them, as Kenobi would later suggest? What would that have done to Vader? Or would he have allowed them to be trained in the Dark Side to do his bidding; further cementing his reign? How powerful would Vader have been had he not been relegated to, and limited by, his suit for the rest of his life? How much easier would it have been for Palpatine to crush the rebellion with an army of Skywalkers at his disposal? Different outcomes. Big changes.

[Darth Tepes]

Its a bit of a draw for me.   While I do like the Episode I fight for the sheer enjoyment....it comes down to between two...


Vader vs Luke: ROTJ

The sheer weight of the emotion in this fight is what truly made it.  It showed Luke's advancement in his skill as well as Vader's reluctance to truly kill his son.  So much hinged on this fight, not least of all the Souls of both Anakin and Luke.  One towards the light and the other towards the dark.  In the end Luke resisted the Darkness and Anakin crawled his way back to the light.  While the choreography was, of course, hindered by the tech of the day; I felt the straightforward fighting fit the situation.  And in honesty that is where the Anakin vs obi-wan fight failed in my opinion. 

Obi-Wan vs Maul: Rebels

Many did not like this fight as they felt "cheated "  but I find it telling those of us with some experience in swordsmanship loved it.  You have to enemies who have faced each other many times..they know each other well.  They have reached a point in skill and physicality that they no longer need flashy moves to obtain victory .   They lock eyes and shift guards, all the while working the fight out in there heads...and then boom, its over.  This is as close to an actual real life dual that Star Wars has ever gotten.  So much was on the line as well.  Maul's sanity and Luke's safety.  Here's the video:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=no4SxdIIDBE" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">www.youtube.com/watch?v=no4SxdIIDBE</a>

[Taegin Roan]

Like Tepes, this is a hard one for me. I would have chosen Anakin/Vader v. Obi-Wan: ROTS immediately, however, Tepes just posted one of my favorite fights from probably the best episode of Rebels ever, so now it's between those two. As many of you know, I enjoy the flashy stuff. Especially when there is skill mixed in. If this was a favorite duel ever, one from SW would probably not be my favorite, but since it is SW only, I have to say that it is either Anakin/Vader v. Obi-Wan: ROTS, or Obi-Wan v. Maul: Rebels.

For the ROTS fight, I feel like it showed just how well Anakin had been trained. He was so well trained, that he knew everything Obi-Wan would do, even without the Force. It was beautiful to watch, and the choreography was excellent. Of course this is all my opinion, but for this post, that's what counts. I hope to see a better fight in either episode VIII or episode IX, but that may or may not happen. We will see.

For the Rebels fight, TCW and Rebels had been building up to this specific fight since fairly early on. When it finally came, it gave us so much more than we were expecting, but also so much less. Most of us wanted it to be a long drawn out battle between two master swordsman, but it wasn't. It was a short battle between two swordsman that had gone beyond the level of master, and were now so good, that it couldn't be long. We wanted a good look at the skill of Maul and Obi-Wan, which we were definitely given, but not in the way we were expecting.

There are many other battles that stick out in my mind, but very few come even close to these two in my opinion. I will not provide a link to the battle in Rebels which I am referring to, because Tepes already did, so I will just point to all to that. (Just don't watch it if you haven't watched Rebels yet).

[Master Nero Attoru]

Personally, I give major props to almost ALL the fights in TCW, since that show is so well done.  Rebels also has its fair share of epic fights, like Ahsoka vs Vader and the aforementioned Kenobi/Maul encounter.

As far as the movies go, I'll preface this by saying that ROTJ is my all time favorite SW film.  However, my favorite duel has to be the one in ESB, because of the incredible way the choreography progresses and tells the story.  You can feel the tension as Luke boldly ignites his lightsaber for his first duel, and you just know it's going to end badly as Vader continually toys with him throughout.  Ending it with the disarmament (heh) and epic reveal was the final straw that made it legendary.

As I said, I love ROTJ dearly, so that fight (with all the intense emotion behind it) comes in at a VERY close second.  Even so, it has some serious competition with the Rey versus Kylo Ren fight at the end of TFA!  The gritty and intense choreography, combined with the awesome setting and overall buildup of emotions prior to the fight, just make it so thrilling to watch.  I know the response to TFA is a bit mixed, due to the reuse of various ANH elements, but you can't deny that the duel is incredibly well done.  It gives me very high expectations for future ones!

[Taegin Roan]

Personally, I give major props to almost ALL the fights in TCW, since that show is so well done.  Rebels also has its fair share of epic fights, like Ahsoka vs Vader and the aforementioned Kenobi/Maul encounter.

As far as the movies go, I'll preface this by saying that ROTJ is my all time favorite SW film.  However, my favorite duel has to be the one in ESB, because of the incredible way the choreography progresses and tells the story.  You can feel the tension as Luke boldly ignites his lightsaber for his first duel, and you just know it's going to end badly as Vader continually toys with him throughout.  Ending it with the disarmament (heh) and epic reveal was the final straw that made it legendary.

As I said, I love ROTJ dearly, so that fight (with all the intense emotion behind it) comes in at a VERY close second.  Even so, it has some serious competition with the Rey versus Kylo Ren fight at the end of TFA!  The gritty and intense choreography, combined with the awesome setting and overall buildup of emotions prior to the fight, just make it so thrilling to watch.  I know the response to TFA is a bit mixed, due to the reuse of various ANH elements, but you can't deny that the duel is incredibly well done.  It gives me very high expectations for future ones!

Interesting take. I too loved all of the battles in TCW, especially the ones with the Darksaber. I can definitely see why you love the ESB fight so much, and you are absolutely right. Doesn't make it my favorite, but it does give me a new perspective that I had never thought of. Same goes (to some extant) with ROTJ. And once again, I have to agree with you on the TFA battle. While it was not a battle between two expert swordsman, it was extremely well done, and I loved the setting of the winter forest (probably because that is the setting of my back yard ).


I know I didn't start this thread, but I have really enjoyed following it, and would love to see some more contributions.

[Darth Logos]

I was about to say the Battle of Mustafar, but that was too easy. And although in Tepes' selection the "duel" was short and sweet, the emotional conflict between the two was great.

But it also reminded me of something I normally wouldn't think of...

The duel between Sidious and the Zabraks. A chance to see a true Sith Master at work. But now I am reminded of a fight that was truly epic:

The duel between Darth Malgus and Ven Zallow

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqaBCrjrCVw" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqaBCrjrCVw</a>

Although no longer canon XÞ This fight had it all: great sword play, great Force use, and as much hatred as either side could generate. Of course Malgus had to compensate for Zallow's pansy Jedi ways. But then he also shouldn't have picked on his girlfriend.

[Master Nero Attoru]

Every fight in the SWTOR trailers is just fantastic!

[Hansrad]

I was about to say the Battle of Mustafar, but that was too easy. And although in Tepes' selection the "duel" was short and sweet, the emotional conflict between the two was great.

But it also reminded me of something I normally wouldn't think of...

The duel between Sidious and the Zabraks. A chance to see a true Sith Master at work. But now I am reminded of a fight that was truly epic:

The duel between Darth Malgus and Ven Zallow

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqaBCrjrCVw

Although no longer canon XÞ This fight had it all: great sword play, great Force use, and as much hatred as either side could generate. Of course Malgus had to compensate for Zallow's pansy Jedi ways. But then he also shouldn't have picked on his girlfriend.

Ok that's just awesome.

[Darth Logos]

Ok that's just awesome.

There are other fights from that game listed on YouTube, but IMO that is the best one.

#2 is this one:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xxab6osVzNs" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xxab6osVzNs</a>

[Vivectius]

So, fan films are fair game? Does that include the LCC ones?

As far as canon, I'm going to pick Evil Ahsoka vs. Obi/Ani.

<a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=UXGhmWboZUc" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">http://youtube.com/watch?v=UXGhmWboZUc</a>

[Dauntless Seven]

Gonna have to be the one I posted earlier today... especially for the awesome saber effects.  


http://www.saberforum.com/index.php?topic=35319.msg570360#msg570360

[Vivectius]

And this one.

<a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=yyiDDQYPUIs" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">http://youtube.com/watch?v=yyiDDQYPUIs</a>

[Darth Logos]

So, fan films are fair game? Does that include the LCC ones?

LCC?

[Vivectius]

LCC?

Uh oh....

LCC = Lightsaber Choreography Competition. I could post probably a hundred or so ones that are really good, but I'll limit myself to maybe 5 or so. Just search YouTube for LCC.  There are some really bad ones, but usually 3-5 standouts each year.

Ferocity - Winner LCC X

<a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=faQO57Iwlo0" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">http://youtube.com/watch?v=faQO57Iwlo0</a>

This one is for fans of Akira Kurosawa. The dialog is horrible but the fights and themes are excellent. Jedai

<a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=idP4mgq6N6Q" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">http://youtube.com/watch?v=idP4mgq6N6Q</a>

This one is cute. Ah, the power of a child's imagination. Child's Play

<a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=As0GLwYSJ-0" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">http://youtube.com/watch?v=As0GLwYSJ-0</a>

Again, atrocious dialog, but an actual saber staff. Loyalty

<a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=C-oz7b385GY" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">http://youtube.com/watch?v=C-oz7b385GY</a>

Finally, the ending of this one... yeah, reality sucks.

<a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=LF9Qk6m_b74" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">http://youtube.com/watch?v=LF9Qk6m_b74</a>