Which Lightsabre Battle Was Your Favorite?

For me, the Darth Maul vs. Obi-Wan and Quigon Jinn one was by far the best. Martial arts swordfights had evolved a long ways since the 80's, and having Ray Park, who was a Hong Kong Wu Shu champion really upped the level in SW Eps I.

Following that, I really liked the Anakin vs. Asajj Ventress on one of the Yavin moons seen in Clone Wars Vol. 1. It was one of the first instances where Anakin used the power of the dark side to overcome his would-be assassin.

The Count Dooku vs. Obi-Wan and Anakin battle at the beginning of episode III was also great. A fencing-style of lightsabre taking on two Jedi's, then force choking one while kicking the other unconcious was a badass move by an old guy. It's too bad Dooku didn't last too long in that movie. He was one of the more interesting characters in the new episodes.

There are a few others I really like, such as General Grevious taking on several Jedi and killing them, and the Yoda vs. Count Dooku ones, (more like Yoda pwnage there, Count Dooku was lucky to get out of that alive.) but as for my top three, I'd have to go with the ones above.

I don't read enough Star Wars comics, but I would think it would be hard to have one in the top 5 without it being animated.

The one redeeming quality of the prequal trilogy is the saber battles. Compared to them, the OT battles completely blow.

While the Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, Darth Maul fight was majorly kick ass, my all time favorite fight was between Luke and Vader in Empire. While lacking the martial-arts swiftness of the former, it made up for it with lots of power and menace. You could clearly tell that Vader was toying with Luke through the first half of the fight. Then when things started to get intense it was clear that Luke was out of his element, and he just didn't have the skills to overcome Vader.

As for the rest of the two trilogies....nothing else ever excited me.

You must have seen a different movie. I don't recall that at all and I seen the movie many times.

For mood, plot, and location, you can't beat Luke-Vader in Cloud City.

For sheer swordfighting oomph, Darth Maul-Obi-Wan after Qui-Gon got stuck.

I'd agree with both of these. The Cloud City duel is still my favorite for the mood and atmosphere. It's by far the most dramatic.

Watching the prequels again, I'm struck by how intense the duel in TPM when it's just Obi Wan vs Darth Maul. The whole fight probably has the best choreography of the duels in the PT.

Anakin vs Obi Wan should have been epic, but it comes off a little empty for me. There's a lot of fast sword work, but no intensity. About halfway through the fight it becomes clear they could sit there swinging at each other like that with no real change in who's winning or not. The start of the fight is great, though, as is the part on the table where they're knocking each other over.

i kinda liked the fight between Mace Windu and Palpatine. Not the best fight but I enjoyed seeing it.

Palpatine was toying with him. I loved when he zapped him and yelled..."UNLIMITED POWER!!!"

General Greivious taking on multiple Jedi??? When? Tell me the lead up to that scene.

If it happened I just can't beleive I can't remember it.

Happened in the animated Clone Wars series.

Another cool fight scene was when Kenobi was fighting Jango Fett in the rain.

Also, the Geonosis arena was fun... monsters, Jedis, droids, Geonosians, clones...

I thought so. Friggin' Scorponok! Including the cartoon.

If that's the case, Mace Windu was the best in it.

Sorry Mewa...I should've been more specific. The fight I'm talking about is in Clone Wars Volume I - specifically, the end of Volume I. I put Volume II in my rep comment. :flow2:

General Grevious was as equal of a badass as Darth Maul in that one. He was a shadow of his former power by the time Episode III happened, partly, I think, because of what Mace Windu did to him at the end of Clone Wars Vol. II. (Notice his hacking and coughing throughout Episode III.)

Here is a YouTube video of the battle in the downed Star Destroyer:

[YT="Genral Grevious"]P_wfL_9KDZE[/YT]

It seemed that Obi-Wan was really being overpowered by Anakin, and by the time they faced off, Anakin's skills were far superior. Obi-Wan was just trying to hold him off until he got a clear advantage and Anakin's cockyness made him do something stupid.

I really liked that last line, just before Obi-Wan fells Anakin. He told him "Don't do it..." probably knowing Anakin would try the same thing Obi-Wan did when Darth Maul had the higher ground in Episode I. (Force jump behind your opponent, then slice him in half.)

Some of that animated Clone Wars stuff is in the books. But I had a better memory of the movies. Only read the books once.

Qui-Gon vs. Darth Maul on Tatooine: It was short, way to short, in part because of the editing, but it was neat to see the first lightsaber on light saber combat. I especially liked when Maul was bearing down on Anakin, Qui-Gon tells Anakin to drop and Mal just leaps over Anakin to engage Qui-Gon.


Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan vs. Darth Maul on Naboo: I wish they hadn't shown the double ended blade in the trailer because that was just too cool to see. From the time everyone takes off their robes to the time Maul dies, it's just one killer sequence. My favorite moment: When Qui-Gon drives Maul towards the door leaving the hanger, on the left side of the screen Obi-wan just strolls in, twirling his saber like it's all a game. That's of course followed up by Maul using the force to throw a battledroid body at the door controls.


Obi-Wan and Anakin vs Darth Tyrannus: It's really a forgettable fight except for Anakin using two sabers for a time.


Yoda vs. Darth Tyrannus: We finally get to see why Yoda is THE Jedi Master. I know it's all CGI, but he moves so fast that at times he's just a green blur.


Anakin and Obi-Wan vs. Darth Tyrannus: Anakin's all grown up and just a bit pissed off. But you can really see a change in his fighting after Tyrannus says "you have anger, you have hate, but you don't use them" and it's like a switch in thrown and Anakin becomes an unstoppable machine.


Obi-Wan vs. General Greivous: Four blades + machine speed and the good general still get taken out by Obi-Wan. Unfortunately, the saber fighting part of the duel is over in just a minute or two, but that minue shows Obi-Wan at his best.


Mace Windu and his posse versus Darth Sidious: The first part is weak with Sidious simply giving the Jedi a heads up, and then leaping over the table and killing three of the Jedi. I know it was supposed to show how good Sidious was, but it just didn't work. The Mace and Sidious part of the fight was a little better, but it just wasn't near as fast paced as many of the other duels in the PT. And then there is the debate over whether Mace actually won or if Sidious threw the fight just so Anakin could see the Jedi trying to kill an unarmed prisoner. Special mention goes to Mace Windu, the Bad Motherfucker of the Jedi Council, still going out like a bitch.


Obi-Wan vs. Darth Vader: I waited 27 years to see that fight and I wasn't disappointed. Between the actors and the editing, it was just so fluid and filled with one remarkable move after another. I especially liked at the beginning of the fight when Anakin swung the saber behind his back so he could attack fromt he left side. And I loved the speachafying going into and in the middle of the fight. "I have failed you, Anakin. I have failed you."


Yoda vs. Darth Sidious: I was glad that I got to see the literal Ying and Yang of the Force duke it out, but this fight really lost points with Sidious having his mad cackling and laughing, but it was made up when the Senate chamber was destroyed, essentially showing the Emperor dismantling the Republic.

I've chosen to split up the Saga into the PT and the OT because the saber duels inthe PT show folks at their prime and the duels in the OT have an old man, a cripple, and a half-trained boy. Not to mention the CGI, no hyperkenetic fencing styles and no Nick Gillard.

Obi-Wan vs Darth Vader: Instead of the whirrling servish type attacks Vader had on Mustafar, he's limited to percision fencing. Likewise, Obi-Wan is an old man and age has slowed him. The action is slow, and consists mostly of these two fighting for position with the occasional slice through the air. But, it was the very first lightsaber battle filmed and that counts for something.


Luke vs Himself: Luke is tested on Dagobah and fights his own fears. This fight consists of Luke swinging, Luke parrying, and then literally knocking "Vader"'s head off. It's just kind of there and in slow motion to extend 5 seconds of action into 30 seconds.


Luke vs Darth Vader: This long fight sequence starts out with Luke standing up to his father, getting schooled while Vader only uses one hand, and then it just gets worse for Luke. Vader uses the Force to hurl heavy shit at Luke, and keeps pushing and pushing and pushing Luke in a terrible assault. It's more exciting than the last time Vader fought with jumping around, wild swings and parries, and using the environment in the fight (e.g. Luke using the steam to distract Vader while in the Freezing Chamber). And of course it ends when Vader cuts off Luke's hand and reveals the awful truth to Luke. This was the gold standard of lightsaber duels.


Luke vs Darth Vader: Time to face his father again, Luke marches into the den of evil. Vader steps up to try to turn Luke to the Dark Side and after some furious fighing Luke goes to ground. There are some strieks, parries, widl swings, and throwing of lightsabers and then the action comes to a crashing halt. When it picks up, Luke is a man possessed, in many ways mirroring the attack Anakin showed against Tyrannus on the Invisible Hand and it ends when we see Vader beaten. This fight is roughly as exciting as the fight on Bespin and has maybe the most important scene of the movie, when Luke throws his saber down and tells Sidious he has failed.

Clone Wars, Grievous versus- wait, four or more cooling Jedi corpses.

It's too bad they made him an asthematic pansy in Ep. III.

Mark Hamill vs Jay and Silent Bob.

Lonestar vs. Dark Helmet

Yep. When it comes to substance Luke-Vader is the winner, when it comes to style there is no doubt Darth Maul-Obi-Wan takes the prize.

There's a lot of debate about whether he was toying with him, knowing Anakin would save his ass, or not. Probably Lucas didn't even know himself.

That doesn't count. If it wasn't in the six movies, it didn't happen.

Although I still try to forget about the last four movies....from time to time.

There's not quite consensus on this, but it's a lot closer than you'd expect given the total number of lightsaber battles at issue. Maul/Obi-Wan/Qui-Gon was revolutionary, and it wasn't just a great lightsaber battle but rather compares favorably to any live-action sword fight I've seen in a movie or on t.v.

There's probably less agreement on Luke/Vader for substance, but that has to be on anyone's short list.

It was too badass not to mention. Grievous had some serious droid-fu.

Grievous? What about Mace Windu on Dantooine?!?!?!

So... something I've always wondered about.

When Mace deflected Palpatine's Force Lightning back at him and he changed, was he actually disfigured or was that how he looked underneath the Palpatine mask?

I always felt that he was hiding his true face...

Mace was badass, but Grievous was quint-wielding. You cannot compare Mace's combat skills with the droid commander who can wield five lightsabers, all stolen in battle, and come out undamaged.

He looked like Palpatine because that was how he looked until he took the raw power of the Dark Side to his face. It melted from that exposure.