CT Favorite lightsaber duel in the OT?

Just as much as I, and many others, find people who call PT fights (or the PT in general) "garbage" are also completely not worth arguing with!

 

highly unrealistic choreographed fights are not fights. It's dancing.

 

And its beautiful!

And its beautiful!
Bob Anderson (who was in Darth Vader's costume for the fight sequences in ESB & ROTJ) always said that choreographed dance fights are far better for cinema than 'real' fights. Take a look at his own choreography in The Princess Bride and The Mask of Zorro. To say that those are garbage just because they are choreographed and highly unrealistic (in Bob's own words) and even dance-like, is frankly ridiculous.

 

not, it's not ridiculous at all. They aren't fights. In a duel between characters who are trying to kill each other, I expect some realism.

If I want to see dancing, I'll watch the finals for a cheerleading contest.

 

Indeed. But these aren't highly unrealistic choreographed fights. Just choreographed fights, like in the OT.

 

Luke VS Darth Vader in ROTJ for me.
It all comes to a head, here. Luke's refusal to fight his father until he is finally pushed too far. That emotional swell, the music score going mental when Luke charges at Vader. The Emperor just goading the whole thing. And if we include the moments right after the fight, with the three of them...well, if you ask me, you're talking "greatest moments in cinematic history" level stuff right there.
On the other hand, love the energy in ESB from Luke confronting "his father's killer" to Vader ultimately outmatching him and the final reveal. And Luke's sheer refusal to join the Dark Side. One of the reasons why Luke is my favourite character - this guy would rather fall to his death, would rather die, than become Evil.
ANH's Obi-Wan VS Vader - great for the fact that once you've watched ROTS, wow this fight means a hell of a lot more than it's ever done before! It's dramatic, it's Vader's revenge and the death of Obi-Wan Kenobi.

And I have to agree with what's been said above - I do like the look of the choreographed "dance-like" fights. They do work so well for cinema, imo.

 

Fixed. You can't honestly think that the fights in the PT were as realistic as the ones in the OT. Saying that is a faux statement.

 

Yes, I do.

Because you disagree with it? Sorry, but it doesn't work that way. Try again.

 

Please refer to the video I posted on page one. Then watch the Duel at Cloud City.

No, because I have eyes. Nothing about numerous flips, twirls of the blade, and purposefully missing your target looks realistic. The Duels in the OTs are far more realistic, and lack virtually everything I just stated which made the PT duels look unrealistic.

 

And...?

Are you implying that I don't?

Are you arguing that acrobatics are not realistic on a fantasy universe? And "purposefully missing your target"? We must be seeing different movies.

In your opinion.

Again, in your opinion. Now cease with the arrogant attitude and learn to accept different opinions than yours.

 

....

So you didn't watch it.

I can't even believe someone is trying to argue that this;


Looks more realistic than this


If you do think it does, then I will have to imply that you don't have eyes.

 

No, I didn't. The only thing I need to watch for this useless argument are the duels themselves, not some third party video.

Using a looped 2 seconds shot (which proves nothing) against a still frame is supposed to prove one is more realistic than the other? Not only is it a fallacious comparison, but it doesn't prove anything that is being argued.

You really need to learn some basic argumentation rules...

 

The third party video stops Darth Maul from moving, and shows the trajectory of Qui-Gon's Blade had Maul not even attempted to dodge it. It goes straight over his head, and would have missed regardless of whether or not Darth Maul dodged. This happens to all three combatants at multiple times throughout the duel. They miss their targets on purpose.

Those fights don't look as realistic. It's really not even an argument. The choreography is stylized in a way which is meant to be more interesting and entertaining, but that comes at the cost of realism. The Choreography in OT, while also designed at the time to be interesting, held greater elements of real sword play. The PT duels have no elements of real sword play, other than a "blade"

Oh, and the looped around video does prove something; the unrealistic nature of the PT duels.

 

I agree with all who said the duel in TESB. You see Vader at his best (in the OT) You have the classic reveal at the end. Vader standing on the platform in silhouette as Luke enters the carbonite chamber is classic. The setting and drama is perfect.

 

All 3 duels in the OT are amazing. I can't pick a favorite.
Obi-Wan vs. Vader was great. The banter was spectacular.
Cloud City was great. The lighting, "The Force is with you young Skywalker but you are not a Jedi yet, Impressive, most impressive, the ease that Vader defeats Luke, the reveal, all of it amazing.
Death Star 2, Similar to the Dooku/Anakin fight in ROTS with Palpatine watching on. Luke trying to bring Anakin back, Luke's rage attack.
Best duels ever. I can feel the struggle in all of them

 

The ROTJ duel was the best, hands down. The scene where Luke suddenly attacked Vader after threatening to turn Leia to the darkside had a very, for a lack of better words, ethereal and emotional soundtrack. The music was telling the story, expressing the emotions of the characters.

 

There is next to no choreography in the OT. They are merely hacking at each other. (or lightly touching each other blades and spending long moment standing still, in the case of ANH) Had they allowed Bob Anderson to properly choreograph it (and given Mark Hamil a bit of training), we would have seen something much more similar to the PT (as The Princess Bride shows)

 

......and you're Plinkett aren't you?

 

This should clear it up.


Or this one if you prefer OT style graphics

 

How cool would it have been if the duelists in the PT had actually fought like this? You just made the suck in the PT stand out again at a time when I was just starting to find a way back into those turds via fan edits.

 

Those weren't realistic either, and as Kilroy pointed out the PT duels looked nothing like that.

 

There may be reasons to like TPB. The sword-fighting is not one of them. I don't really like this movie in general, though, so I'll just roll my eyes and move on.

Anyway. My favorite OT duel moment isn't up here, actually-- the nightmare cave duel on Dagobah. None of the OT fights really stand out in particular as far as choreography or cinematography go. ESB and ROTJ are both better than ANH, but neither of those duels stand out in quite the way that the PT fights do.

 

For those criticizing the Prequel sword fights for being unrealistic or over-choreographed, you might want to consider the possibility (more like a fact, but, whatever) that these movies aim for expressionism, not realism; lyricism, not literalism. Theatrics is the point, just like singing in an opera instead of talking is the point. In other words, duh.

As for my favorite duel in the OT, I’m gonna have to go with Luke vs. Vader in Episode VI. No, wait …Luke vs. the speeder bike.

Scout Trooper is all, "I’m gonna blast you, fool!" and Luke was like, "Naw, you ain’t, dawg."

 

That said, fans of realistic fighting, which the OT had, will undoubtedly find the PT duels distasteful. Duh.

 

Will fans of either trilogy find the other trilogy's fights good?