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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Saga Favorite space battle?

Discussion in 'Star Wars Saga In-Depth' started by Feelicks, Feb 19, 2013.

?

Best space battle in the saga?

  1. Battle of Yavin (A New Hope)

    23.7%
  2. Hoth Asteroid Field Chase (The Empire Strikes Back)

    6.1%
  3. Battle Of Endor (Return Of The Jedi)

    49.1%
  4. Battle Of Naboo (The Phantom Menace)

    1.8%
  5. Battle Over Coruscant (Revenge Of The Sith)

    38.6%
Multiple votes are allowed.
  1. Feelicks

    Feelicks Jedi Knight star 1

    Registered:
    Dec 7, 2012
    For me, it's a tie between the Battle Over Coruscant and the Battle Of Endor. Both are colossal in terms of scale, and really heart pumping. But I have a personal preference over the BOE, due to how amazed at how they were able to pull that large of a scale in space battles in 1983.
     
  2. Yunners

    Yunners Jedi Master star 2

    Registered:
    Mar 30, 2006
    Anyone who says anything but Endor is wrong.Wrong, wrong, wrong. Absolutely brimming over with wrongabilty.


    Though I can't help but notice you omitted the battle over Geonosis between Kenobi and the Fetts.
     
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  3. Iefan

    Iefan Jedi Knight star 1

    Registered:
    Jan 31, 2013
    Hands down, Endor. No contest.

    However I will admit that seeing the two cruiser blowing the crap out of eachother in opening of ROTS like a 1700s Navy battle was pretty awesome.
     
  4. Luukeskywalker

    Luukeskywalker Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jun 23, 1999
    If you are including the ESB asteroid chase, you should have included the AOTC asteroid chase as well.

    BTW, my vote is for the ROTJ space battle.
     
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  5. heels1785

    heels1785 Skywalker Saga + JCC Manager / Finally Won A Draft star 10 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Dec 10, 2003
    I'll go with Coruscant, but I am partial to the PT. The shot of Anakin and Obi-Wan crossing the stern of the Republic cruiser and then diving into the absolute chaos of an enormous battlefield is one of my favorites of the Saga. And then of course, Obi-Wan leaping out of the crashing fighter.
     
  6. Joe

    Joe Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Dec 25, 2012
    Courscant. The opening scene was beautiful, and really had a sense of scale the other battles didn't. The runner-up is the Jango/Obi battle in AOTC
     
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  7. Han Burgundy

    Han Burgundy Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Jan 28, 2013
    I could watch tie fighters chasing the falcon through the narrow pipelines of the second death star on loop for hours and still not get tired of it. The sense of velocity in those scenes is insane. I hate to be "that guy" but I think the practical effects are what really sold the Endor battle for me. The hard physicality of the materials really ads to the intensity of the scenes. I know I'm not the first to say this but the battle of Coruscant, while technically brilliant, felt a little bit "floaty". Maybe it was the animation of the fighters, maybe it was the CGI, maybe it was the shot selection, who knows.

    The Battle of Yavin gets a close second for me, if only because of the absolute nail-biting quality it has. It's the only climactic space battle in the saga that the viewer is completely and totally invested in. In TPM and ROTJ your attention is more devoted to the simultaneously occurring lightsaber battles. Also, and I realize this contradicts my earlier statements, but I never liked how "upbeat" the Endor space battle was. Maybe because Lukes story is so desperate in comparison, but something about the way that space battle is done makes it feel like its a foregone conclusion that the rebels are going to win, we just get to watch and see the spectacle unfold. Thats a fun sensation in its own right, but the Yavin battle felt legitimately dangerous. It was portrayed largely without music. Each rebel death was felt intimately. And the final moments leading up to the Death Stars destruction are the most edge of your seat moments of the entire saga.

    So I guess they tie, then. Endor for visual awesomeness, Yavin for superb storytelling.
     
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  8. Luukeskywalker

    Luukeskywalker Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jun 23, 1999
    You do realize that the battle of Coruscant in ROTS utilized model ships and practical effects too don't you?
     
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  9. Han Burgundy

    Han Burgundy Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Jan 28, 2013
    I'm aware, yes, which is why i didn't solely credit cgi for my issues with the Coruscant battle. It just as much of a sense of intensity or velocity as the OT battles do. It feels rather leisurely, actually.
     
  10. DarthMak

    DarthMak Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Jan 4, 2001
    I vote Battle of Yavin simply because of the score.
     
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  11. Ingram_I

    Ingram_I Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Sep 7, 2012
    2nd Death Star for me.

    I've heard many criticize it for being repetitive. I guess this is maybe sorta kinda understandable. The premise is unoriginal, both in principle and on paper. And yet I don’t think the criticism applies to the end results. Film is inherently audiovisual, X 10 with all things Star Wars. Can any fan of the trilogy honestly say that they’ve ever confused or mistaken the Death Star attack in the third film with that of the original? Or that the two are in any way interchangeable as a cinematic endeavor? I can’t. Every condition and detail counts. The 2nd Death Star looks different than the 1st.

    The way it is fully realized as an action sequence is different in scale, proportion and as a visual dynamic, so much so that the scripted repetition is all but superficial. Audiences are treated to wholly different and more virtuoso dimensions once Lando and the rebel fighters begin their way into the battle station’s core; their breakneck departure is even more exciting, easily one of the absolute best and most thrilling, pure visual effects escapades I’ve ever enjoyed as a filmgoer. One of my favorite moments is the facing shot of the Falcon escaping the inner chamber into the figure 8 shaft right as the core explodes. The use of symmetrical speed-lines is simply amazing.

    [​IMG]

    With the Prequels Lucas leaned closer to shapely and organic designs, but the imagery here is perhaps the most powerful display of his native vector sensibility.
     
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  12. Alexrd

    Alexrd Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 7, 2009
    Yavin, followed closely by Coruscant.
     
  13. sg1A

    sg1A Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Feb 20, 2013
    I'm a fan of the original trilogy, but when i see ROTS opening scene with the ships engaged in a massive battle!It was def my favorite of the series. When is was selecting which one i was going to vote for , i drifted for ROTJ battle of Endor that is my second favorite i like the dogfighting of Ties and X-wings and chase through the death star and the Falcon booking it at the end. but like i sadi ROTS the CIS cannons firing and shells poping out and hitting the floor is awesome.
     
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  14. Count Yubnub

    Count Yubnub Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Oct 1, 2012
    Tossup between Yavin and Coruscant.
     
  15. I Are The Internets

    I Are The Internets Shelf of Shame Host star 9 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Nov 20, 2012
    Coruscant was just breath-taking. The opening of the battle especially.
     
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  16. Jarren_Lee-Saber

    Jarren_Lee-Saber Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 16, 2008
    Coruscant for sure. The finest opening to a Sci-fi film in history (though the opening of Star Trek 2009 is equally spectacular)
     
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  17. A'den Skirata

    A'den Skirata Jedi Knight star 2

    Registered:
    Sep 26, 2012
    The Battle over Coruscant is one of my favorite battles.
     
  18. Placeholder

    Placeholder Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 30, 2013
    I think second DeathStar is my choice to. The whole element of it being a trap, the role of that trap in turning Luke, the Deathstar being active and attacking the rebel fleet. It's pretty good.

    The only thing that really bothers me are the Ewoks on the ground, but that's neither here nor there for this.
     
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  19. Mr. Forest

    Mr. Forest Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Nov 1, 2012
    Battle over Coruscant. It had the best sense of scale which blew me away when I first saw it in 2005.
     
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  20. Cryogenic

    Cryogenic Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 20, 2005
    BRAVO!!!

    Beginning with that shot of the fighters skimming the surface of the Death Star as they plunge into the Death Star II's scaffolded opening, making their final run for the reactor core, the visuals are dazzling, and make for one of the most -- if not THE most -- breath-taking practical-effects driven high-octane action sequences ever filmed. The sense of speed, and of plunging further and further into a mechanical abyss, are just extraordinary. It's thrilling to watch. The subtle colour field is beautiful, too -- cold tones sprinkled with plusher tones; or hints of sanguinity and restrained opulence -- and the peculiar piping/bottled gas/weird vapour motif, cognate with the throne room interior and the Emperor's death scene (as well as key shuttle arrival scenes featuring both Vader and the Emperor wreathed in smoke as they descend a ramp), add intrigue, giving this version of the Death Star's demise, and the rebels' ensuing victory, a unique quality. In classic Lucasian tradition, this end sequence is also a sterling transmogrification of the speeder bike chase in the forest: from nature to technology; and ultimately back again. Speed and excitement and a bravura expression/celebration of visual landscaping -- graphical storytelling -- all the way.
     
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  21. sg1A

    sg1A Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Feb 20, 2013
    BRAVO BRAVO excellent description . you bought a tear to my eye , reading this post makes me want to watch ROTJ. Maybe ill watch it later when i lay down must watch King of the Nerds of TBS , need mindless entertainment lol JK i really liked what you said thats all Props.!
     
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  22. DRush76

    DRush76 Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 25, 2008
    For me, it's almost a tie between the Hoth Asteroid Field Chase and the Battle Over Coruscant. In the end, I chose the latter.

    I know a lot of people loved the Battle of Yavin, but that seemed to have an aura of a second-rate World War II dogfight to me. And the best thing about the aerial Battle of Endor for me was Lando and Wedge's escape from the second Death Star.
     
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  23. Cryogenic

    Cryogenic Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 20, 2005
    I'm happy I was able to do that. :) But some credit must also be given to Ingram_I for his opening salvo - c'est magnifique!

    I did almost choose the Battle of Yavin. That entire sequence is the classic of classics, the holy of holies. It expresses the talents of so many, especially the editors, including Lucas' former wife, Marcia Lucas, and remains one of the most exciting, tensed-up, tightly-coiled sublime pieces of end-act movie deliverance ever. So many design elements thrill, like the quasi-garbled transmissions of the rebel pilots, as heard in the war room, as they enact their desperate attack (random language comment: enact/attack; act/ack; cognitive link?), or the multiple "lock" moments where the viewer is subjectively placed within a fighter's cockpit/HUD environment with accompanying "lock" graphic and beeps, to the phat controls used by Vader in his interceptor craft, to the semi-chaotic frissoning of the combat as Luke, Wedge, and the ill-fate Biggs Darklighter struggle to co-ordinate and survive onslaughts of TIE Fighters, to the beginning of the run down the equatorial trench (correction: I believe this is actually one of the many smaller trenches running along the Death Star's surface), which transitions seamlessly in-shot from a flat 2D painting to a 3D miniature with clever sleight-of-hand (wiped by a laser bolt), to Lucas "documentary man" cinematography which conveys a clever "on the fly"/"you're there" feel as X-Wing after X-Wing meets a fiery end, to Artoo surprisingly taking a sharp blast to his dome and being unexpectedly downed (down but not out)... ah, hell, I could keep going. It's quite amazing that Lucas pulled all this off with 1970s technology on a shoe-string budget based on a pitched concept that seemingly no-one could understand or had any faith in. Amazing chutzpah and fortitude.

    So, yeah... I could easily have picked ANH's action-capper.

    But I didn't.

    I still feel that ROTJ is "the underdog" and needs that little bit of extra support. Which is not to say it doesn't earn recognition on its own merits; it does. I suppose I have some extra admiration for its final sequence because it sorta feels like "ANH +1". There's a slight one-up-manship aspect to the whole film, from Jabba's Palace being a re-done cantina sequence (which Lucas was never happy with in the original 1977 movie), to his "'Nam in 'Wars" epic land (and space) battle with the Ewoks being a shrunken/compacted Wookiee "indigenous savage" race (note the letters) with re-used Death Star concept floating morbidly in near-space, to more of that "trash epic/space-sploitation" pulpy feel more reminiscent of ANH than TESB -- but mindful of, and bearing the indelible stamp of, the former film, with moodier colour palettes, design motifs, story elements, even dialogue ("I love you", "I know") pulled fresh from that Kershner-directed picture, making ROTJ something of a poignant marriage between the former two films (it cannot help being transformed and ultimately emerging as a curio closer; perhaps, ultimately, the most surly installment of the saga; whatever the Salacious Crumb that means) -- all of which kinda give it the sense of something fractured and incomplete: a mitotic mutation in the OT/SW canon; beautiful, eccentric, and unique.

    And that so much of ROTJ plays as a farce but changes at strategic moments into more of an intense religio-political/mythical chamber drama -- the scenes with Luke and Yoda; Luke and Ben; Luke and Leia; Luke and Vader; and Luke, Vader, and the Emperor, being firm highlights of this film and the full six-film "Anakin" saga -- make its intense action set-pieces all the richer. This *is* Star Wars and how! Everything is sort of concentrated down in the final act into a rich action bonanza: one that plays out warmly and intensely, even indulgently, but doesn't outstay its welcome, either. It's a big reward for watching the entire "Tragedy of Darth Vader" unfold. The film-making of this final stretch is worth waiting for.

    Beyond all that, I might just have a strange attraction for "ANH Redux" in general, which my limited Force abilities tell me that ROTJ and TPM kinda are (more than the others). Ya know, it's like Star Wars was, in some sense, fully born in the 1970s, before the first movie had been made, and Lucas has been redacting his early ideas -- that initial burst of intense creativity; damn near close to religious revelation -- ever since. It's cool when you feel that kernel of original inspiration -- almost like an epileptic seizure of random esoterica (wookiees, death stars, lightsabers, cantinas, storm troopers, Jedi, the Force, et al.) -- right there in a second, third, or fourth installment (or whatever). ROTJ, to me, has that kernel, and its final act goes off like fireworks on The Fourth of July. Blissfully thrilling.
     
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  24. swcolts1277

    swcolts1277 Jedi Master star 2

    Registered:
    Jan 5, 2013
    Battle of Endor. "It's a trap!" Still amazing effects, sound, everything.
     
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  25. darth_mccartney

    darth_mccartney Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 3, 2008
    Endor! Without a shadow of a doubt! Mainly for the chase through the Death Star II and specifically this shot:

    I fecking LOVE how the Falcon is flying through the vast open space, you see the reactor collapse and explode behind it, and then that MASSIVE flame engulfed expanse zips down to that tiny narrow blurred shaft. You can see the Falcon is haulin' ass to get out of there!

    Loved the battle over Courscant from ROTS too, but there's just not enough of it really.

    And coming it completely at the bottom is the battle of Yavin. I can watch it, but there is no excitement or tension there for me. It's just...meh. If we were to rank space battles from ANH then the TIE attack after the Falcon escapes the Death Star beats the battle of Yavin hands down.
     
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