Saga Favorite space battle?

I'm usually one for making up my mind, but I couldn't choose between the Battle of Yavin and the Battle of Endor, they're both so freaking good.

None of the others are even close imo.

 

Chalk up another tie for Yavin and Endor. Holy crap when Luke dives into the trench going twice as fast as anyone else, you really feel the speed. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy Coruscant just fine, but they lack the same sense of speed and intensity. The older films look like they could crash at any second they are going so fast.

 

Oh, this is tough. It'll have to be three-way tie between Yavin, Endor, and Coruscant

 

+1

 

For me it is a toss up between Yavin and Endor.

To me, what makes a great on-screen battle isn't just the actual battle itself.
What also matters is build up, how tension is increased bit by bit until the battle begins.
Another is that the battle have a discernable strategy and tactics. At Endor we know what the rebel strategy is but then they have to improvise and change their plans. Same at Yavin, the empire at first just uses their guns but when that proves ineffective, they lauch fighters instead.
Thirdly, that the battle itslef have a story to it, that there is a progression and beats to the battle.
Take Endor, first the you have rebels vs TIE fighter, then the DS is shown to be operational and the rebels are forced to engage the ISDs. Then the shield goes down and the the fighter attack begins, first on the surface then into the DS itself. All the while the outside battle still rages on.

Why I rank the RotS battle less is partly due to these things. There is no build up, logical perhaps since it is at the start of the movie.
But also there is very little strategy or tactics to the battle, we know that Obi-Wan and Anakin are trying to get to Palpatine and rescue him.
But what are the two fleets trying to do? Are the seps trying to leave, they should since they have a valuable hostage. What are the republic forces trying to do overall? Mostly to me, it feels like less like a battle and instead just lots of fighting.
Lastly there is little progression to the battle, once Obi-Wan and Anakin gets on the ship, we see little of the outside battle and have little sense in what is going on. We cut back to it when Griev ship is attacked and almost destroyed, which makes you wonder why Palpatine would risk this.
He could easily have been killed along with Dooku and that would have ended the sith and balanced the Force right there. But that is another topic.

Bye for now.
Old Stoneface

 

Jango vs. Obi-Wan from Attack of the Clones. The Slave I makes such a great noise.

 

Count me in for the Battle of Endor: I was 9 years old when I first saw it on the big screen, and it stuck with me all this time as the coolest sci-fi space battle I had ever seen.

 

This was tougher than I thought. I chose Yavin simply due to being a kid and cheering when Han Solo came back and saved Luke. The asteroid chase in ESB is good, because of the soundtrack during the scene (which I regularly play in my car) and Han Solo's maneuvering of the Falcon. I also applaud the Battle of Coruscant.

 

I resent the fact that the AOTC's seminal arrowtip vs ram's head battle isn't on the list.











...BWAAAAAAAANG.

 

(First post! promise the next ones will be shorter lol)

Has to be the Battle Of Endor for me. Although I will say the Battle Of Yavin is a close, close second for it's sheer "edge-of-your-seat" finale and, as someone has said before, every loss the Rebels had was really felt. IMHO the Battle Over Coruscant could have benefited with a bit more focus on the battle, rather than "Buzz Droids!". Almost everything about it was excellent - the scale, the battleship vs battleship naval-style fighting, the starfighters, the musical score, sound effects and the opening long shot lasts and lasts.

The Battle Of Endor was just huge, in every sense of the huge. The lead up was immense - this was the battle to end them all. The Rebellion threw their entire fleet at the Death Star II. The Emperor had the Imperial Fleet waiting right there.

The Rebel Fleet coming out of hyperspace and the approach. The musical queue over it just screamed "This is gonna be so damn cool". Then "It's a trap!" and suddenly the screen is filled with about a million ships, engaging in combat. Chaos erupts in front of you and it never slows down from there. The editing of this sequence is just phenomenal. The speed, the intensity, the sound, the visual dance each piece has a part in. Knowing that pretty much every ship you're seeing is built and was filmed gives everything a certain weight. In terms of the story, the stakes just get higher and higher. The fact that the battle cuts between the forest battle and the Lightsaber duel and confrontation with The Emperor just heightens everything. I still feel like a kid when I watch it.

From the moment the shield goes down, and Lando and Wedge lead their fighters into the bowels of steel hell, the velocity of everything that's moving goes up a gear. It has been said before, but the way the pallet continuously changes, so naturally, on screen is so exceptionally well-done. The Battle Of Yavin had this high intensity as it built to its climax, too, but the scale at which this all happens in ROTJ is why this battle edges it out for top spot.

Admiral Piett's final command right before an A-Wing plunges through the bridge of the Super Star Destroyer, leading to the flagship's destruction. Then that generator(!), collapsing in the background as the Falcon blasts the hell out of there. The approaching flames, the final escape run. TIE Fighters just vanishing behind them. The Millennium Falcon just gets clear, Lando's cheer. And the final explosion. The Rebellion wins. Not just the battle - that's the end of the freakin Empire (as far as I'm concerned).

Simply put, and I could have just said this from the start and saved everyone who bothered to read a bit of time, you don't get moments like that in the PT battles. The Battle Of Endor (the space battle alone) told it's own story, while still being a piece of a larger whole. You get thrilling action, solid character moments, a focus on visual and audio splendor throughout. The battle unfolds before you, start-middle-end. If the Battle Of Coruscant had that, it might be higher on my list. Instead, my review of the Battle Of Coruscant mostly sounds like "Thank God there WAS a Battle Of Coruscant!" since before then all we had from the PT was AOTC's really cool asteroid field dogfight and a nice space battle in TPM, imho. Please, I don't mean to sound like I'm ragging on the PT.

As a bonus, love the fact that Wedge Antilles is Rogue Leader in ROTJ and is, once again, the best wingman around! : )

 

Battle of Yavin, Battle of Endor, Battle of Coruscant were all amazing. Haven't seen the Battle of Naboo in a while so I can't comment on that one.
The asteroid field chases in AOTC and ESB were great as well.

 

Coruscant is visually spectacular and really stands out in that respect. The chaos, light and sound is like an assault on the senses.

But the best for getting my heart-pumping is Endor.

The universal panic after the "How can they be tracking us..." line, when all the ships start turning away from the fully operational Death Star is awesome. Then seeing the fleet fight back from being led into a trap... Just wow.

So intense even now after so many repeat viewings!

 

The Battle over Coruscant, because that just looked amazing! The Battle of Endor would be my second choice.

 

Coruscant. True, the battle itself is more of a background, theme-building visual than a sprawling, carefully mapped set piece, but nonetheless I can't deny the awe I feel upon watching the entire sequence take form, from our heroes' first flip into utter chaos to Anakin's heroics ominously scarring the city after it's all said and done.

 

went with Death Star attack from ANH because that is where Luke learned to trust the Force......and it made for one heck of an arcade game back in the day.

 

I've always been particularly fond of the Obi-Wan/Jango chase through the asteroid field in Attack of the Clones. Maybe because it was an extension of one of my favorite one on one battle scenes in the entire saga (I can't get enough of that fight on Kamino). Also, this has to be one of the coolest sound effects to come out of the saga:

 

ENDOR

 

Battle Over Coruscant and Battle of Yavin, though the Battle for Naboo is pretty high on my list too.

 

1.) Coruscant
2.) Endor
3.) Naboo
4.) Geonosis Asteroids
5.) Hoth Asteroids
6.) Yavin (too much repeats of the same run)
7.) Leaving the Death Star

 

The Battle of Yavin is the best of the Saga (so far) it's the original and every other battle was modelled after it.

 

.....that's just my opinion though aye

 

Battle of Endor for the win! I love all of the different ships that appeared in the battle. I love the smaller ships flying around the Star Destroyers. I love that The Millenium Falcon has such a large role in this battle. I love the destruction of The Super Star Destroyer: The Executor (my most favoritest ship in all of the Saga)! Also, the entire battle takes place in front of the most awesome looking Death Star ever, and tops it off with its destruction after we fly through it with Lando!

 

With the ROTS battle it is pretty clear, the crawl states the CIS fleet is trying to escape, but we see they are blocked by the the Republic fleet that is trying to rescue Palps. The CIS fleet is trying to fight it's way out while protecting their flagship. While the Republic fleet is not only blocking the CIS's escape, but are trying to fight their way to the CIS flagship in the center of the fleet. We do see what is going on with the outside battle since Republic ships reach their way to engage the CIS flagship and knock it out, which is a sign that the CIS is losing the battle.

 

The opening crawl says that they are trying to escape but from what I saw, they don't seem to try. The sep fleet doesn't move very much. Griev ship is right over Coruscant the whole battle. If they were serious about trying to leave then form up lots of ships around Griev ships and blast you way out or even ram the republic ships if need be. We don't really see the rep ships block the sep ships, the ships are just mixed together and shooting at each other. For that matter, for the rep to totally block the sep ships they would need to form a sphere around the whole planet since space is 3D and I didn't see that either. Griev ship gets shot at which begs the question, this could have killed Palpatine and aren't the republic trying to rescue him? And also it seems very risky on Palpatines part as he could have gotten himself killed here.

The seps have Palpatine, why don't they issue a demand "stop shooting or Palpatine dies."? The seps would have been doing a fighting retreat, protecting Griev ships, while trying to move away. But again I don't see that happening, instead I see lots of ships shooting at each other, no tactics or strategy.

And how long have the battle been going on? Obi-Wan and Anakin wasn't on Coruscant when Palpatine was taken, at least that is what I got from the film. So they had to get a recall order and travel back and all the while, this battle is going on and the seps aren't leaving?

Bye for now.
Old Stoneface