Nice! Didn't know about the overcranking of the close-quarter duel in the pit room or that him anticipating the gates opening was a pre-scene starting moment.
It was arguably topped by the Battle of the Heroes duel. I personally prefer the Duel of the Fates myself, but there is an argument there. But will it ever be topped in this new era? Yes, that's doubtful.
Ever is a very long time But I agree that it is on top. The only one that comes close for me is the fight between Luke and Vader on Bespin. What both of these have in common, are plenty of emotion, changing locations that lend themselve extremely well to what is going on, and changes of tempo. Having a scene like Luke walking first through the lit up tunnel and then into the dark, looking for Vader, only to run into the sudden ambush from the side was amazing. It gave a bit of a break, then increased suspense by a ton. Or the up-tempo fighting in TPM suddenly being broken up by the magnetic fields, causing a break in which a serene Qui Gon meditates, Maul paces, and Obi Wan can't wait to get back to the others. That's just awesome. Just like the pace picking up big time after Obi Wan gives into anger after Qui Gon got hit, only for things to slow down again after a very rapid frenzy of slashes. You don't need to go more and more over the top to have a great fight. Doing so might actually cause more problems without achieving much, as you tend to need something bigger and bigger every time, as well as running into the issue of how to defeat someone who seems all powerful without ending it with a cheap cop-out.
Ewans talking about Ray Park and here I am reminding myself he's not referring to Rey... well you get the idea. Awesome video.
Part of me still wishes that when his staff was cut in half, Maul would've jumped up with a lightsaber in each hand and continued fighting in a dual style. Probably would've been better looking if one was a shorter blade (a shoto, is that what's called?) but still, I would've found it equally thrilling. At the time, it was the lightsaber duel that you never knew you wanted till you saw it and then you wanted more. A very high bar set indeed.
What a great breakdown of an epic duel, thanks for sharing. Love how Ewan's enthusiasm shone through in this video. I agree that in Duel of the Fates we are seeing a titanic clash between two Jedi not only in their prime but in the prime of their Order as well against a fierce, ruthless Sith in his prime eager to bring about a resurgence of the Sith. That's part of what makes the Duel of Fates such an exciting duel to watch, and to me the musical score only adds to the dramatic tension and mythical aspect of that. It was interesting to hear how the double-sided lightsaber Maul wielded made things easier against two opponents (I kind of figured that, but to have it confirmed by the expert was nice) and that the camera ended up having to slow down the action to make it more believable was incredible to think about. Also the little nugget about Ewan sort of bouncing in anticipation being not in the script as it were for Obi-Wan to do but something Ewan ended up doing by himself that George liked enough to keep in was really neat. It does seem to be exactly the sort of "impatient" thing Obi-Wan might do at this phase in his life when he is about to experience his strongest temptation to the Dark Side. Glad Ewan sort of instinctively did it to psyche himself up and George chose to keep that bit of spontaneity in the final product. This breakdown really made me appreciate the Duel of Fates even more and I feel very appreciative of all the talent and passion that was involved in bringing it to life for me to enjoy!
