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The 3 Best Lightsaber Duels (& the 3 Worst, & 3 In the Middle)


[Major spoilers ahead for Star Wars Rebels.]



Best: Obi-Wan Kenobi vs Darth Maul (final battle)

See the gif above? Yep, that's the entire duel. It lasts three blows. What's so awesome about that?

You see, I like accuracy in movies. And especially swordfighting movies. And this is THE most accurate duel in Star Wars.

Also, the lore behind the scene is incredible. I'm not gonna spoil it for you. You can read about it here.



Worst: Duel in Palpatine's Office

This is trash. How it got past the editors is beyond me. Palpatine does that crazy spinning jump, and the Jedi react seemingly in slow motion. Sidious kills two in seconds only because they don't defend themselves. Then the three remaining fighters do some embarrassingly slow spins and Palpatine kills another Jedi, Kit Fisto. Then Windu takes Palpatine on, and it becomes obvious that they aren't swordsmen, but actors who don't move like they used to. Then a much-hated ending where Anakin saves Palpatine and Mace Windu gets thrown out the window.*


*Sadly, there was no mace involved. Not even one.



Medium: General Grievous vs Obi-Wan Kenobi (final battle)

I'd put this one higher if it weren't for several problems. It starts all awesome and cool, with a great portrayal of Soresu, Obi-Wan's form. But Grievous keeps just slashing at the air, and Obi-Wan's leap over his head was idiotic. Then Kenobi Force-pushes Grievous, who then runs like a coward. The Jedi conveniently loses his lightsaber in pursuit, and the fight ends with him killing Grievous with a non-elegant weapon from a less civilized age.



Best: Luke Skywalker vs Darth Vader (first fight)

This fight is where *spoiler alert* Vader cuts off Luke's hand and reveals that he is in fact Luke's father. It's more visually impressive than the ANH fight and more emotional and realistic than the prequel fights. Bob Anderson himself played Vader for the fight.



Worst: TLJ Throne Room Fight

This fight scene is bad in just about every way. It's terribly inaccurate, not that exciting, and overall makes no sense. Look at how Rey suddenly turns around and stabs that guard. It almost looks as if she was expecting him—because she's an actor who's learned a routine, not a fighter. Whenever a guard misses a strike, they overswing so far that they end up ten feet away.



Medium: Duel on Mustafar

This fight embodies many of the worst problems the PT duels had. It's all fancy and flashy, lots of spins and twirls, most of which would make no sense in an actual fight (though some of it's not too bad). Some of the acting is wooden, and the CGI shows its age. At one point Obi-Wan and Anakin apparently try to kill each other with wind power. Then there's yet another bad ending with yet another idiotic jump, where someone finally gets their legs cut off for their stupidity.

However, it's very fast and cool sometimes.



Best: Obi-Wan Kenobi vs Count Dooku (first fight)

I honestly don't like this scene that much, but it's still a decent fight. The choreography is crisp, clean, precise. It perfectly embodies Makashi and Soresu. Though it could be faster, more intense, more accurate etc, it really strikes a nice balance. But again, the ending was bad. Anakin attacks Dooku and leaves his hand out for the Count to cut off.



Worst: Duel in the Galactic Senate

This fight was supposed to be a showdown between the two greatest Force users in the galaxy. What we got was a lot of aimless slashing, spinning, and jumping around. CGI Yoda is creepy, and he suddenly gives up the fight for no reason. The only good thing is the character's use of the environment. Couldn't they at least hire a few real swordsmen to critique it?



Medium: Obi-Wan Kenobi vs Darth Vader

This fight has been compared to two guys from a nursing home getting in a swordfight. However, it is the most accurate live action lightsaber duel (despite being too slow and gentle, and including a completely moronic 360° spin). The choreography is not great (super delicate props and really old actors), but the emotion is decent and the plot is amazing.




Also, apparently there was a lightsaber duel in The Phantom Menace, but I can't find it. The closest thing I found was near the end where Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan challenge Darth Maul to a dancing contest, but I can hardly see how anyone would call that a duel. Good grief, they're aiming at thin air and each other's sabers!

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