The fights sucks even if it was meant to be a slow samurai-like fight. It's just amateurish. If you want something with that approach but done right, you should look at Luke x Ben.
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The Obi-Wan vs Darth Vader scene is so bad
- Thread starter MillionIII
- Start date
George Lucas thought the lightsabers should be heavy, and wielded like large two-handed swords. In addition, in the first movie, the props they were fighting with were very fragile and would break if they contacted each other, so the actors were told to pull their hits - they had to carefully back off from each hit actually contacting the other lightsaber. That's one reason the fight doesn't match up to other ones from later movies.
They had the late, great Bob Anderson on crew though, and he was responsible for the duels. I'm sure someone as seasoned a veteran as him had his reasons for the duel being the way it is. Whatever we think of it, they certainly didn't have an amateur directing the duel.
That and weren't the sabers tied to cables and the cables were hidden by cloaks and camera angles, which further limited their movement?
I don't think so, they were just wooden rods attached to handles, with the glow effect added later.
The only GOOD lightsaber fights in Star Wars are Luke vs Vader I and II and Obi-Wan/Qui-Gon vs Maul.
Yeah and if I recall correctly the actors had to be careful because the rods they were given would bend/misalign if they were too forceful.
I'd argue it is his potential to do magic that makes him turbo. His cyborg parts seem fairly unturbo.
Seeing this thread get bumped I knew it was going to be about this.
I thought it was pretty cool. I liked how angry Vader was fighting. Slashing up the walls and just looking like a powerhouse.
I'm still a bit perplexed why obi Ewan left anakin to burn to death. Anakin was filled with hate and mutilated at that point but obi Ewan acted very un jedi like by just leaving him there. I know that the jedi are the biggest hypocrites in the galaxy but I wonder if he regretted leaving anakin there not so much cause he became Vader but because it was a douche move.
So, instead of Old Ben willingly sacrificing himself, he gets punked out by Vader and gives up? Nah............................................................................................................................................
Oh god that chorus. The music is embarrassingly tonally dissonant with the rest of the scene.
All of the action sequences in the SW movies are trash at worse, and ridiculously mediocre at best.
Clone Wars and The Old Republic CGI movies should've been the gold standard for the ST.
Clone Wars and The Old Republic CGI movies should've been the gold standard for the ST.
Wait, there are people that un-ironically think the RotS duel is good? It's a low point even for the prequels.
I think OP might just be young. A lot of younger Era members were exposed to this before the OT.
I mean
I was a kid when Phantom Menace came out and grew up with the PT
Nostalgia clouds everything for some. The prequels gave kids their sugar rush lightsaber battles and many grew up without understanding what made the originals great.
The point of the fight in the greater narrative was that Obi-Wan was holding Vader off just long enough to sacrifice himself, merge with the Force, and provide motivation for Luke to fight.
In canon, a few years earlier Obi-Wan took down a more calculated, cybernetic Maul in seconds.
While he probably cannot beat Vader at this point in the story his plan was never to beat Vader. If you want to ascribe further motivation he may have also wanted to see if time had curbed Vader's anger. If there was any Anikan left for him to save. But instead "Only a master of evil, Darth."
In canon, a few years earlier Obi-Wan took down a more calculated, cybernetic Maul in seconds.
While he probably cannot beat Vader at this point in the story his plan was never to beat Vader. If you want to ascribe further motivation he may have also wanted to see if time had curbed Vader's anger. If there was any Anikan left for him to save. But instead "Only a master of evil, Darth."
There's no harm in pointing out what's wrong with an opinion or approach to a topic though. Cuz an argument that characterizes the Obi/Vader fight as in the OP is objectively wrong. Obi doesn't just fight him die, and that's that. The entire purpose of his sacrifice is to becoming one with the force so he can help Luke succeed on his hero's journey.
No point in padding discussion because someone's perspective is coming from a place of ignorance.
Obiwans best fight is the obiwan v maul fight from Star Wars rebels.
It's brilliant, and very samurai esque.
I rather like the ST fights as well, great use of style and shows the difference in training and ability.
It's brilliant, and very samurai esque.
I rather like the ST fights as well, great use of style and shows the difference in training and ability.
If I recall, Lucas knew it was a terrible fight but it was the best he could do at the time with what he had. For Empire he went and hired a proper choreographer and hired an Olympic fencer to be the stunt double in Vader's fight scenes.
In the original Star Wars, Darth Vader was just his name. That's why the Empire commanders called him Lord Vader because Darth was his first name, not a title
Yeah, they were originally intended to be a practical effect, which meant they were sticks wrapped with reflective tape attached to batteries and motors in the hilts that made them rotate. They quickly realized - too late for the shooting schedule - that it didn't work at all.
That approach made them incredibly fragile, so the actors or stunt doubles were forced to pull back any contact so as not to break them.
What makes the fight still work, in my opinion, is the implied (at the time) backstory between the characters, and the sacrifice Obi Wan deliberately made.
Oh and Ben Burtt's incredible and innovative sound design.
Absolutely!
Honestly this fight is a perfect example on how character's drive the drama, and can make uip for all manner of short comings in visual spectacle.
You're right. That's a good one. I really enjoyed TLJ fight in the throne room too. I guess I should've said those other three were my top tier.
Bob Anderson, who you are referring to, was present on the original film. Just in a reduced capacity compared to what he ended up doing in Empire and Jedi.
Not a hot take at all, they are inconsistent, sometimes the blade is weightless and sometime it isn't, the concept is style over substance to the max. That's why I prefer if the focus is not really on the choreography and more about the conflict behind it. Unfortunately, Star Wars fails hard in that aspect on the regular too.