Best SW Lightsaber duel

[JMK]

Cast your vote here:

http://www.stuffo.com/saber-duel7.htm

[Darth McBain]

Tough to just pick one. Personally I went with the Maul/Obi-Wan/Qui-Gon duel, but I was also leaning towards the final Luke/Vader fight from ROTJ (always liked that one - especially where Luke loses it and is just hacking away at Vader) and the Obi-Wan/Vader fight from ANH (because it's a classic - despite the fact that they're a bit slow on their feet...)

Oh, and obviously the Obi-Wan/Anakin duel from ROTS was really good too. Like I said, tough to choose just one...

What'd you all go for?

[JMK]

I went for Vader vs Luke in ESB, but I was also strongly thinking about the duel in RotJ, and then Vader vs Obi Wan from RotS.

[Sanis Prent]

Luke & Vader in ESB wins for me, narrowly edging out their rematch in RotJ and the Obi Wan vs Anakin duel on Mustafar.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

I picked the RotS Obi-Wan/Anakin duel.

[Jedieb]

Originally posted by JMK
I went for Vader vs Luke in ESB, but I was also strongly thinking about the duel in RotJ, and then Vader vs Obi Wan from RotS.

Same here. It's always been my favorite.

[Phantom]

Man, was that a difficult choice.

I was stuck between either Qui-Gon Jinn/ Obi-Wan Kenobi vs. Darth Maul or Anakin vs. Obi-Wan. In the end I picked Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan vs. Darth Maul. I thought it was a far superior duel then any of the other movies, though it really isn't too fair for the original movies because they couldn't do the things they can now.

[Jedi Master Carr]

I picked the Anakin/Obi-Wan fight right now that is coming in second behind, the Duel of the Fates duel, and then Yoda-Palpatine is third, interesting the top three are from the prequels.

[Aria Sihin]

Well, unfortunately the original trilogy didnt have the same special effects as the prequels. So, to me, this poll is kinda unfair :\

[Jedi Master Carr]

Well most of the duels don't have much to do with SFX but more, more complex forms of fighting. To be Fair, I don't think Vader could have done jump flips around Luke, and Luke was a little unexperienced in that kind of thing and Obi-Wan was just too old.

[Sanis Prent]

Originally posted by Phantom
Man, was that a difficult choice.

I was stuck between either Qui-Gon Jinn/ Obi-Wan Kenobi vs. Darth Maul or Anakin vs. Obi-Wan. In the end I picked Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan vs. Darth Maul. I thought it was a far superior duel then any of the other movies, though it really isn't too fair for the original movies because they couldn't do the things they can now.

Yes it was very shiny, but there was almost no mood setting or any sense of real urgency. Nice to look at, but I wasn't invested in it at all. And for as nice a track as Duel of the Fates was, it sure as hell wasn't playing on sync with the action very well.

I'm a big sucker for the mood and the delivery of a good duel. In my view, this is far more important than the action itself. Case in point, I consider the Trio standoff from The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly to be the greatest cinematic duel in history. There was almost no action in that duel, but the mood was set in ways that most can only dream of.

[Tear]

Ive noticed the mood in star wars duels picks up near the end of the fight.

Luke and Vader in return of the Jedi. Luke gets emotional at the mention of his sister.

After Jinn bites it theres visible anger and emotion when Maul and Obi go at it

I think Rots Obi vs Anakin had its moments through the entire fight. Especially in the beginning when they both got ready for the fight.. In the middle when they have to break to avoid the raining lava then at the end when their zipping around just above the river.

True the fights themselves dont lend much but its probably because their being so acrobatic and fast you really wouldn't see much in the way of emotion. But I think they have their small moments.

[Droo]

Luke vs. Vader in ESB hands down for me. Captured all the essential elements of lightsaber combat in the films perfectly.

[Oriadin]

I personally went for the duel of the fates. The older films suffered from not being able to do what they can now, and I felt that the Obi Wan Vs Anakin was in a way TOO good. It was so hard and fast it just doesnt quite sink in.

My favorite part is when Obi Wan takes on Maul on his own. Straight from the off Obi Wan throws himself right in there. Obi Wan blocks the front, then the back then does this really cool spin thing and kinda slides backwards. Excellent description!! Hope you know what im blabbering on about.

[Sprocket Gearhead]

Hmmm, the poll is unfair, as Aria mentioned, so I'd have to divvy it up.....

Best SW Duel for Feel: RotJ, Luke vs. Vader recap from ESB. There's more emotion, more raw feeling. Sure, the father mention was a great shocker, but the emotion at the mention of Leia, and the brooding, oh crap Luke's gonna lose feel just has it.

Best SW Duel for Visuality: Probably Jinn/Wan vs. Maul, for the absolute nuts tactics. With the Yoda fights, it was more expected. You wouldn't or didn't expect Maul to have a double-bladed saber, or that he could do the things he did with it. And the obvious change of tactics for Obi when Qui-Gon bites it.

Best SW Duel for a mixture: Wan vs. Skywalker, RotS. It had the great visual effects, and the raw and edgy sense of emotion. It was more like the clash of the titans, a culmination of all the brooding emotion that is built up within Anakin, and the absolve to do what is right by the Code for Obi. And the sense of loss when Obi is given no choice but to win. All the time, he's pleading for Anakin to listen, and the exclamation of the Chosen One just had it for me. So in short, had to mention it.

And also, with the great choreagrophy (obvious sp), emotion, and kick-buttery, it's kinda hard to limit the choices. The Yoda-Palpatine had it in the Stylish Personality, the Palpatine-Windu had it in Twists, and the scenes with Yoda kickin' it was just amazing. Again, a hard thing to not mention. So in short, this should be expanded to more categories.

[Ambrose Braeden]

the best in my opinion is the duel of the fates..that was awseome

[Mr.MojoRisin]

That's a hard one. Probably Luke/Vader in ESB, Luke/Vader in ROTJ, Obi-Wan/Anakin in ROTS, man they all rock.

[Ambrose Braeden]

Originally posted by Mr.MojoRisin
That's a hard one. Probably Luke/Vader in ESB, Luke/Vader in ROTJ, Obi-Wan/Anakin in ROTS, man they all rock.

That is very true...

[Firebird1]

I was torn between Obi 1 vs Anakin in ROTS and Vader vs Luke in ESB
I chose the first one because it was a biiger and better fight.

[Ambrose Braeden]

I think that all of the prequel ones are better cause they are better fighting and there is more moves in the fights compared to the original ones.

[JMK]

While you're right in that respect, it's not the moves and the style that wins all the points for me. It's the emotional subtext involved with all of the duels in the originals that put them over the top for me. With the exception of Kenobi & Vader in ANH, the original duels win the day for me. Anakin vs Obi Wan in RotS is up there too though. All the rest of the duels in the prequels may look great, but don't carry the same importance and emotional weight as the originals.

[Victor Crestmere]

Go Qui-Gon!! XP

[Figrin D'an]

Luke vs. Vader in ESB is tops for me, followed closely by Obi-Wan vs. Anakin in ROTS and Luke vs. Vader from ROTJ. The ROTS and ROTJ duels are about equal in my mind, despite that I have always felt the Luke/Vader/Palpatine conflict is the best overall moment in the entire saga.

[JMK]

Ah Fig you're speaking my language! :)

[Atreyu]

Luke vs. Vader in ESB.

Not only because of the emotional impact ("I am you father!"), but also the scene where Luke is looking for Vader down the corridor and Vader suddenly lunges out and nearly cuts him in half scared the crap out of me when I first watched it. :)

[JMK]

I wish there would have been more of a cat & mouse approach to the RotS final duel instead of constant intensity. I think it would have done wonders for suspense, even though we all knew what was coming.

[Zereth Lancer]

I'm in a stalemate over the fact that I love the Qui-gon, Obi, Maul duel asmuch as I love the Obi vs Anakin EP3 fight...

In the end I went with Obi vs Anakin cuz I love the musical track that plays during the duel.