Best Lightsaber Duel In Your Personal Opinion?

[CaptainPogo]

Hi, back in here...Yeah, things were rough for me this Summer...Had a nice job but a few coworkers I dealt with were...Pretty bad at actually showing up at work.

But enough of that, back to this topic!

Going by the films alone (and probably the EU side of things regarding said duels), which one really got your attention and is overall your all-time favorite?

After some thought...I ended up realizing that Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader's duel on Bespin in Empire Strikes Back is probably my favorite due to...Everything about it.

While not as crazy agile as the prequel duels, it was far more entertaining than the limited movements with caution blows and defenses as Ben Kenobi vs Vader in A New Hope have shown. Hell, anyone who thought Vader was an immovable rock would be pretty surprised upon watching this duel.

And the whole thing was just great, the whole movie sets up the fact that Luke has become a stronger warrior compared to his portrayal during ANH, with newer abilities during his time with Yoda. While he was still green, we honestly thought he could at least give Vader a good fight.

Then we learn later, after losing his hand and his mental state completely shot after the eventual duel, that Luke was nowhere in Vader's league.

To start, the two fought in the chamber, with Luke seemly having the upper hand after avoiding an instant defeat thanks to Vader underestimating him. Vader wasn't trying to kill him. Then Vader starts to display his advance force skills to overwhelm Luke, Luke managed to avoid falling to his death but barely. Vader wasn't trying to kill him. Then Vader finally takes off the kid gloves and outright destroys Luke, with Luke barely having a lucky blow that mostly pisses Vader off than hurt him. And then we get the chopped off hand and the infamous father scene, which completes Luke's utter defeat.

And all that, and Vader still wasn't trying to kill him.

That speaks a Hell lot about Vader and the audience probably realize that if Vader didn't give a shit about Luke...Then the Original Trilogy would arguably end right there. Made even more impressive as years later, it was confirmed that Ben Kenobi wasn't kidding that Vader was more machine than man and that his force potential was kind of hampered. While at the same time, Luke was actually a powerhouse of a force user (well, against non-force users) before his training with Yoda.

[Lord Xizer]

Also my favorite too. The part where Vader effortlessly rotates Luke's lightsaber out of the way and takes off his hand in one motion was very elegant and concise.  It spoke volumes about his abilities as a swordsman and showed that if he'd wanted to he could have done that earlier with ease.

[Waffle Wagon]

I actually don't like the prequel fights so much, to me they're just too ridiculous. Especially if Yoda is involved, I mean how could anyone take that seriously?

That said, I loved the duel with Darth Maul in Episode I. The whole thing is beautifully choreographed, and the the music just makes it perfect. It was probably the best scene in any of the prequels, I'd rank it the number two duel in the whole saga.

[Vulcanus]

Great opening post and I couldn't agree more. The Bespin duel is in my opinion one of the finest moments in Star Wars.

I remember watching TESB for the first time when I was 8 years old and vividly remember the overbearing sense of desperation the duel and its aftermath manages to convey. Things just keep getting worse for poor Luke. Falling of a window, getting his hand chopped off and finally falling down to the very bottom of Cloud City, not to mention the father reveal.

It also does a great job of portraying actual combat fatigue in the post-duel scenes with Luke being both physically and mentally spent, his eyes still wide in fear. In my opinion, those post-duel Falcon scenes validated Vader as the ultimate badass villain in the galaxy, being terrifying enough to turn the protagonist into a shivering wreck.

[Lord Xizer]

I'd also give an honorable mention to Dooku vs Obi wan and Anakin in II and III. Very well choreographed,  much emotion good acting and not over the top like many of the duels. You feel like you're actually watching a legitimate sword fight in that precise movement and strikes take the place of all the ridiculous leaping and flipping. Also you see Dooku after each duel show some fatigue via the sigh and slight slump as he loosens the force control helping him move.

[jordanthejq12]

My fav is the Obi-Wan/Anakin duel in ROTS. I feel it combines the crazy action of the prequels with the drama the original trilogy delivered so well. You've got master vs. apprentice, friend vs. friend, with the fate of the galaxy possibly hanging in the balance, on a lava planet where even the slightest slippage could painfully end the fight. Oh, and it benefits from the advances in technology over thirty years. Duels like that are what I'm hoping Disney will feature in the new set.

From the originals, I definitely agree that Luke/Vader is the best, with a close second going to the second match in Return of the Jedi.

[Phunnyphil]

My favorite duel would have to be the duel vs. Darth Maul. As was said before, it was beautifully choreographed, and the best background music. It amazed me when I watched it that Darth Maul was able to take on both Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan at the same time using only his lightsaber skills and not resorting to something like force lightning or throwing objects like the other sith. So in terms of pure lightsaber dueling, the battle against Darth Maul wins out in my opinion.

[Slornie]

My fav is the Obi-Wan/Anakin duel in ROTS. I feel it combines the crazy action of the prequels with the drama the original trilogy delivered so well. You've got master vs. apprentice, friend vs. friend, with the fate of the galaxy possibly hanging in the balance, on a lava planet where even the slightest slippage could painfully end the fight.

Agreed, I really like that duel.  Especially the ending with Anakin's overconfidence and Obi Wan's impassioned speech.  The ones that I felt really let down by were the Sidious vs Jedis and Sidious vs Yoda - firstly why did all those other Jedi Masters die so easily, and secondly I wanted to see a proper Yoda/Sidious match not just them throwing senate podiums at each other!

[Lord Xizer]

Agreed, I really like that duel.  Especially the ending with Anakin's overconfidence and Obi Wan's impassioned speech.  The ones that I felt really let down by were the Sidious vs Jedis and Sidious vs Yoda - firstly why did all those other Jedi Masters die so easily, and secondly I wanted to see a proper Yoda/Sidious match not just them throwing senate podiums at each other!

I actually liked their representation in the old trilogy better when yoda lifted the X Wing out of the swamp and then there was the force lightning from the Emperor's hands that had never been seen before and to me it showed their power was above even lightsabers but then they'd had to do all the acrobatics and jumping and throwing things in the prequels also as to why those Jedi died so easily it's because the Emperor is awesome and jedi suck

[Meyer]

My personal favorite is Anankin vs Obi in ROTS. The setting is perfect with the best music and we finally get to see how Vader became the maimed man in the suit.

[Corey]

I've never understood the problem people had with Yoda/Sidious fighting like that; I don't buy into the idea that they should just be able to do all of that stuff without a lightsaber. Using a lightsaber essentially just means they have focus on getting the pointy end inside someone once. If it was all just left to force stuff, they'd essentially have to completely overpower the other person in the most difficult way possible. The only time anyone seems to have bothered doing that was when Jacen turned into that weird glowing force beacony thing to kill Onimi.

[jordanthejq12]

Well, Yoda being so small and needing those acrobatics made it a little ridiculous...but yeah, Force duels get boring. Witness the beginning of Yoda/Dooku, when they basically try that and then move to sabers because the whole thing was pointless. Though I wonder why Yoda didn't use his small stature to his advantage and go for the legs. (Well, Palps did have to survive, but still...)

[Lord Xizer]

I did love the facial expressions the Emperor made during his duels tho he seemed to be enjoying himself so much

[Waffle Wagon]

True, actually seeing the Emperor himself in lightsaber action was pretty awesome; Ian McDiarmid pretty much stole the show in ROTS. There were times when it seemed like he was the only one even trying...

[Supekki]

i have to say thats RoTS's Obi-Wan vs. Anakin at mustafar, it was just so cool

[Pali]

I've never understood the problem people had with Yoda/Sidious fighting like that; I don't buy into the idea that they should just be able to do all of that stuff without a lightsaber. Using a lightsaber essentially just means they have focus on getting the pointy end inside someone once. If it was all just left to force stuff, they'd essentially have to completely overpower the other person in the most difficult way possible. The only time anyone seems to have bothered doing that was when Jacen turned into that weird glowing force beacony thing to kill Onimi.

I mostly agree, and yet... I am still disappointed that all we got from watching arguably the two most powerful Force users of their time fight was essentially stuff we'd already seen, just a bit bigger, faster and flashier.  I'd have loved to be given something like Darth Zannah's Sith sorcery, or the battle Zahn has Cardas mention between Yoda and an unnamed dark Jedi on Dagobah which he describes as "For nearly a day and a half the swamp blazed with fire and lightning and things I still don't understand. (45 years and a fair bit of Force education later)"  It makes sense to me for Jedi to mostly use the Force to augment themselves and their perceptions (defense rather than attack), which Yoda would be expected to be incredible at, but Sith tend to attack through the Force a lot more readily - I'd just have loved to see something other than more lightsabers, lightning and thrown objects.

As for favorite lightsaber fight... my only gripe with picking Bespin is that Vader was holding back for most of the fight, and for the entirety of it he was not actually trying to kill Luke.  For the entire fight, it was essentially a matter of "when Vader decides to actually end it, it will end quickly".  Otherwise, I have to go with Anakin v Obi-wan - it was emotionally intense, they were perfectly matched opponents both actually trying to kill each other, and given their power levels at the time combined with Anakin's lack of any real dark side education at this point, it doesn't fall prey to my above criticism.

[Lord Xizer]

True, actually seeing the Emperor himself in lightsaber action was pretty awesome; Ian McDiarmid pretty much stole the show in ROTS. There were times when it seemed like he was the only one even trying...

Indeed and watching kill 3 of the orders so called best was absolutely enjoyable and he clearly could have killed Mace, even held him at saber point for a bit then let him come back because he needed to force a defection from anakin. I have always HATED jedi, with the exception of obiwan, kota and katarn, those i rrespec.

[Vulcanus]

I mostly agree, and yet... I am still disappointed that all we got from watching arguably the two most powerful Force users of their time fight was essentially stuff we'd already seen, just a bit bigger, faster and flashier.  I'd have loved to be given something like Darth Zannah's Sith sorcery, or the battle Zahn has Cardas mention between Yoda and an unnamed dark Jedi on Dagobah which he describes as "For nearly a day and a half the swamp blazed with fire and lightning and things I still don't understand. (45 years and a fair bit of Force education later)"  It makes sense to me for Jedi to mostly use the Force to augment themselves and their perceptions (defense rather than attack), which Yoda would be expected to be incredible at, but Sith tend to attack through the Force a lot more readily - I'd just have loved to see something other than more lightsabers, lightning and thrown objects.

You would probably enjoy the Darth Andeddu vs. Darth Wyyrlock duel from Legacy comics. That fight's got some serious fireworks.

[rumiks1]

in the books i would have to say darth bane and zannah killing the 5 jedi in the first book, or vader and the dark woman .In the movies dooku vs Yoda in the clone wars or anakin and kenobi in rots on mustifar

[Vulcanus]

It is not in the movies, not a duel and does not have a single lightsaber, but the Canted Circle assassination attempt in Darth Plagueis is one of the best fight scenes in the entire EU.

It is well written, takes the reader by surprise and involves two of the most powerful Sith Lords ever with a cameo by Sate Pestage and his heavy repeating blaster.

"Let them inhale the aroma of the dark side."