Favorite Lightsaber Duel

[Mitch Henessey]

Lightsaber duels have always been a huge part of every Star Wars' film. These battles can be thrilling and fun to watch, and the lightsaber duels usually showcase a fierce battle between Jedis and Siths. Lightsaber duels can also provide many memorable moments for Star Wars' fans. Luke learned the shocking truth about his father in The Empire Strikes back during the aftermath of a tough battle with Darth Vader, and the saber duel between Obi-Wan and Anakin/Vader in Revenge Of The Sith was filled with emotion, and I always love watching this bitter duel between the master and former apprentice.

Star Wars features many memorable lightsaber duels, but which one is your favorite? I'll start with my pick:

Episode IV: Darth Vader VS Obi-Wan Kenobi

For years, Vader VS Luke from The Empire Strikes Back was my favorite duel, but I changed my pick after a while. I always liked this saber duel, but I never payed too much attention to it. But I started to constantly re-watch all of the prequels, once I finally collected Episodes I-III on DVD. In the prequels, you really get to see the beginnings of the master/apprentice relationship between Obi-Wan and Anakin. They do form a bond, but their relationship is filled with some serious ups and downs. The viscous saber duel in Episode III is filled with tons of emotion, and this duel does have a tragic and gruesome ending. Obi-Wan goes into hiding, and the mechanical version of Darth Vader is born.

In Episode IV, Obi-Wan has become the old and wise man, while Vader is the evil Sith Lord, who helps reek chaos throughout the galaxy. The rematch between these two gives me goosebumps, and I always love to hear this line from Vader:

Darth Vader: The circle is now complete. When I left you, I was, but, a learner. Now, I am the master.

Vader wasn't the apprentice anymore. He was a master, and he could overpower Obi-Wan. During their duel on Mustafar, Obi-Wan had the upper hand. He had the experience, and he was able to defeat a young Darth Vader. But on the Death Star, everything was different, and this rematch has become my favorite saber duel.

This duel also features its fair share of great moments. Obi-Wan lowers his guard, so Vader can deliver the final blow. He becomes one with force. This was a shocking moment, and you could really feel Luke's anger, as he escaped with Han, Leia, C-3P0, and R2-D2, while trying to destroy every Stormtrooper in sight.

Constantly watching all of the prequels helped me appreciate this duel, and Episode IV is an outstanding film.

 

[Notorious718]

This one's a tough one. In terms of flashiness and raw emotion, I don't think it gets much better than Anakin/Obi-Wan from Episode III. I loved the fast paced swordsplay and awesome visuals (especially at that one spot where Anakin and Obi-Wan clash outside and the moment they make contact, lava shoots out in the background). Having "Battle of the Heroes by John Williams playing in the background also added to the battle and gave it more of an epic feel. The overall battle was just very well choreographed, emotionally charged, and made good use of the surrounding environment.

Their rematch in Episode IV wasn't as exciting to watch but it told a story all the same. It showed Vader and Obi-Wan coming full circle since their last meeting and now Vader was no longer the student but a master of the dark side. I feel it's an underappreciated duel because it's not as flashy as the duel from Episode III.

I'd really like to see other responses here because I feel the Episode III fight would kinda be an obvious pick.

 

[JWGunslinger]

This thread makes me very happy just from it's sheer awesomeness, excellent Mitch.
For me it's hard to choose because the Star Wars movies have been such a big part of my childhood and I love all the lightsaber battles. If I had to pick one though it would be
Episode I: Obi-Wan Kenobi & Qui-Gon Jinn VS Darth Maul.

This was not only my favorite duel in terms of action, and believe me there was plenty of that and it's best action of any meeting of Sith & Jedi in all the movies. But this duel was very very emotional for me, I was and always will be a big Qui-Gon fan and to see him get cut down by Maul was difficult. Then after that when Obi-Wan(my favorite character in all of Star Wars) jumped out of the pit and forced his master's saber to him in time to slice Maul in half was great revenge, that whole scene was a roller coaster of emotions. I also thought that the parts where Obi-Wan was stuck behind the force feilds was powerful, it built up the scene so much and had you on the edge of your seat hoping that he would make it in time to help Qui-Gon. Anyway this one definitely takes it as my favorite, great action and emotion, Ewan Mcgregor and Liam Neeson, and a Sith with a double sided lightsaber? That is a win right there.

 

[Dagger Dias]

My favorite is the duel between Luke and Vader in episode six because of how it was the moment that the whole series had been building up for. The climactic battle between father and son. Good VS Evil. Light VS Dark. It also then led perfectly into the scenes with the Emperor that followed, ending with Vader finally redeeming himself. That will always be my favorite lightsaber duel and episode six will alwaye be my favorite film in the series.

 

[Davi323]

I pick the final lightsaber duel in the entire saga...Darth Vader vs. Luke Skywalker on the Death Star II. Not because the choreography was great...it wasn't, and pales in comparison to any of the prequel duels.

No, I choose that one because of what it meant for the saga, (more or less what Dagger Dias posted about it, without feeling the need to just copy him) and the John Williams Soundtrack. The music for that fight is absolutely incredible. To this day, I get a little emotional hearing it.

 

[Miko]

Samuel L. Jackson vs The Emperor; Its the first time we see the emperor looking weak as Jules Winnfield knocks the lightsaber out of his hand and gets ready to finish him off, then that annoying prick Anakin turns up, and I instantly regret that he hasnt been turned into a machine man yet because that Darth Vader is awesome, this other one is shit, anyway, we all know that Zues Carver is doomed.

But yeah, I liked it because it contained less flippies than the others in the new films and reminded me more of the old school duels from the Star Wars films that were actually good, you know 4-6. It's fair to say that short of him getting chucked down that thing that no one is sure what it does Neville Flynn is the only person to give Palpatine the beatdown we all wanted to see, proving that that little green bastard isnt all he's cracked up to be as The Emperor deals with him pretty handily not long afterwards.

So yeah its got everything you want, a more old school Star Wars feel, a black guy beating down an old man, the major villian showing weakness, the final turn of the whiny shit into becoming the guy we all know and love and Elijah Price getting his hands cut off and thrown out of a window. Perfect.

 

[Larry]

This should have been multiple choice because I wanted to pick a number of battles.

I picked Anakin vs Obi-Wan from Episode III. It was just the most epic battle ever, teacher vs student, Jedi vs Sith, good vs evil. This took the lightsaber duel further than it had ever been in every aspect. We all knew the way it had to end, and every step to that end just made the tension thicker and thicker. It was both Obi-Wan and Anakin in their primes technically, at their best. This was the battle to decide it all and it did. None before or after it were anywhere near as spectacular or well choreographed, and everything that was behind it in the story made it that much better.