This Contest Cannot Be Decided By Our Knowledge Of The Force
posted by Tygrrius @ 4:53 PM
Those of you who pay attention might note that this entry is coming a bit later in the week than normal. I usually try to publish Proverbial Galaxies on Sunday or Monday. I have class on Mondays now, though, so it's becoming more and more difficult for me to find the time.
So, you'll get a Tuesday entry this time around with no promises of what day the next entry will escape. I have another problem, too, though. For the first time in a long while, I don't have a topic for today's post.
When I started this blog way back when, one of the first things I did was write down 26 topic ideas so that I would have a year's worth of topics to fall back on in case nothing came to mind on a particular posting day.
The only flaw in my plan was that I promptly lost the list. It was an incredible list, too. Full of all sorts of wonderful topics of the kinds you never read elsewhere. I, of course, was not able to re-create this list. It is lost forever to history.
Instead, I made a new list of so-so topics and it has managed not to get lost. I've only pulled it out once or twice, though, as I usually think of something to write about just in time. But not this time.
So, let's see what we have here from the list of ready-made blog topics....
"Write about an old TV show that really should become a new movie or rebooted TV series." The answer is Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, but I don't feel like writing about that today. Would require a lot of thinking and argument building. Next.
"Write about the top lightsaber battles in the Star Wars saga." Hmm... maybe. Doesn't require a lot of effort or research. Can be written at one sitting. We have a winner.
Top lightsaber battles. Yeah, I'm a geek. I've admitted this before. I don't mind telling you that. These are the kinds of things I spend time thinking about.
Before I can determine the top lightsaber battles, though, I'll make a list of the key battles from each movie. I'll go in release order, just because my brain works better that way. When it's working at all.
Star Wars (1977)
Well, just one battle here. Obi-Wan versus Vader. Compared to later productions, not the most exciting lightsaber duel but it does earn extra points for being first. (Related: Star Wars: Unaltered DVD review)
Star Wars: Episode V-The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Again, just one battle here. Unless you count Luke in the cave tree versus the Vader apparition. But I don't. Luke versus Vader in Cloud City is easily the best lightsaber battle of the classic trilogy and a real contender for best ever. (Related: The Empire Strikes Back: Unaltered DVD review)
Star Wars: Episode VI-Return of the Jedi (1983)
I don't count the Luke versus Jabba's henchmen stuff as a lightsaber battle. Granted, I loved this sequence as a kid. I reenacted that skiff battle on an old couch with the cushions thrown off many, many times. I haven't done that recently, though. Been at least a week. Again, we have Luke versus Vader in the end, this time on the Emperor's new Death Star. Though this does feature my favorite Star Wars lightsaber (Luke's green-bladed one, with the hilt similar to Obi-Wan's from Star Wars), the Death Star battle just wasn't as compelling as the one from Empire. Part of the reason may be that it was confined to the throne room. (Related: Return of the Jedi: Unaltered DVD review)
Star Wars: Episode I-The Phantom Menace (1999)
As we get into the prequel trilogy, the duels start getting harder to keep track of. I'll probably leave some out. In The Phantom Menace, the first real saber vs. saber action we get is Qui-Gon versus Darth Maul on Tattooine. It's so brief that it's barely worth mentioning, though. Later, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan double-team Maul on Naboo. Say what you will about The Phantom Menace, but you have to give credit to the brilliant "Duel of the Fates" lightsaber battle. For me, this proved that Star Wars was back in a big way. (And yes, I could probably split this battle into several smaller ones but though geek I may be, I'm just not quite that anal.)
Star Wars: Episode II-Attack of the Clones (2002)
In Episodes II and III, it seems the lightsabers are nearly always ignited. The key battles in Attack of the Clones, though, are Obi-Wan and Anakin versus Tyranus (Dooku) and, of course, Yoda versus Tyranus. The Obi-Wan/Anakin portion is reminiscent of my problems with Return of the Jedi. It's just not all that compelling, again I think because it's so confined to the hanger deck. It's interesting to see how Yoda uses a lightsaber, but I just can't classify his duel with Tyranus as one of the best ever. (Related: Attack of the Clones movie review)
Star Wars: Episode III-Revenge of the Sith (2005)
(Related: Revenge of the Sith movie review) Lots of saber battles here. Let's see if I can remember the main ones...
Obi-Wan and Anakin versus Tyranus: With its epic space battle, Revenge of the Sith had the best opening since, well, Star Wars, and it culminated in this top-notch lightsaber battle in which Anakin showed his dominance. Just writing about this movie makes me want to go watch it again...but, blah, it's not scheduled for awhile. And I've actually been sticking to my schedule.
Obi-Wan versus Grievous: Another exciting battle, though General Kenobi makes quick work of the cyborg.
Mace versus Sidious (Palpatine): Yeah, and some other Jedi, too, but they are killed so easily that they might as well have stayed home. I was hoping for a bigger battle here, I have to say, especially after seeing Mace's work in Star Wars: Clone Wars. Hard to complain too much, though, given the bounty of lightsaber battles offered in Revenge of the Sith.
Yoda versus Sidious: The lightsaber portion of this battle felt like a rehash of Attack of the Clones. There's only so much a little CGI green guy and a CGI old guy can do. Then they started throwing the senate pods around and never got back to the lightsaber battle proper.
Obi-Wan versus Vader: This, of course, was the lightsaber set piece of the movie. The legendary battle I'd heard so much about since I was a kid. Surely, it would fail to meet my expectations, yet, somehow, it exceeded them. "You were my brother, Anakin. I loved you." Easily the best lightsaber battle of Revenge of the Sith, but how does it rank within the saga?
Now, after carefully considering each of the above lightsaber battles from all of the Star Wars movies, I offer you my ranking of the top three lightsaber battles of all time.
#3
Qui-Gon & Obi-Wan versus Maul, The Phantom Menace
#2
Luke versus Vader, The Empire Strikes Back
And the #1 lightsaber battle of all time
Obi-Wan versus Vader, Revenge of the Sith
Really, there was no contest here. Beautiful sequence.
Agree? Disagree? Don't care? Feel free to click the Comment link below and let your opinion be known to dozens of readers!
Besides, you might say something that will inspire a topic for next time as I just used up one of my backups. And I really don't feel like writing about Buck Rogers yet.
So, you'll get a Tuesday entry this time around with no promises of what day the next entry will escape. I have another problem, too, though. For the first time in a long while, I don't have a topic for today's post.
When I started this blog way back when, one of the first things I did was write down 26 topic ideas so that I would have a year's worth of topics to fall back on in case nothing came to mind on a particular posting day.
The only flaw in my plan was that I promptly lost the list. It was an incredible list, too. Full of all sorts of wonderful topics of the kinds you never read elsewhere. I, of course, was not able to re-create this list. It is lost forever to history.
Instead, I made a new list of so-so topics and it has managed not to get lost. I've only pulled it out once or twice, though, as I usually think of something to write about just in time. But not this time.
So, let's see what we have here from the list of ready-made blog topics....
"Write about an old TV show that really should become a new movie or rebooted TV series." The answer is Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, but I don't feel like writing about that today. Would require a lot of thinking and argument building. Next.
"Write about the top lightsaber battles in the Star Wars saga." Hmm... maybe. Doesn't require a lot of effort or research. Can be written at one sitting. We have a winner.
Top lightsaber battles. Yeah, I'm a geek. I've admitted this before. I don't mind telling you that. These are the kinds of things I spend time thinking about.
Before I can determine the top lightsaber battles, though, I'll make a list of the key battles from each movie. I'll go in release order, just because my brain works better that way. When it's working at all.
Star Wars (1977)
Well, just one battle here. Obi-Wan versus Vader. Compared to later productions, not the most exciting lightsaber duel but it does earn extra points for being first. (Related: Star Wars: Unaltered DVD review)
Star Wars: Episode V-The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Again, just one battle here. Unless you count Luke in the cave tree versus the Vader apparition. But I don't. Luke versus Vader in Cloud City is easily the best lightsaber battle of the classic trilogy and a real contender for best ever. (Related: The Empire Strikes Back: Unaltered DVD review)
Star Wars: Episode VI-Return of the Jedi (1983)
I don't count the Luke versus Jabba's henchmen stuff as a lightsaber battle. Granted, I loved this sequence as a kid. I reenacted that skiff battle on an old couch with the cushions thrown off many, many times. I haven't done that recently, though. Been at least a week. Again, we have Luke versus Vader in the end, this time on the Emperor's new Death Star. Though this does feature my favorite Star Wars lightsaber (Luke's green-bladed one, with the hilt similar to Obi-Wan's from Star Wars), the Death Star battle just wasn't as compelling as the one from Empire. Part of the reason may be that it was confined to the throne room. (Related: Return of the Jedi: Unaltered DVD review)
Star Wars: Episode I-The Phantom Menace (1999)
As we get into the prequel trilogy, the duels start getting harder to keep track of. I'll probably leave some out. In The Phantom Menace, the first real saber vs. saber action we get is Qui-Gon versus Darth Maul on Tattooine. It's so brief that it's barely worth mentioning, though. Later, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan double-team Maul on Naboo. Say what you will about The Phantom Menace, but you have to give credit to the brilliant "Duel of the Fates" lightsaber battle. For me, this proved that Star Wars was back in a big way. (And yes, I could probably split this battle into several smaller ones but though geek I may be, I'm just not quite that anal.)
Star Wars: Episode II-Attack of the Clones (2002)
In Episodes II and III, it seems the lightsabers are nearly always ignited. The key battles in Attack of the Clones, though, are Obi-Wan and Anakin versus Tyranus (Dooku) and, of course, Yoda versus Tyranus. The Obi-Wan/Anakin portion is reminiscent of my problems with Return of the Jedi. It's just not all that compelling, again I think because it's so confined to the hanger deck. It's interesting to see how Yoda uses a lightsaber, but I just can't classify his duel with Tyranus as one of the best ever. (Related: Attack of the Clones movie review)
Star Wars: Episode III-Revenge of the Sith (2005)
(Related: Revenge of the Sith movie review) Lots of saber battles here. Let's see if I can remember the main ones...
Obi-Wan and Anakin versus Tyranus: With its epic space battle, Revenge of the Sith had the best opening since, well, Star Wars, and it culminated in this top-notch lightsaber battle in which Anakin showed his dominance. Just writing about this movie makes me want to go watch it again...but, blah, it's not scheduled for awhile. And I've actually been sticking to my schedule.
Obi-Wan versus Grievous: Another exciting battle, though General Kenobi makes quick work of the cyborg.
Mace versus Sidious (Palpatine): Yeah, and some other Jedi, too, but they are killed so easily that they might as well have stayed home. I was hoping for a bigger battle here, I have to say, especially after seeing Mace's work in Star Wars: Clone Wars. Hard to complain too much, though, given the bounty of lightsaber battles offered in Revenge of the Sith.
Yoda versus Sidious: The lightsaber portion of this battle felt like a rehash of Attack of the Clones. There's only so much a little CGI green guy and a CGI old guy can do. Then they started throwing the senate pods around and never got back to the lightsaber battle proper.
Obi-Wan versus Vader: This, of course, was the lightsaber set piece of the movie. The legendary battle I'd heard so much about since I was a kid. Surely, it would fail to meet my expectations, yet, somehow, it exceeded them. "You were my brother, Anakin. I loved you." Easily the best lightsaber battle of Revenge of the Sith, but how does it rank within the saga?
Now, after carefully considering each of the above lightsaber battles from all of the Star Wars movies, I offer you my ranking of the top three lightsaber battles of all time.
#3
Qui-Gon & Obi-Wan versus Maul, The Phantom Menace
#2
Luke versus Vader, The Empire Strikes Back
And the #1 lightsaber battle of all timeObi-Wan versus Vader, Revenge of the Sith
Really, there was no contest here. Beautiful sequence.
Agree? Disagree? Don't care? Feel free to click the Comment link below and let your opinion be known to dozens of readers!
Besides, you might say something that will inspire a topic for next time as I just used up one of my backups. And I really don't feel like writing about Buck Rogers yet.
Labels: Star Wars
3 Comments:
On October 15, 2007 11:20 PM,
Caabbage said…
I took a look at your duel list and it seems we differ on our light saber battles.
I'll jump to the chase, my #1 pick is Qui-Gon & Obi-Wan versus Maul, The Phantom Menace, followed by your #1, then basically the same as you.
There wasn't so much unnecessary fluff. Vader and Obi-Wan were just swinging their light sabers in front of each other just to see the pretty light and the cool sounds they make. Why would you jump onto a single little pipe over a river of lava to fight someone with a light saber, cool but unnecessary.
Hanging from a cable floating down the river of lava you were just fighting over top of, cool but unnecessary.
I think it would have been just as cool with more swordplay on land ending up next to the river of lava. Now the floating up stream fight was cool. The fight in the control room was really cool because there was more up close and hand to hand combat.
Now The Phantom Menace battle has hand to hand combat with a Sith Lord who can wield a two-ended light saber, and a more realistic chase. A Jedi dies, someone gets cut in half, come now how can you top that? The funny thing is that they both end up with Obi-Wan ending up with a kid.
On October 21, 2007 8:26 AM,
Tygrrius said…
Thanks for the comments, Caabbage. We appear to agree on the Top 3, just not the order of those three. As Star Wars debates go on the Internet, we're actually pretty close.
However, I'll respond to a couple of your comments.
Vader and Obi-Wan were just swinging their light sabers in front of each other just to see the pretty light and the cool sounds they make.
You could probably make this comment about every single Star Wars lightsaber battle, though.
Why would you jump onto a single little pipe over a river of lava to fight someone with a light saber, cool but unnecessary.
Hanging from a cable floating down the river of lava you were just fighting over top of, cool but unnecessary.
With their lightsaber skills so evenly matched, Obi-Wan and Vader are both trying to gain a tactical advantage over the other in the final Revenge of the Sith battle. Vader is relentless in the beginning of the battle, driving Obi-Wan back into a defensive posture. As they move along, the battle progresses into the different areas you described.
We definitely disagree here, though, as I think the constant movement and dangerous locations are what helps make this lightsaber duel superior.
They are both trying to find an advantage over the other. You hope that your opponent will be so distracted maintaining his balance that you will be able to deliver the fatal blow, but at the same time you have to be careful as well. It sets up the suspense.
The other thing that is in play is that their battle in the control room caused some of the lava equipment they are fighting on to malfunction and move into the wrong area. So they have that dynamic to contend with as well.
There's a lot going on in that battle. There is also the emotional aspect. Think of it from Obi-Wan's point of view, for the good of the galaxy, he is being forced to attempt to kill his own apprentice, someone that he ultimate came to see as a brother. The emotional aspect of the scene comes into play for me as well. This is not only a "Battle of the Heroes" but a battle of the brothers.
As for it being "cool but unnecessary," come on, this is Star Wars! It's all about doing cool things.
AT-AT's are cool, but are they really a practical choice for a land battle on snow?
Speeder bikes are cool, but are they really something you would want to race in a dense forest?
Star Wars is first and foremost about showing us fun and exciting adventures. When Star Wars forgets that it is the ultimate popcorn movie, bad things happen.
That's why I didn't make this "The Top Three Political Battles of Star Wars," for instance.
Now the floating up stream fight was cool. The fight in the control room was really cool because there was more up close and hand to hand combat.
Cool, yes, but were they any more "necessary" than the "cool" portions you already dismissed above?
The Phantom Menace battle has hand to hand combat with a Sith Lord who can wield a two-ended light saber, and a more realistic chase. A Jedi dies, someone gets cut in half, come now how can you top that?
Again, your "cool but unecessary" comment could be applied just as easily to these elements in The Phantom Menance battle as to the offending elements of the Revenge of the Sith battle.
A case could even be made that Qui-Gon himself was "cool but unecessary," but I'll save that discussion for another day.
Good points, Caabbage. Thanks again for commenting.
On October 21, 2007 7:26 PM,
Tygrrius said…
I just found an incredible fan-edit of the Obi-Wan vs. Vader duel from Revenge of the Sith.
There are two things I love about this video: Vader's red lightsaber and the presentation of the battle as a single scene rather than intermixed with the Yoda vs. Palpatine battle. Both changes make an incredible sequence even stronger.
Here's the link: Anakin Red
Since Lucas likes to change his movies, I'd love to see an alternate edit of Sith that incorporates this.
Of course, he'd have to work in an explanation for the red lightsaber. Unfortunately, this is the one that Obi-Wan picks up at the end and later gives to Luke in Episode IV (the hilts are actually not identical but it is supposed to be the same one, anyways), so it should presumably be blue.
A five-second scene of Anakin/Vader changing the crystal in his saber over to red and another five-second scene of Obi-Wan changing it back to blue after the battle would have even sufficed. It's not like GL didn't include other unnecessary fluff that could have been trimmed for this.
There are actually endless ways to explain it, that's just an example.
Oh well. I guess that's what YouTube is for. The Anakin Red edit is by micahmatt. Excellent work!
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