What's the best lightsaber battle from the Star Wars films?

@Green_Incarnate said:

Star Wars Kid vs air.

Another glaring omission

luke vs darth vadar was great.

@Oldirtybearon said:

@TheSouthernDandy said:

The end of Jedi. Yeah they weren't jumping and flipping an all that but that fight had so much more emotion then any fight in any of the new movies. It was the culmination of Luke trying to bring Vader back and you actually gave a damn about the characters and the score was amazing. Fancy choreography doesn't hold a candle to that if it has no soul.

This is the only right answer.

6 minutes in

Darth Maul fight was pretty damn awesome.

@gamefreak9 said:

Also beyond the movies, last weeks episode of clone wars is the best star wars fight ever! In the sense that you really feel the power and domination of Darth Sidious, never quite saw him as this powerful.

Thanks for reminding me i gotta catch up on that show.

i think the context beneath the fight is the most important part. that is why the empire fight is the most important. vader knows it is his son. luke is trying to save his friends. that makes it the best fight. people that voted for the qui gon v maul fight are like people who only want good graphics in video games.

In terms of story moments, I don't think the ESB battle can be topped. Luke loses his fucking hand and has his entire life flipped on its head in the span of about 30 seconds.

In terms of theatrics/choreography, music, pacing, etc. I think the culminating fight in Episode I is pretty damn amazing.

Perhaps not the most "exciting" but the most emotional fight in the saga.

@gamefreak9 said:

The maul one. Just remembering it starts playing that song in my head also this is funny:

This is brilliant.

@Example1013 said:

In terms of story moments, I don't think the ESB battle can be topped. Luke loses his fucking hand and has his entire life flipped on its head in the span of about 30 seconds.

In terms of theatrics/choreography, music, pacing, etc. I think the culminating fight in Episode I is pretty damn amazing.

My thoughts exactly.

I voted for the Darth Maul fight, though. That one sequence was so thrilling it wiped all the Phantom Menace mediocrity from my mind on first viewing.

Related: I need to check out Clone Wars.

Luke vs Vader at the end of Return of the Jedi has to be the best. Interesting choreography, real struggle, Vader threw his freaking light saber, and the fight has an entire arc as father finally falls to son and then makes a final sacrifice to restore balance to the Force. It had everything that exemplifies an epic battle in both literature and film.

None...

Luke.

Vader.

Empire.

Obi-Wan and Anakin's battle in RoTS was absolutely nuts.

the prequel fights were all flash and flips and twirls and stupidity

I fucking hate all of you people who didn't pick Luke v. Vader from Empire. That's fucking cinematic history right there.

I voted for the Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Qui-Gonn Jinn vs. Darth Maul lightsaber battle. Seeing two Jedi Masters go against a very well-trained Sith fighter who was easily their match was a pretty awesome scene.

Vader vs. Luke in TESB. Vader vs. Luke in RotJ is a close second.

I can't get into any of the fights in the prequels. They look so choreographed (because they are) and steril. And Anakin vs. Obi Wan in Sith was just ridiculous. There was a scene when they were bith swinging on ropes or suddenly climbing some tower? That shit was just comical. No tension at all.

Luke vs. Vader is the best, with Obi Wan vs. Vader being close second.

Obi-Wan vs. Anakin in ROTS. Just a cool battle, all the way around.

Yeah, I am going with Luke vs. Vader in Return of the Jedi.

No posted this gif yet. :(

Luke vs Vader because eventhough no one flipped around like crazy, the build up, the tension during the battle and the payoff are just great. That's how you do a fight like this.

@Tidel said:

Related: I need to check out Clone Wars.

If you are referring to the series then yes, you should. I really don't like the prequels (except for a few moments) but what they've done with the characters is pretty great. They even managed to make Anakin a likeable character and the build up to him becoming Vader is so much better and more believable than what RotS showed. It's also gotten quite dark and brutal over time (a jedi performing a quadruple decapitation for example). Don't bother watching the movie though because it's not good.

Yoda.

Uhm... Most were great. In fact, the worst one was probably the first lightsaber fight they did - A New Hope. Beyond that, I don't think you can go wrong.

You've forgotten Yoda vs. Sidius which is also awesome.

Battle of Geonosies for awesome scifi war porn being topped off with finally getting to see Yoda fight, but the anakin/obiwan fight on Mustafar was the most memorable.

I rewatched ESB and ROTJ just to confirm. And yep, it's still ESB. It's one of the few scenes in the Star Wars franchise that competes with the better moments of that first movie.

...the worst choice on that list is Grievous vs. Obi-Wan. That one's just STUPID. Which is tragic, because the introduction of General Grievous in the Tartakovsky series is fantastic.

Lightsaber fights in the prequels were generally pretty meaningful, though. Phantom Menace may be lacking in emotional resonance, but it makes up for it in terms of sheer choreography. The pile-up of fights in Attack of the Clones made for my favorite Best Buy-on-repeat-all-day clip ever, even if prequel Yoda sucks. And both of Anakin's fights in ROTS were pretty all right too.

Luke vs Vader in Empire. Not up for debate.

Luke vs Vader in ESB. It wins because it is the only good one. The one at the end of Jedi is alright, but that one is more about Luke's internal struggle than his physical fight with Vader. All the fights from the prequel trilogy are retarded.

For pure sabering, it's Phantom Menace's finale for me. My favorite battle though is Yoda vs Sidious. This is like the only fight where they make the force seem just crazy anime insane where people are wrecking the hell out of shit. I loved that. The swordplay is lackluster, but everything else is awesome.

Best sword fight in anything Star Wars content is Darth Maul vs Deathwatch dude in Clone Wars though

I like the classics, so I'm going with Luke vs Vader in Return of the Jedi, but my second choice would have been Yoda vs Palpatine in Revenge of the Sith. I dig seeing that little guy bounce around.

The battle against Darth Maul gets my vote!

All the duels in the original trilogy have actual emotions behind them. They all signify something.

Everything from the prequels are preschool-wanking. Thanks, George.

Whoa whoa whoa, wait a minute... People actually like the Yoda/Palpatine fight in Episode 3? This is the one where an old man in a rubber mask duels a CGI recreation of a hand puppet, right? We're talking about the same fight?

Maybe it's a generational thing, because like all kids of the 80s who grew up fans of Star Wars, I literally spent decades of my life waiting with bated breath to see that Obi-Wan vs. Anakin duel by the volcano. Then when we finally get to see that fight -- basically the lynchpin of this entire saga -- they decide to cut away every 30 seconds to show a cackling old man throwing chairs across a room like a child throwing a tantrum. We get it George, he's destroying the seats of democracy, metaphors are lovely. Now please cut back to the fight we actually care about.

Vader vs. Obi was the most memorable for me. It had nothing to do with combat prowess but instead was used by both sides to further their purposes.