For me it’s the lack of form. Each Jedi in the prequels had a unique fighting style but in the sequels they act like they’re swinging baseball bats

Anakin against the younglings will always be my favorite one. The rage in his eyes and the no match that it was

The biggest thing in my opinion is that modern lightsaber fights don't have any actual form used. In the prequels, each and every character has a style based on a real life combat form. For example, Maul uses modified Kung Fu, and Ray Park was brought in as an actual practitioner. Vader's style is modeled heavily after Kyokushin Karate. Obi Wan's style is based in Saber fencing. Dooku is a Foil fencer. Everyone has a very specific way that they fight. In the sequels however, everyone uses the "hit him with a stick" form. They have no idea what they're doing with a sword. Daisy Ridley has prior experience with a staff, but they decided to give her a weapon she can't use well. And we're not going to talk about Kylo Ren.

I personally loved the Dooku vs Yoda duel. It was the first time Yoda showed his saber skills. I remember being on the edge of my seat the entire time.

I think the biggest issue is choreography. In the old Star Wars films, the choreography made the LightSabers feel like Swords. From the way they were used and blocked. The new movies make the Lightsabers feel more like glorified baseball bats.

One thing I think you overlooked is just how little danger lightsabers seem in the new movies, barely killing anyone, no limbs being lost. I guess I would put that into emotional significance.

The part with fatigue is also showed in prequel films too. In duel of the heroes, Obi wan and Anakin are slower when on the droids speeding through the lava bank then earlier on the landing pad and interior and seem to use more overhead attacks to overwhelm the other’s defense instead of speed. In duel of the fates, Qui Gon meditates to be more rested for when the ray shield drops because he is almost 60 and tired after dueling for several minutes, and Obi Wan didn’t meditate which prevented him from using force speed to help Qui Gon beat Maul

That edit on Obi-Wan's anime leap... chef's kiss

Can't believe you didn't mention just how much of a beast Hayden was behind the scenes while training for these fights.

In my opinion, the Mustafar duel played a MASSIVE role in making Revenge of the Sith one of my favorite movies of all time.

In the prequels they actually used the lightsaber Forms jedi were supposed to know. I know that Rey and Kylo really didn't have that jedi upbringing but an attempt at showing some form 4 or 5 or 3 would've been nice since we see her drilling movement with the blade anyways. The final fight from Kenobi was just so much better than the rest of the lightsaber duels from the sequels because Hayden and Ewan already had preexisting training and experience in actual forms and wanted to go back to that while still bringing a little bit of modern rawness in how they swung (darth stumbling back when Obi Wan really winds up and cracks the lightsaber) if we see some old republic stuff or anything like that in the future it would only do the fans justice by putting the actual lightsaber Forms back into the movies

IT'S THE CUTS!!!! You're so right! I want to see the entire fight!

I think you missed the most important thing that differentiates the prequels with the sequels. Every character had a distinct lightsaber combat style. Dart maul with a dual bladed saber, general grievous with 4 blades, Yoda jumping and rotating like a chipmunk on coke, dart sidious stab stab, Count dooku fencing style, and Darth vader an unstoppable force.

For me, the main problem is that the lightsaber itself has changed, now it's just a club, and not a saber that can cut you.

You had me dead at Darth Vader talking Japanese and the speed jump of Obi Wan right after. Thank you for that 😂😂😂

Two kids playing with plastic swords in the park can probably have an aesthetically better lightsaber "duel" than what is portrayed in current star wars media.

In the lightsaber fight of Qui-gon vs Darth Maul, before the fight, Qui-gon sits. He is calm, one with the force, almost peaceful. Maul, on the other hand, is walking left and right, like a caged animal, barely able to contain his anger, rage. Sublime display of characterization for both sides of the force. That whole sequence, including the follow up fight with Obi-wan, is awesome.

my favorite moment in lightsaber fights is when Anakin and Obi-Wan and fighting in their duel and Anakin is pushing towards obiwan in this little corridor and their lightsabers are hitting the walls and creating sparks. I think that small part was pretty awesome showing how completely focused they were on the duel and how aggressive Anakin was being.

The Duel on Mustafar has to be top tier, as far as emotional connection and music go. You can hear the pain in Obi Wan's voice, and the hatred in Anakin's. You can see their hesitation, and the music mimicing Duel of the fates, it was amazing.

I’m studying lightsaber duels to eventually upload a short Star Wars film- and I really want the lightsaber battles to be really good. GREAT video 🙏

Another problem is that the sequels make lightsabers seem like baby swords. Unless you get cut in half, you’ll always be ok in like a week or less, whereas in the prequels, you get touched by the lightsaber and your toast even if it’s only a cut

We also need to talk about how amazing some of the lightsaber fights that are from some Star Wars game cinematic trailers as well. For example, the star wars the old repulic lightsaber duels are choreographed so well that they're overlooked just because they're from a video game. Why couldn't they get inspired from those fights and put them into the sequel trilogy and so on. Great video as always

1:22 Ooohoohoo love how you included the Darksaber, that sound is just beautiful

That video was beautifully done....perfection!

One thing i observed from duel of the fates was how at the beginning of the fight Maul was treating Obi Wan like he was insignificant. Constantly just kicking him away, shrugging him off, he was an afterthought. A padawan. While the main prize in Mauls eyes was the older more renowned jedi master Qui Gon. Who would have made a much more prestigious kill. Then after Qui Gons death when Obi Wan comes at Maul with all the rage & ferocity, cuts Mauls blade in half. You can see him start to sweat it. & it was at that moment he knew he fucked up.

My biggest problem with these fights is that the old fights look like a sword fight, the new fights is just straight up slamming into your opponent

This is awesome production quality! You deserve many more subs, and I'm sure they're on their way!

the Mail fight is absolutely incredible with the camera! the emotions in that fight were just so exuberayting

Another thing with the prequel duels is everyone had their own style. Dooku was so elegant, Yoda agile, Maul athletic, Obi Wan was just cool. In the sequels I'm not seeing any of this, just people swinging wildly which could make sense for Rey but Kylo was trained by both Luke and Snoke, he should be much better. I'm glad you picked up on some of the positives though, I love the lighting of the new savers and I thought the fight in the forest was cool especially with the trees coming down.

What I love most about the Obi-Wan vs Maul fight is that it is going so fast that every time they are close to each other, it feels super dangerous, like one wrong step could spell the end for either of them. Whenever they separate, it feels like a breath of air before diving back in.

You forgot the part where the person gets stabbed but is chillin latter

yoda vs dooku will always be my favorite. especially because the first time i watched it, all i knew of yoda was his calm demeanor, and his incredible control over the force. but never really got to see him in a serious fight against a formidable opponent. especially when he whips out his lightsaber and does some crazy double backflips and shit oh my god

In the original trilogy, Lightsabers were only used rarely and were quite conservative in their usage. I always liked how cautiously they were used; remember, these things are a constant beam of energy that can cut *anything* with minimal effort, so you really need to be paying attention when you use them. Nothing could be more embarrassing than running around with a lightsaber deployed only to trip slightly and cut your own leg off.

The double-block back to front by Obi-wan is just amazing to watch. That's why I think it's the best saber duel ever.

I love the duel with Vader in Return of the Jedi. The way the music swells when they go into the last verse of the fight is so good.

I’m glad you brought up how Ewan and Hayden just seemed to love their sword fighting. When you watch the behind the scenes, you can tell they really enjoyed the process and wanted to make it as cool as they could but make it dramatic too. This goes for the Darth Maul fight, you can tell they were enjoying it and planned it out. Like, Ray Park and Ewan Mcgregor are insane in that duel in the Phantom Menace. While the new actors may be fans, but they don’t love it like ones before them. Ewan Mcgregor’s family has been part of Star Wars since his uncle, I think, was in original trilogy as a pilot. It’s a difference in passion, and I think the people making Star Wars have lost the passion for duels and other things, but I think their making a comeback and will bring more entertaining shows and movies going forward.

I'M AN IDIOT. I never noticed in any of the other films that the LIGHTsabers never cast any LIGHT. aside from like twice. Also, I think the use of multiple cuts in the section where Obi-Wan cuts maul in half really works to show just how FAST he's moving. there's a reason why it worked there, because though it was slowed down for US to understand what's happening, the cuts make it seem like it's happening super quick.

I want to talk about something in the Phantom menace duel. As you said, there are quiet moments in good duels, when Obi fights Maul alone there is no music but there is a dark chant, something very evil, you feel that the Sith are back and, even if Obi beats Maul, the evil will stay. It's a very nice detail.

Bro the music from the last Kenobi fight was so dope. It was epic and emotional. Just perfect

This is what i needed to hear. Thank you for validating my opinions haha

I'd like to add a 4th reason: The Lack of Swordsmanship & Choreography - You look at the Original Trilogy, while they're not as flashy as the Prequels, the duels were simple & had basic swordsmanship & techniques that were serviceable. - You look at the Prequel, say what you will at how choreographed & flashy they are, but if you look at a lot of them, there are a lot of advanced sword techniques & fighting styles that would be plausible (though not the best option) in a sword fight on top of the basics. - You look at the Sequels, there are so many things wrong just on basic swordsmanship alone. Overly large telegraphed swings (some of which not even aiming at the opponent), unnecessary spins, the lack of a guard stance. Even the special effects has error (Biggest offender being the disappearing knife in the Throne Room scene).

Old duels feel and have a taste that's unique to themselves. Also, characters had their own "essence" that was unique to each and every one of them. The crazy shit of whatever Grievous was doing, the elegance of Count Dooku's style, the mad speed of Yoda, Anakin's aggressive and a bit of recklessness, Emperor's lethality on each strike, Obi Wan's methodical approach, etc. But now, the sequels make everyone look the same, everyone looks like they are trying to bash and swing at a piñata.

I’m subbing to you man. You really understand Star Wars. Almost made me cry. I hope Star Wars Devs and Writers see this. We gotta have change.

The Phantom Menace duel was basically what made me fall in love with Star Wars. As a kid that scene was so epic. It made me and all my friends want to be jedis.

I really think the lightsaber styles also lack of diversity. Maul VS Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon was so intense for the reasons you mentionned, yes, but also because their fighting techniques were so damn different from each other's. Maul's speed, Qui-Gon's fluidity and Obi-Wan's agressivity towards the end of the duel were all things that allowed us to recognize each character without even having to look at the color of their blade. Even with my godawful eyesight, I was able to determine who is who only judging by their movements. Nowadays, it really is the only thing we can that would make me able to spot the difference between the duelists fighting, clothes and charadesigns aside. Kylo and Rey fight the same way as Finn did, only slow agressive moves with big swings to both block and attack. And what about the Kenobi show ? Same thing as I just mentionned, even though Obi-Wan has been canonically mentionned to be the best denfensive-oriented lightsaber user in the jedi order from that era. My point is... If you prevent a character from having somewhat of an unique fighting style, what allows us to compare their lightsaber skills to their opposant ? How can we consider Kylo Ren to be a menace while he fights like litterally all the lightsaber weilders he's come accross in his life ?

Honestly, while duel of the fates is good, battle of the heroes (battle and song) holds a very special place in my heart. The emotions of the entire battle are unmatched. you are on edge the whole time.

This video is flawless. Thank you for existing. Disney must hire you

Nice analysis; You've got a new sub

Obi wan vs maul the first lightsaber duel in 1000 years?! That honestly makes it more epic, also why he and his master seem so tense.

Yoda vs Duku had me screaming as a kid. Just the fact that Yoda could actually do anything useful was like witnessing a true miracle (my favorite dual)

Lots of views on this one, well deserved. Great job!

That Halo 2/3 song near the end just makes this video even better.

My favorite duel is Obi-Wan vs Maul on rebels. It was beautiful

"Until this dude shows up and tries to run over a kid" I nearly spat out my soda. You're right, that really was Darth Maul's first act of villainy in the franchise. I bet in his head he was like "this one's ten points" as he swerved toward Anakin, too.

You nailed it man, I agree. I hope they can improve the fights in future movies

Perfect video analysis!

The animated saber battles are more thoughtfully choreographed than the live action ones now. Tales of the Jedi was amazing.

For me you can't get much better than Obi-Wan vs Anakin. Duel of Fates is great, but the speed, emotion, and power of Anakin vs Obi-Wan will always stick with me.

Literally talking about this the other day. And you’re right on every aspect but I think more attention needs to be brought to the lack of choreography. It’s something I can forgive back in the original trilogy for three reasons. 1: I grew up either the original trilogy 2: The Vader suit was impossible to live in back then iirc 3: There wasn’t quite the same focus on choreography back then For all the flaws the prequels have, they still have it where it counts and the actors put effort into making those duels we love amazing. Either the sequel actors don’t care and aren’t bothering to learn, or the execs in charge don’t think it matters. Just look at Anakin in Ashoka. Hayden still has the talent, he’s learned and it’s not gone anywhere. But these new actors don’t or can’t manage it themselves. I’ll give benefit of the doubt to any character in a crazy costume or such, but if they don’t have anything hanging off of them then there really is no excuse.

Great video. Made me laugh & very good point. Favorite fight has to be Obi-Wan vs Anakin in ROTS

In the original movies, the duels between vader, luke, and obi wan were based on fencing and kendo basically. In the prequels, they got more extravagant with force jumps, flips, etc, but still with realistic choreographing in terms of strikes. In the new ones, the fight choreography often looks sloppy and sometimes nonsensical (best example of this being rey and kylo fighting the praetorian guards).

8:28 *Fun Fact:* In Revenge Of The Sith, Anakin jumped over Obi-Wan to try and strike him the way Obi-Wan struck down Maul. As a padawan,, Anakin was obsessed with Obi's fight with Maul, he even altered a training droid to look like Maul. But unfortunate for Anakin that was probably the biggest mistake of his life, resulting in the lost of his 3 remaining limbs.

Perfect! That's it, and it's sad :( (because we could see amazing fights with a better quality)

The attack of the finger mention brought back a core memory, any kind of sword fighting once the finger was struck it’s checkmate

The duel between Luke and Vader in Empire deserves so much more credit than it gets. That fight is, in my opinion, literal perfection. It's closer to the sequels in terms of choreography, but the difference is that there is actual intelligence and intention throughout. Vader and Luke aren't just swinging their lightsabers like baseball bats without a single thought between the two of them (**cough cough,** Rey and Kylo). For the first half of the duel you can actually tell Vader is testing Luke. He uses one hand, and everything he does is in response to Luke's attempts to subvert his guard. The second half of the duel is a one sided beat down from Vader. He out muscles, out thinks, out skills, and overpowers Luke at every turn. He employs the Force in a casual, but devastating manner against Luke, absolutely rocking him with machinery. His thrusts and slashes cause Luke to practically buckle under their sheer force. When Luke manages to sneak a hit in, Vader cranks up the intensity and instantly disarms Luke (literally). At that moment it becomes totally apparent that Vader was going *easy.* And then of course, we get the famous reveal about Vader being Luke's father, and Luke's entire perception of life just crumbles to dust. Every moment of that duel is a masterpiece, and it exemplifies every point you make in this video. A movie from the 80's shows more of the fight in one take than most modern SW movies. I can't decide if that's impressive on Lucas's part, or sad on Disney's part.

What I like to think about in that glorious duel is that Maul has been training for it and together with Sidious studied the Jedi's fighting style. Obi Wan normally is very patient and defensive. That's why Maul gets overwhelmed and loses half his lightsaber when fury makes Obi Wan change his style to very aggressive. When he adapts he manages to push Obi Wan in the hole. Only to misjudge his tenacity once more. Combined with the music, definitely the most epic lightsaber action of the franchise.

"Actually that looks pretty sick" Brah took the words out of my mouth hahaha

Love that description 😂

About fatigue, I think it's worth mentioning that earlier duels had this too, like Luke getting winded from his duel with Vader in ESB or in RotS when the fight choreography became slower and sloppier as the duel between Anakin and Obi-Wan went on. I think it was more subtle and interesting than in the sequel trilogy where the overall choreography is sluggish and lumbering. Both fresh and tired combatants flail their sabers wildly at each other, limiting (at least visually) the impact fatigue has on the flow of the duel.

Luke v Vader in Episode 5 is criminally underrated imo. Obviously everyone remembers it for the famous line but the actual fight itself is so beautifully shot and paced. When they’re both just staring each other down at the start of the fight with lightsabers drawn is one of my favourite shots in cinematic history

Well said. Lightsaber fights these days just feels like two people going through what the choreographer told them to do.

Your videos are so good how do you not have more subscribers?

The Maul fight has one of my favorite examples of visual story telling within a duel. The scene with the laser gates up offers perfect characterization for all of these characters. Maul is pacing like a wolf stalking at his prey from the shadows. Qui-Gon is meditating and recollecting his thoughts. He takes the consular’s approach to the break in combat. Probably my favorite bit of characterization for him. Obi-Wan jumping up and down, ready to dart toward Maul is also a great way of showing characterization for him. He’s still a Padawan and he isn’t as collected as Qui-Gon. He just wants to get into the battle and is anxious being split up from his master. Probably my favorite moment in the movie tbh.

My most favorite Lightsaber duels of All time is Mustafar Duel. Both the camera, the music, the atmosphere, the choreograph and the Characters is what makes it so memorable.

Mad props for the ripstik cameraman comment, that tickled me

I think Yoda vs. Palpatine and Yoda vs. Doku have always been my favorite fights. I just love how he jumps around and attacks from all angles and stuff. Its super hype and I cannot get enough of it.

The reason I like the Prequel fights is they were shot like a Kung Fu film. Martial Arts fans will know what I mean. Wide shots, no quick cuts, no shaky cam, you see the actors' faces doing the moves, the fight tells a story, close-up reaction shots so you know how the characters are feeling.

I really love the first Lightsaber duel between Luke and Vader. It’s slow and methodical and plays out much more like an old Kurosawa samurai duel. That said, I also really love Vader VS Obiwan on Mustafar. The tone, the cinematography, the effects, the story, the acting, the music, the way the environment becomes a third character as the fight progresses and becomes more perilous. Mastapeece.

Personally, my favorite will always be the Anakin vs Obi-Wan duel in ROTS. The choreography, dialogue, music, and emotion hit on all levels to perfection. But I think objectively the Maul vs Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon duel was just a tad bit better in those regards

0:50 great point. It's one of those that some people (like me) don't even realize why it puts the feeling off until someone points it out. It just doesn't have the weight without the light.

One thing to also note: Christopher Lee had engaged in actual swordfights. He gave Peter Jackson information about what it's actually like when someone's killed with a sword, but refused to elaborate how he knew. He was also part of a legendary British spy unit in WW2 alongside Ian Fleming (creator of James Bond). I think we can all figure out how he knew what it sounds like to kill someone with a sword.

The entrance of darth maul was the most epic thing I've seen in movies. Them shooing away the non force user who might as well be non combatants then slowly and clamly derobing while facing off totally unbothered with each other. music blaring. it was just so perfect and cemented a very important monastic theme to jedis and sith that these guys are warriors larger than life larger than whatever else was going on.

Great video. Need to go watch phantom menace now what a legendary fight scene. The latest decent one was Ahsoka and Anakin

that japanese prolog between vader and kenobi was hilarious

Idk why but the little bit right before Obi Wan and Maul fight where just seconds before Obi-Wan is hyping himself up, jumping up and down to get the blood flowing, was also a super nice touch compared to alot of future fights where everyone can jump into action without a moment to get themselves ready or stretch.

The Mustafar duel was one of the best in the whole series honestly. I could really feel the emotion between both Anakin and Obi Wan. Man it was good

That dual with darth mail was the one I remembered from when I was a small kid. It was genuinely the best

Mine's honestly Darth Malgus against the Jedi Master in the Deceived trailer from The Old Republic. Those trailers were the last time you got to see truly fast lightsaber action in really good animated form. It's good choreography from lightsaber combatants who have spent decades fighting each other and what I consider the top tier of warriors.

I totally agree with the cuts issue. Yes, I get that it's much easier to film a bunch of perfect 1-second shots and splice them together, than to film an extended scene of continuous perfection. But the latter method makes the fight SO much more satisfying because you can see the continuity and follow the progression of the fight yourself. Don't be lazy and take the magic out of the fight by showing us a new angle every second, forcing us to recalibrate our brains and fill in the continuity ourselves every time; we'll miss most of the fight that way!

Great video. It’s also worth noting that lightsaber blades are technically weightless. This means a lightsaber would not function like a sword because you can move it MUCH faster than a sword. Lightsaber can cut from any angle as well. Couple that with force abilities and they should canonically be speeding the duels up slightly on top of the fast paced choreography. I feel like us Star Wars fans understand that instinctively and that’s why when the sequel duels ensued, we were all like yo wtf we taking a step backwards now?

Bro that Mustafar fight was the most epic duel to this day. I can agree that Episode 1 also had an amazing duel, but the Mustafar duel really felt like an appropriate climax to the prequels

I’M CRYING AT YOUR ANALYSIS HERE BECAUSE YOU’RE SO RIGHT! 😭😭😭😭

The Prequel lightsaber fights generally had a better selection of actors and choreographers as you mentioned earlier. Christopher Lee as Count Dooku is also another example, given his professional career in fencing and also swordfights in many other films.

this is a great video, well done.

The lightsaber fights in the prequels are my favorite scenes in the series.

To me the fatigue always felt more of an annoyance than anything cause they literally didn’t do much at all they get tired after two minutes while anakin and obi wan can have a ten minute high speed Dueling session while still getting out some of the best and most emotional dialogue in the series

I think one of the most underrated duels is the fight between Dooku and the Nightsisters who come to assassinate him in season 3 episode 12 of The Clone Wars. The way they animated Dooku is perfect Makashi style. He fights along a forward/backward fixed line of attack and defense and never deviates to the sides, just like real fencing. It's a little detail that was really cool and showed a tremendous attention to detail on behalf of the animators.

I remember before the sequels came out, I thought "no matter how bad the films end up being, at the very least we'll get some great lightsaber duels" (due to production value and modern special effects) And then even that ended up not being true. Those films were disappointments in every way lol

You nailed it!

Excellent. Great sense of humor. 👀😂👀