The swordplay of the movies

[criminalheretic]

I disagree with the OP, not because I have any sword fighting experience whatsoever, but because I don't think the fights should have looked "real". More specifically, the fights in the older movies looked like they were swinging swords, instead of an almost weightless blade of light.

 

As some posters have said, I think when you are dealing with people wielding weightless blades, AND they have reflexes bolstered by precognition. I think choreography was an inevitability.

[GarfieldJL]

You don't really need much physical strength to kill with a lightsaber, plus we're talking about people that have limited precognition, that would probably make things seem more like a dance than an actual duel.

[Tuscad]

Long winded and highly off-topic reply/rant in a pm

 

I enjoyed it very much and agree with it.

[Lord_Karsk]

OP forget and dont understand the most importent thing to all these fights.The Force.

 

There is a reason Dooku can push Obi Wans saber down in epi 2, it's not muscle power.

There is a reason why in epi 3 when Anakin and Dooku sabers hit each other real hard the

camera shakes 20 meters off as clearly shown.

 

There is a reason why only a few times they use force push and lighting etc in the fights.

Because there has to be an opening in the force.And sometime the fight can be out of balance

like we see in TCW Obi Wan vs Maul.Also see this in the movie, epi 6 Luke vs Vader and epis

3 Vader vs Obi Wan when Anakin is conflicted while fighting because of Padme he just hurted.

 

Also one must understand how the different sabers forms work in combat from form 1-7.

[crazysam]

And imo I saw no "dancing" I saw years of training being used. Lightsaber duels were a deadly form of art in a way.

 

No dancing?? AHAHAHAHAHHAHAAH

[Sayana]

I do agree that in the prequels a lot of unneeded spins were used just to make it seem flashy. Especially in the fight between Anakin and Obi-wan there were in my opinion just a few too many. I'm not an expert on sword fighting, nor have I any experience in it (can't even lift a dang sword tbh) but to me some of the moves just seemed ridiculous.

 

For one, in some of the spins they did they left their backside completely open while the spin wasn't even needed. Sure, I can imagine it gives some extra strenght to the strike but in this case it's just plain nonsense.

 

However, I have seen some official sword fights and a few fencing matches and for a movie it just wouldn't be right. It would be a tad too boring for an audience who (or at least a large portion of them) isn't going to notice those mistakes anyway and just wants to see a fight with more sparkle than Edward. They want to see something flashy and in this case they got what they wanted so the fights in fact do what they needed to do.

[pudim]

You don't really need much physical strength to kill with a lightsaber, plus we're talking about people that have limited precognition, that would probably make things seem more like a dance than an actual duel.

That's wrong,

A lightsaber is a weightless weapon, which means the strength of the hit is your own strength, it's like fighting with an unbreakable polystyrene stick

Also, in a duel, because of the weightlessness the momentum goes directly to your wrist

Which means a lightsaber user must be extremely strong and resistant

[Lord_Karsk]

That's wrong,

A lightsaber is a weightless weapon, which means the strength of the hit is your own strength, it's like fighting with an unbreakable polystyrene stick

Also, in a duel, because of the weightlessness the momentum goes directly to your wrist

Which means a lightsaber user must be extremely strong and resistant

 

WRONG WRONG WRONG read what i wrote on the previous page.Know the facts of the star wars universe before you make up your own facts.

[ineedahelmet]

True. I just rewatched it for this purpose. The moves I noticed that were inherently Aikido were several times when both Luke and Vader spin. Using spins to add power to attacks is not fencing whatsoever, which relies on balance and precision. Though, as I watched, I wondered if Aikido was really in mind when it was being coordinated, because they were rather sloppy spins- and they were entirely pointless because powerful strikes are not needed to cause damage with a lightsaber. Perhaps I overplayed my hand in thinking Aikido was incorporated.

 

You seem as if you know a thing or two about the art, Hulegu_Fett. What was your take on it?

 

But that's exactly where you're wrong, or why you're wrong. The footwork and movement in Aikido was taken from the sword arts like Kendo/jutsu when it was created. If I remember right, it was basically an empty handed version of sword fighting to counter and disarm their opponent. like all other styles, it grew from there.

[ineedahelmet]

If you really want to get into the validity of the light sabre duels, look no further than Darth Maul and his double-bladed light sabre.

 

Unless he has the ability to use the force to protect himself from his own "blades," he would kill himself trying to use it. Wielding a Bo Staff requires that you hit yourself in the ribs or the arm pit to get a complete strike. The only way around it would be to have the rear blade turn off right before impact and then back on again as it's coming back around.

[Selvec]

Actually Lightsaber combat and forms are based on Samurai combat forms, which of course is Kendo + some. There is nothing about lightsaber combat that changes to allow for greater use of force abilities, since Samurai combat forms include the use of Jujitsu unarmed combat, which means those places someone can use force abilities are already included into the styles, you just supplement martial arts manoeuvres with force abilities.

 

The reason for the large difference in duels from the original trilogy and the prequels is that George Lucas sniffed a bit to much glue and killed off a bit to many brain cells, thus forgetting all the solid rock foundations Star Wars was based on.

 

Remember folks, Star Wars is based on several high profile Japanese productions, from which George Lucas drew a LOT of inspiration from. Double bladed lightsabers are dumb btw. There's a reason most people use one single lightsaber in the Star Wars universe...Fandom is the only one who insists on various different kinds of lightsabers.

Edited August 29, 2012 by Selvec

[Reynaga]

Ok so I read up on lightsabers and what they actually are, I know this is fiction, but you have to remember that this is fiction too.

 

Lightsabers have no REAL weight. you are basically wielding a 28-30 cm metal stick. That is when it is off. When it is turned on however the plasma blade is supposed to have a gyroscopic effect that requires great strength and dexterity to wield correctly otherwise you might end up just cutting off your arm, unlike a real sword or vibro blade which for all purposes is just a hunk of metal. So them whirling around the swords is more than just because its a flashy way to show off, its actually necisary apparently according to the EU and the saber becomes cumberson if you just make exact movments. Does this explain everything? I don't know, I don't think so.

 

I also think that some of the fights are too flashy (op called them dances). But I think that is more for the sake of our viewing pleasure than it is to entertain the small percentage of people who know actual sword fights. Want to know what I think of a real sword fight/duel, go watch Seven Samurai, there is a part where one of the samurai is dueling someone else and it ends in one swift movement.