Re-imagined Vader/Kenobi Duel in A New Hope

[FPAlpha]

So i stumbled upon this on Youtube - some may already have seen this but it was new to me.

A re-imagined Vader/Kenobi fight in a New Hope with updated fight choreography and effects to match the more agile and flamboyant style introduced in Phantom Menace

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This is very well done and looks very cool but i still prefer the original fight - had more of a master Samurai feel to it. One wrong move and you're done. No unnecessary energy expenditure and moves in a fight.

 

[Saul]

This has been around for quite a while and I think it was discussed here when it came out.

I like it, I think it fits in well in regards to the whole saga when you take the prequels into account.
The original works perfectly fine. It's what comes in episodes 1,2,3 that make it seem out of place.

 

[Imaus]

I'm in two parts about this. As someone who fenced, and a HEMA enthusiast, and the like, these fights should be fast. Swords are not just I-beams swung around and getting slow or tired in a fight is one of the prime mistakes to losing that fight.

But because the old trilogy established that Jedi aren't supposed to be flashy mass-murderers and duelists on speed, when it comes to Star Wars, I err with the 'old guard' of the thought that these fights are supposed to be calculated, that their practioneers are very old veterans who know nearly every trick in the book and approach cautiously, and, ya know, it's a controlled plasma-beam/laser in front of you than a single or double edged blade, the constant reimagings don't hold as much weight than the classic fight. It's all flash, no sustenance, marred because Lucas candied it up for the Prequels, and then Disney sort of turned it down for the Sequels (then gave us fanservice with R1). When Plinkett said 'Yoda should never have a lightsabre', I have to agree.

Kenobi's ancient and besides cutting up ruffians, has had no recent experience. Vader is a middle-manager cyborg in a very poor quality suit. These aren't young whippersnappers - that goes to Luke, and the first time Luke gets into a fight, he gets played with by that middle manager; the second time he has to forgo nearly everything he learned just for brute strength to get Vader down, which was more akin to a young kid just wailing on the milkman who is his real father - for Vader is emotionally compromised at that point. If Vader wasn't, or didn't know that he was Luke's father, and saw him just as a threat to his position, Luke wouldn't had won that fight.

So it doesn't fit right with me, seeing this old desert-burnt hermit and this broken shell of a man suddenly get the energy of teenagers, ya know? Kenobi doesn't have to turn to cut a box, he can just put his saber behind him and amplify it with the force or w/e to cut it Armaggedon style. It's not like it makes any difference vis Vader as he's just as open doing that as he was as open in the reimaging where he turns his whole back to Vader, and so on.

 

[Timby]

I have hated this since the first time I saw it a year or two ago. Obi-Wan, a relatively frail old man who's been living in a desert, suddenly possessing the agility of a trained gymnast makes about as much sense as Yoda flipping around and shrieking like a frog on acid. It's ultimately fanwank of the highest order.

And Jesus fucking Christ, not everything needs to have goddamn Duel of the Fates. Good gravy.

 

[David cgc]

I was excited for this when the first teasers came out, but I thought the final product was just way, way too much.

 

[fireproof78]

As an experiment its fine. In light of the PT and TCW it works ok. But, the original is fine as is.

 

[Ithekro]

It is exciting, which would keep the audience attention. It over done, much like their "previous" duel in Revenge of the Sith. Flashy.

However, With Rebels, we see that flashy is not always best. Kenobi and Maul's last duel proves that. It also proves that people can be disappointed in a non-flashy fight if they were expecting a big flashy prequel era duel, instead of a samurai master stand off, Where to duel is decide by the time the stances are done.

 

[kirk55555]

That is pretty good. I dislike the "OT had shitty lightsaber duels, so all lightsaber duels should be shitty" mentality. Obi-Wan was a jedi and canonically not even 60 years old in Episode 4, he was probably just as capable of flashy moves at that point in his life as he was during TCW. The prequels, for all their flaws, made lightsaber fights between experienced force users cool. The OT had the scene in Empire between Luke and Vader which worked because Luke had very little training, and the emotional fight in ROTJ which also worked, but if both fighters have at least some training/experience, I want an action packed fight like we got in the prequels and (for the most part) the sequel trilogy.

Sometimes, limitations don't make for better scenes. They really couldn't do a lightsaber fight in 1977 the way they've done them in the last few decades, but the technology is there now and I enjoy them taking advantage of it.

 

[JD]

I saw this a few years ago, and while I get a kick out of it as it's own thing, it really wouldn't have worked in the movie itself.
I do wish the fight in the movie was a bit more energetic, but this was just to over the top to fit in context.
Of all of the movies, my favorite duels are the ones in the sequel trilogy. I think they did a really good job of finding a middle ground between the slower, more grounded fights of the Original Trilogy and the over the top acrobatics of the Prequels.

 

[fireproof78]

However, With Rebels, we see that flashy is not always best. Kenobi and Maul's last duel proves that.

Indeed. It still blows my mind that people want extreme flashy and can't recognize the mastery of simple strokes in a fight.

I saw this a few years ago, and while I get a kick out of it as it's own thing, it really wouldn't have worked in the movie itself.
I do wish the fight in the movie was a bit more energetic, but this was just to over the top to fit in context.
Of all of the movies, my favorite duels are the ones in the sequel trilogy. I think they did a really good job of finding a middle ground between the slower, more grounded fights of the Original Trilogy and the over the top acrobatics of the Prequels.

I think if they rebooted Star Wars as a whole that duel would work fine, or if ANH had been made right after the PT where that kind of energy would have been established from the word go.

 

[Imaus]

I saw this a few years ago, and while I get a kick out of it as it's own thing, it really wouldn't have worked in the movie itself.
I do wish the fight in the movie was a bit more energetic, but this was just to over the top to fit in context.
Of all of the movies, my favorite duels are the ones in the sequel trilogy. I think they did a really good job of finding a middle ground between the slower, more grounded fights of the Original Trilogy and the over the top acrobatics of the Prequels.

I would had preferred more space battles, personally. And not just the damn TIEs and the Falcon. That got boring fast. For something called Star Wars, there's little damn War in the Stars. The Battle of Yavin should had seen the DS1 surrounded by a flotilla acting as escort; the Rebel fleet would try to make an opening for the fighters, and so on....

 

[C.E. Evans]

Sure, it's more energetic and fits in more with the prequel trilogy, but the original fight fits in more with with the style of Episode IV in which things have declined since the fall of the Old Republic, IMO.

As such, I'm totally okay with the idea that both Kenobi and Vader are now past their prime by the time of Episode IV. Neither of them are the swordsmen they used to be since the collapse of the Jedi Order and they've probably both become rusty. The Mos Eisley cantina may have been the first time Kenobi has used his lightsaber in over a decade for all we know...

 

[CorporalCaptain]

It's ridiculous. What @Trick 'r Timby said.

 

[Marc]

I would had preferred more space battles, personally. And not just the damn TIEs and the Falcon. That got boring fast. For something called Star Wars, there's little damn War in the Stars. The Battle of Yavin should had seen the DS1 surrounded by a flotilla acting as escort; the Rebel fleet would try to make an opening for the fighters, and so on....

I think the lack of any sort of fleet for the Death Star was correct. It was the arrogance of the tarkin and co that they had the galaxy's ultimate weapon and nothing could stand against. No flotillas needed. It could travel through hyperspace, jump into a system, blow the planet out existence then jump out again.

 

[BillJ]

I think the posted video looks pretty damn silly. Not everything needs to be fucked with via CGI.

 

[Campe]

My opinion? Meh.

 

[B'elanna_Torres]

And there goes the tension.

 

[Crewman6]

This is very well done and looks very cool but i still prefer the original fight - had more of a master Samurai feel to it. One wrong move and you're done. No unnecessary energy expenditure and moves in a fight.

I have hated this since the first time I saw it a year or two ago. Obi-Wan, a relatively frail old man who's been living in a desert, suddenly possessing the agility of a trained gymnast makes about as much sense as Yoda flipping around and shrieking like a frog on acid. It's ultimately fanwank of the highest order.

And Jesus fucking Christ, not everything needs to have goddamn Duel of the Fates. Good gravy.

VERY glad to see most people are rejecting this wankery piece of shit. It's soooo bad and so totally out of character for the movie. (Most youtubers, on the other hand, eat this crap right up.)

It IS a contest of two old masters who don't need to resort to flashy tricks.

The point is they are both in CONTROL. Calculated. Calm, even.

Here, Obi Wan is constantly on the defensive, which he isn't at all in the movie. It totally misunderstands the character and the relationship at play. Obi Wan isn't frantically dodging to stay alive by mere millimeters He's in command the entire time.

God, I fucking hate this.

 

[plynch]

I do too. It represents a lot that is bad about pop culture.

 

[B'elanna_Torres]

I'm part of the prequel generation and have been watching this film since being around nine years old. Not once did the pacing ever feel "off" or "boring". If anything, the slower pacing is fitting to the fact that these are two older men, once friends, coming to terms with their decisions in history and one of them meeting their ultimate fate.