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Lightsaber fights


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Two duels I overlooked both actually are from TFA, and involve Finn.

1. Finn VS TR-8R: This fight is very brief, but I loved that sequence.  Not only does it establish that Stormtroopers are trained in melee combat, but it gives Finn a chance to use the saber for the first time, and he actually uses it effectively to defend himself (even though he ultimately loses).  We also get to see a new weapon that can stand toe-to-toe with a lightsaber, and shows that he does have some skill, even if it is just military training he is falling back on.

2. Finn VS Kylo:  Definitely a David VS Goliath here,  not unlike Luke VS Vader in TESB.  When Rey is knocked out, Finn steps up, and actually does pretty well for a non-force user against Kylo, who is at that time the second strongest force user after Snoke, albeit wounded (and fighting with one hand tied behind his back, so to speak).  Finn knows going in he is going to lose, but does it anyway, which makes it even more noble.  Again, a brief fight, but a good one. 

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1 hour ago, Zathras said:

Two duels I overlooked both actually are from TFA, and involve Finn.

1. Finn VS TR-8R: This fight is very brief, but I loved that sequence.  Not only does it establish that Stormtroopers are trained in melee combat, but it gives Finn a chance to use the saber for the first time, and he actually uses it effectively to defend himself (even though he ultimately loses).  We also get to see a new weapon that can stand toe-to-toe with a lightsaber, and shows that he does have some skill, even if it is just military training he is falling back on.

I don't like any fight that involves a lightsaber fighting something besides a lightsaber.   Makes the lightsaber less cool and special to me. 

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Here is the thing with realism or plausibility. If you are making a movie where you are selling realism then you need to be realistic. Saving Private Ryan needs to depict WWII more realistically than Inglorious Basterds. If you made a movie about The Crusades and were selling it as a gritty, real look at it then your sword fighting has to be somewhat realistic. Star Wars does not sell realism, in fact it sells the exact opposite. It sells fantasy. There is so much about Star Wars that is unrealistic. Really some of the things at the core of it are not realistic, stuff as simple as how ships manuever in space. So I just can't get much concerned about 2 people with super human powers fighting with laser swords not being very realistic. 

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38 minutes ago, Jedigoat said:

I don't like any fight that involves a lightsaber fighting something besides a lightsaber.   Makes the lightsaber less cool and special to me. 

On screen, I can only think of 3 examples: ROTS with the droid batons, the Stormtrooper's riot control baton (TR-8R), and Snoke's royal guard.  Four, if you count the Emperor's royal guard from ROTJ, though they were not seen in action, just seen.  I had zero problems with any of them.  If you go back to the original concept art by McQuarrie, Stormtroopers were supposed to have sabers.  So, the Finn fight was kind of awesome to see.  And really, TFA really played up Luke's saber as something really special, and almost like Excalibur.  

 

20 minutes ago, The Choc said:

Here is the thing with realism or plausibility. If you are making a movie where you are selling realism then you need to be realistic. Saving Private Ryan needs to depict WWII more realistically than Inglorious Basterds. If you made a movie about The Crusades and were selling it as a gritty, real look at it then your sword fighting has to be somewhat realistic. Star Wars does not sell realism, in fact it sells the exact opposite. It sells fantasy. There is so much about Star Wars that is unrealistic. Really some of the things at the core of it are not realistic, stuff as simple as how ships manuever in space. So I just can't get much concerned about 2 people with super human powers fighting with laser swords not being very realistic. 

You are NOT wrong.  At least from my perspective, all I really want is it to be done well. I think the Maul/ QJ/OW duel is the best example of it done right in the PT.  Yoda VS Dooku might be the best example of it going wrong.   I think the difference is balancing fantastical with not being over the top.

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As for the saber fights you brought up. Personally I considered the Finn-Kylo fight part of the same sequence as the longer Rey-Kylo fight. The Finn vs storm trooper fight is pretty cool. It always just surprised me that it wasn't Phasma he faced. I know the trooper gets killed in the fight but you could have changed that around pretty easily. 

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Saving the Phasma fight for later was definitely the right call.

The most realistic battle in all three movies is when the Jedi go to arrest Sidious. The Jedi are show-offs, and fight like it. They don't fight to win, they fight to look pretty. Sidious just wants to kill, and the fight shows that. He's not doing ridiculous ballet moves, he's just stabbing bitches. 

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3 minutes ago, Fozzie said:

Saving the Phasma fight for later was definitely the right call.

The most realistic battle in all three movies is when the Jedi go to arrest Sidious. The Jedi are show-offs, and fight like it. They don't fight to win, they fight to look pretty. Sidious just wants to kill, and the fight shows that. He's not doing ridiculous ballet moves, he's just stabbing bitches. 

Oh, we're not counting the twirly spinny sideways tornado jump?   Ok.  

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5 minutes ago, Jedigoat said:

Oh, we're not counting the twirly spinny sideways tornado jump?   Ok.  

I didn't say it was perfect. Just that it was the most realistic. None of it is super realistic. 

Edit: And his style is different. He does that, but he also just stabs people, which is the best way to kill someone in a fight like that. Big loopy slashes are cool to see, but are easily blocked.

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15 minutes ago, Fozzie said:

I didn't say it was perfect. Just that it was the most realistic. None of it is super realistic. 

Edit: And his style is different. He does that, but he also just stabs people, which is the best way to kill someone in a fight like that. Big loopy slashes are cool to see, but are easily blocked.

Most realistic?  The jedi just stood around to get stabbed.   The stunt coordinator must have taken the day off.   Lazy scene.  

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3 minutes ago, Jedigoat said:

Most realistic?  The jedi just stood around to get stabbed.   The stunt coordinator must have taken the day off.   Lazy scene.  

Because they weren't prepared. Because they're overconfident and expect someone to turn on their lightsaber and wait for 20 minutes for them to turn it on, spend 45 minutes doing ballet, and then have everyone run away.

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34 minutes ago, The Choc said:

As for the saber fights you brought up. Personally I considered the Finn-Kylo fight part of the same sequence as the longer Rey-Kylo fight. The Finn vs storm trooper fight is pretty cool. It always just surprised me that it wasn't Phasma he faced. I know the trooper gets killed in the fight but you could have changed that around pretty easily. 

I think of it as the preamble for the Rey fight, so yeah.  But I focused on that specifically, because sometimes that gets overlooked, when people talk about the Rey/Kylos fight in TFA.  

35 minutes ago, Fozzie said:

Saving the Phasma fight for later was definitely the right call.

 

One way they could have included Phasma in the TR-8R/Finn fight could have been she commanded him to go after Finn, and they still could have saved the Finn/Phasma fight for TLJ.  One disappointment I had with Phasma was that she gets thrown into a trash bin (literally) without a fight in TFA.  She suffers from Boba Fett syndrome in that movie.

Quote

The most realistic battle in all three movies is when the Jedi go to arrest Sidious. The Jedi are show-offs, and fight like it. They don't fight to win, they fight to look pretty. Sidious just wants to kill, and the fight shows that. He's not doing ridiculous ballet moves, he's just stabbing bitches. 

I agree.  Kind of reminded me of the scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark, when Indy is confronted by the swordsman, and Indy just shoots him.  

 

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15 minutes ago, Jedigoat said:

I hate the scene.  Should have been more than an afterthought.  Not just the Jedi saying hey Chancellor, do your impression of a screw being drilled into a wall.  Then they all fall down.   

I agree in a way that sort of the Jedi and Emperor coming into obvious conflict with each other should have been a bigger, more elaborate thing. I always kind of pictured it like Julius Caesar but the attempt fails. Having said that I try not to just be like "this could have been bigger or better or whatever" and take scenes on their own and I still think that entire sequence is pretty cool. 

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2 minutes ago, Fozzie said:

A good lightsaber battle is like sex. You should whip it out and get to business immediately and end as quickly as possible.

Agreed.  Samuri had that philosophy.  Not a blade stroke is wasted on anything other than killing or ending the fight in the most efficient way possible.  REAL medieval fights were fought that way, too.  Our society is used to the Errol Flynn style, and later the Asian kung fu styles we see on film, but real combat isn't meant to look pretty. Most cases, it's just brutal. 

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6 minutes ago, Zathras said:

Agreed.  Samuri had that philosophy.  Not a blade stroke is wasted on anything other than killing or ending the fight in the most efficient way possible.  REAL medieval fights were fought that way, too.  Our society is used to the Errol Flynn style, and later the Asian kung fu styles we see on film, but real combat isn't meant to look pretty. Most cases, it's just brutal. 

Rocky wouldn't be a very good movie if the boxing matches were like normal boxing matches. 

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