I think the Luke vs. Vader Duel in Empire Strikes Back is UNBEATABLE

youre right, its that good.

 

Moderator Note: Thread discussion moved to the Original Trilogy forum.
Thanks

 

It completely depends upon the characters and their stories and relationships. I suspect we wouldn't see such a thing until Episode 8 tbh.

 

depends on how much we like these new characters. Perhaps REY or FINN falls to the darkside and they battle. Sure would be interesting to me.

 

There's Return of the Jedi.

 

Yep the first duel between father & son was a good one, just like it was between Luke & Ben, my favorite eu moment.

 

THIS

 

"Intense and with more feeling ."

 

I consider this duel the best one in the Original Trilogy. But in the overall saga . . . no I don't.

 

What is later revealed in terms of relationships between Luke and Vader place this first face-to-face encounter and confrontation in a class of its own in terms of Star Wars saga showdowns, especially when paired with their final and fateful meeting in Return of the Jedi.

There are many ways we can assess and appreciate these encounters.

The frenzied technical encounter between Darth Maul, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Qui-Gon Jinn was choreographic, acrobatic, raw, and exciting in a way we had never seen in the Original Trilogy.

Obi-Wan's relatively low-key final battle with Darth Vader achieves its own special significance once again because of the relationships at play.

Kenobi and Vader's earlier battle on Mustafar was by far the most relentless, exhaustive, and woeful encounter given how heart-breakingly it concluded, especially how Obi-Wan so sadly pronounced, "You were my brother, Anakin. I loved you."

Rey and Kylo Ren's face-off was necessarily awkward yet poignant due to Kylo's injuries and mental disposition as contrasted with Rey's untrained and desperate swings until she was reminded of the Force and suddenly flowed with the fullness of its awakening within her.

Each of these encounters had such uniqueness and meaning. What separates each of them is often a question of what is at stake.

It's more than sheer power on display usually during these conflicts, and often enough they end in uncertainty and lead to possible questions:

• what will become of Anakin's training and will Qui-Gon Jinn be seen again
• how could Anakin possibly survive his Mustafar battle with Obi-Wan
• what happened to Obi-Wan Kenobi in A New Hope when he disappears
• what becomes of Luke at the end of The Empire Strikes Back
• how could Rey best Kylo (the Force, of course) or why did she not give into that final swing (hint: check out the novelization)

Each of these engagements have their own extraordinary places and respective functions in this saga.

JediMasterRobert

 

It's the best because of a combination of factors, IMO. The technicals of the choreography, the emotional stakes, and the cinematography and atmosphere (which is a work of art on its own) all play a part. The fight doesn't look as cheap as Obi Wan v Vader on the Death Star, and it's more brutal and less balletic than the fights in the prequels. I love the battle with Darth Maul, but I prefer the "grit" of this battle. And my god, the atmosphere! With the use of lighting,the smoke, and the set design, everything looks almost hellish. One of the best shots in the series is of Vader turning on his lightsaber here- like this red beam coming out of a big, black shadow.

And the stakes- man, this is what the film was building towards. Luke has been separated from his friends. Han and Leia are on the run from the empire. Even C-3PO has been torn to pieces! And of course Luke rushes headlong into an unwinnable situation. It's Luke , our hero, at his most emotionally vulnerable.

 

But watching the Luke vs Vader fight from Empire Strikes Back...I am not sure that it can be topped.


For me, it was topped in "The Phantom Menace" and "Revenge of the Sith". The best thing about the Luke/Anakin duel in "The Empire Strikes Back" was Anakin's revelation that he was Luke's father.

 

Agreed that topped the moment of that duel raising it's status, I know Qui-Gon telling Obi Wan to train Anakin was special & Anakin transforming into Vader after the Mustafar duel were good duels but second duel with the OT was unbeatable.

 

I guess that is how you feel.

 

Yep just posting it like it is.

 

I love most of the duels depending on their emotional factors. If I had to rank all of them, it would be like this:

Luke vs Vader in RotJ - there is that intense moment when Luke is hiding in the shadows and Vader is picking up his thoughts especially of Leia who he learns to be his daughter. When Vader says he would find a means to turn her to the dark side, Luke outright attacks his father to protect his sister from Vader harming her. "Never!!!" That moment when he comes out of the shadows gives me goosebumps every time and when they get really into the fray of the battle it is so emotional. Luke is just a step closer towards the path that Anakin himself descended down into darkness. But it is that moment when he renounces that path which his father couldn't many years ago. "I am a jedi like my father before me." Despite almost killing his own father, Luke still believes there is good within Vader and so he spares him but pays the price of being struck repeatedly by Palpatine's force lightening. Not withstanding to watch his son die, Anakin resurfaces after being buried by Darth Vader and destroys the emperor only to sacrifice himself through the love he felt for Luke.

I'm not gonna give a long description for every duel...

Rey vs Kylo
Obi-Wan vs Anakin
Vader vs Obi-Wan
Vader vs Luke
Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon Jinn vs Darth Maul
Anakin and Obi-Wan vs Dooku

Least fave:

Yoda vs Sidious
Yoda vs Dooku
Anakin vs Dooku
Qui-Gon vs Maul

If I'm missing any other duels...well I think I've pretty much listed them all.

 

I 100% agree with you, Luke Vs Darth Vader in Empire Strikes Back cannot, and will not ever be topped. I love this scene because of the dialogue shared between these two characters during and after the fight, my favourite lines being "You'll find i'm full of surprises" "I am your father" and "impressive...most impressive" I just how vader is almost testing or toying around with luke during the beginning of the fight. As the fight drags on vader starts to become more agressive as you can hear it in his breathing. Drama, direction, setup, set-pieces, and finale. Like you said man they are all there. You can feel the pace and the emotion of this fight in each scene, which in my opinion is something that the prequal trilogy lacked.

 

Your arrogance blinds you Master Chewy, now you'll experience the full power, of REALITY!