What was the Best ST Duel?

I mean, hey... I'm sure someone likes it.

 

Luke vs Kylo on Crait is probably the standout to me, but I honestly loved every duel in this trilogy.

As others have said, Luke acted precisely as a Jedi Master should. He wasn’t flipping all over the place or spinning his lightsaber everywhere; he used the Force for knowledge and defense, exactly like Yoda taught him. Luke dodges Kylo’s attacks and imparts some wisdom onto him (as well as Leia.)

The visuals of the scene are great too. Amidst all of the smoke and fire and aftermath of the battle, Luke remains completely spotless and unmarred. And the way Kylo leaves a red trail in the salt after seemingly cutting Luke down was fantastic.

 

That's what made the fight so fascinating. The nuance. It was complex...and messy. Just like life . I can see why people voted for Snoke's throne room scene, but that was a bit too stylized for me.

 

My personal favorite was Rey and Kylo vs. the Praetorian Guards in The Last Jedi, closely followed by Luke vs. Kylo on Crait. I just really loved those moments in The Last Jedi, and I very distinctly remember the feeling of absolute shock that I felt in seeing both duels on screen. (That being said, I was also shocked and excited by the duel on Starkiller Base, culminating in the revelation that Rey was the Jedi protagonist of the trilogy, so I have fond memories of that one as well.)

Personally, I loved every single lightsaber duel in this trilogy and I don’t think they needed to be as choreographed or intricate as the Prequel Trilogy duels to be entertaining. I think they work really well in their own way, and all of the duels in the poll are among my (many) favorite moments throughout all of Star Wars.

 

I guess I must’ve deleted it from my original post, but I did originally mention my love for Duel of the Fates and Battle of the Heroes, too. They’re right up there with the duels from The Last Jedi. Honestly, I really think it just comes down to emotional investment. I think Battle of the Heroes is, hands down, the best lightsaber duel in all of Star Wars, not only because of how well choreographed and executed it is, but just because it’s such an emotional moment within the entire nine-part story. It’s absolutely brilliant.

I think the choreography of the lightsaber duels in the prequels is probably a bit much because it’s so inconsistent with subsequent lightsaber combat (even in the sequels, the choreography is never as complex or detailed as it was in the prequels), but personally, I’m okay with it. All of those fights are so brilliant and I kind of like that each trilogy has its own unique take on the execution of lightsaber duels.

The only reason Rey/Kylo vs. the Praetorian Guards takes the cake for me is because of my emotional investment in those characters. Rey and Kylo are two of my absolute favorites and seeing them finally team up in that moment to take down the guards was such an awesome moment for me. I would’ve loved if the sequel duels were a little more choreographed, but I still think they work really well as they are.

 

The ST has so many good duels. Even beats the OT in numbers of excellents confronts.

The battles seems realistics and there is also a lot of emotions and messages in it.

Really hard to pick one.

But I will choose for Rey and Finn vs Kylo at the Starkiller Base.

 

The Rey/Kylo StarKiller base duel, the first one is always the best.

 

Bespin duel. Sure the choreography was subpar compared to the PTs but the suspense was overwhelming and was never duplicated.
Untrained, untested force user against the galactic Jedi killing monster.

Edit- the force is telling me am in the wrong section!

#bespinduel#1

 

I can't think of one.

 

Luke/Kylo.

 

RD D2 against TWO battle droids!

He makes them slip around in oil and then sets fire to them. Haha! They had no chance. He 's smart and amazing!

 

It’s hard to pick from all two, but probably Rey/Kylo in TROS.

 

This might be a controversial opinion, but I think it is worth stating. I have to say, I am disappointed with all of the duels from the ST.

Finn and Rey vs Kylo Ren (TFA)

There are three big problems with this one. The first one is that they simply "gave away the store" by having Rey defeat Ren on her first try.

The second is the "pivotal" moment where Rey decides to use the Force. Normally, decision points are what makes Star Wars truly amazing - but in this case, the decision is literally an exact copy of the decision from ANH. In fact, it's a much worse copy, because Luke has already had the seed planted that he can learn the Force, and he is wrestling with the profound questions of "Should I trust Obi-Wan?" and "Should I believe in myself?" - whereas Rey, quite frankly, just pulls the idea out of her @**.

The third is the ending. One of the most amazing moments in the saga was in ROTJ was Luke makes the deliberate decision to stop fighting. This is the exact opposite of that, where the two characters are just forcibly separated by a plot contrivance, leaving no decision to make at all.

Rey and Kylo vs Praetorian Guard in Throne Room. (TLJ)

Okay, so Rey and Kylo have mad skillz with their lightsabers. Although their moves are impressive, since they are fighting against a bunch of nameless non-characters, this fight has no emotional weight.

Luke vs Kylo on Crait (TLJ)

This was shaping up to be a powerful and emotional showdown... except, then the whole thing turned out to be a cheap trick.

But hey, since it was a cheap trick, at least then Luke gets to live... except, no, he doesn't, And that brings into question why we even needed the cheap trick. I understand that he is buying time for the Resistance, but this is not a good enough sendoff for one of the most beloved movie characters of all time.

Rey and Kylo vs The Emperor (TROS)

This wasn't even a duel. It was just reflecting lightning. It's an emotional moment, but the action and battle are important too.

Rey vs Kylo on the remains of the death star (TROS)

Kylo was actually winning, until he was distracted by Leia - which feels like a really cheap trick to me. Leia's final act ends up being basically sabotaging her own son, in favor of a Palpatine (although it may have been unintentional), which seems more like a dumb decision than an actual sacrifice. Plus Rey doesn't demonstrate that she has reached a pinnacle of Jedi fighting ability - instead, she just falls behind and then lands a sucker punch.

 

Another reason why I loved TLJ Luke...

Still bewildered why so many people hated his character arc in TLJ.

 

Regarding the last, I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought Leia 'reaching out to Ben' seemed that she was putting a Palpatine before her own child. I really did NOT like that scene. In fact, I thought they character assassinated Leia...she said in TFA that she should 'never have sent Ben away', but it was a forgiveable mistake - he needed training, she couldn't train him so sent him to someone who could.
But now apparently she did have Jedi training, hence her training Rey...so sending her son away made her look like a bad mother who had no problem with training someone else's child to kill the one she'd given birth to.
Or...like someone who had decided to replace her wayward son with a 'better' substitute...