Actually, to bring it full circle beautifully... (Off-Topic)

by Korny , Dalton, Ga. US. Earth, Sol System, Monday, December 21, 2015, 15:56 (3263 days ago) @ Korny

I've been spoiled by Tartakovsky and Blur's takes on lightsaber battles. The duels in the films are much slower and simple. One of the few things that Return of the Jedi did better than the other films, though. I loved Luke's Lightsaber battle with Vader at the end there. The prequels had terrible super-choreographed fights that tended to drag on lifelessly (and don't get me started on Revenge of the Sith's stupid half-hour battle).

Yea, I do love the OT duels, mainly for what's at stake in each. I imagine the choreography of the PT would have more value to it if anything at all was at stake. I appreciate it a lot more now when someone gets involved in a fight completely or somewhat untrained. Wildly swinging and shooting, not really knowing what they are doing. (i.e. heroes in TFA)

Totally. The OT duels show those skilled in wielding a weapon that cuts and burns on contact, remaining mobile and evasive against an enemy that could kill them if they make a single mistake. As opposed to:

And part of why the final fight in RotJ is fantastic. Despite his training, Luke is coming from a place of anger, so he wails on Vader, wearing the old man down.
And that is paralleled in TFA, where Finn and Rey essentially wear down the wounded and otherwise frail Kylo. They have no training, just anger and reflexes.
I love that. I love when a fight has weight.

Something that I've always wanted to see (and that this film gave us a little bit of), was a real brawl. A real fight for survival, and one of the greatest cinematic examples is the film "The Raid: Redemption". The film has fantastic scenes where a variety of different fighting skills clash, resulting in chaotic fights that mix skill, the randomness of fights, and the clear struggle for survival that's often missing in movie fights. Check this not-too spoilery fight scene from the film. It's painful to watch, and all the better for it:

*minor spoils*
And the funny thing? Two of this film's stars are in The Force Awakens as the leaders of the second gang that Han owes money to...