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RFR Q&A #147: Top 20 Lightsaber Duels Ranked (Patreon)

Published:
2023-01-10 22:49:58
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2026-06
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Content

"Your father's Lightsaber. Not as clumsy or random as a blaster. A more elegant weapon, from a more civilized age". 

Ben Kenobi's presentation of the lightsaber to Luke means a lot to original generation STAR WARS fans who saw the film on it's initial release. RFR V.I.P Jon, along with myself are a couple of fans from that generation.

Join us as we review every significant live-action lightsaber duel and compare our opinions to those collected by Jon in an RFR Patreon survey where each duel was judged on the merits of story impact, visual effects, and choreography. All categories were judged on a scale from 1 to 5 and the results of the survey determined the ranking of each duel, one thru twenty.

Listen to get the results, or bump up to RFR ALL ACCESS to see the full show video and watch all the duels with us!

Jimmy Mac

Files

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Comments

Rebel Force Radio
>>99917366

I get he may have served some purpose in Rey's character growth, but I want to know what impact he had on the actual story itself.

Eric from Phoenix

Wow, what a debut Jon! Great discussion Jimmy and Jon. It's odd how George filmed the first Darth Maul / Qui-Gon fight in light of the fact we had tons of pictures of Darth Maul (including his double bladed saber) before the movie came out. In the fight scene you can barely see Maul and you certainly don't get the double blade. I was disappointed with the General Grievous / Obi-Wan fight in Ep 3 because George cut all the stuff with the Magna Guards. We had seen some of the behind the scenes video / pictures of this green screen fight before the movie came out. I was looking forward to seeing this in the theater but it got cut. Was Rey's yelling during lightsaber battles added to hearcken back to Sidious's yelling in Ep 3? Would make sense but don't think they knew she was Sidious's granddaughter when making Ep 7 or 8. I agree with Jon that the Luke / Vader fight from Empire is the best overall. From a story perspective, I get where people would say Anakin / Kenobi from Ep 3 has more story impact for Star Wars overall and they are probably correct, however, when sitting in the theater for Ep 3 we knew what the end result of that battle would be. For the Luke / Vader battle in Empire, we had no clue what was coming next including the "I am your father" moment. As a fan who was able to see all of these movies at the time they came out, there is no story comparison between the Luke / Vader Empire fight to any other fight. I have spoken :)

Jeff Holland

(I’m so far behind on Q&As) I FINALLY finished listening to this ep. Took me several weeks to finish it, it was so damn long! Haha! All good… Great inaugural Q&A, Jon! Welcome to the VIP Lounge! Loved going through the top 20 list. I love these top 10 lists, best of…, etc. great to reminisce.

Rob Strecker

Regarding the Mace vs. Sidious fight. You have to remember that Mace was using his own lightsaber form, Vaapad. In it you allow yourself to use the darkness, and enjoy the fight. I think he was still channeling it when talking with Anakin.

Matt Rashid

Awesome. Can’t wait to listen

Jared Cantor

What a quick turnaround from the survey. Can't wait to listen

Dylan McGee

I've been looking forward to this (said in Count Dooku voice)!

Quinnton PNW

Interesting conversation so far. Maybe I rated these differently than how Jimmy did because I rated everything with a modern standard. For example, I rated Obi-Wan Vs. Vader mid on visual effects and low on choreography because those don't hold up. High story impact, of course. Don't get me wrong, I understand the importance of this duel that transcends its visuals.

Quinnton PNW

while I agree that Luke Vs. Kylo had very little impact on the story, I think it's a stretch to say that it had no impact because it was a distraction at the very least. I think I rated it a 2 on story impact.

Brian Frith

Loved this episode. I really enjoyed the survey and analysis on the show. My favourite Lightsaber duel from all of Star Wars is still Luke v. Vader on Bespin from Empire Strikes Back because of the realistic swordplay. I love how intense the initial fight feels without multiple spins and force pushes. Even the camera feels locked down, allowing the audience to witness the event. I love Maul v. Kenobi and Qui Gonn from Phantom Menace for all of it’s incredible choreography but in terms of realism and character development, Luke facing Darth Vader for the first time in hand to hand combat is still a firm favourite. Great show.

Rebel Force Radio
>>99365974

But what was the impact, if any, on the story? Kylo survives to lead the First Order...Resistance in shatters on the run...Palpatine still pulling the strings...Luke's appearance in the sequel trilogy had about as much impact on the story as the Porgs did.

Jason zurheide

Great listen as always, found myself at times forgetting I was listening to RFR and thought I had Americas top 100 on lol maybe it’s just me but Jon sounds just like Casey Kasem at times 😂

Blake Weaver

Wow Jon and Jimmy that was a real treat. A full blown conversation comparing all those saber duels is something I’ve never heard before or had myself. Agree with just about everything discussed. Really looking forward to listening to you more in the future Jon!

Quinnton PNW
>>99356466

No. I saw it in early 2000s. I like the duel, but it is basic in choreography and looks like a fencing match and not an actual fight to me.

Quinnton PNW
>>99365974

If Luke didn't distract Kylo and the First Order, do you believe the Resistance would still be able to escape? I don't think so. To be completely fair, the Rebels escaped from Hoth despite the odds stacked against them. Like, Rey and Chewy could have taken out most of the walkers with the Falcon and also, if Rose hadn't stopped Finn, the laser wouldn't have been an issue.

Peter Beisser

Best debut Q&A in a while. You nailed it, Jon. Looking forward to more!

Jeremiah Bietka

What a fun listen! Great subject. Rankings were about dead on with how I rated em, & poll beforehand added extra buy-in to listen. Thanks guys!

Cyrus

Super enjoyable Q&A! I personally think the Grevious Vs Obi Wan duel ranked so high in story impact because Grevious’s death marked the end of the clone wars and was a huge turning point. Loved the ranking !

Mark Hayes

Great Q&A! Superb insight and discussion from Jon and Jimmy.

Mark

Thank-you Jon for all your work compiling the clips/survey etc, a Herculean effort that rewarded the community with a Fab Q&A. Thank-you too Jimmy for your hosting skills.

Trevor Hallam

Wow what a Q&A! Definitely one of my favorites. Pretty much agreed with the lost especially the top 5! Thanks for getting us involved in the voting, that was a super rad thing to do! Great convo, and it makes me really excited to go through all the movies again soon!!

Luke

I enjoyed this deep dive!

Dominique Garant

Great show. Here is an idea for more: Best Monster/Creatures Best Space sequence/battle Best cape/ cloak 😂😉

Dan Onder

One of the best ever. Really enjoyed it. Great topic and deep analysis. Thank you for discussing whether Obi Wan was killed by Vader or became one with the Force. Jimmy, I liked your take on this. Very well done, thank you.

Maddie G

Really loved this episode, would love to see a part 2 where the animated fuels are ranked and analysed.

Maddie G
>>99759557

Also in regard to whether Vader kills Ben or he passes away, looks like when they pass away they disappear, but when they’re killed, they don’t disappear - we see this heaps in the clone wars.

RobO from ChicagO

Fun episode! Love the longer Q&A shows. Great debut!

Yoshi Aday

Jimmy asked what purpose Luke Skywalker serves in The Last Jedi. I think he provides the reality for Rey, who like others, had a romantcized view of the Jedi. Rey is baffled then becomes disgusted by Luke's mindset. She had to become self-sufficient and leaves Ahch-to realizing she is her own person. This is parellel with Kylo's attitude of "letting the past die." For the hero, Rey, Luke plays a threshold guardian who tries to dissuade/dismiss the concept of saving the galaxy. Unfortunately, this is the classic theme of expectation vs. reality(ever meet a hero in person only to realize he is a d-bag?) Too bad Han wasn't around to continue the role of the paternal mentor. Instead, she was left with grumpy Skywalker.