Lightsaber duels in the force awakens. Potential spoilers!

starshipriot

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Something I loved in the new film was the saber duels. No flouncy over the top twirls and painstakingly choreographed routines that looked more like a dance than a fight. The saber fights felt gritty and desperate and real, more like the ones in ESB and ROTJ.
Seen a few people question how Rey could stand a chance against Ren, but if you want to acknowledge the prequels (I try not to!) it could be said all the twirly **** was when there were lots of Jedi and they could practice dueling with each other. With the Jedi gone, lightsaber combat has reverted back to a more primitive and ( in my opinion) far more believable form. Maybe Ren had never had a proper one on one saber duel before.
 

Robstyley

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I agree, I thought they were good. As you say - gritty. There is obviously an arguement for Finn or Rey not being able to hold their own against Ren but, it's a space fantasy, the whole thing is far fetched. Most of it is unbelievable which to me is what makes it enjoyable. Anyway, Finn gets done by Ren, ends up on the floor unconcious. As for Rey, she is strong with the force. Remember the Palpatine line "your hate has made you powerful". Maybe her powers came to the fore through anger just as Rens weakened due to his turmoil and conflict between the light and dark and over offing his father.
 

RifleSmile

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This is part of what I loved about the Kylo Ren character - he isn't perfect, he is far from the finished article as a Jedi. I think this shone through in things like the Lightsaber duels.
 

winnebago88

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starshipriot said:
Something I loved in the new film was the saber duels. No flouncy over the top twirls and painstakingly choreographed routines that looked more like a dance than a fight. The saber fights felt gritty and desperate and real, more like the ones in ESB and ROTJ.
Seen a few people question how Rey could stand a chance against Ren, but if you want to acknowledge the prequels (I try not to!) it could be said all the twirly **** was when there were lots of Jedi and they could practice dueling with each other. With the Jedi gone, lightsaber combat has reverted back to a more primitive and ( in my opinion) far more believable form. Maybe Ren had never had a proper one on one saber duel before.

Couldn't agree more. I liked when he used the crossgaurd part of his lightsaber to burn into Finn's shoulder and I also think his is one of the best sounding Sabers of all so far. Sounds so raw and fierce.
 

jedisearcher

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Ren should be able to take out Rey but he's an emotional wreck and weakened badly by Chewies blaster bolt to the stomach. I'm not sure what the deal was with him punching his wound, presumably he's causing himself pain to get closer to the Dark side, but I like the idea that the old fighting styles of the PT Jedi are gone now and they pretty much just hack and slash like a novice would. Even trained by Luke, Ren would have learned little about lightsabers because Luke never got that type of training from Yoda or Ben.
 

naughtyjedi

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Why is kylo getting this respect? Has he fought anyone? What with his massive army behind him. Who has he fought? We saw him swinging his sabre at defenceless people and star destroyer panels. He twirled it round like a daisy...

Rey fought off several people at the same time, with a stick. I'm guessing that's not the first time she's had to do that as she didn't look troubled. And she knocked Finn to the ground.

There's only one proper fighter there... Not surprised she slapped Kylo around.

Let's have more respect for the scavenger.
 

Joe

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I would imagine Kylo ren was more of a poster boy for the first order and perhaps doesn't actually have the skills/powers to back up his reputation.

Sure, he can throw people around, has a lightsaber and has power but he's nowhere near as powerful as someone who is more in tune with the force (as Rey clearly is).

I quite liked the duels and although I like to see a bad guy showing how powerful he is as much as everyone else..Kylo obviously isn't quite there yet and his power is held back greatly by all of the emotions he has.

Overall, a solid 7.5/10 for the lightsaber scenes. Enjoyed them and were a refreshing change from the highly choreographed prequel scenes and people flying around the room like..well like a cgi yoda.
 

Robstyley

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With regards to the lightsabers it seems to me Rens lightsaber is actually a bit ****. He's put it together but without the knowledge to make a good one. It looks rough, the blade is all scraggy, whereas Lukes' is smooth, it sounds crackly, it doesn't hum like Lukes. It's as if the art of making a saber has been lost. He even says - that lightsaber (Lukes) is mine! He wants it because he knows it's better than his, a proper one from the Jedi days.
 

theslider

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Got to agree these lightsabre duels are ****ing boss. Energy and raw emotion in them - things that were completely lacking from the prequel ones.
 

DARTH VADER

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I saw an image somewhere that had a description of Kylo Ren's "crossguard lightsabre", stating that it was an antique design and the crossguard is actually vents for the power - this design, it would seem, would be an earlier, primal lightsabre design...perhaps one for those building their first sabre...such as Kylo Ren...

Personally, I loved the different look of his lightsabre...and the noise was terrific...very raw...the scenes were gritty, as stated above. Flying Yodas they were not...thankfully...

As for the backdrop...brilliant...a forest scene lightsabre duel in the dark...and it snows...how cool is that..?
 

Ian_C

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starshipriot said:
Maybe Ren had never had a proper one on one saber duel before.

I have to defend this scene with this point.

Kylo Ren may have had some sword practice, as it appeared Finn had training of some sort like this too.

But who would Ren have had a lightsaber fight against? It appears as though Luke's missing saber is the only other known one out there in this movie (although I question where Vader's and Luke's green one from ROTJ ended up). Certainly no one else out there with any training in lightsaber fighting, so Ren had no one to even spar with holding a lightsaber, much less fight.

Ian
 
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