Ranking The Top 5 Best Lightsaber Battles From The Movies
It probably goes without saying that one of the hallmarks of the Star Wars franchise has been the iconic duels between Force-Sensitive characters, featuring the in-universe equivalent of the sword, known as a lightsaber. These duels have created some of the franchise's most memorable and epic moments. The top five Lightsaber battles from the Skywalker Saga are listed here, with a couple of honorable mentions from other Star Wars movies/series.
1. Obi-Wan Kenobi And Qui-Gon Jinn Vs. Darth Maul (The Phantom Menace)
Out of all the lightsaber battles featured in the films, this duel between two Jedi Knights and the first Sith any Jedi had encountered in a millennium is simply a pure spectacle. From the surprising reveal of Darth Maul's double-bladed lightsaber to the changing backdrops for the extended duel, to the choreography of the duel itself, to the accompanying Duel of the Fates music composed by Star Wars maestro, John Williams, there is simply no more epic duel in the entire franchise to date. This duel elevated The Phantom Menace to a worthy entry in the Star Wars Skywalker Saga, perhaps more than anything else.
2. Obi-Wan Kenobi Vs. Anakin Skywalker And Yoda vs. Darth Sidious (Revenge of the Sith)
This one feels sort of obligatory, but, again, Lucas and his team handled the final showdown between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker, the one fateful duel that we all knew would be coming at the finale of the prequel trilogy, spectacularly. The epic duel, set against the fiery landscape of Mustafar, also featured new music composed by John Williams (“Battle of the Heroes”). What I was NOT expecting, and I imagine not many other people were expecting either, was a simultaneous duel between Yoda and Darth Sidious on Coruscant, starting in Sidious' Senate Office and moving into the Galactic Senate. Given what we knew of the storyline, we knew that Yoda was doomed to fail in his attempt to defeat Sidious. However, that, in no way, detracts from the spectacle of seeing the devilish Sith Lord and wise Jedi Master battle their way through the well of the Senate and tossing senate pods back and forth at each other.
3. Luke Skywalker Vs. Darth Vader (Return of the Jedi)
While I had a somewhat difficult time deciding between this duel and the earlier duel between Luke and Vader on Cloud City in The Empire Strikes Back, I ultimately chose to go with their final duel in Return of the Jedi, primarily because of the dynamics between Luke, Vader, and Emperor Palpatine (aka Darth Sidious) aboard the Death Star. Additionally, the scene towards the end of the duel where Luke lashes out in anger at Vader, with the accompanying musical chorus, is simply too epic to be ignored.
4. Rey And Kylo Ren Vs. Snoke's Praetorian Guards (The Last Jedi)
The Last Jedi provided one of the best (if not the best) scenes in the movie and perhaps in the entire sequel trilogy when Rey and Kylo Ren unexpectedly find themselves on the same side when forced to take on Snoke's Praetorian Guards after Kylo kills him. After becoming mortal enemies after the events of The Force Awakens, seeing the two of them, both from opposite ends of the Force, ally themselves to tackle their mutual foes is both surprising and thrilling and, once again, the choreography special effects are top-notch.
5. Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, And Yoda Vs. Count Dooku (Attack of the Clones)
Back in 2002, when Attack of the Clones was first released and before the advent of social media, spoilers were considerably easier to avoid. I knew nothing about Christopher Lee being cast as a Star Wars character/villain (and was totally there for it), nor did I ever imagine that we would get a lightsaber duel featuring Jedi Master Yoda, who never so much as held a lightsaber in the original trilogy. However, appear Yoda did, and what an epic moment it was.
Honorable Mentions
While Darth Vader had a presence throughout Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, I am not sure that anybody was expecting to see Vader effortlessly cut down an entire platoon of Rebel troops while trying to intercept the stolen Death Star plans before they're spirited away on the Tantive IV.
Luke Skywalker got a similarly epic scene in The Mandalorian “Chapter 16: The Rescue,” where he single-handedly cuts down a hallway of Dark Troopers to get to Grogu, whose presence in the Force had drawn him there.