I am a Jedi, Like My Father Before Me ⚔️
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- Опубликовано: 6 сен 2024
- Luke vs. Vader Round 2: FIGHT! By swinging your giant glowstick back and forth! Sign up for a free trial of Wondrium here: ow.ly/3G2z30sfm8L
Music by epidemicsound.com
Seatbelt On - Brightarm Orchestra
Galactic Battles - Bonnie Grace
If you'd like an ESB review, then let me know! And if you like you can sign up for a free trial of Wondrium here: ow.ly/3G2z30sfm8L
Letting you hearby know :D
I'd love an ESB review.
If possible I would like to see a review of one of my favorite movies. (top 3 IMO) Uzumasa Limelight. It is a film about an elderly stuntman who specializes in being the guy the hero kills in movies and TV. But now the buisness is changing, though he tries to teach a young actress the skills of fight choreography that he knows.
I think it is a film you would like.
Yes please 😃
ESB please!
Small note: I really like how Luke is covered in dark clothing at the start. He's calm, like a Jedi, but at the same time, he force chokes Gamorrean Guards in his first scene on camera outside the hologram, he is clearly also flirting with the dark side. But once he has saved his father, his clothing is damaged a bit and reveals a small white flap on the inside. To me, and to the channel that pointed this out to me, Cinema Wins, it's parallel to Vader doing good through costume design. There's dark in the light, but there is a little good in the bad guys as well.
lucas has said color is important to his characters. by wearing black luke is showing he understands the dark side very well.
I don't think force choking is inherently a dark side thing, or if it is, it wasn't established as that at the time. Dividing force powers into light and dark probably came from the video games, and functionally a choke is no different from grabbing anything else with the force, so I don't think it makes sense to make it a dark side thing.
@@leow.2162 Maybe, but at the point of RotJ, force choking was a very Vader thing to do; he'd been doing it for 2 movies already. Plus, it was almost the only "force" thing we ever saw Vader doing.
@@leow.2162 It's also a very... Tortuous way to deal with a threat
@@leow.2162
While technically there's no mechanical difference between lifting someone and choking someone, the vibe of picking up someone via their armpits vs a noose is very different. It cannot be seen as defensive in any way, it is torture, and a threat to kill.
It reminds me how dark magic in many fantasy series are often based around the idea of making it easy to dominate and hurt others.
Frankly, I've always been impressed by the lighting when Luke is hiding and Vader is trying to tell him the only way to save his friends is by going to the dark side. It neatly splits Luke's features into white and dark and emphasizes the struggle. So, yeah. That.
Even as a child who paid so little attention to movies that it took me years to learn Han's name (I originally thought his name was ALSO Luke), I was still able to pick up on the fact that half of his face was in light and half was in shadow. It might be a bit on the nose, but sometimes obvious is good.
I love that lighting touch. Not subtle at all, but it really works in this kind of film.
Luke: "Are we out of Initiative?" GM: "Roll Insight" Luke: "Does a 4 pass?"
"I ROLLED A 4!!!!" - Elan, OotS
DM: Emerging from the shadows in a black cloak is an old wrinkled man with yellow eyes
Luke: Hey it's the old man from scene 24
OMFS24: Hehehe...Die ⚡⚡⚡⚡
@@aloevera3317
I understood that reference.
@@IHateUniqueUsernames oh man OotS reference. that brings me back.
One of my favorite Star Wars moments is when Luke is hand-cuffed at the edge of the Sarlac pit and straight up tells Jabba, “Dude, just let me and my friends go and we can get on with our lives. No? …. Cue music I guess.”
Jabba even offered Luke and company the opportunity to beg for mercy.
In so many words, Jabba said, "This is your last chance." To which Luke replied, "No, Jabba, this is YOUR last chance."
@@patrickd8654 And I love how calmly he says it all! I mean, he’s yelling so he can be heard, but Luke’s just talking. He’s not boasting or threatening or bargaining.
Not only that, but in Jabba's throne room, when Luke says, "That's the last mistake you'll ever make!" he's visibly smiling. Because of Jedi honor, he knows he has to give Jabba the opportunity to just free his friends and let him go in peace. But he would rather destroy Jabba. Jabba refusing to return his friends gives him the excuse to destroy him.
@@greybeardmc Don't forget, Luke was raised on Tatooine. He's probably heard all kinds of stories about Jabba growing up, and being the Hero who takes the local villain down has likely been the dream of many kids on this planet, Luke included.
@@noppornwongrassamee8941 Well said.
2:20 Speaking of the 'moral war'... As I've grown up, I've noticed that Luke's behavior in Jabba's Palace is really pretty sketchy. In many ways, he behaves more like a Sith than a Jedi - provoking the fight with Jabba, killing the Rancor, and even gratuitously blowing up the sail barge and numerous noncombatants with it. But on Endor, we see Luke behaving much more like a Jedi should - so basically, he's on the edge. He has the potential to be a great Jedi OR a great Sith... but which 'side' of him will win out? It adds to the drama.
(And the best part is, when Palpatine says "So be it, JEDI" that's the first time in the entire movie that anyone has actually acknowledged Luke as a Jedi, rather than laughing it off. Only after Luke has thrown away his lightsaber and refused to fight.)
Yes - and that tone is set from his first entrance, where he deals with the guards, not by using Jedi mind tricks, but by Force choking them, which up till now has been Vader's signature move.
(He does later use mind tricks on Jabba's lieutenant and then, less successfully, on Jabba himself; so we know he *can* do it. But when he doesn't need anything from the person in front of him, it's the choke he picks. On the edge indeed.)
I agree in principle but the rancor fight was pretty much "kill or be killed" I think. We do see a man crying afterwards, implying that rancor was just a big pet and not some evil beast, but Luke hardly had a choice there.
He was a young man, had conflicting emotions regarding his father and hadn't been trained _that_ much. It's perfectly natural that he's an imperfect Jedi.
I'll grant you how he deals w/the guards is questionable, but I don't think he provokes Jabba. He makes Jabba an offer, states his intentions clearly, and then fights when Jabba makes it a life or death situation.
@@FairbrookWingates But that's the thing - the deal was a lie. He appeared reasonable in the hologram, but that was just a ruse to get R2 and his lightsaber into the palace. You don't think he'd really have traded the droids away, right? And then once he appeared in person, he was far more belligerent, demanding that Jabba release Han or else.
Luke wasn't exactly the brightest bulb, but even he would know that showing up in front of a powerful gangster, disrespectfully barking orders, would provoke a fight.
(Not to mention, by that point he'd deliberately allowed several of his friends to get captured - how exactly was he planning on getting them out, except by fighting? Everything about his plan suggests he saw violence as the only choice.)
This scene, of all Star Wars, is it’s heart. The story of redemption, the trial to reach that moment, and the sacrifice. Empire may have set up far more, but the elements came together here, beautifully closing a near perfect story.
Exactly. And perfectly said.
if vader was redeemed or not isn't the point, what matters is that Luke didnt follow his path of using strenght to fix the problems
@@devforfun5618
"If Vader is redeemed or not isn't the point ..."
This, like, 1,000 times. Vader was barely redeemed anyway. He saved his son from being killed by a guy who, about a minute earlier, had been urging his son to kill him. It boggles my mind that anyone over the age of 8 thinks that redeems him for the thousands of murders he has personally committed and the tens of billions of murders in which he is complicit.
Luke, on the other hand, completed his character arc and helped win the war by rejecting the bad advice he was getting from BOTH sides. He rejected the Sith philosophy of fear and anger, but also the Jedi philosophy of duty without empathy.
@@patrickd8654 The redemption aspect, I've always felt, is less about the weight of actions and more about the change of heart. Of Anakin moving from using the Force for power & attack to defense of his son. Moving from self-centeredness to selflessness. Luke's mission in ROTJ is, in the words of Mark Hamill, "to save his father's soul". It isn't about "making up for" all the wrongs he's done. It's about accepting the grace that Luke offered to him _anyway_ . Luke is forgiving his father for the wrongs he's done, the things his father can't forgive himself for, and is offering a hand out of the pit Anakin has dug himself into. And in the end, Anakin accepts that grace, and becomes the hero he was always meant to be - the one who destroyed the Sith (in theory, anyway, Imma just ignore the sequels for the purpose of this discussion). As well as the father who saved his son - when he had nothing to gain for himself but the loss of his own life _This_ is what makes the redemption, the moral triumph of this story, not the calculated balance of past and future actions.
@@patrickd8654 Good points.
"One good deed is not enough to redeem a man of a lifetime of wickedness."
"Though it seems enough to condemn him"
I saw you sneaking Pirates of the Caribbean in there when you thought nobody was looking.
NOBODY NOTICED I WAS VERY SUBTLE 😁
I was WONDERING why my brain knew that line and that there was more to it!!!
This 'fight' (really the conflict) is my favorite in the Star Wars film sets.
Luke goes into this explicitly rejecting the plan from Obi Wan and Yoda (no, I am not going to kill Dad). He is pursuing his own path, and offering a new / clear path to Anakin that isn't the Light Side / Dark Side prison that the old Jedi and the Sith are trapped within.
The Emperor has trapped Anakin into believing that he has 'fallen from the light' and thus can never be redeemed...(It is...too late for me, son.) The insidiousness of this (and the big failing of the Jedi) is that the Jedi REINFORCE this by their own control systems (You WERE my brother, Anakin! Note the past tense).
So Luke goes into the fight thinking that if he can get Anakin to respond from a feeling of family or love...then he has a chance to separate Anakin from Palpatine. Of course, Palpatine sets up the whole confrontation in terms of violence. Egg on either Anakin or Luke to kill the other...then guilt the winner into believing that they are evil and must be a Sith. Plus, the winner will be weakened and could be defeated if they attack Palpatine.
Plus, Vader has to deal with the presence of Palpatine in the room. He KNOWS, as Luke does not, that any deviation from Palpatine's goals ends up with the deviator dead. He CAN'T accept Luke's offer without suffering immediate consequences. So he fights, uses the force, and very nearly gets Luke to kill him in revenge...at which point Luke is extremely vulnerable to Palpatine's manipulation.
But then, Luke doesn't kill him...even though he has every opportunity, and every reason to do so. Then Luke says, "I am a Jedi, LIKE MY FATHER BEFORE ME." Note the PRESENT tense. I am like my father...i.e. my father IS a Jedi. Contrast this with Obi Wan at the end of my OTHER favorite Star Wars duel...'You WERE my brother, Anakin'...
Even though Vader is trying to kill Luke, Leia, and all his friends...even though even VADER says he is not a Jedi...Luke says, Dad is a Jedi. Dad is still good and worthy of having good things happen.
And so, when Palpatine tries to kill Luke....Anakin rejects Vader and kills Palpatine...because SOMEONE actually believed in him for him...and isn't just trying to use him for his powers.
It's worth mentioning that Yoda only says that Luke must *confront* Vader. Ie, Luke needs to get past that particular attachment one way or another. It's only Obi-Wan who seems to think that killing Vader is the only option. Which is actually kind of harsh, when you think about it. (Or maybe Obi-Wan regretting not finishing off Anakin when he had the chance on Mustafar.)
Yes, thank you!
8:35 I love how Luke's eyes briefly roll back into his head as he tries to resist the influence of the Dark Side. It's an acting choice that would be later used in Lord of the Rings to convey Frodo being somewhat possessed by the power of the One Ring. And that's really the best way to understand what the Dark Side is, the Dark Side is the One Ring.
Yes, it is powerful. Yes, it would be ideal to use its power to destroy evil without succumbing to temptation. But you *Will* succumb. You cannot use the Dark Side for long without losing yourself to it. It, and the quick and easy access to power that it brings, is inherently, intrinsically corruptive, and though it promises freedom what it brings is enslavement. You do not master the Dark Side, it masters you.
The Living Force cannot be "balanced" within an individual because the Dark Side will seduce you, decieve you, and manipulate you, and before you know it you have been submerged in it so completely that you can no longer see the Light, though it is still there. It is always there. There is nowhere you can go that the Light can't find you.
Likewise, the Cosmic Force cannot be "balanced" between Light and Dark because the Dark will not allow the Light to live. It is a poison to the Light, it cannot coexist with the Light, it can only be kept at bay by those who serve the Light, yet never destroyed. For so long as the Light exists, it will cast a shadow.
Say it louder for the grey-jedi theorists in the back
10:42 From watching Return of the Jedi before Empire as a child in the mid-80's to thinking that Darth Vader's hand was somehow now part of Luke by some weird space magic, all this was also my exact experience!
Same
I'm so glad I'm not alone in this experience... :D
Truly wonderful, the mind of a child is.
I got this too! I had even seen Empire first, my brain just never made the connection for some reason.
This was also my initial impression from when I was a small, small person.
Honestly, "A Jedi's Fury", the soundtrack of this fight, is one of my favorite pieces in the series. It matches the scene so well and evokes all the emotions.
The sound design is honestly so well done in that scene. The way the sound effects get more and mire muffled as the music swells and Luke gets angrier and angrier is an A+ from me.
Oooooo! "Goeth Thusly" - I've missed you so much!
I think the lightsaber colour choices for the poster were perfect, for the initial release people didn't know about green lightsabers until they saw this film + blue was anakins saber, it perfectly depicts the inner conflict of each skywalker as we wonder who will turn to other other side, if either would or if they would both swap
I mean Struzan talks in the documentary about just…not knowing who had which colour, but as a subtle thematic thing I love this interpretation 😁
@@JillBearup fairs, ill have to watch that documentary later, it does sound v good
Also, the green lightsaber wasn't originally planned, but then they realized that a blue lightsaber would be very hard to see against the blue skies of Arizona / Tatooine. So the green blade was something of a last-minute substitution.
@@jasonblalock4429 tatoonie was in Libya or Algeria the set is still there from the time of Skywalker and Original trilogy
But didn't Anakin come in prequel
4:48 this is not a mistake, this is 100% intentional. Whenever you have cuts one of the best ways to have the scene feel continuous is to have the last few millisecond replayed in the new perspective. This is a very common thing you will see in a lot of movies.
Only the editor would know for sure. That edit doesn't seem to show up more in those clips because they rarely cut in the middle of a "punch" - but it is there in the kick - so I agree that they chose to do it. Maybe the action just didn't read; staging a black scene with everyone wearing black and insanely bright lights put in post must have been a nightmare.
Here's an excellent video on action in general that touches on that type of cut at 5m20s: ruclips.net/video/Z1PCtIaM_GQ/видео.html
Or maybe it was just a mistake :)
Every Frame A Painting talked about this editing trick in his video on the comedy/action in Jackie Chan movies.
It can help keep the context too - Corridor Crew were talking about this recently in one of their vids, saying the first 3 secs of each cut tend to impact subconsciously rather than consciously? Any new action in that space may get missed by the viewer, but repeating something can help to maintain understanding of the surrounding physical context (where the moving character/s are in relation to their surroundings).
Having said that though, interleaving short repeated clips of the same piece of action also seems to be a common choice for fight scenes, to patch breaks between strings of moves or make a fight feel like it's lasting longer/more frenetic?
Now, let's relive this fight from VADER'S and the EMPEROR'S point of view.
Vader cares about Luke... Luke is his son. But the dark side constrains his actions. He says on Endor to Luke: "It is too late for me." and then "You don't know the POWER of the Dark Side! I MUST obey my master." He's not enticing Luke with that power... he's WARNING Luke. At the beginning of the throne-room-fight he says "Obiwan has taught you well." Remember, his hatred of Obiwan, and the jedi-restictions that Obiwan represented, is what ultimately drove him to the Dark Side in the first place. Vader turned just before Luke who is now like 20 years old was born. In those 20 years Vader has not grown emotionally: He's still angry at the same people for the same reasons.
This matters when one considers the difference between a Sith Apprentice and a Sith Master: The Apprentice seeks the power of the Dark Side to use that power over the things that have emotionally hurt him. The Master, however, is someone who has by definition killed his own master and taken his place... in so doing redirecting the channeling of the Dark Side not into those things that hurt him in the past, but into the limits that are imposed upon him in the present. The Master seeks power for it's OWN SAKE. This is why the Emperor seeks to replace his apprentice Vader with Luke. Vader, while powerful, is a failure of a Sith... he can't get past his original anger at Obiwan and the Jedi.
Later, when Vader is talking to the hiding Luke: He says "So, you have a twin sister, Obiwan was wise to hider from me. Now his failure is complete!" That's an incredibly important line! At that moment, Vader's hatred and anger towards Obiwan has FINALLY run its course. Only then, is he free to either continue in the path of the Dark Side rule of two and kill/replace his master, or turn to the Light. He of course ends up doing both. I especially love the subtle special effects work as the Emperor's lightning does it's work. For a moment the lightning highlights the skull of Luke while he writhes in agony, and of course that light is reflected off of Vader's helmet which looks like a Skull. Later as Vader collapses the after glow of the lighting takes the form of a skull super imposed on Vader's Helmet-face. I nice bit of effects to carry the foreknowledge of the consequences of betraying the Emperor into those same consequences... making Vader's act a MORAL one. He KNOWS betraying the Emperor will kill him... Luke may not have known the power of the Dark Side, but HE DOES! But he does it anyway... and that's what makes it a good act, and not a self-serving one in the hopes of ruling the galaxy as father and son as he outlined in the second movie. .
Beautifully put!!
The climax of that duel was the beginning of my obsession with movie music, (When Luke really goes after Vader, epic). The magical transference of mechanical hand(s) was exactly my thought the first time I watched ROTJ, and for the same reason lol. Jill, thank you, as a child of 6, I was certain that my take on the hand emphasis was so dumb, only *I* could have thought of it, so I never told anyone about it. You just made my entire morning, and a tiny, little moment from my childhood *SO* much better😂😂
I actually thought the exact same, even after I'd seen Empire. For whatever reason I thought it was like the scene on Dagobah where Luke sees his own face inside Vader's helmet. It really does mean so much to know my dumb nine year old brain wasn't alone :')
Me too! I thought if he killed him he would literally take his place, as in physically becoming Vader. Count on kids for taking literally what's being implied symbolically 🤗
@@leighelizabethbrown7419 it really does speak to how effectively the story was told, that even children can take the metaphor and see the real danger it represents.
I did the same thing, lol
ROTJ is my favorite lightsaber fight. The motivations and the music give it that edge for me. Even though I love Duel of the Fates.
"A lifetime of wickedness cannot be atoned for by a single good deed."
Correct. If Anakin had survived he would have had a lot to answer for. Imprisonment, possibly execution. Exile at best. One good deed can't make up for a lifetime of evil, but it can save a soul.
This is one of the things I like about the Father Brown detective series. Father Brown always focused on saving their soul even though they will still have to pay the cost for the crime they committed.
@@macmcleod1188 That show rocks.
Theo Dious Very true. But at the same time, I think Anakin would more than likely be willing to accept whatever punishment he would be sentenced to.
In addition his one good did was saving his sons life, which in fact is not good but natural, almost selfish, because human instinct tells humans to protect their children. If he hadn't saved Luke, I'm pretty sure Vader could not have lifed with the emotions triggered by it.
@@roffels11-gamingandhistory69 it's a return to his true self though. Watching Clone Wars you see a young man who is so desperate to save everyone he loves at any cost that it destroys him and he loses himself. Saving Luke was a return to himself.
"Are we in pain yet?" Jill, the way you delivered that line sent a chill up my back
Try Jill's way of talking about sleep deprivation in the heroine series. Pure evil. I loved it.
8:52 is a great demonstration of Luke’s biggest flaw : he is terrified of the Dark Side of the Force corrupting the people he loves. His father, who he idolised as a boy, turns out to be completely evil. He fears becoming Vader, and the threat of Vader turning Leia provokes his anger and fear. This is also why he rejects Ben Solo then Rey in the later trilogies. Despite saving his father, Luke can’t escape this fear.
Yes! It’s like Red Badge of Courage. Luke never really grew up, even though he succeeded.
Yeah except the whole ben thing was stupid.
But unlike the Luke that's been established, he not only gives into the fear, he gives into it hard enough to try and murder a kid in his sleep. Whatever way you cut it, that's a bridge too far.
@@f0rth3l0v30fchr15t I am not really sure we can say that. After Luke's first Force vision he cuts his training short to run off to an obvious trap, even knowing the vision might not be real or happening at that moment. Anakin feel into the same trap with visions. I would say we have a fair amount of evidence that the Skywalker family takes Force visions very seriously and trusts them completely.
@@Frosty7575 So, your personal growth stoppd at 23, huh?
I feel sorry for you.
Your analysis of this scene highlights the difference with the films and shows that came after. Luke is deciding not to become like his abusive father but rather encouraging him to turn away from rage and abuse through showing him love and acceptance. This was a pretty simple, emotional and relatable story, that was well told through the film. Details rarely matter if the fundamentals are sound and we spend a lot of time criticizing details.
I always liked that Luke was very much light and dark in jedi.
Like he force chokes people in Jabba's palace. It it's anger that helps him win against his father but then he can control it and dial it back.
I think part of the old council's problem was too much push for suppressing feelings, and they made Vader from that, so it's neat to see someone basically using both.
I also always loved the rage fight after the mention of his sister until he can dial it back again :O
I think the takeaway is that being a Jedi involves walking an emotional tightrope, and it's entirely too easy to slip and fall cause of fear, anger, hatred, etc. The old Jedi order's method of trying to deal with that was to try and repress emotion - hence the prohibition on emotional attachment and rejecting children who are "too old" (meaning they've spent some time living like normal people instead of being brought up to repress their emotions from infancy). And the fall of Anakin Skywalker and subsequent destruction of the Jedi order by Darth Vader shows that this was ultimately a flawed approach that was doomed to failure. Luke succeeded where Vader failed at least partially because he learned how to experience those negative emotions but not let them dominate him, but instead confront and ultimately control them. It was a very near thing because he's still pretty raw and untrained, and a WHOLE lot of lucky factors play in Luke's favor, but I think it shows his approach is the right one. Which is why I found it so disappointing what they did with him in the sequel films.
"Let's have a party with the teddy bears" 🤣
Love your videos
You know, I never considered the "Luke cuts off Vader's hand" part so much until now - not only does it call back to the scene on Bespin as Luke has now done the same thing Vader did, it calls back to Dagobah as well - the next blow, as you say, would likely be a beheading - just like Luke's vision - and then the corruption to the Dark Side would be complete.
Though I'm not entirely sure what would be the end result of that, in two ways - one, the Emperor likely couldn't defeat a dark-sided-up Luke and, unlike Anakin, Luke doesn't have any reason to stop fighting him (though maybe it would be a kind of 'I-won-because-I-got-what-I-wanted-even-though-I-died" kind of deal); two, the DSII is about to blow up anyway because the Rebel fleet succeeded, so Sheev wouldn't have very long to enjoy the victory.
As for ESB - any star wars video from you is an insta-click anyway, so you could do the entire franchise plus Clone Wars and I'd keep watching
"Choreograph your fights, just don't look like you're Choreographing your fights"
"Rrrrawwwrrrr!!!...?"
"I dunno, fight casual!"
When I was a kid, I, too, watched RotJ way before the other two films. Back then, I took the "take your father's place at my side" too literally. So when Luke chops Vader's hand off, I too thought, Luke is literally turning into Vader (since I also didn't know about Luke's hand at that point). Nevertheless, this scene, more than anything else (except for the Rancor back then) burned itself into my mind and I love this scene still and revere it as one of my most favorite scenes of all times when it comes to story-telling by using scenery, music, lighting, acting and dialogue. Beautifully dramatic as a good simple tale of good vs. evil should be.
To be fair to Luke, no one ever taught him how to fight with a lightsaber. Obi Wan briefly taught him to block a practice droid's Nerf blaster, and Yoda taught him to do flips and lift rocks at montage school.
They might have been on the Falcon in hyperspace for a day (or longer), but made it look like a short time. The Radio show (that's no longer canon) had them practicing for at least an hour, going through positions and such. Likewise there's a deleted scene or scene that wasn't filmed on Dagobah when Yoda was testing Luke's ability with a lightsaber to make multiple quick cuts on a metal bar or something. He may have been there for a week or so.
Ahhh the Throne Room duel, possibly my favourite scene in all of cinema. I could talk about this scene for a month straight and still not run out of things to praise, but I'll keep things brief for this comment. (And leave a second comment for more things I need to say😅)
The moment of Luke staring in disbelief at his own mechanical hand has stayed with me stronger than any other moment in film. The realization that he's "becoming Vader", perpetuating the cycle of violence that stole his father's life, is so enormously powerful. And Luke's choice to die rather than to kill is made all the more important in contrast to the heroes of the previous era.
Luke challenges and ultimately rejects the wisdom of his jaded elders, and becomes a true Jedi by being radically compassionate and peaceful, when even Obi-Wan and Yoda were convinced Anakin couldn't be saved, that Vader had destroyed Anakin's soul and nothing remained.
Luke's act of self-sacrifice demonstrates his strength not martially, as the Sith do, but morally, as the Jedi should.
"If you define yourself by the power to take life, the desire to dominate, to possess…then you have nothing."
- Obi-Wan
"Courage is about knowing not when to take a life, but when to spare one."
- Gandalf
It's also a beautiful contrast to Anakin in the (admittedly very flawed) prequels.
Anakin's fall was not remotely due to his love for Padmé, it never was, it's because his love for her is Possessive love, and that's not healthy. He didn't want anything to take his Padmé away, because he needed her (arguably to replace Shmi as his emotional support😬). Anakin wants to save Padmé for *his* sake, not hers. "I will do anything you ask. Just help me save Padmé's life, I can't live without her." He tells Sidious.
"You can love people but you can't own them." - George Lucas
Anakin was trying to save Padmé for selfish reasons, and that is ultimately the difference between Anakin and Luke. Anakin made the selfish decision, Luke made the selfless decision, inspring Anakin to in turn ultimately make the selfless decision.
That's the absolute essence of George Lucas' story, and it's universal and timeless💜
I'm 100% sure that Luke did run past Vader without Vader taking advantage, and that's perfect. Vader and Palatine didn't want Luke killed, they wanted him to fall to the dark side. If the goal was to kill him it wouldn't be a contest regardless of Luke's advancement.
PS for a fun time look for the Imperial March in a major key. It's upbeat and feels like that's what the Imperials play, but the score we hear is the Rebel propaganda version.
I would have liked a dark side version of the Harry Potter theme, "Hedwig's Theme" for when the Dark Wizards take over the Wizarding World in the U.K.
One thing about the choreography that you didn't mention. In the portion of the fight when Luke is retreating, he's always moving upwards, seeking the high ground. This sparks the Vader line about Obi Wan having taught him well - it was Obi Wan's control of the high ground that led to Anakin's defeat on Mustufar. So even though Luke is on the retreat, he's still subtly goading Vader into making the same mistake he had made before. Vader does not take the bait, instead throwing the lightsaber to bring Luke back down to his level.
This may only make sense in retrospect, but it echoes symbolically Luke trying to keep the moral high ground, and Vader fighting to bring him down to his level both physically and symbolically.
I love how when Luke says to the Emperor, "Your overconfidence is your weakness", Vader all of the sudden looks at Luke, like, "Why didn't I think of that?"
John Williams did his damn job on this final fight! Seriously, the music is pulling so much weight and Mark Hamill bore his soul on this whole section of the movie!
In high school I mentioned return of the Jedi was my favorite lightsaber fight despite the flashiness of the prequels, a friend responded that's because it's using actual sword fighting techniques. I think the simple design of the choreography is what makes the fight great.
I loved the delivery of the, "Are we in pain yet?" line.
Hey Jill, I've been in a bad emotional slump this afternoon. This video is cheering me up.
Thanks
The actors had sticks, and the lightsabers were added "manually".
Strikes on structures were real pyrotechnics.
To this day this is still my favourite lightsaber fight in the entire canon, one of the best narrative driven fights in movies.
Luke didn't start wearing the glove until after the Sarlaac scene, the synth-skin was intact beforehand but the blaster shot that hit his wrist during that fight exposed the mechanical parts, as shown when he's putting the glove on while in his X-Wing in the following scene. Why he didn't get that fixed in the five years between RotJ and the Mandalorian season 2 finale I have no idea!
I had the advantage of reading the novelizations before I got the chance to see the movies. therefore I know that Luke's thoughts when he chopped off Vader's hand were the realization that he an Vader both had mechanical hands and that he took it as a warning of how close he was to following in Vader's footsteps.
Oh. I lived inside of this movie when I was in middle school. Even having done some sword training, I never cared that it was so simple. All of those very simple ingredients of staging, and acting come together powerfully. And there is panic, and despair, and relief at the end.
So I understand it's not intentional, but I love the lightsaber colors being swapped because symbolically speaking that is what this battle is about. Luke's rage versus Anakin's compassion/love.
Side Note: I love that "we keep cutting back to our other heroes" was paired with a vid of Wedge Antilles. Yes, I love Wedge! Read the X-Wing series in the EU, and you'll probably love him, too.
I love both the breakdown of how the scene is put together narratively, and the not so subtle shade thrown at the double standards about how the trilogies are treated by some people. Kudos!
I'm probably one of the "some people" Jill is getting at, cos I really don't like the Prequels. In my defence, I have always thought that Luke's rescue plan for Han makes no sense either:
A) - get all my friends captured
B) - hope Jabba doesn't execute them on the spot
C) - ask Jabba for all my friends back.
D) - if C) doesn't work... um, try shooting Jabba?
E) - "R2, just hide this for me please?"
@@patriarch7237 Aside from Leia getting captured (that clearly wasn't supposed to happen), it makes sense to me. Lando was their guy on the inside (you'll note that he never really breaks cover until they get to the "screw it, we're fighting our way out" stage). Offering the droids as a "gift" (this is a little shaky, but I'm sure they had a plan to recover them) gets R2 in a position to get Luke his lightsaber if it hits the fan while letting Luke try the peaceful negotiation thing if Leia couldn't get Han (and Chewie) out first.
@@patriarch7237 It's not just liking or disliking I suspect as the clear self-deception they indulge in to pretend one is superior in the other. Plenty of people for example complain about the disappearing blade in the Last Jedi throne room fight, but don't also call out things like Luke just walking past Vader here.
I'll be honest, I have a fair amount of ambivalence to Star Wars - I enjoy the original films (though would like to watch the versions that weren't butchered by Lucas to add pointless SFX in), but I have friends who are huge fans of all the lore yet to me as those remasters were released I started to realise the worldbuilding has always been a grab-bag of stuff people thought was cool and could be used to sell crap. I hated the prequels just because I thought a lot of the dialogue and character stuff was incredibly bad, and the continuity with the original films is pretty sketchy (and outright guts one of the few times Star Wars ever tried to do subtext*), but I apply the same standard to all the films. I don't believe that to be true of the people who rag on the sequels.
*-"I don't remember my mother"
"Don't worry Luke, it turns out neither of us spent any time at all with her before she died..."
The prequels aren't bad because of the Cinema Sins-style criticisms Jill alludes to. They're bad because they're just badly conceived, badly written, and badly acted, though the cast only deserves so much blame for that part. The parts of the OT that don't entirely make rational sense (like Luke's gambit to save everyone from Jabba) are easier to swallow because we care about the characters and we have the immediate tension provided by clear antagonists. The prequels are so bogged down in opaque babble about trade disputes and separatists and shit - it's like they want to be political dramas as well as space opera. Doesn't work.
@@riseagain845 honestly, the first two trilogies of Star Wars had their upsides and drawbacks.
OT was simpler in story (a good thing for movies with a shorter runtime) and the characters were the most engaging. The cinematography was good, the set pieces and special effects were *phenomenal* for their time, but the fight scenes themselves were meh. There were plotholes, but they were easily ignored.
The prequel trilogy was ambitious, not just with new special effects, but a wider story, with more characters and a wider galaxy.
The Prequels had some amazing special effects, the set pieces were arguably even better than the originals, and had more diversity to them. Kamino, the Podracing Track, the Jedi Temple, all iconic locations. Design-wise, as well, the vehicles, ships, droids and clones all stood out in their own way. Even the B-1 battle droids had their own little flair. Nearly every design in that era stood out.
What they did best, however, was Choreography. From Darth Maul's multiple duels with Qui-Gon, Dooku vs Anakin, Obi-Wan, then Yoda, even some of the blaster-wielding characters got time to shine. Padme, Jango and the clones made a nice contrast to constant glowstick waving.
While the dialogue was atrocious in places, the Prequels didn't deserve all the flak they got. Revenge of the Sith is (in my opinion) the best Star Wars film to date. Between the many good lightsaber duels, to the chase scene on Utapau, Revenge of the Sith Capitalised on what the Prequels did best: Gratuitous amounts of violence and action.
And while the prequel trilogy was infamous for its godawful lines (I don't like sand, anyone?) it's also a heavily quoted set of movies, with a number of good lines and moments.
The sequel trilogy...Where do I even begin? Luke and Anakin had issues, sure, but Rey...dear Mary Sue gods, she was awful. Where Luke and Anakin had piloting and tinkering skills, skills they demonstrated quickly, Rey just could *do* things for no explained reason. And do them better than everyone else who should have known better. And unlike Luke or Anakin, Rey was meant to be the central focus since the beginning. Where Anakin and Luke had mentors who could foster their talents and protect them, Rey was just able to bypass a massive chunk of the hero's journey.
Where the designs of ships in both prior trilogies were iconic, distinct from each other, the First Order and Resistance ships are...either rip offs, or just fugly. The space battles, zooming and zipping around, were replaced with slow, monotonous pans across empty space.
While the prequels made me cringe at times, they also brought in so much to the franchise. The worldbuilding it did, while chaotic, brought about some of the most iconic locations in fiction. The Lightsaber duels were less emotional than the prequels, but that also generally wasn't the focus of said scenes. The physical movement and fight itself became the focus.
We lambast the sequels because they bring nothing new, and what they do bring falls flat on its face. Rey, unlike Luke and Anakin, has no real reason to go on her hero's journey, no motivation beyond "Hey, plot needs me here now." She can't learn from mentors, because she can already do everything. She can fly, shoot, fight and use the force like a Jedi hundreds of years ahead of her. Where Luke barely survived Vader, and learned from the experience, Rey just kicked his ass, with no training, and gained nothing.
The side-characters, unlike the two other trilogies, are forgettable and bland for the most part. Hell, Greedo is more memorable than tertiary villains like Phazma, and he got like 2 lines and a shot to the gut!
And that's not even counting the WELL above previous hand-waving when it came to old tech randomly just working for plot convenience. Like, MFer, your things look like solid rust, there's no way they still function...oh wait, plot armour, of course they do.
When you're dealing with a franchise like SW, and writing a continuation, you need to research and respect the rules of the fictional universe. Otherwise, you break immersion. You lose people. And in Sci-Fi, one of the quickest ways to lose an audience is to fuck up pre-existing technology or concepts.
Like Hyperspace. Admiral Holdo's suicidal run wouldn't have worked, because Hyperspace is a different dimension. ANY ship that uses their hyperdrive, as Holdo was stated to do, wouldn't have done anything to damage the other ship.
That's...Just scratching the surface of why many hate the sequels.
The Luke/Vader fights, both of them, are characterized by the degree to which they are holding back and letting go. The same is true of the Vader/Obi Wan fight. That's why even though the fights themselves are actually pretty basic and boring, they are fascinating to watch. It ends up working well that two of the greatest Jedi are not doing what other Jedi (including them) can do in other fights in the cannon.
I've missed these videos! Glad to see you making them again!
So
I am a christian.
The line 'this is a film that gives us Grace' and 'he offers Grace'
On easter Monday
makes me happy
Happy Easter! 🙂
@@JillBearup Happy easter!
A lot gets said about the influence of Eastern spirituality in Star Wars, and it's definitely there, but Lucas is a Methodist and it's very much on display in Return of the Jedi.
I really wish that more of mark Hamill training for this movie had been recorded. The final cuts versus the practice sessions were like night and day.
The extra lightsaber clash effect, I think, is at the part where Luke is mostly covered up by the stairs, his saber held above his head... and there's an effect right next to Vader anyway. I think.
I'm pretty sure Vader's saber hits the stairs though and that's why I didn't mind it
[Nevermind my brain is just playing tricks on me]
I would still argue that choreography does matter, since your choice of choreography can support or undermine the story. Sure, there are many ways you could choreograph a scene to support the story, and many motions may be interchangeable with another, but they're not interchangeable in general.
And choreography can even be used to tell the story. You could turn off the sound during the throne room fight, and still understand the ebb and flow of power and character goals, though it is unlikely to be as emotive, especially without the music.
Exactly, there are many ways to build a house, but you can build it badly as well regardless.
Absolutely. Jill goes into lots of detail about how the choreography supports the story, even if it isn’t fancy or at times unrealistic.
By point of contrast, episode iii has Obi Wan and Annikan fight in a long, drawn out, very swishy swishy battle that doesn’t do much to reveal anything about the characters or conflict. It’s a great example of how choreography for choreography’s sake doesn’t matter
I think one of the things about the original trilogy is that it doesn't treat choreography the same as modern films. Whilst action films have always contained impressive stunt work and feats of physical skill, Hollywood has moved towards a more martial arts style of action scene over the years, where, at its best, fight scenes incorporate both story elements and a showcase of extreme physical skill, and at it's worst, there is still the attempt to do very complex choreography (it may be a failed attempt, but it is an attempt). There's probably a few films that really helped contribute to this- the Matrix literally including Hong Kong stunt choreography, as well as the rise of the 80s/90s action stars had put more of an emphasis on fights being impressive. There's also the rising popularity of pro-wrestling martial arts, the non-fencing swords & HEMA leading to a more varied experience of 'fights' than the more traditional boxing and fencing. Both of which didn't lend themselves to a huge range of styles of on-screen combat- boxing is very visually similar to untrained drunken brawling anyway (only done with skill by professional athletes), whilst fencing uses 3 visually similar blades (to the point that the sabre no longer looks particularly like most historical sabres, and even if it did, it's a relatively modern style of weapon anyway).
As a result, modern films feature more skilled swordsmen and women doing more impressive fighting, because there's both greater perceived demand for spectacle and probably more importantly, greater expertise in showing that. I heard an anecdote from the phantom menace where they kept having to deal with Liam Neeson going 'why wouldn't i just do this', because the guy had learned sword fighting previously and didn't want the characters to look like they weren't making the obvious moves. Which wasn't a thing in the originals both because they didn't have anyone who'd do that, and because, given they were heavier metal poles due to how the special effects were made, the obvious moves would all probably be baseball-bat swings for the fences and you really needed to keep it simple for safety reasons (the same as actors often describe longswords as really heavy because the prop department didn't want to explain to the insurance why their two leads had been given metre long razor blades after one of them ran the other through the stomach in a hilarious outtake. There's only so blunt you can make a sword without also making it thicker)
Yes, but as this scene shows, if the story, writing and characters are strong enough it doesn't matter. The choreography in this scene is crap, and it's not even executed particularly well, but it just does not matter.
@@Ailieorz I wouldn't say it's crap, I'd rather say it's barebones. It is simple and somewhat clumsy from a martial arts POV, but it does have the necessary moves to complement the story and mirror the emotional conflict that is the much more important part of this fight. The moves fit in terms of who is on the attack and who is on the defense, who acts controlled and who flails around in blind rage at any given phase of the struggle and the transition moves to get distance between them to enable further dialogue that flows naturally and isn't interruppted by the slashy-stabby feel natural and believable.
Sure, the choreography COULD be better regarding the martial arts technique and still support the story the same way (which would make the scene overall even better), but the choreography could also be much worse if it had moves that didn't fit the emotional beats of the conflict and would undermine the emotional side of the scene instead of helping to visualize it.
You totally read my mind. I distinctly remember wondering out loud to my older sister about how Luke was physically becoming Vader when cutting off his body parts. My sister simply said that it wasn't what was happening.
I have always found the choreography is this fight lackluster, but this video is a supreme example of why it is still a good fight. I would very much like to see analysis of other significant fights in Star Wars.
I believe that in both duels between Luke and Vader, Vader is merely toying with Luke. Vader does not intend to kill Luke.
Yep. In the first duel, Luke is hopelessly outmatched. He is trying to kill Vader, but Vader is not concerned about that. His goal is to turn Luke, not to beat him.
In the 2nd fight, Vader has the same goal, but this time a much better trained Luke is also trying to turn Vader. Neither is really trying to win. If anything, Vader's goal is to lose in service of the Emporer. I mean, I don't think he actually wants to lose, but he is trying to get Luke to lose control, which, for a moment, he does. The fighting ranges from tentative to sloppy, but at no time are they actually supposed to be fighting well or up to their actual skill level.
Agreed, especially when Luke is in full-on berserker mode. There were several moments when he left himself wide open to a simple thrust from Vader, but Vader never took the easy shots.
Vader is also pretty severely handicapped by his prosthetics.
True enough, but by the third movie, Vader had seriously underestimated Luke’s capabilities.
@@grahamstrouse1165 I don't think he underestimated Luke's abilities, he underestimated Luke's love for him. Which is fundamentally NOT a Jedi thing. The supression of love turned Aniken into Vader. His son embracing it turned it back. It is a critique of the rigid Jedi dogma, ine made explicit in the concept of Grey Jedi and one that COULD have been done well in the sequels... if they were planned out in advance instead of letting Johnson and Abrams have a director's fued on screen.
But in their third fight, Vader WANTED Luke to win. Though I don't think Vader fully thought the strategy through. I think his mind was warped by the Emporer who wanted Luke to not only win but kill Vader.
1:18 THANK YOU FOR SAYNG THAT, JILL
Great video Jill! Would love to see a breakdown of ESB, yes.
It never ceases to amaze me how emotional content can turn what should be a mediocre fight into an epic confrontation and how the lack of true emotional content (looking at you Prequels) has the opposite effect on a very well choreographed and technically complex fight.
Thanks very much 😁
Just earlier today, we had a drama demonstration in my creative writing class and I performed a couple of lines dressed as Luke. My last performance was Luke’s realization of what he had done in anger and his rejection of that through the “like my father before me” line. It was so serendipitous to see this video just after that activity. Great video as always!
I grew up with Star Wars, I was 6 when A New Hope (then just "Star Wars") came out, and Luke has always been the character I identified with.
When the prequels came out, I was excited - new stories, more reasons to care. But the one thing that I really noticed was the shift from the basic European style of blade work during the lightsabre fights to something that included an Asian influence. Considering the rise in popularity of films coming out of Hong Kong, this only made sense.
However, as Jill points out here - lightsabre fights have never really been about the Choreography. They have always been about the emotion and story behind those fights. The only thing that really has changed over the years is the wider range of tools that are in the hands of the cast and crew, not the emotional resonance of the stories themselves.
but isnt there extensive background information that even as early as Episode 5 Kendo was one of the main templates/inspirations for lightsaber fighting? And not to mention the general inspiration for Star Wars from old Kurosawa films. Asain (and specifically Japanese) influence has always been a part of Star Wars. But yeah in any case you are right it IS all about the emotions and the charqacters here, a cool choreography is just spice^^
I've always loved this fight despite its multiple (multiple) flaws. When Luke reveals himself from the shadows after Vader threatens his sister, it turns out Luke was just standing right there. There's a shot where Luke strikes, stops moving his lightsaber, and Vader kind of effortlessly, carelessly swings up at it like he's tired and doesn't know what else to do. And I never noticed before that they reuse the same shot just in reverse at the beginning of the fight, but I did always notice that they use the same shot of Luke swinging down at Vader's head twice. The way I interpreted Luke looking down at his hand at the end of the fight was him realizing that he'd gone too far, and that the dark side was turning him into his father--part of the machine. Part machine. That same kind of recklessness cost him his hand before, but now he's learned his lesson so he shuts off his lightsaber and doesn't kill Vader. And it was a good thing he didn't kill him too, because Vader ended up saving his life. ROTJ is filled to the brim with flaws. I still love it.
Yup. Basically comes down to: if ya weak in one area, make it up in another. The moves don’t gotta be epic, if the real fight is in the feels. For example.
I love ALL Star Wars movies (yes, even THAT one) and as much as I appreciate the over the top fight choreography of the prequels and the sequels, I think the OT has the best fights because less is really more, especially in the case of RotJ which is my favorite lightsaber duel (even though I think ESB is just objectively better in terms of the choreography) because you know all the stakes going in.
I agree in the case of RotJ, but the lightsaber duel between Obi-Wan and Vader in A New Hope was… not great.
Having taken my younger brother to see this when it came out , my dad declared it was 'james bond meets paddington bear.' Personally I see the moment Luke stops himself as the moment there is balance in the force. He gave into his emotions and they made him powerful BUT they are not ruling ihm and this is the step the emperor misses. Luke has used the anger, righteous anger, for great power but he controls it and when it has served it's purpose, he can turn it off and step aside. he defeated vader so there was no need to kill.
I would argue that what you say is true for most of the fight, except for the final clash when Luke when wild. Luke was not in full control until he chopped Vader's hand and had that moment of reflection to think 'oh shit...I am becoming like Him..fights done. Pull back before I'm too far' then throws his saber for effect and to probably stop any more itchy trigger fingers.
Yeah, but he didn't want to fight Vader. His anger took control of him and he ended up doing the thing he didn't want to do, but rather, the thing the Emperor wanted him to do. Who had the power in that moment, really?
@@smartalec2001 you missed what inspired luke to the final conflict. he was hiding, but when vader threatens "your sister" luke rejoins the fight to defend the weak. It is righteous anger and once he wins, he stops, he see's vader is defeated, more over luke has done to him what he did to luke, he has defeated the sith and taken the step from padawan to jedi, just as obiwan did not in 'the trials' but battle
@@GravesRWFiA I don't think there is such a thing as righteous anger, in the moral world of Star Wars. In this story, anger comes from fear, and acting on it leads to hate and suffering.
It's the Buddhist idea that if you lose a fight you have been harmed, but if you win a fight you have harmed another person, so by fighting at all, you have lost.
Jill: "...and find out things are actually getting interesting for them out there."
Mal: "Define "interesting"."
Wash: "Oh God, oh God, we're all gonna die."
Loved this video! I really like most Star Wars fights and this one is a great example of how their point is usually less the actual fighting and more to give you the feels
You are correct in your assessment of the fight. It was oddly simplistic. You would think that Jedi have more tricks in the bag. But we all just let our imagination fill in the implied power and skills. We love this stuff for the idea and the feelings.
One of the things that I have come to appreciate is that during this climactic portion of the film we are keeping track of three battles occurring simultaneously. It's so well edited that you always know exactly what is going on and never loose track as you skip over from one to the next and back again.
And on a side note: it was Return of the Jedi that set the standard for me of what a space battle should look like on screen. Yes, there are artistic liberties taken with realily that are unrealistic, but I don't care. Every space battle that I will ever watch will always be compared against The Battle of Endor.
A few years ago I watched all of the Star Wars movie duels and ranked them based on how much I liked them. This one was on top. It is the best duel we've had in Star Wars movies because it hits all the emotional beats correctly.
Just listening to you describe the scene brings back echos of how I felt when I was seven, and watching these movies for the first time with my mom and aunt. I love that you're looking at all the elements of the fight and how they impact the scene, not just a single aspect.
Thanks for doing this one, and *yes, please,* I'd love to see you cover Round One from ESB.
Something I've always said is that the prequels have better swordplay in their fights, but the originals have better emotional beats in their combat.
Actually... The originals have better emotional beats in general. Anakin's investment and motivations in the prequels were always kind of wobbly, to me. I couldn't quite grasp why "from [his] perspective, the Jedi are evil" until the expanded universe books and the animated series' showed him as a child soldier fighting in an endless war with the Jedi simultaneously telling him to let go of his attachments to the people he was literally commanding to their deaths.
There was a Tumblr post that summed it up pretty well... The Jedi turned a child into a weapon, told him to find peace, and then blamed him for the failure they set him up for.
I slightly disagree on one count, although the prequel duel are more dynamic and visually impressive, I was always rubbed the wrong way in how casual many characters were in wielding what is essentially a meter and something plasma torch.
@@Woodclaw That is entirely fair!
The prequels were tunnel-visioned on worldbuilding and "why things came to be as they are", basically. When your characters exist only in service of the setting, then they will not be good characters; they will just be caricatures. It's the same reason the John Wick sequels feel like they're running out of their heart. In the original, the setting existed to make John Wick work as a character; in the sequels, he's just a perspective letting us see more of the setting.
Personally I like the Empire fight much more. It really highlights both combatants mindsets and skill levels through actions alone, and that just really speaks to me.
Luke whipping out his sabre quickly and readying himself, while Vader slowly, casually, pulls out his sabre , with the actual activation of the blade coming out sooo slowly.
Yes please.
“You’ll find I’m full of surprises!” (Falls over, throws himself down stairs)😁
I’m almost embarrassed to admit how many years had passed and how many times I had watched that movie before I noticed that Vader is fighting single-handed at the beginning of their duel. Just, so contemptuous, like he feels more in danger of dying from boredom than by anything Luke could do to him.
My favorite lightsaber fight, right before my favorite moment in all Star Wars ever-“I am a Jedi, like my father before me.”
Every time you do one of these it provokes me into rewatching the movie, even ones I originally didn't much care for originally. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and insight.
Have you considered examinations of Richard Lester's "The Three/Four Musketeers" or Ridley Scott's "The Duellists?" Those films got their hooks deeply into me and sparked my interest in getting beat up by wooden weapons.
speaking of Ridley Scott and duels, I'd love to see a breakdown of The Last Duel's titular clash. Perhaps the most aaargh bit of combat I saw in 2021 at the movies - in a good way.
Lester's Musketeers are easily my favorites. I'd love to see Jill's take on those films.
That video got me crying. The feels are real. Thanks for this masterclass of this masterpiece of a scene.
The shot at 9:26 is one of my all-time favorites. The soundtrack reaches a crescendo as Luke almost instantly goes from hiding to demolishing Vader. Just amazing.
Reshowing a strike twice from different perspectives isn't an editing mistake, it's a film technique that's intended to emphasize the movement. A lot of movies do this, including the prequels.
I like how at the fight, it is Luke's aura of the Force and his fury as much as his use of the light sabre that is pushing Vader to the floor.
This has been my favorite scene in Star Wars since I was a small boy in the early 90s. It was my favorite movie for all the things you've said.
Seeing Luke open the movie as a total badass, then end it still not powerful enough to overcome the Dark Side is so... perfect.
I still sit in awe of it all these years later.
You really need to watch (if you haven't already) the fight scene in _They Live!_ between Roddy Piper (Nada) and Keith David (Frank.) Piper, a Professional Wrestler, worked with David on the "choreography" and when they did it on camera they did it _for real._ They are really hitting one another, only refraining from shots to the groin and face. It was only supposed to go on for twenty seconds, but it looked so good the director (John Carpenter!) just kept filming until they were done and it became one of the longest single fight scenes in cinema history at five minutes twenty seconds.
In fairness, professional wrestlers are one of the few groups of people who actually can improvise a fight and make it look good. That's explicitly part of their skillset.
@@jasonblalock4429 Indeed. However, Piper and David spend three weeks choreographing and practicing the fight prior to filming. It isn't an "improvised" fight, but rather an unchoreographed fight. Much like bebop is to jazz, there is a sort of framework to the fight like the melody of a song which constrained the story of the fight while allowing them freedom to improvise.
So my personal favourite part of this fight is something Cinnemawins pointed out. That Luke, to beat Vader, taps into the dark side and accepts his emotions to best him *BUT* he doesn't magically instantly become a sith. Because he's free of the dogma of the sith and jedi orders, he understands that light and dark are not automatically good and evil, and that the force is bigger than that (I mean it is basically ki, after all)
I love the nuance of Luke's use of the dark side and still rejection of the Emperor's evil. He's not some religious zealot, he's just a kid doing his best and he knows right from wrong, and that it's not the same as light from dark.
This scene still had something to show me over 30 years after I first saw it!
And now I need to learn about Drew Struzan.
No matter what you do, if you move without a purpose. You are wasting your time.
My purpose is to waste my time.
That makes me feel better about being completely immobile right now.
@@lnsflare1 Nice Counter
@@casteretpollux Human scrafice
This is one of my favorite movie scenes of all times!!! Thank you for this video! I noticed how Darth Vader didn’t say NOO! at the end which means you must have used a clip from the special edition non-George-Lucas-altered ones. Respect there! Darth Vader’s silence is louder than words in that moment. Also, I think it’s interesting how hard they’re hacking at each other even though they have literal energy swords could cut through limbs with nearly no effort. Apparently the choreographers chose to portray turbulent emotion through the duel rather than make it strictly practical. Which was the best choice they could have made in my opinion.
Grace. That is the perfect word for Star Wars. Thank you, may we all have a little more grace in life.
I was 10 in '83 and I was on the edge of my seat throughout this whole sequence...good times indeed.
John Williams did such a wonderful job elevating the emotions of scenes in Star Wars.
Oh, sweet.... yes, this!! I have never had anyone express so exactly how I feel about that scene ! Thank you so much ❤
Out of the 4592524 (unconfirmed) RUclips breakdowns of this scene that I have watched thus far, not a one comes close to explaining it in such simple yet eloquent terms. Just a wonderful reminder why this is the greatest story ever told.
I saw ANH when I was 4. Empire at 7. ROTJ when I was 10. The emperor having force lightning was the scariest thing ever in my young kid brain, and when Vader picked the emperor up, the theater literally stood up as one and whooped and hollered and cheered. It is the greatest, most treasured movie moment of my entire life.
I was the Exact same age as you. 🙂
I literally thought the same exact thing about the hand when I was a kid XD I saw them out of order, and yeah, between this and the Luke-as-Vader scene in IV, I took "Luke is afraid of becoming Vader" pretty literally haha
Death Star 2: Electric Bugaloo
It just never gets old, love it
Also, nailed it with the commentary, I should say that too. Laser swords are fun to watch, but why I want to go back and watch these particular laser-sword duels again and again is because of the emotional value given them by the story. Other flashier laser sword duels? Eh, I just don't care that much
"The Music is intimidated." That's great.
I will always be up for analysis of SW, and most especially the OT. Its fascinating to see the fights through different lenses, and learn about the way techniques and styles have changed over the decades inbetween, and then examine why some elements still work so well, even compared to modern recent cinema.
I love when the music goes all music-y 😄
“Twinkly Imperial March, robbed of much of its menace…” was beautiful👌🏻
I’m not crying…🥹
10:29 Other videos focused on Star Wars have stated that the thing that stopped Luke was not only had he "won" by doing the damage that was done to him, but a Jedi never attacks an unarmed opponent. When Luke cut off Vader's hand, Luke knew at that moment he was a Jedi Knight.
The seeds of this battle were planted all the way back in Episode 4 where luke shows a huge intrest in his father. When Owen said that Obi'Wan died about the same time as his father, he asks "He knew my father?" In Episode 5 he said he wanted to become a jedi "Mostly because of his father." But it goes beyond that, Luke has a yern for family not just to know his father. After learning Leia is his sister, he takes the opertunity to learn of his mother asking leia what she remembers. I know now it is not his mother, but Luke does not know that. Saving his fathers soul was because of his drive towards family.
I think there's a point perhaps about Luke's hesitation to kill Vader at the end. He looks at Vader's stump and notices that it's all wires and tubes, like his own hand. As a kid when I first watched Return of the Jedi that was what struck me. This was before all of the prequel films, so we didn't have the story of how Vader came to be Vader, but the fact that the father inflicted--in part--the same wound on his son he himself received after his first proper duel with the Sith is significant. Luke sees that wound, and there's a close up on it. That is definitely significant.
We're meant to look at that and realize that Vader is actually more machine than man at this point(at least by percentages). He's disabled, effectively. Vader, once a hale young person with great ability is now a bitter, likely depressed, disabled man who spends his free time hanging out on the same planet that put him in the suit all those years ago. He ruminates on the past, he's a being of regret and loneliness and most likely permanent pain.
Luke does not strike Vader down, despite Vader''s obvious force skills(from Empire) and instead pities him. Vader's final act which grants him grace and peace, and redemption(at least in Luke's eyes) is to save the life of his son and defeat the Sith once and for all, as he had sworn to do.
All elements need to serve the story. Sometimes your story is best served by amazing dancelike complex choreography. And sometimes your story is best served by a young man at the end of his rope wrecking shop with his glowstick. And having a genius like John Williams telling you how you're supposed to feel never hurts.
I'm greatly preferred this style of lightsaber combat because it implies the weapons are heavy and have momentum.
I did not like the prequels which made to the lightsabers almost seemed like they had no mass at all. Also the flashy combats they had and the prequels frequently lacked character interaction because they were so busy doing fancy stuff with the swords they couldn't talk.
LIGHTsaber
Someone said many of their attacks in _the Phantom Menace_ were just waving the swords in the air and striking each other's. Had they not done that, the blows would have missed since they weren't aimed at arms, legs, head or torso. It's 25th anniversary re-release is coming this May.
Jill I hope you cover the duel between Yoda and R2D2. so much nuance and depth. the stakes have never been higher
Loved this analysis! And yes, please do Luke and Vader in Empire. It’s so cool to see the “simplicity” of the physical fighting contrasted with the emotional back and forth of Luke and Vader.