Came across this dissection of the saber duel from TPM on another site. There goes the one part of EP1 that nobody really complained about
Came across this dissection of the saber duel from TPM on another site. There goes the one part of EP1 that nobody really complained about
He didn't even mention the idiotic move where Qui-Gon fails to wait for Obi-Wan to catch up with him. Dude you couldn't beat Maul with help from Obi-Wan what makes you think you could beat him by yourself? Oh wait you couldn't. Noble end my ass.
Hahahahaha, yeah...but ROTS is worse. You can practically see one waiting while the other attacks in the Dooku duel at times. Still, the saber fights are fun and though I think the one in TPM is a bit overwrought, the shallow part of me that isn't too critical is okay to just watch Darth Maul being pretty.
the bit about that saber dual that really winds me up, is the wasted minutes when Qui Gon and Maul are waiting for that force field type thing to change, i mean why ?? we could have had at least 2-3 minutes extra dualing
A way to separate Obi-Wan from Qui-Gon so one superfluous character could off the other before jobbing to Obi-Wan.Supa troop said:
Ultimately it's no different from any other sword fight in cinema where they aim for the sword and not actually trying to injure the other person like an real sword fight would be. But it could at least be made to look like they were aiming in the general direction of the other guy.
Yeah, check out Robin Hood. Brilliant choreography, but no way are Flyn and Rathbone doing anything different. This isn't new.
I don't care, that's the best duel of any movie I've seen. Especially because the real actors did it, not stuntmen.
A STUPID way to separate them. Why not have made it that when Obi-Wan was kicked off the catwalk, he had to run a long way for a ladder or lift instead of taking that ridiculously huge leap? Then they'd have been apart, and OB could get in just in time to see QGJ slain. No "convenient laser door of doom" silliness.DuneMuadDib said:
And Jason, really, the best? Because there were actors? Who did no emoting in a fight that did nothing to advance the story until one of them dies? How about the Princess Bride or Crouching Tiger?
I'll second "Princess Bride." My favorite duel on-screen and in context the flynning works. Plus if the story I've heard about how long they practiced for that fight it true it makes it all the better for me.cayman shen said:
And the top paragraph bore repeating
After watching Red Letter Media's Plinkett review of TPM, I can no longer view that fight without hearing disco music.
I always wondered why he never just used his saber to destroy the laser emitters that were clearly unguarded by the laser.cayman shen said:
What I always wondered about that laser shielding was- What reaction is taking place at the center that requires layered, sequenced energy fields straight out of a 16 bit platform game? Once they got inside, nothing was happening. No plasma explosion or caustic unicorn farts. If the reactor or whatever it is inside is not reacting, why is the shielding up and running its sequence? Maybe I missed someone smashing a wall console and starting it up?
Personally, I thought the entire concept, apart from separating Obi and Qui Gon, was to set up a "character" moment with Qui Gon kneeling in meditation while Darth Maul paces like a tiger, impatiently. Trouble is, once you've left your padawan behind to engage with a guy you can't solo, it's too late to try to show how zen you are.
Why would you want shielding to go off and on in the first place?
I've found if you sing in a shrill voice in time with the music "columns of light, what do they do? No handrails no handrails" and "Forcefields turn on, forcefields turn off! There's no reason there's no reason" it all makes a bit more sense.
SAS
DuneMuadDib said:
I'll second "Princess Bride." My favorite duel on-screen and in context the flynning works.
And the top paragraph bore repeating
Lift a glass to Bob Anderson, we miss you!
Actually, a bunch of the later Flyn stuff too...thanks again, Bob, wherever you are now!
Crouching Tiger? Meh, hated the choreography in that because it felt like choreography. Maybe wire-fu just isn't for me.
And I wasn't getting down on the Robin Hood fight, I was just pointing out that it's silly to attack TPM for swinging for the swords - that's just what movie fights look like, and have for the better part of a century.
The laser gates remind me of Sigourney Weaver's character commenting on the inner workings of the Protector:
GalaxyQuest - "WHOEVER WROTE THIS EPISODE SHOULD DIE!" - YouTube
Why not just use 'force run' to get past the fields in the first place. I swear jedi are the dumbest warriors in the galaxy. They have the sum power of the universe at their disposal, but seem to forget how to use it most of the time. If it wasn't for the fact that the Empire spends all their money on white armour and nothing on target practice, they would have died out long ago...
I know what you mean, also, why didn't Maul use the Force to attack the Jedi when the stupid laser door was up? Or, maybe Qui-gon could have Force pushed Maul down the big, inexplicable hole in the floor?Supa troop said:
Sigh.....TPM, the film that just keeps on giving.....(me a headache)
Rich
He'd probably just used it and it was recharging. I think it has, like, a 5 second cooldown.NakedMoleRat said:
I know you're making a joke, but "if" Obi needed some rest, he got it while those shields were close (he was on the far end while Qui-Gon was in Zen mode and Maul was pacing at the other end).
When the doors opened he should have force-run to the other end in less than a second... like he and Qui-Gon did to escape the Droidekas (sp?) at the beginning of the film.
But I guess Lucas figured the audience wouldn't remember that. Or nobody had the guts to mention it to him.
Kevin
lol but George....
George: you're fired!
I still think TPM lightsaber fight is cool. All the video points out is that these people are actors. It's just like how you can see an actor miss a punch or something in poorly edited movies.
But some of the points about the laser/shield thing, the running, and of course Red Letter Media's discussions about the fight are spot on. You can't really break down the original trilogy like the prequels.
Normal sword fights in movies, using metal like blades that actually have pointy bits at the end, I can see them doing choreography that is aimed to attacking a person's weapon rather than themselves. But why do lightsabers, which get covered up in post production SFX, not get to be used a little more lethally? You could put a bit of padding on them for the actor's sake, then do choreography which aims to hit them but then has actual blocks and repostes or whatever.
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