I dont think the saber fights were actually rubbish, i think they actually show more of a power/control battle. Basically you have 2 masters fighting in each situation and when you have that you get the kind of tension that you see in the battle with each player having a difficult time getting an opening on the other.

for my complete opinion on the lightsaber battles (minus episode III right now) check this thread http://www.originaltrilogy.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=2&threadid=2251

-Darth Simon