Originally posted by: Doctor M
The lightsaber battles in the originals are a bit sedate compared to what you'd think/hope a jedi duel might look like.
This is most notable in ANH. Obi Wan and Vader fighting it out on the Death Star is so low key, it looks like a couple of geriatrics fighting with canes.
I mean come on. Look at Anakin go in Eps 2 & 3. He is a force of nature with that saber. Now pop in RotJ and see him fight it out with Luke. (Ok you swing, I'll block, now my turn.) Or worse, go watch the afore mentioned Obi Wan/Vader battle. It's sort of sad looking.
The lightsaber battles in the originals are a bit sedate compared to what you'd think/hope a jedi duel might look like.
This is most notable in ANH. Obi Wan and Vader fighting it out on the Death Star is so low key, it looks like a couple of geriatrics fighting with canes.
I mean come on. Look at Anakin go in Eps 2 & 3. He is a force of nature with that saber. Now pop in RotJ and see him fight it out with Luke. (Ok you swing, I'll block, now my turn.) Or worse, go watch the afore mentioned Obi Wan/Vader battle. It's sort of sad looking.
To put in my two cents on this friendly debate, I'd say it makes sense exactly how it is. Darth Vader is damaged goods- he may have the brute strength to lift people off the floor by their necks, and he can command the force, but his body is not the body that fought in Ep 2&3. The machine parts just aren't that mobile. And that particular hall of the Death Star doesn't appear to have any equipment to rip from the walls with the Force to hurl around. I'm sure that design flaw was corrected for the second one
From Ben's side, as Darth Simon said, it's partly a control battle. Ben isn't young anymore. Even when he was, he wasn't a lightsaber genius, and his years in the desert have accelerated his aging. I know, Yoda shows signs of aging and yet still goes postal on Dooku, but Yoda's goal at that point is outright defeat of Dooku to save Ben and Anakin and stop the Clone War before it starts. Ben's ultimate intent is to distract and stall, with the full knowledge that it's a fight Darth can't win. Perhaps he devotes part of the physical energy he has left into mentally preparing himself for merging with the Force?
And as for Luke in ESB and ROTJ, I would assume that he just hasn't learned lightsaber mastery like Jedi of old. He progressed as far as the "slice-and-dice-the-bar-while-it's-in-the-air" trick (per the novelization and radio drama), but Yoda probably hadn't yet taught him the really advanced stuff, because Luke's role in saving the Jedi requires focus, resistance to the dark side, and persistance, not Windu-like prowess.
Anyway, just my thoughts.