I appreciate what they did but I think that they and others miss the point of the scene, it’s not supposed to be an elaborate acrobatic fight sequence.
It’s hardly “acrobatic”; nothing at all like the over-the-top stuff we got in the prequels.
“Sc38 Reimagined” shows us precisely what we should expect from (a) two experienced Force-users, the younger almost seeming to toy with the older; and (b) two warriors who used to be friends but had a violent falling-out. In context, this reimagining gives us the fully appropriate levels of both skill and emotional intensity.
They’re doing Kendo, which is what actual samurai fights would have looked like; two hands on the sword, more footwork than leaping, running, or wild swinging.
This sentence isn’t entirely accurate. Some use of Kendo is appropriate, given that to some degree (more so in TESB) Lucas actually referenced Kendo for some of the choreography. But again - quite appropriately - this pattern isn’t consistent, because Vader at this point is significantly more powerful and doesn’t actually need to use all of his training. We see more rage from him - exactly as we should expect, given their history - while from Kenobi we see more in the way of defensive skill. He’s calling on everything he’s got just to survive.
This in fact compliments the original dialogue from Vader: “Now I am the master. . . . Your powers are weak, old man.” Vader’s rage and insults are an appropriate counterpoint to Kenobi’s worn-out skills and desperation.
Moreover, your above-quoted statement appears at odds with the next sentence:
The scene looks completely ridiculous in context, like dropping a cracked out MTV clip into a rerun of a show from the 70s.
This is nonsensical. Juxtaposed with your prior sentence, you seem to imply that you want more “leaping, running, [and] wild swinging.”
Does it entirely fit with the stylings of a '70s science-fantasy film? I’ll grant that it doesn’t quite. “Sc38” may not have entirely worked if we could travel back in time and plop it into Episode IV when there wasn’t any canonical context for viewers back then. But this is more than offset for viewers today who have the rear-view awareness of the context of the full Saga. “Sc38” perfectly fits the story.
I think it would be nice to include some of the shots but not others, especially the over the top force pushes, the punching, the throwing of crates and barrels, and so on.
All of that fits the context of the story (as well as stuff we see elsewhere strewn around the corridors of the Death Star).
At the very least all of the original dialogue and music should be preserved.
I have to think this isn’t intended as a replacement for any of that, and it’s relatively easy to splice it into the original.
It is absolutely just like the prequels. The twirling, the breakneck pace, the people being slammed into walls, the punching, the use of force push, the operatic choral music. I’ll give you one thing, the use of slow motion is not in any Star Wars movie, prequel or not. (I think Rose’s sister in The Last Jedi is the only possible exception.)
As of the original movie, how do you know what an “experienced force user” is supposed to look like? (moreover how do you know what Vader’s training is, how much of it he’s using, or how powerful he is) These are the only two we’ve even seen yet. Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi were both consistent with that and it only changed beginning with Phantom Menace.
Even taking into account prequel knowledge, how do you know that Vader is violently angry at Obi Wan? Maybe his emotions are more complex than that; he’s had 20 years to think about it. Maybe deep down he’s reluctant to engage him and he’s doing it out of duty to the Empire. Vader being cold and distant is much more consistent with his characterization in the movie and the next two movies.
You’re missing the point again. The most important line, which I noticed that sc38 deleted, is “You can’t win, Darth. If you strike me down I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.” Obi Wan isn’t trying to win, he’s trying to delay Vader so that Luke and friends can get to the Falcon. The moment he sees Luke is okay, he lets himself be killed because he knows he’s much more useful as a disembodied voice/force ghost that can give guidance to Luke.
I mean that if you remake that scene in that style, you might as well remake the whole movie because of how incongruous it is.