While it is indeed cool for the reasons you expressed, that particular scene always bugged me simply because the lightsaber didn't really appear to be doing its job. It was acting more like a laserbat, knocking people down and throwing them into the pit. For a weapon that's supposed to cut through anything, it wasn't cutting through anything at all. And I'm not a big violence nut that loves to see people's bodies become separated from themselves in the most creative way possible, but to me, even as a kid, it seemed kinda like censoring the carnage to a more "acceptable" level.