It may just be the power of suggestion, but it seems like different picture settings were applied to the duel than the rest of the film. It seems strange, but I can't put my finger on it.

One specific example of what appears to be an effect of this is "blue drift." It comes off the walls, this blue glow. You can see it on the left of the frame in the shot at 1:21:01.

Because the sabers aren't "despecialized" anyway, and these settings mostly serve to make the scene seem strange, perhaps you would want to try a half-way point for the duel.

(Too bad there isn't an HD source for the '97 SE.)