Anyone watching Star Wars for the first time as a young kid wanted to fight in a lightsaber battle. Despite the duels only taking up a small amount of time in the original three movies, the lightsaber (or laser sword, as George Lucas prefers) became one of the most iconic parts of the franchise. And while the scenes changed a lot in the prequels, lightsaber-ing has still been seen as the epitome of Star Wars. There are plenty of different lightsabers used throughout the movies and beyond, but let’s take a look at some of the behind-the-scenes facts that went into those memorable battles.
In Episodes IV, the first duel we see (and the only one for the movie) is between Obi-Wan and Darth. It feels like a simple battle between a couple of old fogies, ending with Obi-Wan’s noble sacrifice of letting Vader slash him and becoming one with the force. But that’s not necessarily how it almost played out. George Lucas scripted the scene like that, but he wasn’t sure if he should let Obi-Wan die. It wasn’t until the actor, Alec Guinness, insisted on Obi-Wan being killed by Darth Vader. Guinness would go on to say in an interview that his suggestion was based on him no longer wanting to read the “rubbish” dialogue. So, by Guinness being above the role he’s most known for, he changed the entire landscape of the franchise.
Episode V ended with Luke and Vader battling in Bespin, leading to Star Wars‘ most memorable line: “I am your father.” But during production of the scene, the dialogue went a little differently, with Darth saying, “Obi-Wan killed your father.” This was to ensure that the film’s big reveal didn’t get spoiled before release. Just imagine how Star Wars would be different if Darth Vader said those lines, especially in the Dark Helmet-esque original voice.
The lightsaber battles in Episodes I-III got a little out of hand, though, with too much special effects and choreography to make them really meaningful. As Red Letter Media points out in their essential breakdown of the prequels, the duels were over-stylized to the point of removing all emotion and humanity. With that CGI, we finally got a battle with Yoda, which was a mixed bag. We also got to see the first purple lightsaber wielded by Mace Windu, which was due to Samuel L. Jackson just wanting to do whatever he wanted, and Lucas, like his underlings before him, just didn’t tell Jackson no.
For The Force Awakens, we can only hope that the lightsaber battles live up to our childhood fantasies. Thankfully, the new film’s behind-the-scenes points toward some pretty stellar duels, as J.J. Abrams has said they will be much closer to the original films. Let’s get our hopes up for more memorable fights because it wouldn’t be a good Star Wars movie without them.
