mustafar
Been watching Star Wars movies lately. Diane and I finished a Lord of the Rings marathon not too long ago and recently realized that although we’d done the extended-edition-LotR thing twice now since we’ve been married, we’d never done Star Wars. I rented Episodes IV and V from the local movie place and watched them piecemeal on successive nights.
The lightsaber duels are always a highlight for me. I love the choreography, but it’s always bothered me that it’s not in the least bit realistic as far as what would actually occur if the weapons, combatants, motives and intentions were real. I’m no expert on swordplay, but I just have a feeling watching the movies that backflips over the opponent, exposing one’s chest with one’s weapon off to one side and even twirls—turning one’s back on the opponent—probably aren’t the best moves. Clearly others agree. Also, for your reading pleasure, lightsaber combat has been categorized into various “forms” in an attempt to explain the differences in energy level and general athleticism between the earlier and later films. It’s an interesting exercise, but it’s difficult for this untrained eye to discern much difference between lightsaber styles on screen, at least between humans—Yoda’s style, for instance, is obviously going to differ.
I still want one.