Anakin VS Obi-Wan: A Perfectly Balanced Duel (Why It’s Great)

[Music] for which of this [Music] if you're a fan of good lightsaber duels Star Wars Episode three Revenge of the Sith is one of the most entertaining movies in Star Wars history in terms of war variety quantity and imagination Revenge of the Sith takes the likes of a Dueling cake but just from the prequel trilogy but the entire saga no Star Wars movie has so much lightsaber combat jam packed into one experience every single jewel is good for its own reasons and save for a few instances have an essential reason to be in the story everything in this movie and the prequel trilogy as a whole leads to the climactic jewel in the third acts between obi-wan Kenobi and his former apprentice turned Jedi Knight tense if lords Darth Vader in 2005 this is a duel fans of Star Wars and waited for since it's very inception what sounds me to this day it's not just the way it works as a satisfying crescendo to the story present in Episode three or how it combines all the core tenants of Star Wars totally but how it crystallizes one of the most important themes in the entire saga balance this sequence distills everything great about Star Wars into 15 minutes and today we're going to break down exactly why this perfectly balanced jewel is one of the sagas finest moments [Music] it's often easy to think of the Yoda pouting jewel and the Anakin obi-wan jewel has two separate fights but both are so intertwined I think is actually best to count them as one the last of the Jedi versus the last of the syph the elders of the force and the battle-hardened champions locks into battle on two planes friends turned enemies ancient evil versus ancient Goods day versus night it's probably about as balanced as the force ever gets in the saga it also juggles the wide-ranging tone of Star Wars really well on the one hand we get treated to a little bit of humor which is juxtaposed to the far darker heavy affair of seeing Anakin's friends fail to get through to him I will do what I must you will try some clunky lines aside this is the prequel trilogy firing on all cylinders we get to see two veterans of the Clone Wars fully go at it with all of their might and it's an interesting matchup because Kenobi knows firsthand just how strong Anakin is he's on the backfoot for the entirety of the duel as Anakin just steams ahead of him it's a neat little payoff to seeing Anakin goaded into overpowering Dooku anger I don't use them that was just a taste of the full power of this fully armed and operational Sith Lord the fire and brimstone aesthetic of Mustafar makes it feel like they are genuinely fighting in the inner depths of hell whilst choosing to set Yoda's duel with Palpatine in the empty Senate room is a nice little visual metaphor for the galaxy's loss of democracy and stability truly things will never be the same in the Star Wars universe again both fights make full use of their settings to great effect Yoda and Palpatine's battle starts in a more enclosed space before we treat it to this epic shot as the pair rise into the gigantic Senate room Anakin and obi-wan on the other hand move through tight corridors and rooms butts adding to the sense that the Jedi Master is boxed in and being overpowered more so than perhaps any other lightsaber battle in the saga the environment is just as much a threat as the opponent the para force to take cover from a hail of lava they balance themselves precariously on steel pipes that could also easily give way there's always an insurmountable sense of danger this feels like the fight of Kenobi's life this feels like a legendary fight in Jedi history I love this shot when Vader obi-wan grab onto each other as an almighty spurt of lava rises up from below them they look like two boxes holding on to each other exhausted they're throwing everything at each other in a desperate bid to come out on top whilst the Mustafar portions have more of a focus on choreography and physical danger the Khorasan portions instead evolved into a more force focused sparring match the verticality of this fight makes it feel really unique it's just epic to see Palpatine unleashes powers as he lobs Dome after down with the Jedi Master from below but not only is Battle of the heroes an epic score fitting of the Anakin obi-wan duel fight we've known about since the franchise is very beginning they kind do love the faith's jewel of the mother-loving fruits very barrier I've seen some detractors to this sequence cite the choreography as being far too overdone but it's more akin to a dance than an actual fight and there's no way to duelists could anticipate each other strikes like this but I think this kind of thing just ignores two key facts ie all good action scenes are in some sense a dance they flow and connect movements together to create the most satisfying patterns we as an audience once a witness real fights don't look anything like movie fights even in gritty affair there's always a clear flow in the cuts between angles and moves B this criticism ignores the fact that in the story of Star Wars Jedi are exceptionally quick and able to anticipate moves our level that is beyond standard human limitations as we can see from a lot of this it's like both fighters have anticipated their opponents next 15 moves using the force and are already countering accordingly remember a Jedi can feel the force flowing but it also obeys your commands and there's no trickery in the movement here Hayden Christensen and you McGregor really did trained to pull off all of this stuff just a glance some of the behind the scenes training videos are more than enough to be incredibly impressed with their efforts in my opinion the difference in this particular one is they have to fight each other so we got some very very good performances there it's also worth mentioning that we see them come to blows about sabers very briefly I think it's a nice little moment of levity oh one literally clotheslines Vader with his leg this is some WWE man what's the Anakin obi-wan sequence is representative of a more serious tone Lucas wisely opts to cleanse the palate a little with Yoda and Palpatine whilst the Mustafar set parts are drenched in operatic tragedy the Senate set moments in this sequence instead opted for some of that good old Star Wars humor when Yoda is pissed off here is just no regard for the bad guys and it's hilarious he barely moves a muscle and they both get a face full of [ __ ] wall and let's not forget this epic force bush [Music] [Applause] [Music] I'm going to need that one more time [Music] [Applause] also shoutouts Palpatine's boy just standing here wondering if he's going to make a speedy exit before he gets rekt I bet as soon as he went off camera he hoisted up his robes and started sprinting down the hall also the Yoda SAS is just on point Yoda and Palpatine are the Gandalf its Saruman the Dumbledore in Voldemort's of the Star Wars universe seeing these expert Wizards of the force finally throw down is nothing short of epic but it also reveals an interesting detail in the mantra of the Sith will become powerful and I know pouching here predicts his very demise but he imagines it the syph way he imagines that one day Vader will become so powerful that he will take his rightful place over Palpatine and destroy him just as Palpatine did to his master Plagueis like Yoda passing believes that as a master he represents what Anakin will grow beyond but to a Sith this is no burden but a triumphant rite of passage that only ends when he himself is destroyed I also enjoyed just how much fun pop scene is having during the sequence in essence it doesn't really matter what happens here the syph have won even if he is destroyed Vader has been turned the Jedi as an organization has been wiped out of course he locks blades with Yoda and laughs every time as he looks down upon him Yoda is able to repel Duke whose lightning at the climax of Attack of the Clones but here the Emperor's might proves too much and the fight ends in a stalemate as the para blasted applying a Floria force energy the stalemate at a time when Yoda has lost everything and Palpatine has gained everything isn't enough to cut it for the light side of the force this time in Croatia I must come fail in our Palpatine essay I mentioned how obi-wan Kenobi takes the coward's way out after defeating Anakin rather than go down and finish him off he walks away a few of you commented saying that obi-wan wasn't being a coward and I shouldn't say that about him but i 100% stand by this just look his pained expression after the battle is over I seen what she's anakin suffer is it heroic to leave him there to burn to death slowly to let the fires of Mustafar take him to leave the most destructive most powerful force using the galaxy alive so there's even the slightest 1% chance he could survive and reach even more havoc upon the galaxy no of course it isn't Vader lives not just because poverty moved heaven and earth to sustain him but equally because his light side master couldn't do the right thing obi-wan and Palpatine are both to blame for the creation of Darth Vader balance and besides obi-wan doing the wrong thing here that's one of most interesting things to ever happen to his character this moment this decision it runs through the heart of the original trilogy to give her friends too good of a son to bit of a brother to destroy him truly so instead I won by rights him he condemns him I loved since the order 66 seen earlier on in the movie everyone seems very cold to the events that transpired her even Master Yoda gets a moment of heartbreak but we the audience get nothing to suggest that this is destroyed Kenobi we get nothing this moment is where all of that pain comes out almost as if he's been bottling it up and storing it all inside just so that Anakin II could hear all the voices that cried out and were suddenly silenced even though obi-wan defeats Anakin now this is framed as a victory indeed the most striking thing in Revenge of the Sith is that the good guys loose in every single sense of the word obi-wan and Yoda are forced into exile the rest of their days Padme dies and something far worse before the man who is once Anakin Skywalker destroy the Sith we must obi-wan and Yoda both failed but it is this Titanic failure to destroy the Sith but allows the events of the original trilogy to fall into place is this failure that causes both Jedi to help Luke Skywalker as best as they possibly can beyond what they can to learn from their mistakes and to make him the greatest Jedi that will ever live - you have no strength mastery but weakness folly failure also yes area most of all I am a Jedi like my father before me the greatest teacher failure is [Music] the storm was tracks in this video we're very kindly provided by Samuel Kim music you can check out some of his awesome tracks over his channel the details of which are in the description below thank you for 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Keywords: star wars, anakin vs obi wan, anakin vs obi wan yoda vs palpatine, yoda vs palpatine, prequel, prequels, star was prequels, star wars prequel trilogy, prequel trilogy, revenge of the sith, anakin, obi wan, yoda, palpatine, lightsaber, light saber, lightsaber duel, star wars duel, best star wars duel, video essay, review, analysis, breakdown, problem, lightsabers, anakin skywalker, phantom menace, attack of the clones, prequels are great, prequels suck, star wars best lightsaber battles

Id: ypZ6dfyj5TE

Length: 12min 14sec (734 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 12 2019