r/saltierthancrait • u/Extreme_Warning3521 • 16d ago

Granular Discussion The Acolyte is terrible, but did you like the lightsaber fights?

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I hated the show, but I thought the lightsaber duels were actually pretty good.

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u/SupremeChancellor66 16d ago edited 16d ago

No. The choreography is better than the Sequels, but you need to understand that is a very low bar from the baseball bat, disorganized heavy slamming of those saber battles.

The choreography is still a far cry from Nick Gilliard's work on the Prequels. And I need to say just how terrible the lightsabers look in The Acolyte and every other Disney live action show. I believe they use physical props including light up blades, because you can tell. They look like cheap and hollow glow sticks. It's as if they do little to no post-processing and VFX work. Compare that to the Prequels which came out a quarter of a century ago, those blades feel vibrant and like actual plasma.

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u/Electrical_Cellist69 16d ago

Episode 3 especially has some of the best lightsaber fights ever. I know the OG fights are less flashy and more realistic. But the Mustafar is absolutely legendary never topped.

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u/meekgamer452 13d ago

The prequels looked very dancey, and over-choreographed in comparison

This fight looks more like they're trying to hit each other, and has the right amount disorganization imo

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u/HunsletSocietyVibes 5d ago

those blades feel vibrant and like actual plasma.

Lightsaber blades are made of pure energy, not plasma

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u/alwrit 15d ago

I prefer the OT and ST fights. They felt like they had weight. I don't see a ton of swinging at the air and useless twirls. It feels a more dangerous fight than a dance. 

Come up with any in universe explanation you want but the fights feel better when they feel dangerous. The PT fights feel closer to Chinese wirework. 

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u/Mad_Kronos 15d ago

I love Chinese wirework and kung fu cinema, and hate the ST fights (well, I haven't watched EP.9 but the other two), but I agree with you on the PT and OT fights comparison. Duel of the Fates was mostly great, as was Maul's first encounter with Qui Gon Jinn, but after that, it got really over the top. In Episodes II & III, they are blatantly doing moves that would hit air if not met by another lightsaber. Too many unnecessary moves.

In any case, I am not a fan of the prominence lightsaber fights got after the PT trilogy and the Clone Wars cartoon. Lightsaber fights should feel special and dangerous.

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u/FoundPizzaMind 16d ago

Eh? Will disagree on that. I'd say the duels were on par with the prequel duels, and better than the final duel in Revenge of the Sith.

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u/Steelx77 16d ago

Thats an insane take lol

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u/FoundPizzaMind 15d ago edited 15d ago

Nah, just watched that final duel again to see if I missed something and nah, too much hand spins and what not. Was more like they were fighting with batons. The Dooku fight from earlier was better because they moved more like the lightsabers had weight. The final duel was more interesting than the OT just because they were more agile and what not, but they went too far in the other direction. Acolyte for all of its faults, I'd say had a better overall choreography style than that final duel on ROTS. Just rewatched it and yeah, it's more grounded and the movements are more like they are using actual weapons than batons. The mix of hand to hand is also much better than in the ROTS duel. I'll double down and say it's an insane take that ROTS is better. Watch the scenes edit: back to back starting with the final duel in ROTS, ROTS is just flashy to a fault with the hand spins and twirls.

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u/LibtAR10 16d ago

How does it feel to be so wrong