By now, fans know thestoryofStar Warsbeat-for-beat, but it’s also always been a franchise equally built on its iconography. The names, the images, the sounds. And as far back as I can remember, nothing has definedStar Warsmore than the whooshing, whirring hum of a lightsaber. “The weapon of a Jedi Knight,” Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness) says inA New Hope. “Not as clumsy or random as a blaster. An elegant weapon from a more civilized age.”
Boy, have those weapons been featured in many scenes both elegant and clumsy. Lightsaber duels are often the centerpiece of aStar Warsfilm, and that means iconic, classic moments mixed in with a few swing-and-a-miss duds. So, naturally, we’ve ranked them all.
Three quick things before we begin:
To be included, a scene had to feature participants fighting each other with lightsabers, not just using a lightsaber in a fight. I extend my deepest regrets to Obi-Wan Kenobi vs. Jango Fett. (Of course, I also threw this rule out the window several times on this list. I regret nothing.)
I didn’t include any TV series scenes fromClone Wars,Rebels, orThe Mandalorian.Dave Filoni’s small-screen universe is wonderful, but this list does not need to be 150 entries long. (Ahsoka Tano vs. Darth Vader from “Twilight of the Apprentice” would arguably be #1, if that helps.)
I also did not include Darth Vader’s appearance fromRogue One. That scene objectively whips an indescribable amount of ass, but calling it a “fight” is like saying the Death Star had an intellectual debate with Alderaan. Apologies if this offends.
With all that out of the way, let’s get into it.
20) Palpatine vs. Mace Windu, Kit Fisto, Agen Kolar, and Saesee Tiin
This fight scene is, by a wide margin, the funniest bit of unintentional humor in all of Star Wars.Neverhas the Jedi looked more like a crew of absolute doofuses. Sheev Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid), moving at roughly the same pace that Jabba the Hutt would run a 5K, just straight-up slaughters Jedi masters Agen Kolar (Tux Akindoyeni) and Saesee Tiin (Khan Bonfils) right out of the gate. They just sort of watch him do it, flailing wildly. Kit Fisto (Ben Cooke) gets got like 30 seconds later, to the sound of McDiarmid making acting choices that can only be described as “questionable”. Mace Windu and Palpatine then proceed to have the most lifeless lightsaber duel of the franchise, in whichSamuel L. Jacksondoes the absolute least humanly possible across from McDiarmid doing themost. Pure comedy.
19) Qui-Gon Jinn vs. Darth Maul
Really, the only knock on this bite-sized battle in the desert of Tatooine is that it isn’t longer. Darth Maul (Ray Park) parkouring off a speeder-bike and briefly throwing down with Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) is basically just a teaser for the double-sided badassery to come later in the movie. But it’s still a quick jolt of electricity to a largely flat film, because the second Maul stepped on to screen you wanted to know what the cool-lookin' horn guy could do. Plus, lightsabers just photograph kind of gorgeously against brightly-lit outdoor backdrops, something the franchise really only did once before inReturn of the Jedi.
18) Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi vs. Count Dooku (Round 2)
There isn’t really much weight to the actual lightsaber’ing in the opening duel in Revenge of the Sith, other than that whole-ass platform dropped on Obi-Wan that 1000% should’ve shattered both his legs. But you can’t go wrong withChristopher Leeas Count Dooku—arguably the most underutilized character of the entire franchise—making an operatic meal out of lines like “gooood, twice the pride, double the fall.” WhileHayden Christensenoften saidhislines like they were being forced out of him at gunpoint, he also had moments of brilliant physicality, this scene being one of the best examples. Once Ob-Wan gets knocked out of the fight, Anakin justwailson Dooku. My dude is swinging away like he’s freakingJoaquin PhoenixinSignsand his lightsaber is a wooden baseball bat. It’s sloppy but, ultimately, effective, a great piece of foreshadowing of the recklessness that will later lead Anakin to the dark side.
17) Rey and Kylo Ren vs. The Knights of Ren and the Emperor’s Royal Guard
The first entry on this list that isn’t technically a lightsaber fight, but it is a pretty big piece of the franchise’s puzzle: Rey (Daisy Ridley) and a recently-reformed Ben Solo (Adam Driver) simultaneously take on The Knights of Ren and Emperor Palpatine’s Imperial Guard underneath Exegol. Unfortunately, there’s a laundry list of reasons I wasn’t into any of this. It’s the conclusion to thewildlyunnecessary reveal that Rey is Palpatine’s grandaughter, it’s taking place beneath a space battle that barely makes sense, and it’s a dimly-lit, poorly-staged rehash of the immensely more enjoyable throne room team-up inThe Last Jedi.
However, I am also a simple man who enjoys simple pleasures, and Adam Driver’s little shoulder shrug—the one that screams “…gentlemen”—right before he slices his way through the Knights of Ren? Pure bliss. It might not feel completely earned, but Kylo Ren’s brief transformation into a classic, thermal-wearing Star Wars Good Guy is very effective.
16) Yoda vs. Count Dooku
Search your feelings, you know this ranking to be true. Full disclosure: The momentimmediately precedingthe fight itself, when Yoda pulls his lightsaber from his belt like an absolute boss, is one of the hypest moments in movie history. I’ll never forget the reaction in my first screening ofAttack of the Clones; it was like a bomb went off when the crowd realized what was about to go down. To this day, it’s still goosebumps worthy, and might be even better remembered if it wasn’t directly followed by the exact type of embarrassing CGI calisthenics routine that made the prequels so frustrating. Every time I rewatch Attack of the Clones I’m waiting with anticipating for the lightsaber-pull moment, forgetting every time that Yoda’s lil Jedi flips look, sound, and just generally are extremely bad. The argument in its favor is usually that Yoda is using a legit Jedi technique (Form IV), which, fair, but also an Olympic athlete using a legit gymnastic technique in a swordfight would still look really, really funny.
15) Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi vs. Count Dooku (Round 1)
Any lightsaber fight featuring Count Dooku is kind of fascinating because it had to contend with the fact Christopher Lee was 80 freaking years old but also playing one of the most formidable fencers in the galaxy. (The man is a stone-cold legend, but there’s only so much 2002 VFX can accomplish.)Attack of the Clonesfeatures one ofGeorge Lucas' most clever visual workarounds, a pair of extreme close-ups on Anakin and Dooku where their faces are just lit by lightsaber flashes. It’skind ofweird, honestly, but a rare, refreshing break from your standard lightsaber duel framing.
14) Rey vs. Kylo Ren (Round 2)
With three rounds between them—plus two in which they’re on the same side—Kylo Ren and Rey (Daisy Ridley) have the unique distinction of trying to kill each other with laser swords the most out of anyone in theStar Warsfranchise. Their firstRise of Skywalkertango is the weakest, but it’s at least unique in the sense that it takes place in two places at once. Do the Force projection “rules” established byJ.J. Abramsmake total sense? Not entirely, no. But the smooth transitions between Rey and Kylo’s two locations at least keep thingsvisuallycomprehensive, and accidentally smashing Darth Vader’s helmet is about as clear a symbol as you’ll ever get.
13) Kylo Ren vs. Finn
This short woodland duel earns a few major points because the two-second tease of it in the firstForce Awakenstrailer was the most childlike excitement I’d felt towards a Star Warsanythingin a decade. The finished product, of course, wasn’t much to write home about—the real main event would come right afterward—but there is an underrated MVP of this fight that deserves attention: the sound design. Thanks to the prequel films, we’d gotten used to the idea of lightsaber fights as these light, airy things, closer to dances than brawls. But J.J. Abramscrankedup the sound of deep hums and crashing blows. It really sounded like Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and Finn (John Boyega) were throwing desperate bombs at each other. It’s theheaviesta lightsaber fight has ever felt, which makes Kylo’s fight-ending backslash blow all the more devastating.
12) Geonosis Free-for-All
Okay, so this isalsoa cheat since it’s technically not a “lightsaber fight” but like, come on! This is the first time we ever got to see the Jedi in their prime,beingJedi, and not A) Dumb idiots sitting in a circle while the Sith take over the galaxy or B) Hermits living in a tent somewhere. It’s also just stuffed with memorable moments, ranging from the terrible (Jango Fett’s hilariously abrupt death, C-3PO’s awful punnery) to the terrific (that rousing initial charge, Kit Fisto dropping a droid on C-3PO and stopping his awful punnery). It’s pureStar Warschaos and inarguably a shining bright spot of the prequel movies.
11) Yoda vs. Palpatine
This one suffers just a little bit because it happens side-by-side with the much better Anakin vs. Obi-Wan fight on Mustafar. (More onthatbad boy in a bit.) But I also think, for better or worse, the climactic showdown between Yoda and a fully-effed-up-looking Palpatine is Pure Prequels. It’s got lightsaber flips. It’s got CGI fuckery as far as the eye can see. It’s got Ian McDiarmid not just chewing scenery, butdevouringit like a Sarlacc Pit. Aesthetically, it’s an entire mess, but George Lucas has established such an over-the-top, operatic tone at this point that you sort of flow with it. With that mindset, this is one gosh-dang entertaining battle of sabers, insults, and lightning fingers, the Force’s three most powerful weapons.
(Sidenote: Yoda just casually tossing two guards into the wall right before this fight is the funniest bit ofintentionalhumor in all of Star Wars.)
