When George Lucas first took viewers to the galaxy far, far away, they got their first glimpse at a lightsaber duel when Darth Vader faced off against Obi-Wan Kenobi. Although the fight scene from 1977’s original Star Wars was brief and limited by the technology of its times, later installments added some much-needed emotional context to the scene.
While the fight scene between Vader and Kenobi from the original film holds deep emotional significance in the greater Star Wars saga, the quality of the lightsaber duel fails in comparison with some of the other duels in the franchise. As a result, some fans took it upon themselves to recreate the iconic fight, and the internet couldn’t keep their cool about it. Here is how netizens reacted to the fan-made recreation of the Obi-Wan vs Darth Vader duel.
Fan-made Video Recreates Obi-Wan vs Darth Vader Duel From Original Star Wars Movie
Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi first faced off against Darth Vader in Star Wars: A New Hope, directed by George Lucas. The brief fight scene sees Kenobi stalling Vader by engaging him in a lightsaber duel, allowing Luke to safely escape and eventually destroy the Death Star.
However, given the technological limitations of the time, the lightsaber duel did not have any intense choreography. YouTube channel FXitinPost recreated the original scene number 38 from the 1977 film, adding new fight choreography that can rival some of the best fight scenes in the franchise. You can check out the full lightsaber duel below.
The fan-made scene sees Alec Guinness’ Obi-Wan Kenobi and David Prowse’s Darth Vader go toe-to-toe as they use their Force abilities in tandem with their lightsaber prowess to one-up each other. Since the video was posted almost five years ago, it has been viewed more than 49 million times, making it one of the most popular fan-made Star Wars videos on the internet.
Netizens React to the Fan-made Obi-Wan vs Darth Vader Lightsaber Fight
The fan-made video recently resurfaced on social media, where netizens discussed its merits and demerits. Most fans compared it with Lucas’ original scene from the 1977 film and considered the fan-made recreation an improvement on most lightsaber duels in the franchise.
Here is what fans had to say about the fan-made Obi-Wan vs Darth Vader lightsaber fight on X (formerly Twitter).
Fans doing billion times better than Disney.
— Mandoboyband (@ibottsla) June 23, 2024
To be fair, it was George Lucas’s first saber fight and those CGI effects weren’t available back in 1977
— Taylor S Hurst (@TitansMan97) June 23, 2024
If this had been on the big screen in 1977 peoples brains would have melted.
— Wall Street Silver (@WallStreetSilv) June 23, 2024
If they spent more time on entertainment instead of being gay then maybe we could've gotten something like this.
— BaBaBellew (@BaBellew) June 23, 2024
Anyone can make a good lightsaber battle except disney
— not_thee_goon✝️ (@not_The_Goon_) June 23, 2024
They should splice this into the actual film.
— Robert Menn (@RobertMenn) June 24, 2024
As the tweets indicate, most fans approved of the recreated scene and praised its action choreography. Furthermore, fans also noted how the scene was better than most of the lightsaber duels produced under Disney, including the Darth Vader vs Obi-Wan rematch in the Obi-Wan Kenobi miniseries. Most users opined that Disney was simply inept at crafting good lightsaber duels and the fan-made scene served as a good template for the same.
Some fans even expressed a desire to see the fan-made scene added to the original film. However, others defended Lucas’ original scenes as the technological limitations of the time prevented the filmmaker from going all out in the fight scene. Nonetheless, Lucas created one of the best lightsaber duels in the franchise during the Battle of Mustafar, in Revenge of the Sith, which saw the same two characters facing off.
The Star Wars movies and TV shows are streaming on Disney+.
