These lightsaber fights were EXTREMELY well choreographed, and well shot. A few other things I geeked out about:
* Lightsabers aren’t actually frozen beams of light–they’re LOOPS of plasma, that come out of the handle, turn around, and flow back into the handle. They resist motion because they’re actually already IN motion. It’s less like hitting someone with a sword, and more like hitting them with a chainsaw. This explains a lot of things that happen in the duels–any time a lightsaber hits the ground or an obstacle, it skips and kicks away from the absorbed momentum.
* Because lightsabers bend in a loop, they actually have an “edge” and a “flat,” even though it’s not clearly visible–your cutting technique actually matters, A clean cut will pass right through a human body, but a sloppy cut (like the wild swings that Kylo, Finn and Rey are throwing around) is going to contact human flesh and then actually kick away. This is why when Kylo cuts Finn’s back, he leaves a long gouge rather than just cleaving him in half–it’s a sloppy cut, and he has poor control.
* This also explains why the shape of the side emitters on Kylo Ren’s lightsaber aren’t a problem–when two lightsabers connect, they lock together and stick (imagine two chainsaws locked together!). This is why Ren doesn’t have to worry about another blade sliding down his and severing the plasma vent on the side. You can see this in the way Ren manipulates Rey’s sword when they’re in the bind in the end of their duel–he knows that if he’s physically stronger he can actually yank Rey’s saber around in her hand.
* You can tell here that while all of the combatants have at least some close quarters combat training, none of them REALLY know how to use a lightsaber. You can see this especially in when Rey first attacks Kylo Ren–note that she keeps trying to stab him. It’s very rare that we see other lightsaber users attempt a stab in the heat of combat–nearly every other blow attempted is a wide, sweeping slice. Stabbing strokes like that are *quarterstaff* techniques–designed to take advantage of the extra range that comes from having an extra 2 feet of stick to put between you and your opponent. It’s obvious when she attempts these attacks that she overbalances herself (because the lightsaber is shorter than the quarterstaff she’s used to) and that Ren has never been attacked by a lightsaber this way before.
* Also, look at how janky Ren’s lightsaber blade is! The thing is so obviously a Pinto compared to the Ferrari that is Anakin’s old lightsaber, and it’s all beautifully rendered without a word just in the design of the prop and the effects.
I loved pretty much everything about these movies, but the lightsaber choreography may be my favorite part.
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