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So who does everyone reckon will be the obligatory new kick-ass acrobatic bad guy? Personally, I think it will be either Count Dooku or Jango Fett, probably Jango, as Christopher Lee's no spring chicken these days (sorry if your reading, Christopher Lee). I'm betting Jango will have the fastest paced fights, and Dooku will stick more to the standard fencing style. GL'd better have something amazing up his sleeve, because playing the Darth Maul card first will leave fans expecting a lot of action in Episodes 2 and 3. I'll watch and love any Star Wars I see though.

Well, we thrahsed a lot of this out in the 'art of the lightsabre' thread, byut we really didn't get much further than saying 'proper' sabre fights would be rubbish- but some us think that a more tradiotnal fight would be very artistically pleasing... but would it be the equal of the Ep. I fight? Well, Nick Gillard says the new stuff is better, so...

How does Jango fight Jedi? Exactly? That's not a healthy occupation.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the lightsabre duels in TPM, they were easily the best of the 4 but lets face it, they were NOT mindblowing. What you need to understand is Jedi and Sith are masters at using lightsabres. Qui-gon was old, and Obi-Wan was a mere padawan. Darth Maul absolutely skinned both of them, killed Qui-Gon and even when Obi lost the plot, Maul still managed to knock him over the edge of the.....thing. If anyone has seen the old martial arts movies (The Blade), those duel scenes are mindblowing. This is what I will be expecting in Ep2. TPM was just a warm-up, wait and see!!!

Oh, I think Obi-Wan will be THE a*** kicker of Ep2 as he fought a Sith Lord and recognises the importance of being a master of the lightsabre. I don't think any Jedi has faced a Sith Lord except Obi and Qui, not even Yoda.

But Obi and Qui didnt face a sith lord, they faced a Sith MASTER.

They blew MY mind fairly well in TPM...

And while Maul was probably better, he didn't exactly thrash them totally. Nick Gillard built the whole fight so that each move was in a 'check' position. Maul was victorious in the end, but it was no casual victory.

What I am saying is that although TPM duel scene was very good. It wasn't amazing. Compared to some of the Hong Kong movies I have seen, TPM was mediocre. I think this was intended so they can show a Jedi's true ability during the Clone Wars and other events leading upto them.

Also, it doesn't matter whether Maul was a Lord, Master friggin slave or a beginner, he was a Sith. Something No Jedi has faced. Siths are violent and the epitome of evil. Where Jedi will be learning about councelling, a Sith apprentice will be catching blaster fire with his a*** cheeks.

Yes, regardless of his rank, Maul was clealy the swordmeister (or a Corsair, as my role-play would call him...).

AN interesting point is to consider whom would be better trained- Sith or Jedi. Neither side gets muich practical experience... I would have imagined the Jedi, with their huge support structure, would have better training facilites, mock duels and so on. Yet Maul was amazing. How he trained so well remains a mystery- Palpatine does not seem an ideal sparring partner.

I often wondered that, Palpatine would just not have the physical strength or agility to provide Darth Maul with the training he looked like he received. Maybe he telekenetically controlled the lightsabre to duel with him.Strange how the quality of Sith training never degraded for 1000 years, even though only Darth Bane had probably engaged Jedi in battle.
On the subject of quality of lightsabre fights, I was very impressed but I can understand what people have said about Hong Kong movies. They're just on a different level entirely. The Matrix is the best example of people getting hung up on how good martial arts in movies is, when it was pretty average in that film. Rarely does classic on-screen martial arts come to the multiplexes, you tend to have to dig deep into old video collections to find truly "blow you away" fighting.

Well, Matrix WAS very professional...

Telepathic control of the sabre is unlikely- I think we can assume the classic approach is best. Palpatine may acvtually be an incredible swrodfighter, (though I doubt it), but as you say. Maul has been taught in a way that looks like he was taught by a peer, not an old Master. My best guess is that the Force helps you learn the basics and then lots and lots of simulated practice, somehow. Unless there are big Sith secrets waiting to be revealed...

Sorry, I guess that I'm still bugged by the fact that, according to The Academy, the Matrix had better special effects than TPM. That and the fact that people now see Keanu Reeves as the king of martial arts. Yes, hats off to Mr Reeves for being able to learn a fight scene off by heart and have a degree of flexibility. At least Ray Park was a true martial artist by trade, it definately showed.

Oh, RP is the dude. Matrix had a great gun fight as well, remember- something that, as I have said before, Star Wars is yet to crack. It's had gfood gunfights, but not great ones.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon had the best fights

The rumours are there's going to be an extensive fight between Dooku and Anakin, later joined by OB1 since Anakin is not yet strong enough to fight Dooku.

My thoughts on the matter are this.

Dooku will use his mind more than his body to fight. As stated before, he's no spring chicken.

Jango indeed will have extensive fight scenes that will be physical. We know he fights Obi-Wan on Genosha and can not defeat him so he retreats. some of the pics. of this fight look awesome.

Plus the newest rumors are that Yoda will be ingadged in the fighting in EP II. Now wont that be intresting to see.

Actually, I do think Yoda fighting spoils his image a bit.

What-ho, DarhJin. Sticking around, I hope?

Yes, that is if you will have me.

I think we need to reserve judgement on yoda fighting at this point.

I actualy think Yoda fighting would spoil his image and what we have came to understand about him. I mean lets face it, he was past it in TPM, he walked doubled up and needed a stick. Look at Ben Kenobi in ANH. He was getting on but was no where near the state Yoda was in. He still got a pasting. I think Yoda would be best left to the training and councelling. Leave Mace & Obi to bang heads together.