Imagine seeing this shot in the trailer for Return of the Jedi back in 1983! What did it mean? Was Luke going to be on Vader's side? Had Luke given in to the dark side?Continuing what I started with my "Empire duel in real time" and "Duel of fates in real time" posts, here is the final showdown between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader from 1983's Return of the Jedi.
Other than to discover the fate of Han Solo, this is what moviegoers were interested in seeing when the movie premiered. Unfortunately, George Lucas also felt his fans would enjoy seeing Ewoks. Silly man. I've taken the liberty of removing that problem.
Two thoughts about this sequence: First, it dawned on me that when Luke finally overpowers and begins to beat Vader down, ultimately severing the same hand Vader sliced off of him in The Empire Strikes Back, he and Vader are in the same basic positions on the screen (Vader to the left, Luke to the right) they were in Empire, only in Jedi, they are moving from right to left (as opposed to moving left to right as in Empire).
Remembering the lesson of the cave
Secondly, the beginning of Revenge of the Sith (when Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin defeat Count Dooku) felt very much like this scene from Jedi. It even looked like it, thus giving Star Wars fans a sense of false hope about the rest of the last prequel...
Not directly related to the duel, but a great scene nonetheless, here is the end of one of the all time great movie "villains":
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