May the Fourth: Hour XVI

The Duel of the Fates in 100 Words

Complain all you want about the prequels. Hell, I’ll likely join you, though they’re all so weird, visually, that dismissing them outright is an oversimplification of things. (Especially Revenge of the Sith. Dang.) Just don’t step to the Qui-Gon Jinn/Obi-Wan Kenobi/Darth Maul three-way lightsaber duel at the end of The Phantom Menace. Stunningly choreographed, expertly paced for maximum tension, and taking full advantage of its reactor-shaft environment (a good fight always derives much of its character from setting), it’s one of the best fight scenes ever filmed. John Williams’s score is astonishing too, though once this is heard, it can’t be unheard…