Honestly, I am one of the ones that is completely fine with how the original duel between Vader and Obi-Wan went as it was a big tower of power half machine going against a far past his prime warrior, so it being limited made sense to me.
However, this redo is shockingly good.
it looks ok (for a fan creation), but even if the original was flawed it still works better for me. the video at least doesn't have the over-the-top flailing around with glowsticks like the prequels had, but oh look, conveniently placed barrels for vader to throw around and still more style over substance.
when you start with the OT you learn through luke what the force is able to do over time, and telekinesis was a big point in ESB. for me it felt kinda surprising and cool when vader casually brakes stuff off without even looking, while yoda himself had to focus on it when doing it earlier. and vader using it offensively possibly adds a "damn, never thought of that". it's much better pacing and shows how the powerlevel ramps up. you wanna see what's gonna happen next.
another annoying thing about fights like that that for me the force doesn't turn you into superman. when you're old you're old - but on the other hand your mastery of the force should be on a level it shits all over some dude with a stick. a simple physical confrontation with some forcejumps/push to spice it up is stupid when it should be the other way around. of course you want some amount of flashy effects because 2 dudes trying to mindrape each other isn't that exciting for people to watch, but there must still be better ways than turning yoda into a green rubber ball. it's also adds to the original that it was very subdued in physicality, and more a battle of the minds between 2 expert force users, who also knew each other well enough. especially like you said vader being vader vs an old obi wan.
a good example would be the TOR intro where darach saves satele, having the battlefield awareness while duking it out hard is a great "show, don't tell" (and how bioware managed to pull off in 6 minutes what disney couldn't in hours of fucking movies is still a mystery)
Yeah I agree I always saw it as a formality between them; like a fencing match that gave Vader a chance to gloat. I never got the sense that Obi-Wan was fighting for his life.
Slightly related is another short fan creation that always stuck with me:
eh, it's the very definition of dumbing down a scene. PREVIOUSLY ON STAR WARS!
obi wan only conveying via voice and mimics when speaking of his memories has a much bigger impact than "HERE LET ME SHOW YOU IN CASE YOU FORGOT!". of course you need a good actor for it else it turns into total cheese, but alec guiness nailed it in that scene.
and even when you watched the prequels first, at that moment you'll remember what
you think was most important and memorable, which is probably totally different for most people than showing how anakin turns into charcoal (which is borderline comedy in that context).
but then ambiguity is a lost art and mainly used to cover plot holes these days.
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