So let’s look at this battle this way, the fight between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader should have been a lot more intense in A New Hope. Why? Look at their history and then look at the utter hatred that Vader has for Kenobi. Now look at how played up Kenobi has been since the start. To some he might have been just a crazy old hermit, but once the prequels brought him out as a young man and eventually a Jedi Master it made more sense why he was out in the desert watching over Luke and why this fight should have been much more than it was.
Realistically you couldn’t have expected Alec Guinness to perform the same kind of stunts that his counterpart would have done way back then. Chances are he couldn’t move nearly as well and might not have agreed to do the part if that had been in his contract. But this fight was severely underwhelming since it was more of a lightsaber touch-battle and there were never any of the heavy clashes that resulted in two high-powered energy swords being slammed into one another with full force. Granted, Vader was likely a much more physically-imposing opponent at that time than Kenobi would have been, but in terms of Force strength Kenobi was Vader’s match and more.
The clip above gives a good idea of how the fight should started at least, but given that the third prequel showed an epic showdown between Anakin and Kenobi it’s reasonable to assume that a rematch should have been just as awesome. Back then CG was not a factor in this battle aside from the lightsabers, and the flips and acrobatic movements that the opponents performed in Episode III wasn’t going to happen. Instead it was a game of cat and mouse that left people wondering just who was playing which role.
Kenobi’s death scene is iconic really since he’s giving Darth what he wants while at the same time giving the others a chance to escape. But this is a Jedi Master that has taken down some of the worst opponents and survived to tell the tale. He took out Anakin when he was still young and extremely strong with the Force, and depending on if you want to follow what’s considered non-canon now he even took out Darth Maul more than once. This battle could have been so much more than it was simply because Kenobi, even as an old man, would have the Force to draw upon, and would be able to take the fight to Vader in a much more impressive way.
I’m talking bulkheads warping and creaking from the Force being used in a massive, impressive way. Lightsabers ripping panels apart and scoring the floor with black marks from their passage. That kind of thing would have been absolutely awesome and could have elevated what should have been one of the most commonly rewound scenes in the movie. Kenobi’s last stand was still iconic, but the fight could have been so much more intense.
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