The stunt coordinator of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith recently revealed that the film's iconic lightsaber fight almost took an unexpected darker turn.
Most Star Wars fans would argue that the climactic fight between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker in the final prequel trilogy film was one of the best lightsaber battles in the franchise's history.
The moment was consequential to the rest of the galaxy in the coming years as it officially ended the friendship between the two characters and it led to Anakin becoming the villainous Darth Vader.
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith Stunt Coordinator Reveals Lightsaber Fight Was Almost Darker
In a recent interview, Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith stunt coordinator Nick Gillard revealed that the climactic lightsaber fight originally had Anakin try to decapitate Obi-Wan.
"Anakin grabs Obi by the throat. He disarms him, too: his lightsaber’s on the floor... and he says, ‘Listen, I’m really sorry, but it has to be this way.’ And he launches his lightsaber [to] cut his head off," he explained.
"And Obi — in a defense move — turns out of it, [summons] his lightsaber to parry that blow that’s coming for his head, [and] in the turn goes through Anakin’s arms... His arms got cut off and his legs got cut off at an angle."
Gillard described the original idea to have "worked beautifully." However, they "hated" the results in the extended version.
"We campaigned to have it changed, but George [Lucas] was having none of it," he added.
This is intriguing behind-the-scenes information regarding the film as it suggests that they had a much darker plan before they changed it to the version that we saw in the final cut.
While it would have been an awesome moment for fans to see, perhaps Lucas thought that the violence would have been too much and he opted for a more acceptable choreography that would not upset the general audience.
What do you think of this behind-the-scenes detail? Let us know in the comments!
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