CLASSIC IMAGE: FAMILY CONFLICT...

Now more experienced and better able to handle himself with a lightsaber, the last of the Jedi, Luke Skywalker, holds firm against the might of his father, Darth Vader, within the Emperor's Throne Room, in this terrific image from RETURN OF THE JEDI.

CLASSIC IMAGE: DUEL AGAINST DARKNESS!

The Sith threat to the Galaxy now confirmed and out in the open, fearless and brave Jedi Knight Qui-Gon Jinn, though cut off from his Padawan, Obi-Wan Kenobi, continues to take the fight to the savage creature, deep within the bowels of the power complex of the City of Theed. But Darth Maul will soon prove a force with the Dark Side too powerful for even this noble hero to contain, in this terrific action sequence from EPISODE ONE: THE PHANTOM MENACE which we can't wait to see in 3-D...

NICK GILLARD COMBAT CON UPDATE (19/5)

Swordsman extraordinaire Nick Gillard as EPISODE III's Jedi Knight, Cin Drallig. 

More great news in on the Nick Gillard lightsaber class at the upcoming US Combat Con. 


This from Jared Kirby:


It looks like everything is set for registration to open tomorrow (May 19th) at 9am PST for Nick Gillard's Jedi Fighting class at Combat Con.  Prices and times have been updated on the page at http://thecombatcon.com/jedi-fighting.
 
Please extend an offer to your readers to register for Nick's class before it's open to the public.  All they have to do is register for Combat Con (http://thecombatcon.com/register) right away and then we'll send them a link to the private page for pre-registration.  From the amount of emails I have gotten regarding the class I can tell you that it will fill up very quickly.


Finally, fans will be able to learn from The Master of lightsaber swordplay!

IN CLASS WITH THE LIGHTSABER MASTER!

Kyle Rowling puts Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen through their paces for the lightsaber duels of EPISODE III.

Fans of the superb lightsaber choreography created by Nick Gillard for the STAR WARS Prequels will soon have their dreams come true and be able to participate in such action themselves with this great news from Jared Kirby at the US COMBAT CON event, taking place this Summer in Las Vegas.

Here’s the info:

Master of the craft. Stunt co-ordinator/director Nick Gillard will reveal all about his superb Prequel Trilogy lightsaber duels.

Nick Gillard (assisted by Kyle Rowling) will teach a lightsaber master class at Combat Con in Las Vegas June 24th, 2011 (http://thecombatcon.com/jedi-fighting). For the first time ever, you will have an opportunity to learn lightsaber fighting from the man who created it for Star Wars I, II and III.

In this master class Nick will teach a complicated run from Revenge Of The Sith which covers all of the Jedi moves while explaining the rules involved in Jedi fighting.  He will also teach how to write it yourself. This World Premiere master class will be the first time it's been taught since Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen learn it! 

This special master class will be a separate charge (TBD), but only participants registered for Combat Con will be able to attend so register now (http://thecombatcon.com/register).  Space is very limited to make sure participants get a lot of individual attention.  It will fill up quickly so don't miss this rare opportunity to be trained by the man who created all the fights for Star Wars I, II and III!

And, if you haven't already seen our terrific, and highly comprehensive, interview with Nick Gillard, check it out here: NICK GILLARD INTERVIEW

CLASSIC IMAGE: CARBON CONFLICT!

Within the smoke filled, heat fuelled scenario of the Bespin Carbon Freezing Chamber set at London's ELSTREE Studios, here's a terrific shot from EMPIRE of Mark Hamill showing his exhaustive sword fighting/training skills in action (Note the un-rotoscoped carbon rods attached to the lightsabers) against Darth Vader (presumably played by Bob Anderson, though Dave Prowse did do a small part of the epic action sequence), in what many fans still regard as the ultimate STAR WARS lightsaber duel of choreography and dramatic impetus.

CLASSIC IMAGE: SPRINGING THE TRAP!

On the top level observation spire of General Grievous's command warship, The Invisible Hand, which is immersed in a huge orbital battle above the Republic homeworld of Coruscant, legendary Jedi Knights Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker engage in their final (all too brief on screen) lightsaber duel with the evil Count Dooku, so as to rescue the captured Supreme Chancellor Palpatine.

It will be a conflict with tremendous consequences for young Anakin Skywalker...

CLASSIC IMAGE: SUN, SAND AND 'SABERS!

Here's a shot I had never seen before, so I thought I'd put it up on the blog. A head shaved Ray Park (you just have to look at his fighting stance to see that its him!) and Obi-Wan double Andreas Petrides (who did the leap shots of the character for the duel) make the most of the good weather on an empty part of the outdoor Mos Espa set in Tunisia to practice their lightsaber skills and rehearse the next stage of the epic finale duel for EPISODE ONE action scenes, choreographed by Nick Gillard, filmed at LEAVESDEN STUDIOS in the UK.

With thanks to Chris Baker for the image.

CLASSIC IMAGE: SITH SWORDSMANSHIP!

An interesting EPISODE II image used online for a devoted STAR WARS fans desktop wallpaper, showing Christopher Lee as the evil Count Dooku flexing two lightsabers for part of a filmed but ultimately deleted duel sequence between the Sith Lord and Yoda in the Geonosian Hangar. Let's hope that one day the entire action sequence will appear on Blu-ray.

Outside of playing Count Dooku, our best wishes go out to Christopher Lee on his accepting his BAFTA fellowship award for his life and career in movies this weekend in London. It's well deserved and great to see him properly acknowledged.

CLASSIC IMAGE: FATEFUL FOES

A classic posed image of Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Hayden Christensen as Darth Vader, their lightsabers locked for the final battle of the Prequel Trilogy movies. Modern series Stunt Co-ordinator Nick Gillard was responsible for many of the choreographed lightsaber moves initiated for the photo sessions (like the one of Kenobi, Windu and Skywalker on the cover of AFICIONADO double issue 8/9).

CLASSIC IMAGE: ANAKIN ATTACK!

In a classic sequence from EPISODE II (which got lots of cheers from UK and US audiences on its premiere screening nights), though heavily truncated down from what was originally choreographed and filmed in 2000, the brave Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) goes on the attack against the fiendish Count Dooku (Christopher Lee). Note the digital face of Lee superimposed by ILM onto his excellent double, Australian stuntman and swordsman, Kyle Rowling.