With the sequel trilogy about to end, Nick Gillard talks to Entertainment Weekly about the trilogy he worked on, the prequels, and walks through some classic lightsaber battles.
Here, EW and Gillard look at the stunning work from Revenge of the Sith.
The prequel trilogy’s most devastating moment was the one that was fated all along: the brutal duel between Obi-Wan and Anakin. The master and apprentice finally clash on the molten planet of Mustafar. The fight that ensues is a whirlwind — a confrontation between former allies who know each other’s every strength and weakness. When Obi-Wan croaks, “You were my brother, Anakin,” it isn’t just the end of a years-long friendship; it adds a heartbreaking new layer to Darth Vader and Obi-Wan’s original duel in A New Hope. Filming the entire sequence took about a week, but McGregor and Christensen rehearsed for two months until they could nail every kick, spin, and jump. The entire path of the fight had the actors traveling one kilometer and through seven different soundstages.
“Obi and Anakin had to be really similar, as one taught the other, but Ewan moves very differently to Hayden, so the differences are very subtle,” Gillard explains. “When you saw them at full speed in the rehearsal room, it was a thing to behold.” Obi-Wan ultimately bests his apprentice, but it’s no victory: Anakin Skywalker dies, and Darth Vader rises.