6 changes that could’ve made The Phantom Menace Great

Talking During the Lightsaber Duel

Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace gave us one of the greatest lightsaber duels in the history of the franchise. It also featured one of the most epic scores of John Williams’s career in “Duel of the Fates”. It was an amazing battle and was one of the few moments of Episode I that lived up to the hype and made the 16-year wait between Star Wars movies worth the wait.

The only problem with the fight is that there isn’t any dialogue between the participants. In every lightsaber battle that has come before and even after this one, there has been some banter between the Jedi and their Sith combatants. It was extremely awkward that in this battle the fighters remained mute.

It makes even less sense when the Jedi are wondering who exactly this dark fighter is. They wonder if he’s a master or apprentice but don’t even ask when they are dueling him. After Darth Maul kills Qui Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan is just hanging there, he again doesn’t say a word. One would think an evil Sith lord would want to taunt his opponent or even try to get him to join him in the Dark Side.

Having some dialogue in the lightsaber duel would’ve made it truly epic. It would’ve helped flesh out the character of Darth Maul and give him an actual personality in the film instead of just being basically a weapon. It also would’ve fallen in line with the rest of the lightsaber battles throughout the saga, instead, it is an outlier due to the lack of banter.