Clone Wars

[Drunk Monk]

Ray still gotz the power of the darkside.

Watch the Original Darth Maul Help Bring [i]Clone Wars[/i]' Most Incredible Lightsaber Duel to Life


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James Whitbrook
Today 11:15AM
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Filed to:STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS

Watch the real become unreal.

Image: Lucasfilm

[url=https://io9.gizmodo.com/that-incredible-clone-wars-fight-is-even-better-when-it-1843112047]Ahsoka and Darth Maul’s duel for the planet Mandalore on last week’s jaw-dropping [i]Clone Wars[/i] wasn’t just perhaps the best ever lightsaber duel on the entire show: it might just be the best ever lightsaber duel in [i]Star Wars[/i], full stop. This behind-the-scenes look offers plenty of evidence as to why because it’s clear Lucasfilm pulled out all the stops for it.
Legendary stuntman Ray Park physically embodied the live-action versions of Maul in [i]The Phantom Menace[/i] and for his brief appearance in [i]Solo: A Star Wars Story[/i], although he was dubbed over by Peter Serafinowicz and [i]Clone Wars[/i] actor Sam Witwer, respectively. This new featurette taking a deep-dive into what went into the fight is almost as mindblowing as the episode itself because you get to see Park step into the now-metallic shoes of the Dark Side acolyte once more.



Turns out the dude can still twirl a stick around like a double-bladed lightsaber [i]real[/i] good.
It’s an absolute delight to see Park take on mocap duties to help inform Maul’s abilities once more—matched up against the equally-admirable-to-watch stunt artist Lauren Mary Kim, who provided mocap for Ahsoka’s balletic, two-weapon fighting style. But as the featurette highlights, mocap wasn’t the only thing that went into making this fight the beautiful spectacle it was: it truly was an amalgam of Kim and Park’s stuntwork, enhanced by [i]Clone Wars[/i] animation team to include the Force-driven flips and leaps and stylization that has become the hallmark of the show’s aesthetic, matched by two incredible performances in Sam Witwer and Ashley Eckstein.