10 Things From the ‘Star Wars’ Prequel Trilogy that Were Actually Good

6. Lots of Lightsabers

The lightsaber is arguably the coolest and most iconic thing out of the multitude of cool and iconic things to come out of “Star Wars.” The look, the sound, the sheer power of it – it all radiates pure awesome. And yet, for being as monumental as they are, the lightsabers don’t see a ton of use in the original trilogy. “Return of the Jedi” has a fair amount of Luke using his Jedi weapon, but in “A New Hope” and “The Empire Strikes Back,” we see lightsaber usage in only a handful of minor scenes outside of the pivotal duels.

But considering that the prequels take place when the Jedi were still at large, we were treated to loads of scenes with lightsabers. Deflecting laser blasts, cutting through walls, slicing droids, slicing limbs, clashing with one another – we saw it all!

And then there were the great fights. Now, I’ll be the first to admit that watching Luke fight Vader in “Empire” and “Jedi” is much more exciting and enjoyable because of the tension in those scenes, and how pivotal those moments are for the characters. That being said, the fight choreography in the prequels is much more refined. So much so, they make the fight between Old Ben and Darth in “A New Hope” look like two drunken old men whacking each other with their canes. A lot of people complain that they look too good, that it looks so rehearsed to the point of it being a dance. But dances are still incredibly entertaining to watch. Especially dances of death. When Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon Jinn take on Darth Maul, or when Obi-Wan faces off against Anakin, it’s utterly mesmerizing. The moves are so rapid, and fluid, truly befitting warriors who have spent their entire lives training. Hell, I’ll even go as far as to say that Yoda flipping around in “Attack of the Clones” was great too. Silly as it was, it was a good bit of fun to watch.

At the end of the day, the prequel movies at the very least can be enjoyed as popcorn-flick thrill rides. Without the multiple stellar usage of lightsabers throughout, they wouldn’t even have that saving grace.