Until 2005, Star Wars fans could only imagine the fateful lightsaber duel that ended in Anakin Skywalker’s physical transformation into Darth Vader. But when it finally happened on screen in Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, what we got was both massive and strangely muddled. Anakin and Obi-Wan floating around on platforms in lava is perhaps the best microcosm for what’s great and terrible about the prequels; the idea feels like something awesome you’d have your action figures do, but the execution is questionable.
Who’s responsible for the strange way Anakin and Obi-Wan’s lightsaber duel was filmed? According to a new interview with stunt coordinator Nick Gillard, the infamous moment when Obi-Wan has “the high ground” over Anakin was potentially suggested by Steven Spielberg, not George Lucas.
The rumor that Spielberg may have secretly orchestrated Anakin and Obi-Wan’s showdown has persisted for a while. But do these claims have any legitimacy? A deep dive into Star Wars history reveals just how complicated making Revenge of the Sith truly was.
Spielberg’s Revenge of the Sith contributions, explained
Since 2005, before Revenge of the Sith even hit theaters, Star Wars insiders were making it clear that George Lucas’s old pal, Steven Spielberg, had helped with several aspects of the movie. According to longtime Star Wars historian J.W. Rinzler:
“[George Lucas] gave Spielberg a few scenes to play with at the animatics stage: a bit of the Mustafar duel, and Yoda's duel with the Emperor, along with a couple of others. How much of Spielberg's contribution made it to the final film, only Lucas or Spielberg could say, particularly as George revised and reinvented every scene in the film so extensively in editorial.”
To be clear, this means Spielberg was essentially working with storyboards. Animatics are animated storyboards, which help directors visualize their final shots. So by giving Spielberg animatics to “play with,” Spielberg could suggest visual ideas for how plot points might unfold. In behind-the-scenes featurettes released with the Revenge of the Sith DVD, it was explained that Spielberg had come up with several scenes that were never used, including various alternate takes and “his version” Order 66.
But does all of this create a smoking blaster that proves Spielberg invented the moment where Obi-Wan has the high ground?
The high ground mystery remains unsolved
While it’s generally agreed that Tom Stoppard, of all people, served as an uncredited script doctor on Revenge of the Sith, what remains unclear is whether the concept of Obi-Wan having the high ground came from the screenplay or the result of the production process.
In a new interview with Nick Gillard on the Chris and Company podcast, Gillard made it seem possible that the high-ground scenario was Spielberg’s idea. This detail led to several articles claiming Spielberg is responsible for this iconic moment, but what Gillard actually said is a lot less definitive. Gillard’s precise words are, “I think Spielberg... I think that [was] Spielberg's idea, that scene. I might be saying too much now, but I'm pretty sure it is.”
So the new evidence is murky at best, but what else do we know? Earlier this year, in an interview with Empire, Gillard said the duel originally happened differently.
“They both land on the side of the lava flow and immediately start fighting. Anakin disarms Obi and grabs him by the throat. He’s about to chop his head off, but Obi sucks the lightsaber into his hand in a defensive move to try and block it, and in doing so cuts straight through Anakin’s arms and legs.”
As reported by Den of Geek, Gillard said Lucas “wanted something else” and “we would be foolish to second-guess him.” But why did Lucas want something else? Did Spielberg influence him? Maybe not, because that’s where things get weird. In 2019, Gillard suggested to IGN that the high ground thing was his idea, because in real life, “[Hayden Christensen] hates walking on a slope, so that was in my mind about the higher ground. If I can get [Anakin] on the slope, Obi might have a chance.”
So which is it? Was this George Lucas’s idea? Spielberg’s idea? Gillard’s? Gillard has claimed all three, and while it’s certainly not his fault for not having a photographic memory of a project he worked on nearly two decades ago, there’s clearly no definitive answer.
Here’s what we know for sure. Spielberg worked on some animatics to help visualize the Mustafar duel. He is also very good friends with George Lucas (they happily collaborated on four Indiana Jones films, one of which came out just three years after Sith). So the idea that Spielberg invented the “high ground” scene isn’t outrageous, especially since the guy who coordinated the stunts, Gillard, seems to have the idea in his mind.
But none of this is confirmation, and the specific ideas of Spielberg’s that made it into Revenge of the Sith aren’t entirely known. They likely never will be, and perhaps that’s for the best. After all, only a Sith deals in absolutes.
