Updated with Screenshots! New Featurette Showcasing the Cast of Star Wars: The Last Jedi in Combat Training!
Two weeks away from Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and it’s time for some more behind the scenes action to get you pumped! The official Star Wars YouTube channel just dropped a truly fantastic featurette showing off some of the actors working on their combat skills for the upcoming movie. Hit the jump to watch the video, and see the graceful Daisy Ridley, the energetic John Boyega, the fierce Gwendoline Christie, the brutal Adam Driver, and the newcomer Kelly Marie Tran in action!
What an incredible video! Here are some screenshots focusing on each of the actors and their combat styles…
First up, director Rian Johnson gives some input on Daisy Ridley’s lightsaber technique…
Daisy quickly proved to be a natural at this sort of thing…
But she hasn’t completely abandoned her staff at the start of the movie yet, so she also had to do a little training in that department to brush up on her skills…
And now on to Gwendoline Christie and John Boyega who are both looking fierce and determined as they prepare for their face-off in the movie…
Looks like the showdown will be epic…
Here’s newcomer Kelly Marie Tran who plays Rose Tico in The Last Jedi. She may be small, but it looks like she packs a mean punch…
When she’s not punching bad guys out, it looks like she’ll be shooting at them as well in typical Star Wars fashion…
And last, but far from least, we have Adam Driver taking on multiple enemies as he prepares for his role as Kylo Ren. The physicality that Driver demonstrates is really fascinating and the only word that I can think of to adequately describe him in these shots is this: brutal. Driver’s brief performance in this featurette shows that Kylo Ren is a force to be reckoned with in The Last Jedi…
We’ll end with this exciting bit…It seems that both Kylo Ren and Rey will be taking on multiple enemies at once in this movie…
I simply cannot wait any longer. Come quickly December 15th!
Jordan Pate is Co-Lead Editor and Senior Writer for Star Wars News Net, of which he is also a member of the book and comic review team. He loves all things Star Wars, but when he's not spending time in the galaxy far far away, he might be found in our own galaxy hanging out in Gotham City or at 1407 Graymalkin Lane, Salem Center, NY.
God damn spoilers
Where? Here? How very out of character for a website devoted to news, rumors and spoilers.
Or the official Star Wars website that posted the video. 🙂
I know. I have no issue with you posting this. I have issue with Disney. Simply put; I was expecting some nice trening montage, without spoilers. What i get is Rey and Ben fighting (possibly together) multiple opponents at once. Since I was very cautions with spoilers after final trailer hit the net I really am disapointed.
There’s no footage from the movie. It goes without saying Rey is going to be using a light saber in this, and is likely to be in at least one fight…. I don’t understand why you’d even watch a video like this if you’re so sensitive over nothing.
I don’t see much spoiler here. It does look like both Rey and Kylo are training to fight multiple opponents, but there’s no way to know if that’s in the same scene or against the same people.
The only reveal here for me is to know that Rey starts off practicing with her staff prior to changing for the lightsaber, which I might consider eventually as a minor spoiler at best.
Is this website devoted to spoilers? I know when they post anything that could be considered a spoiler, even a mild one, they let you know.
Nope
Rey [Check]
Kylo Ren [Check]
Finn [Check]
Phasma [Check]
Rose [Check]
Luke [Negative]
i hope he is so powerful force user now that i doesnt need a lightsaber.
I’m thinking that’s the direction of travel in The Last Jedi.
Like Yoda?
yes, i know. Yoda shouldnt have need to jump a round like that.
Yoda was a Jedi. Sometimes you have to fight.
They are keeping everything around Luke a secret. Just watched the live Facebook video, and he wasn’t allowed to answer a fan question about using a lightsaber.
I saw the question that Kelly Marie Tran read out. “Does Luke smile in The Last Jedi?”.
Her reaction was instantly to turn to Rian Johnson as if she didn’t have a clue because she shares no scenes with him in the movie.
Likewise John Boyega earlier in the week being asked on GMA about acting with Luke, but responding with just seeing Luke around. Again implying that he shares no acting scenes with him.
Or asking for permission to answer?
Another possibility. Interestingly she passes the buck over to Rian Johnson to answer. Maybe she just hasn’t seen the movie yet, so genuinely doesn’t know.
I think not only her but all the actors including Mark haven’t seen the movie yet.
Ridley had, Boyega hadn’t. Tran saw it last night (I think).
Adam training against a green lightsaber…
To be fair, Rey is also using a green lightsaber in some shots. I’m not sure if color matters in training.
I think it’s more intriguing that he is fighting multiple people with lightsabers (as opposed to just 2).
i think that is just foam, and it happens to be green? cuz yeah, rey and her trainer were using the same thing. probably just generic training sticks.
I don’t think it matters. He could actually be training a fight scene against the Praetorian guards for all we know, or the Knights of Ren (unless they’re the same), or Rey, Luke, etc.
I wouldn’t rely on that to give us a hint on the plot.
What i really love about this is everything.
Damn she hits her head really hard
As a kid there were no lightsaber toys so we used to play with broom handles – Believe me, you get hit with one of those, it hurts!!
I can relate to that. Yeah, that was never fun.
I can relate to her. I practice with a wooden katana most of the time. I have hit my head or elbow once or twice with it before and it does hurt or a while. That’s the reason I usually put on some protective gear at least on the elbows (because that’s the part that I hit most offen).
As I was watching this I started thinking about my boys watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and I thought how cool would it be in this new trilogy to have a new weapon not scene in the the Star Wars movies.. (That I can remember)
Here’s my vision..;)…
Kylo is in a fight with someone, during the fight he is thrown from his saber… The hilt drops to the ground in a way that the kyber crystal breaks. When it’s picked up by the other party (good guy) they ignite it, but the blade is shorter, like a sai. they then notice the broken crystal… and kinda put 2 and 2 together..
New fight:
The person with Kylo’s short saber grabs their normal (full length) saber and goes after to continue the fight. When the fight resumes they realize that having 2 different length sabers is to difficult to control and they begin loosing and about to be killed when they take the full blade and break the crystal on it to make that blade shorter as well… and walla…. We have a pair of sai’s..
now begin some new kick ass fight scenes.
Wow…Adam Drive looks like he has majorly bulked up for Last Jedi. He looks huge!
He looked huge in Girls too, I think he just was a marine.
I know this is a dumb thing to be bugged by… but anyone else think Daisy’s grip on the lightsaber looks a little awkward? Not gonna ruin my movie experience but something I just seem to always notice!
For me it doesn’t strike me as awkward. Maybe just a little different. Then again, I know in my own saber practice I handle my sword in a way that seems strange to many people. The thing is, it feels natural to me and I’m comfortable that way. That’s all that matters really.
Haha I guess if it works for her, it works for me!
Yo Adam’s giving it all he’s got, he looks so intense. Hoping for some awesome battles!
What seems clear is that Rey is having a fight with multiple enemies at a time.
No Mark Hamill training? Or they just don´t want to show it….
We know from the trailers that Finn And Phasma fight, however when they are shown here they are practising with stuntment. Is it too much to assume that in the other shots stunt people are standing in for other actors?
Mmmm may be you are right, but from this and other training shown I figured Daisy Ridley was training a choreografy with more than one enemy.
Could I be wrong? Of course I could.
We will know in 11 days!
Well… that really did pump me up. I think Adam looks great. I love the dude and I hope he’s really got some meat in this one to shut the haters up. Gwen/Phasma too.
I really liked seeing Adam Driver using his Lightsaber as akin to a broadsword, because that actually makes sense for his character. Who is essentially this emotionally charged individual which is a contrast to Vader’s fighting form which is more refined but can get vicious. Especially, when angered.
Most interesting. For starters, the choreography for this movie seems a lot better than The Force Awakens. I know this is going to sound like heresy but I’m actually not that big of a fan of the OT lightsaber battles, outside of Luke and Vader’s battle on ESB.
I prefer the PT era battles. I know I’m probably going to have some person tell me that I’m misled or some appeal to authority about how fights and uses of weapons should go. But really I do not care. It is just my personal preference.
My hope going forward is that the fight choreography for TLJ develops its own unique style. As in, each character who fights has a unique fighting style that fits their modus operandi. For example, I love Adam Driver wielding his lightsaber, almost like a giant broadsword. It makes sense, given his personality.
Contrast this with Rey, who I always saw as her being more speed/ dexterity fighter. Overall, I’m very much looking forward to this movie and seeing how the fights turn out.
As a side note, I’m really looking forward to seeing Phasma and hopefully she kicks Finn’s butt. Because, I felt like she was so criminally underutilized and her being forced in a trash compacter by her own former subordinate should be more than enough motivation for her to kick Finn’s butt.
Also, for clarification; the one aspect of the Lightsaber battle I enjoyed in TFA was the environment, namely the Lighting and the Lightsaber effects when they’d clashed. Those looked great and my hope is that remains for TLJ.
What makes a saber fight good is not the flawless choreography, but the drama between the people fighting in them. Most of the prequel fights were about nothing, went on way too long, and were simply about showing off choreography. The OT fights, while far less choreographed, are so much better, because there’s actually something going on between the characters.
I felt the drama in the PT, especially the Maul, Qi-gon and Obi-wan fight. And even the fight between Anakin and Obi-wan fight in ROTS. In my view, I enjoyed the PT fights more as it portrayed the idea of the Jedi being these individuals who could utilize the Force in a such a way that it was unnatural.
For me, whenever I saw those fights, I always envisioned it was me(or the audience) being able to follow those fights as opposed to ordinary Star Wars characters who if they were present watching they’d just see a blur. As for your point on the characters, I will concede that is the one reason why I could tolerate the Saber fights in the OT.
But really, I just prefer the PT era of saber fights as it conforms to how I’d always picture the Jedi fighting. And really just see the OT’s fight choreography as being a bit archaic and rusty. Which fits the era, given the lack of Jedi Order, and the lost knowledge of the Jedi.
What was going on in the Maul/Qui Gon/Obi Wan fight? Absolutely nothing. They were 3 guys fighting for no other reason than they were Jedi and he was a Sith. It was totally lacking in any real meaning for me and was there clearly for no other reason than showing off fight choreography.
I disagree. They are fighting to free Naboo from the trade federation and in response to the Jedi’s apathy. So I could buy the stakes involved with the fight.
That’s not “drama”, though: it’s just the reason they’re fighting, aka “the excuse to show off flash lightsaber moves”. What is happening, in that scene? What is going on between those characters? Nothing. As you said, they are fighting to free a planet (that the audience never actually see being occupied) while other people (Padme, and JarJar and – ffs – an 8yo Anakin) are ALSO fighting to free that planet, in a much more effective manner. Maul, in that scenario, is almost completely irrelevant.
And besides this very flimsy excuse… what is going on between those three guys? Two character, only one of which we actually know (and, mostly, we know him from the previous movies) are fighting a horned dude THEY don’t know anything about and WE, as an audience, don’t know anything about.
The only “drama” you feel there is because you experienced that scene as a kid and it had “Duel of the Fates” (which is way more dramatic than ANYTHING going on the screen) as a soundtrack – that’s it, really.
And, sad as it is, the same goes for every lightsaber duel (or, really, for every time they light a saber up) in the PT, with the exception of Anakin/OB1 in RotS (which is a disaster for a different set of reasons).
What I mean was that nothing was going on between the characters. There was no personal struggle between the combatants, so the fight had no emotional weight, unlike the Vader/Luke fight or and Vader/Obi Wan fight. It was just two Jedi fighting a guy who looked like Satan that we knew absolutely nothing about.
I agree. My favorite lightsaber duels are in PT. OT fights were boring to me for the most part. TFA fights were boring too.
I hope that in this movie they will go back to PT style duels.
These fights look more like PT fights and I really like that. TFA fights were boring in my opinion.
Awesome. No luke fight scenes? Or just saving it for the movie I guess. I really hope that we get him fighting off the knights of ren. I’m sure Adam drivers marine training came in handy