Ewan McGregor confirms a Star Wars urban legend about Obi-Wan's duel with Darth Maul being slowed down: "[George Lucas] was worried that people wouldn’t believe it"

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Duel of the Fates (1.5x speed)

Darth Maul in Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace
(Image credit: Disney/Lucasfilm)

It's long been believed that Obi-Wan's climactic lightsaber duel with Darth Maul in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace was slowed down due to actors Ewan McGregor and Ray Park looking a little too good on screen.

Now, that urban legend in a galaxy far, far away has been confirmed once more by McGregor himself during an appearance at Fan Expo Boston.

“When me and Ray did that fight… George over-cranked," McGregor said (via Collider). "We used to shoot on film, and you can adjust the speed that the film’s going through the camera. If you want it to be slow motion, you make the camera run really fast so when you play it back, it’s in slow motion.”

"I remember hearing him saying, ‘They’re going too fast. Slightly over-crank the camera.’ So they over-cranked the camera to make it slightly slower because me and Ray were so fast doing this fight. He was worried that people wouldn’t believe it," McGregor said.

Bradley Russell
Bradley Russell

I'm the Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, focusing on news, features, and interviews with some of the biggest names in film and TV. On-site, you'll find me marveling at Marvel and providing analysis and room temperature takes on the newest films, Star Wars and, of course, anime. Outside of GR, I love getting lost in a good 100-hour JRPG, Warzone, and kicking back on the (virtual) field with Football Manager. My work has also been featured in OPM, FourFourTwo, and Game Revolution.

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