Star Wars Day 2025: 10 movie moments that prove Star Wars is still cinema magic

The Star Wars franchise released its first film in 1977 and continues to dominate the space fantasy genre to this day. It's the official Star Wars Day, 2025, so let's discuss some cinematic magic from the movies.

The Skywalker Saga has 9 films that are categorized into three triologies as listed below:

The Original Trilogy (1977-1983): Episode IV: A New Hope (1977), Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983).

The Prequel Trilogy (1999-2005): Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999), Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002) and Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005).

The Sequel Trilogy (2015-2019): Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (2017) and Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker (2019).

Besides the ones included in the trilogy, there are three standalone movies - 1.Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)

2. Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)

3. Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008).

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10 Star Wars moments that prove it's still cinema magic

Finn and Rey vs. Kylo Ren

In Episode VII: The Force Awakens, there's a fight that follows is about proving something beyond lightsabers. For Finn, it’s about standing up for Rey and Kylo Ren; it’s about establishing control, power and identity.

Finn steps up first. He’s not trained. He’s never used a lightsaber. Still, he fights. Gets in a few solid strikes too. But Kylo’s a wrecking force and wounded but skilled. It doesn’t take long for him to put Finn down.

Rey was cornered and shaken as he reached for the saber. The same one Anakin and Luke once held. It flies past Kylo into her hands as the force kicks in. Her fight with Kylo is rough, raw, and full of tension. She doesn’t win because she’s better.

It’s a passing of the torch and it tells us two things loud and clear: Rey is strong with the Force. And Kylo Ren, for all his posturing, is not invincible.

Luke Skywalker enters the beast's belly

Luke walking into Jabba’s palace calmly. He’s not the farm boy anymore.

Jabba doesn’t care and doesn’t respect him. Luke tries to talk, sure, but Jabba laughs him off and drops him into a pit with a creature that could crush him with a hand. That rancor fight is tight and gritty. Luke doesn’t have his saber. He doesn’t panic. He just uses everything he had.

He wins. But the bigger win? He’s not just surviving anymore. He’s thinking like a Jedi.

Speeder Bike Chase

This chase scene in Episode VI of Return of the Jedi is still one of the most thrilling sequences in the franchise. Not because of flashy effects but because of how fast everything moves. It’s lean and aggressive.

Luke and Leia jumping on speeder bikes and chasing stormtroopers through a forest is kind of wild. These bikes fly like they’re built for speed and not safety. Trees fly past in a blur. One wrong move, and it’s game over. But they knew what had to be done.

It’s also a turning point. Leia ends up separated and that’s how she meets the Ewoks. Which, believe it or not, changes the entire war.

“Lord Vader… Rise”

You can hear the hum of the machines and feel the dread Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.

After Obi-Wan defeats Anakin on Mustafar, Anakin is barely alive. Burned. Broken. Palpatine finds him, brings him back, and rebuilds him. Literally. This is where the black armor and the breathing begin.

Palpatine says, “Lord Vader… rise.” Anakin’s transformation into Darth Vader is complete and not just in body, but in soul. And we know that he's not the same person anymore.

This is when hope really dies for the galaxy.

Obi-Wan vs. Darth Vader

This fight doesn’t have flips or fancy choreography. and it doesn’t need it in Episode IV: A New Hope.

There’s a lot of silence between the strikes. Years of pain packed into a few minutes. Obi-Wan’s not trying to win. He knows it as well as Vader knows it..

But Obi-Wan has something bigger in mind. He lets go. Drops his guard. Allows Vader to strike him down. Not because he’s weak, but because he sees the bigger play. He becomes one with the Force. And gives Luke the push he’ll need later.

Anakin and Padmé in the Arena

So this one feels like it was made to be loud and chaotic and it works in Episode II: Attack of the Clones.

Anakin and Padmé are thrown into a literal death match. Three wild alien beasts. No weapons. No backup but just survival. Anakin uses the Force to help. Padmé climbs and fights like someone who’s not waiting to be saved. They’re messy, scared, but determined.

The real chaos hits when Jedi arrive. Lightsabers everywhere as clones drop in. It marks the beginning of a full-on war.

This scene matters not just for the action, but because it's the real kickoff for the Clone Wars.

Return of the Jedi

Let’s loop back to Jabba’s palace, where Luke vs. the rancor deserves its own moment.

The rancor is brutal and towering with teeth and claws. The pit is small and dark. No lightsaber. Just instinct and guts.

Luke doesn’t try to overpower it but outsmarts it. Uses a gate to crush it. It’s quick. Brutal. Even the rancor’s handler breaks down in tears.

Luke didn’t win with power. He won with his intelligence.

Duel of the Fates

This one? It’s built differently. The music drives the scene as much as the fighting. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan vs. Darth Maul is fast, sharp, and dangerous. Maul’s double-bladed saber is something no one’s ready for. He fights like a weapon.

Qui-Gon dies. It hurts. Obi-Wan’s response isn’t calm. It’s rage. Emotion. But somehow, it works. He defeats Maul. Barely.

Revenge of the Sith

This one hurts.

Palpatine makes the call. It is the Order 66. And just like that, the clone troopers turn. Jedi across the galaxy get taken out by the very soldiers they led into battle. No warning.

Some die mid-fight. Others are ambushed. We see familiar faces fall as Plo Koon, Aayla Secura, and Ki-Adi-Mundi. It’s not just a betrayal. It’s a purge. And it changes everything.

The Jedi go from leaders to hunted survivors. The Empire rises. And the galaxy falls quiet.

Darth Vader Saves Luke

Palpatine is torturing Luke. and lightning arcs through him. Luke is screaming. Pleading. And Vader stands there idle.

But something breaks in him. Finally. After all the years of darkness.

He grabs the Emperor and throws him down the shaft. It costs him everything. The lightning fries his systems. But he asks for one thing. To see Luke. With his own eyes.

This is Vader’s redemption. The fall of Palpatine. The return of Anakin Skywalker.

It’s the emotional center of the whole saga.

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On Star Wars Day, let's take a moment to appreciate the legacy set by the franchise. Which movie did you add to your watch list?