Yeah, that part of the duel between Anakin and Dooku was the only time where you saw sabre glow. They had both actors swinging lightsabre props that were basically bright fluorescent tubes (IIRC a bit thicker and brighter than the Force FX sabres). But the problem with those props was that we didn't see any scenes where they had back glow and seeing the blades contact on screen. Mind you we still don't know if Force Awakens will do this too -- all we've seen so far is Finn standing still while holding that lightsabre. But I'm guessing (hoping) that Abrams will finally achieve what previous directors have failed to do, and that is to have consistent backglow whenever a lightsabre blade is ignited.

I know that a lot of people won't agree with me on this, but I personally didn't like the lightsabre choreography in Attack of the Clones. A lot of people liked it because it was very 'swingy.' Lots of very wide arcing swings which visually looks impressive, but is ultimately quite impractical in a fight. There's a lot of wasted movement. IMHO The Phantom Menace had the best lightsabre choreography in the saga so far. The fight between Darth Maul, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui Gon Jinn is fantastic. There are a lot of moves thrown into it at rapid speed, but each movement means something. Every movement is attempting to attack or defend, and each attack is actually aiming at an opponent's body, not at the opponent's blade. Each block or parry is thwarting a potentially deadly strike. Missing a single defensive manoeuvre would be fatal, as Qui Gon Jinn and Darth Maul ultimately discovered. There was even a moment where fighters were too close to continue fighting with their sabres, and they had to resort to hand-to-hand combat, e.g. Darth Maul using kicks, Qui Gon Jinn using an elbow-backfist combo etc. I think that one thing that really helped with Episode I was Ray Park (Darth Maul), who is an accomplished martial artist in real life. He helped choreograph action and stunt sequences, and his martial arts expertise really shows, lending the sabre fights a much more realistically deadly flavour that isn't seen in any other Star Wars film. One of my favourite moments is when Obi-Wan charges Maul after Jinn's death; he unleashes a relentless barrage of lightsabre strikes on Maul (and Maul also throwing a volley of counterstrikes). Phwoar!

By comparison, the sabre choreography in Episode II felt more like cheerleading, gymnastics and acrobatics. Very fancy but mostly ineffectual movements -- especially Yoda. A lot of people love how he jumps around like a frog, but he makes little serious attempt at trying to strike Dooku. He's more of nuisance rather than a credible threat. The Clone Troopers weren't much better either, with a lot of strutting around looking fancy, but ultimately really impractical movements (they made themselves massive targets that would get them immediately shot in actual combat). Although to Lucas' credit, he did realise that he had these shortcomings in Episode II and sought to rectify them in Episode III. The lightsabre choreography in Ep3 was a lot better than Episode II; they really tried to cut down on "movement waste" and tried to make it more realistic. It still wasn't as good as Ep1, but it was definitely a marked improvement over Ep2. For the Clone Troopers, Lucas had a former US Navy SEAL advise on the movement/choreography of the clones, and actually had the ex-SEAL wear a motion tracking suit, getting him to simply move as he would in actual combat, and the animation of the Clones was based on the movements of that SEAL. The result was bloody fantastic, as we saw the Clones moving in a far more efficient and realistic manner compared to Ep2. No strutting around with wide open stances, making themselves bigger targets; there was no wasted movement or 'grandstanding,' just simple but effective realism.

Images

Episode 1 lightsabre choreography

Fast & furious with no wasted movements. Each move has an intention. Choreography assisted by experienced martial artist, Ray Park (Darth Maul)

Episode 2 lightsabre choreography

Pretty twirly movements with loads of meaningless/wasted movements. Characters aren't even in range half the time and end up striking at each other's blades rather than at each other!

Episode 3 lightsabre choreography

Tried to recapture the effective and more realistic style of Episode 1. Didn't quite get there, but points for effort.

Episode 2 Clones

Lots of unrealistic strutting around, showing off the look of the Clones, but also leaving them really exposed as open targets. Lots of wasteful and ineffectual movements.

Episode 3 Clones

Far tighter and realistic movements. No grandstanding. Based on motion capture from an actual US Navy SEAL. Compare with photos of real soldiers in right inset.