I created a pretty epic sequence some years ago using iMovie and Adobe After Effects.
1. Film your sequence. Use "light sabers" with actual "blades", like a wooden dowel or a slim stick. Make sure it shows up well in your shots. Sometimes spraypainting them a bright color or wraping them with bands of colored electrical tape works well.
big tip: think about your shots before hand! When the swords go behind objects or move extreemly fast it compounds the complexity and can make for some difficult post production.
2. Import footage using iMovie
3. Open the .dvi file in AfterEffects, FCP or a similar program
4. Create a layer on top of your footage layer that is the same duration. Add a "beam" effect. Toggle the key frames for the "start position" and "end position".
5. This is where it get's tedious, but once you get into it, it goes pretty quick. (I would't suggest tackeling anything over 30 seconds). For each frame of video, set the start position at the bottom of the wooden shaft, and the end position at the top of the shaft over your footage. You have to do this frame by frame, but it is nice beacause using the beam effect, each new frame retains the old saber's position and it is usually just a little adjustment for each.
start, end. start, end. start, end....
5. Add a glow effect to the beam layer and fiddle with the colors and brightness till it looks good.
6. Export the finished movie as a .dv file, then import it to iMovie or FCP.
Voila!
That is really about as easy as it gets. I would be skeptical of any programs that try to automate the process, because of all the variables involved, i cant imagine an algorithim that would adequatly replace the judgements that are made when you do it yourself.
If you make it that far and need sound effects for the light sabers, I think I still have them all saved somewhere I'd be happy to email them to you. You can just drop them into iMovie or FCP like any other wav or aif file.
-good luck!
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