Anchorhead said:

chosen1 said:

I believe the expanded universe put a damper on the original trilogy's thunder. It tool all of the fans imagination out of the plot. What's your perspective?

I wanted to address this separately and Bingo has discussed it as well. Lucas took care of shutting the door on the fans' imaginations long before the EU was anything more than a few late 70s\early 80s novels. Novels which, at the time, were almost completely unrelated to the original story other than an occasional name-check or reference to the first films.

Lucas controlled what little EU was allowed so he could control the story. He decided what level of imagination was allowed, not the EU. If anything, the early EU - Foster, Daley, and Smith - was truly an Expanded Universe - new characters, new enemies, new adventures.

I gotta agree, the oldest EU is probably the best. George had showed an inkling of the universe, and the early authors had a lot of fun in the remaining vastness of their imaginations. At times it was silly or cheesy, but it was good old fashion fun. I wish there could be some sort of EU reboot today, because as Bingowings pointed out so well, the EU contracts the universe rather than expanding it. What brilliance the earlier writers had, what with the Corporate Sector authority, Mimban, etc. I would love for someone to even make a fan film of Splinter of the Mind's Eye. We could have nice look at the completely different direction Star Wars might've taken.