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The Prequel Trilogy Films vs. The Novels.

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Getting ready to read the Novelizations of the Prequel Trilogy for the first time, Although I'm a huge fan of the (Non-Special Edition) Original Trilogy of films I was kind of disappointed with the Prequel films especially Episode 1. I've read some reviews of the Prequel Trilogy Novels from readers who say their better then the films themselves. If you have read them is this true?

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They at least go into far more detail and flesh the characters out much better. I enjoy a lot of novelizations simply for the added scenes so I might be a bit biased.

TPM works better but is only a decent read. AOTC is pretty much the same. Both are well written books but share the limitations of the films.

But ROTS...that's a winner. Not only does it wipe the floor with the film, it makes many Prequel-isms palatable. This is due to the writer, Matthew Stover, who also wrote the phenomenally dark Apocalypse Now-esque Shatterpoint.

VADER!? WHERE THE HELL IS MY MOCHA LATTE? -Palpy on a very bad day.
“George didn’t think there was any future in dead Han toys.”-Harrison Ford
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As, yes, the ROTS novelization ... Oh, how it led me to believe the movie itself was going to be a phenomenal epic of the times ...

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What i remember about episode III is Lucas asked Stover to tone it down.

That part about the dark being a living thing.

Have not read the book in ten years so i cannot say its significantly better than the film, but i once thought so.

It does explain that Count Dooku being killed was Anakin's first premeditated murder that he just lost control with the sand people.

I don't recall the movie giving motivation to Anakin's actions and getting in his head the way the third novelization does.

That he would kill the whole galaxy and all its people to save Padme.

In the movie he looks just like an idiot who was duped.

“Always loved Vader’s wordless self sacrifice. Another shitty, clueless, revision like Greedo and young Anakin’s ghost. What a fucking shame.” -Simon Pegg.

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Yes, novels are all better, and I agree especially about ROTS.  It actually made Anakin's fall to the Dark Side like an actual fall, not a simple flip of the switch.  Far better.

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TV's Frink said:

Does Maul have an orange lightsaber?

What does your heart tell you? 

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Since the novelization of Revenge of the Sith was so good, it took me a while to see just how dreadful the movie actually was.  I wanted to believe that what I'd seen matched up to what I'd read, even when it clearly didn't.  It was also the last hope that the prequel story as a whole might actually turn out to be watchable, so I clung to the idea that I'd seen a good movie for a while before eventually having to accept that I really had not.

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DuracellEnergizer said:

TV's Frink said:

Does Maul have an orange lightsaber?

What does your heart tell you? 

 It tells me that sky has no idea what he is saying sometimes.

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DuracellEnergizer said:

TV's Frink said:

Does Maul have an orange lightsaber?

What does your heart tell you? 

 It tells me that sky has no idea what he is saying sometimes.

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skyjedi2005 said:

What i remember about episode III is Lucas asked Stover to tone it down.

That part about the dark being a living thing.

Have not read the book in ten years so i cannot say its significantly better than the film, but i once thought so.

It does explain that Count Dooku being killed was Anakin's first premeditated murder that he just lost control with the sand people.

I don't recall the movie giving motivation to Anakin's actions and getting in his head the way the third novelization does.

That he would kill the whole galaxy and all its people to save Padme.

In the movie he looks just like an idiot who was duped.

 I read a lot of EU, and most of it is like cheese popcorn... quickly eaten, maybe enjoyed, not rememered.

But Stovers ROTS was AWESOME in every way Brother SkyJedi says.

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Hardly.

The Plagueis novel, Shatterpoint, Rise of Darth Vader, Dark Rendezvous, and Labyrinth of evil are all highly memorable pieces of the EU. I'd even say they're better than most of the NJO stuff. As for the prequel novels, ROTS'S novelization is probably one of the best books in the Legends canon overall.

Excellent stuff