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Valiona Since: Mar, 2011
04/13/2024 03:15:43 •••

The Book: A New Way To Experience Revenge of the Sith

I personally enjoyed Revenge of the Sith despite its flaws, so I was interested when I heard about the novelization on TV Tropes. I found that it does a lot to address some of the film's shortcomings, albeit with an approach that works better for a text-based medium.

By now, you should know the story- Anakin falls to the Dark Side and helps pave the way for the Republic to become the Empire- since the film is a Foregone Conclusion. All of the major story beats are intact, and most of the scenes have similar dialogue, although there are many new scenes that expand on the story (e.g. Padme meeting with her Senators concerned about Palpatine's rise to power, two of whom go on to found the Rebel Alliance).

While the story is mostly unchanged, occasional details are added that recontextualize and better explain characters' actions. For example, it is explained that Anakin has been forgoing sleep and using the Force to sustain himself due to suffering nightmares about Padme's death, resulting in his judgment being clouded.

The book has a heavy emphasis on introspection and characters' thoughts, whether they're in the middle of a heated battle or pondering their worries. This is especially important for Anakin, as the story shows how the stress he is under over his fear of losing his wife Padme, and that one or more of the people close to him has betrayed him, helps lead to him making the fateful decision that causes him to become Darth Vader. Bits of description also help add worldbuilding and information on the setting, such as some of Anakin and Obi-Wan's adventures between the films.

Not all the changes are improvements; for example, I thought it was more fitting to have the normally proud and calm Dooku gape silently while at Anakin's mercy rather than plead for his life, as he did in a bit of dialogue that was cut from the film but included in the book. Additionally, not only would the large amount of internal monologues be difficult to include, but adding in the additional dialogue and scenes would make the film well over three hours long.

If you enjoyed the Revenge of the Sith film, or even if you thought it needed improvement, I recommend checking out the novelization.

SpectralTime Since: Apr, 2009
03/17/2024 00:00:00

I will say I know for a fact that that scene where Padme lays the foundations for the Rebel Alliance is in the screenplay and is a deleted scene for the film, so now I\'m curious how many of these other bits of added context that enhance the story are original to the novel and the writer and how many just work better in textual form.

I wasn\'t a huge fan of any of the original trilogy novelizations, but I had fond memories of the Attack of the Clones novelization as a young man, so I\'ll try to give it a try!

Codafett Since: Dec, 2013
04/13/2024 00:00:00

I think that\'s the secret to understanding Lucas\' vision: It needs to be read just as much as seen. You need to have a really deep understanding of the characters and how they feel, which a lot of people didn\'t get from the films.

Find the Light in the Dark

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