Koonky

[holatu3000]

OK ... first things first. AotC, for me, is one of my absolute fave movies. Right there with TESB, above the rest of the SW films. I'm old enough (36) to have seen all of them in the theaters (except episode 1 ... new baby and such .

 

So ... I recently found the AotC Audio Book (all *9* CD's) for $19.99 (at a Virgin store in SF when I was visiting last month), so I grabbed it. I had already decided not to get the book until I could get it in paperback, and hadn't planned to get the audio book for $45 ... but at $20,I did.

 

So, I've been listening to it last week and this week during my commute (~45 min each way), and have some thoughts:

 

- No surprise about how much more thought and backstory can be conveyed ... definitely good stuff.

- There are some scenes better conveyed visually ... like the ship chase with Jango.

- The Tuscan Camp scene: I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, it would have been awesome to see that put into the movie, but ... that would clearly have made it PG-13.

- The scene when Obi is getting ready to go and talking to Mace Windu ... I saw a pre-release 'scriptment' and it didn't seem so lame ... but if it was going to play like that, I'm glad it got cut.

- Likewise the whole Amidala family thing ... boring and awkward ... good backstory, but too long.

- The whole Qui-Gon thing, keeping 'self' within the Force - that was done really well.

- You see much more of the state of the Republic in the book. It makes more sense ... how in less than 25 years things will be so different, How the Jedi order will seem so ancient, as they are now so detached from the galaxy at large and attached to the repuplic core on Coruscant.

- The balance between Anakin's power and Obi-Wan's power is well done here as well. I have always had concerns about them making Ani look powerful by making Obi-Wan lame, but the book avoids that as well as the movie - so much is clearly Anikan's thoughts, feelings and arrogance.

- They explored Anikan's impulsiveness much better in the book by noting others' reactions more fully than is possible in a movie.

 

In all a good adaptation ...

 

What do you think?