Movie novelizations

Ya know, I've read all the books based on the movies (only very few EU books, though) and I gotta say, the whole Star Wars story translates better onto the written page than to the big screen. The special FX are certainly awesome in the movies, but the STORY itself just seems to fall flat due to bad acting, directing, and crappy editing.

This is all purely subjective, but let's take AOTC as an example. I was overall disappointed in the film, mainly because of the pathetic acting (which has been discussed ad nauseum in this newsgroup). However, I really enjoyed the novelization of the script. There is so much more exploration of characters and their motivations that only a book can provide. I actually 'cared' about the characters in the book, whereas I didn't give a rip about them on-screen. The whole Padme'/Anakin romance just felt completely unnatural on film, yet it's handled very well in the book. Padme' is attracted to Anakin from the moment they meet on Coruscant, but she fights it through much of the story. She uses her sense of duty and addiction to public service as a crutch to deny her own needs and wants. Her family (who was edited out of the film) keeps encouraging her to settle down and start her own family, and part of her wants that, but she's a workaholic. Also, she doesn't think twice about wearing revealing outfits in front of anyone, because as Queen and Senator there was always someone watching her, either in the room with her or by cameras stationed everywhere. So she got used to walking around practically naked and doing 'personal' stuff with people watching. Zero modesty. However, nobody ever slobbered over her the way Anakin did, which made her feel both uncomfortable and excited at the same time. None of this was explored satisfactorily in the film. I thought she was just a tease, first saying 'No no' then saying 'Yes yes' for no discernable reason. The book explains it beautifully, and made me recall my bumbling attempts at romance when I was that age.

Not sure where this is going, other than to say if you really didn't like the AOTC movie, try reading the book and see if you walk away a happier

Agreed - also the novelisation of AOTC does a good job of filling in some of the blanks (like Shmi's life before she gets kidnapped by the tusken raiders, how her husband loses his leg etc.)

I remember reading the novelisation of Jedi before I saw the film years ago - the description of the space battle over Endor and on Endor were much more convincing than the Teddy bear battles/Executor cheese that happened on screen

For example:

'the vast Rebel fleet stretched, from its vanguard to rear echelon, past the range of human vision. Corellian battle ships, cruisers, destroyers, carriers, bombers, Sullustian cargo freighters, Calamarian tankers, Alderaanian gunships, Kesselian blockade runners, Bestinian skyhoppers, X-wing, Y-wing, and A-wing fighters, shuttles, transport vehicles, manowars.'

Although the battle looked amazing on screen the fleet looked far too small to last as long as it did : )

Or:

'Stormtroopers fired their laser pistols at the furry creatures, killing or wounding many-only to be overtaken by dozens more in their place.'

Again, the whole Ewok thing is more convincing in the novel than in the