What I expected -
A Complete Star Wars reference. With info on every aspect of the films. And only the films. No expanded universe; no comics. Just the original films. With details on little gadgets and characters that had small but significant screen time; and new insights into the aspects we knew well. I wanted good pictures of the little things, schematics, and in general a complete source of information for the first three films.
What I got -
At first I was a bit skeptical over it’s size. It was too thin. I wondered what they got into that small a book that was of any significance. At first look, I was bit disappointed. It didn’t have the detail I had expected, neither did it have the vastness. But the problem was in my expectations, not in the book itself. This is a Visual Dictionary. And it does it’s job well. It comments, and only comments, on most aspects of the Classic Trilogy. Take the ‘Thermal Detonator’ for instance. How much of it did we see in the original trilogy. Other than the little threat by Leia to Jabba in Return of the Jedi (“Because he is holding a Thermal Detonator!!”), there was no mention or appearance of significance of this device. Until the visual dictionary. In this book, you will find a labeled diagram with a paragraph of text regarding the device, not detailed, but sufficient for the curious. The cool things are the diagrams of the gear, gadgets and attire of the characters. There are labeled diagrams for everything. Like Vader’s chestplate, or his belt, or Boba Fett’s helmet. It’s in here.
Ups :
Great info
Cool diagrams
Cool feature called ‘Data File’ for each major item which has some unique info on that aspect of Star Wars
Downs :
A lot of stuff we already know
Not much detail
And so…
Great buy. Worth every penny spent, only because it’s something you will treasure, even if it might not be what you expect. Not for the non-fan, not at all. You will bore yourself to tears. But then, if you are not a fan, why are you reading this review?