novel vs film

[fatfatowenlars]

Hi, Newbie here. Just curious as to why there seem to be discrepancies between the novel format and film of the classic trilogy...I'm curious as to whether or not mistkaes were made by the authors of said novels or whether Lucas himself changed the plot after some deliberation...

1) In the novel General Veers dies on Hoth due to Hobbie crashing his snowspeeder into his AT-AT vs his later death in dark horse comics...

...merely curious as he does not die onscreen...

2) Owen Lars is referred to as OBI-WAN'S BROTHER in the return of the jedi novel and The ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO STAR WARS!!!

Has this info merely become incorrect due to episode II or was this a misprint to begin with...a huge one at that.
Just curious...

[stillakid]

Originally posted by fatfatowenlars
Hi, Newbie here. Just curious as to why there seem to be discrepancies between the novel format and film of the classic trilogy...I'm curious as to whether or not mistkaes were made by the authors of said novels or whether Lucas himself changed the plot after some deliberation...

1) In the novel General Veers dies on Hoth due to Hobbie crashing his snowspeeder into his AT-AT vs his later death in dark horse comics...

...merely curious as he does not die onscreen...

2) Owen Lars is referred to as OBI-WAN'S BROTHER in the return of the jedi novel and The ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO STAR WARS!!!

Has this info merely become incorrect due to episode II or was this a misprint to begin with...a huge one at that.
Just curious...

You're about to get a deluge of responses telling you that George considers only what's onscreen to be canon information. Fair enough. But see my numerous posts on why I believe he's contradicted his own canon.

[JediTricks]

Sometimes it's Lucas rewriting the movie after the novel is done and some of it is merely extrapolation upon what Lucas hints at but doesn't show - you can find examples of both with Episode 1, I believe.

As stillakid points out, Lucas considers only what's on-screen canon, and only the latest version, so Greedo fires first. However, I think it's up to each fan to make his own decision on what is or isn't canon to them.

[stillakid]

It's also fair to say that in any novelization, the author has far more freedom to expand upon background information and internalized thoughts of characters. While the director of the film might want the actor to express those ideas without saying the words, that goal might not carried out as desired.

The same goes for actions, as with the Greedo scene. Apparently, George has stated that he always meant Greedo to fire first and that the original scene does show that. Perhaps it does, but the overwhelming popular perception was that it didn't...the public at large always believed that Han fired first. Just an example to show that what is intended does not always register with the audience.

As far as something like the family relationship between characters, like Obi Wan and Owen, that may very likely have been George's intention from the start. But for some unknown reason, he chose to alter the original plan when he embarked upon creating the Prequels. Obviously, when original plans are altered, it sets up a situation where continuity and plausibility of action can become compromised unless great care is taken. He could "fix" these problems by altering some information in future versions of the Original Trilogy films, that is if he is honest enough to recognize them. We'll see....

[Jayspawn]

I think the novels and guides are amusing. But to me, whats in the movie is really whats canon. I don't think that George has contradicted anything in the movies so far. He's written the new movies very well.

[12inch Lando]

He's written the new movies very well? To say that the E1 and E2 scripts needed a bit more polish would be a major understatement. You can't polish a turd anyway.

[stillakid]

Originally posted by Jayspawn
I think the novels and guides are amusing. But to me, whats in the movie is really whats canon. I don't think that George has contradicted anything in the movies so far. He's written the new movies very well.

I suppose if you compare them to something like Biodome, then maybe.

And yeah, cee oh en tee are a dee eye cee tee eee dee. Apologists will claim that it all fits, but ironically enough, the typical "rationalizations" to explain away the problems are born from the Expanded Universe, off-screen, or non-canon sources. I guess all is fair in love and war.