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Revenge-The Real Life Story of Star Wars: Episode
3-Revenge of the Sith
Jonathan L Bowen
Review by Mark
Newbold
| Revenge comes out at an immediate
disadvantage, in that it has a top quality predecessor to live up
to. I'm happy to report that not only does Revenge do it's
progenitor proud, it outstrips it with more facts, figures and
fan-drooling facts than you could shake a gaffi stick at. In
fact, I'd go so far as to say it's the most in-depth analysis into
the Star Wars phenomenon so far. |
| Opening wisely with early chapters
that navigate the years between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of
the Sith, Bowen manages to both convey the general perception that
the prequels were a 'disappointment' - surely just what the sniffy
mass media wanted, and the fans belief that this new trilogy was
just as valid and exciting as her 70's/80's predecessors.
Covering topics such as the Clone Wars shorts, the Lucasfilm
marketing machine, the growth of the subscription service Hyperspace
and much, much more he sets the scene for the final chapter in the
saga and it's triumphant blitz on not only the box office but the
merchandising world at large. |
| Bowen is a deft writer. While
it's always clear that he is a huge proponent of the saga, he always
backs his beliefs up with good solid facts, something the so-called
mainstream writers of Entertainment Weekly, the Evening Standard and
Premiere singularly failed to do. By presenting these
statistics, Bowen builds a solid foundation for his books main
driving force, that the Star Wars saga finally found a fitting
ending and the prequel trilogy was vindicated, even in the eyes of
the mass media, by the release and success of Revenge of the Sith. |
| But don't be fooled into thinking
this is simply a book of dry facts and bugle-blaring. Jonathan
talks to fellow webmasters, including Lou Tambone of Star Warz.com
and Mark Newbold of
www.lightsabre.co.uk, giving equal weight to their opinions as
that of more widely recognised experts. Acknowledging the
importance of fan sites and fan driven enterprises, Bowen manages to
show that Star Wars is really for the fans, despite being an
ultimately finance-driven enterprise. Indeed, the continued
growth of the Star Wars brand since the final films release pays
testament to that. |
| Box office openings across the
world - did you know that in Spain Siths opening was 126% ahead of
Menace and 143% ahead of Clones? - amazing facts - did you know that
180,000 people across the planet petitioned for Ghyslian Raza, the
Star Wars kid, to be included in Revenge of the Sith - or that five
of the six soundtracks made the billboard top ten, with only Return
of the Jedi falling short in 1983. |
| In short, as a fan of Star Wars
this is a vital purchase and a must-have for the bookshelf.
Loaded to bursting with facts, trivia and knowledge, Revenge is a
worthy addition to Star Wars literature and a quality effort by
Jonathan Bowen. |
| And I'm not saying any of that
because he thanked me on page 291 either. |
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