Star Wars Chronicles

[The Josh]

The other day during the Vader Helm discussion CKing said I should look in the SW Chronicles books. So I went ahead and bought both the OT and PT books plus the Complete Visual Guide. These books are awesome but especially the Chronicles books. Man, if you wanna see and read tons of cool info about SW get these books. I know they are really exspensive but they are worth it. I wish LOTR had books just like this cause those would be equally as cool.

 

[Darklord Dave]

Funnily enough I just got them too. Lots of pictures and some great scale comparisons - excellent reference tools.

 

[The Josh]

Funnily enough I just got them too. Lots of pictures and some great scale comparisons - excellent reference tools.

Very much so Dave. So much cool info I'm gonna be taking my time to read every page.

 

[JustinLuck]

I was going to buy both. But then some reviewers on Amazon said that the Prequel book isn't as good. The colors of the photos are more faded...? And the layout isn't as good...? Is this true?

 

[wookilar8]

These are great books. I got my copy years ago right after the Japanese version came out.

 

[The Josh]

I was going to buy both. But then some reviewers on Amazon said that the Prequel book isn't as good. The colors of the photos are more faded...? And the layout isn't as good...? Is this true?

The layout looks exactly the same and the photos are awesome in both.

 

[larbob]

No doubt these are very well done books but pricey, very heavy.
I do not see any difference in quality between the Prequals and OT version.
Other recommendations are the DK line of SW hardback books.

 

[FlyAndFight]

I picked up the Original Trilogy Chronicles book a few years back and it's simply amazing. It's THE Star Wars book, bar none. Definitely worth the price.

 

[Customikey]

I have the original Star Wras Chronicles book. Save yourself some cash and just Google! I found tons of excellent reference photos that way.

 

[lancelin]

I have both books also. They are awesome. The two definite Star Wars references.

Anyone manage to find a similiar book for the Lord of the Rings?

Lance

 

[The Josh]

Anyone manage to find a similiar book for the Lord of the Rings?

No but if there is one I'd love to have it. There are several books out there with bits of info like this. The Art of LOTR books are the same type of thing but not exactly.

 

[Protozaius]

These are two very fine books. I unfortunately have the Japanese version of the first volume. But I'm told that text doesn't contain any new information and that the pictures tell it all.

The one difference I found with the new volume is that because a lot of the models featured in the book are CG, the layout seemed more static... less imaginative.

There is just something about seeing old pictures of the original trilogy's props and minitures gives it more of an archival feel. Seeing the layout of Boba Fett's intricate prototype costume is of particular interest.

 

[Darklord Dave]

I was just going through the OT book and they have a timeline. There seems to be some huge discrepancies between that timeline and what happens in the PT. Has that ever been addressed outside of the books?

 

[darthviper107]

I highly recomend this book. It's really huge, (seriously) and it has a scale comparisons for like everything. Plus it also has multiple views of pretty much everything, it's in great quality too. There are soo many pictures. It's THE reference book for everything.

I also recomend Star Wars: 365 Days It's a great book that tells a lot on how they did many visual effects shots.

 

[JustinLuck]

Star Wars: 365 Days is awesome. It's a real shame it wasn't printed on larger pages to show the numerous pictures with full detail. And boy that text is tiny! If they had doubled the height of the pages, the book would be perfect!

 

[darthviper107]

Hmm, for all of those pages? Then it would be incredibly massive...That would far outway any other Star Wars book made--not to mention making the price go up---Chronicles was only $89 (Buy.com) but that would make 365 Days like $150. I wish they would make a book about the sets, with all of the pictures they took I'm sure they would have enought material.

 

[The Josh]

Bigger than the Chronicles books???? Man, that thing would be a massive book. To me these are must haves the Chronicles and VG.

 

[elwood49]

I was just going through the OT book and they have a timeline. There seems to be some huge discrepancies between that timeline and what happens in the PT. Has that ever been addressed outside of the books?

You have to remember that the OT book was released in Japan in 1997 before the PT was even out. It was so in demand then that they released an English language version here in the States (Some Japanese copies were going for over $1,000 before that). This book is out of print now, and was going for around $500-$600 on Ebay at times.

In late 2005, a member of the RPF with publishing ties talked to the publishers about a reprint. It FINALLY came out again around Nov. '05, and has become quite popular. You can see the original still listed on Amazon here (Someone is trying to sell their used copy for $1,000) LOL:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1...f=pd_bbs_3/102-7373581-3221763?_encoding=UTF8

The prequel book was a tie-in with the Ep. III DVD, which is why the Ep. III parts are so rushed and inadequate. The same guy who pushed for the OT reprint on the RPF reviewed the PT book, and said that it was a worthy heir to the original, but that the Ep. III saber references were severely lacking. He also said that the PT pictures are too small in some cases, but that it was still a very nice book.

I'm going to get the 2 Chronicles books, the Deluxe Dressing a Galaxy, and the SW 365 days book. That should be enough SW references, then I'll need to start on LOTR and others.

 

[The Josh]

You have to remember that the OT book was released in Japan in 1997 before the PT was even out. It was so in demand then that they released an English language version here in the States (Some Japanese copies were going for over $1,000 before that). This book is out of print now, and was going for around $500-$600 on Ebay at times.

In late 2005, a member of the RPF with publishing ties talked to the publishers about a reprint. It FINALLY came out again around Nov. '05, and has become quite popular. You can see the original still listed on Amazon here (Someone is trying to sell their used copy for $1,000) LOL:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1...f=pd_bbs_3/102-7373581-3221763?_encoding=UTF8

The prequel book was a tie-in with the Ep. III DVD, which is why the Ep. III parts are so rushed and inadequate. The same guy who pushed for the OT reprint on the RPF reviewed the PT book, and said that it was a worthy heir to the original, but that the Ep. III saber references were severely lacking. He also said that the PT pictures are too small in some cases, but that it was still a very nice book.

I'm going to get the 2 Chronicles books, the Deluxe Dressing a Galaxy, and the SW 365 days book. That should be enough SW references, then I'll need to start on LOTR and others.

Very interesting info Elwood. Thnx

I would suggest getting the CVG too.

 

[JustinLuck]

Hmm, for all of those pages? Then it would be incredibly massive...That would far outway any other Star Wars book made--not to mention making the price go up---Chronicles was only $89 (Buy.com) but that would make 365 Days like $150. I wish they would make a book about the sets, with all of the pictures they took I'm sure they would have enought material.

Well of course not all of the photos would take up whole pages. So a larger format 365 Days would come out to much fewer pages because more photos and more text could fit on each page. If they increased the font to size ten or twelve, enlarged a few of the photos, and made the book dimensions similar to The Visual Guide to Star Wars, I think it would be about half the number of pages it is currently.