What an amazing, thorough, comphrensive guide to everything Star Wars. NOTHING is left out. You get not only in depth profiles of every major character, but every OTHER character in the universe. It's so detailed that they break down each PART of each weapon, ship, etc. For someone like myself who isn't the biggest Star Wars geek (but wanting to learn more), this is a godsend. There are many, many, hardcore fans out there that can reference almost anything and anyone to do with Star Wars. Well, now you can too, and you don't have to see the films 3245 times to do it.
It's a great companion to the "Ultimate Visual Guide" as well. It is a combination of the Visual Dictionaries for the the other films, so all Episodes 1-6 are covered.
Buy it, NOW! Star Wars: The Complete Visual Dictionary - The Ultimate Guide to Characters and Creatures from the Entire Star Wars Saga
I'm a Star Wars fan but I am not a fanatic. I can't name each character, droid, or vehicle the way die-hard fans can. So for guys like me, the Star Wars Complete Visual Dictionary makes the perfect and complete reference sourcebook. This oversized hardcover books is packed with 270 pages full of information on the Star Wars universes and backed up by hundreds of full-color photos direct from the films.
The book covers all six Star Wars films beginning with Episode I, The Phantom Menace. We meet Darth Sidious on the very first page and learn about the founding of the Republic. From there we meet characters such as Mace Windu, Yoda, Qui-Gon Jinn, and Obi-Wan Kenobi. But this isn't just a book that shows a picture of the character and their name, all sorts of interesting details are included. On the Obi-Wan two-page spread we'll see typical Jedi gear including their lightsaber. Each character, creature, druid, weapon, or vehicle entry includes a text entry about the subject.
Next, the book covers Episodes II and III in the same detail and with the same brilliant color photography. I never realized just how many different blasters were used in the films until I read this book. There's the Naboo Blaster, the KYD-21 used by Zam Wesell, The DC-15 Blaster carried by Clone Troopers, and the Westar-34 blaster of Jango Fett, and many, many more.
Finally the first three original Star Wars films are covered all as one section and if I do have one complaint about the book it's that these films only get 70 pages of coverage while the first three films get 200 pages. I think you can chalk that up to the newer films being broader in scope and having a much larger cast of characters and gadgets. Still, it was the original three films that I was most interested in reading about and I suspect that many share my feelings.
No matter how big a Star Wars fan you are, you'll still want to own this book!
Reviewed by Tim Janson
I bought this for my 9 year old son, who already owns the visual dictionaries from episodes 1 and 3. When this came out and it had all 4 visual dictionaries plus extra goodies thrown in at a fraction of the price to buy all 4 I jumped on it. My son loves it and has noticed many of the illustrations and info not included in the visual dictionaries he already had before. The one gripe I have is that it seems to not have the same quality of photos as the other visual dictionaries, but it might just be me. I don't think he has noticed.
To tell you the truth, I think this volume is entitled "Star Wars: The Complete Visual Dictionary" because if they said it was a visual encyclopedia they would be leaving room for complaint. But DK is marketing this as a dictionary that provides "The ultimate guide to characters and creatures from the entire 'Star Wars' saga," and on that basis they certainly deliver. This volume brings together the four "'Star Wars' Visual Dictionaries," with new material including an more detailed look at Utapau, Mustafar, Order 66, and clone battle tanks from "Revenge of the Sith." At the same time coverage of the original trilogy has been expanded with overviews of the Rebel Alliance, Imperial personnel, the Sarlacc, R2-D2, and the unusual crowd down at the Cantina. So if you have the original four Visual Dictionaries you will find more here, but chiefly the appeal will be to newcomers who need help explaining to the next generation of "Star War" fans the names of all of the members of the Jedi High Council, exactly who makes up the Separatists, and how a Wookie bowcaster works.
I am one of those persons who went to the first showing of each of the films in the original trilogy. I went back repeatedly to see all three films, spending one afternoon watching "Star Wars" twice in a row just so I could pay attention to a different quadrant of the screen each time. This book is fully cognizant of the fact that nearly every scene in the "Star Wars" movies are filled with a wealth of visual information, from the instrument-laden starships and the uniquely crafted weapons to the architecture and culture of dozens of alien worlds. Over the years there have been "Star War" novels, reference books, comics, toys, and games that have provided names and back-stories to many of the backgro8und characters, devices, vehicles and structures George Lucas and the folks at ILM crammed into hundreds of frames. But this visual dictionary goes beyond that, as amply proven by the look at the INSIDE of a Stormtrooper helmet, that explains the four layer construction of outer plastoid composite armor, inner insulation, anti-laser mesh, and magnetic shielding, in addition to the Comtech Series IV speaker that uses three-phase sonic filtering for clear sound, the atmospheric cyclic unit, power cell, and other features all crammed inside the iconic white helmet. In other words, there are enough details here to keep die-hard "Star Wars" fans quite happy indeed and even those with an encyclopedic knowledge of the films will find new information,
"Star Wars: The Complete Visual Dictionary" is written by Dr. David West Reynolds ("'Star Wars' Episode I: The Visual Dictionary"), James Luceno ("Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader"), and Ryder Windham ("'Revenge of the Sith' Scrapbook"), so collectively they have bona fides to spare. The book is divided into four sections representing Episode I, Episode II, Episode III, and Episodes IV-VI, so this visual dictionary follows the numerical chronology (not to be confused with the actual order in which these movies came out). The approach of the book, quite familiar to those who read DK's publications, is to provide a two-page spread on everything from the Phantom Menace to an expanded look at R2-D2. One of the nice things about working so closely with Lucasfilm and Industrial Light and Magic is that this book is able to incorporate hundreds of photographs that are not simply lifted from the films but taken for publicity, costume checks, and the like. The back of the book includes a brief Glossary of terms such as "carbonite" and "Tibanna gas," and an Index of several dozen key places, people and things (not a comprehensive index, but enough to help you track down all references to Coruscant, Padawans, and Luke Skywalker. Consequently I am convinced that my brother, who has all of the original "Star Wars" movie posters framed on the wall of his family room, will really enjoy this book as his Christmas present this year. - Yoda - Star Wars Dictionary - Star Wars Book - Encyclopedia'
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