Changes in Star Wars re-releases

The Star Wars logo, as seen in all of the films.

The following are partial lists of changes in Star Wars re-releases. The commercial success of Star Wars gave George Lucas the opportunity to alter the original films of the trilogy: Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, and Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. Many changes were motivated by Lucas's stated desire to make the original films closer to his vision for them, although he directed only one of the films.

The new versions made heavy use of computer-generated imagery (CGI) and other new production techniques that emerged in the two decades after the original trilogy was produced. Other changes enhanced the cohesiveness of the films and eliminated continuity errors between the original trilogy and the three prequels produced in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The changes are controversial, with opponents claiming that the changes detract from the character arc of the films and tend to be more distracting than expedient.

In a September 2004 MSNBC article, Lucas claimed that the original films were "25 to 30 percent" of what he intended. Despite this statement, the original films were massively popular and widely regarded as "groundbreaking." Along with obvious changes to various scenes, the re-releases set out to improve the visual and audio quality of the films. According to Lucasfilm, the 2004 Special Edition is the canonical version of the original trilogy, though the original, unaltered theatrical editions were later released on DVD in 2006.

Changes to Star Wars films after their theatrical release were not limited to the original trilogy. In the release of the Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace DVD, two deleted scenes were either partially or completely restored.

George Lucas on the special editions

There will only be one. And it won't be what I would call the "rough cut", it'll be the "final cut". The other one will be some sort of interesting artifact that people will look at and say, "There was an earlier draft of this." The same thing happens with plays and earlier drafts of books. In essence, films never get finished, they get abandoned. At some point, you're dragged off the picture kicking and screaming while somebody says, "Okay, it's done." That isn't really the way it should work. Occasionally, [you can] go back and get your cut of the video out there, which I did on both American Graffiti and THX 1138; that's the place where it will live forever. So what ends up being important in my mind is what the DVD version is going to look like, because that's what everybody is going to remember. The other versions will disappear. Even the 35 million tapes of Star Wars out there won't last more than 30 or 40 years. A hundred years from now, the only version of the movie that anyone will remember will be the DVD version [of the Special Edition], and you'll be able to project it on a 20' by 40' screen with perfect quality. I think it's the director's prerogative, not the studio's to go back and reinvent a movie.

"An Expanded Universe", American Cinematographer magazine, February 1997.

Changes

Pre-Special Edition

Although not as obvious as the 1997 Special Edition re-release of the original trilogy, there were still some alterations made between versions.

Episode IV: A New Hope

• The lines "Episode IV: A NEW HOPE" were added to the opening title crawl upon its 1981 re-release, one year after "Episode V: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK" was released with its full title. The new opening crawl also capitalized the word 'Rebel' in 'rebel spies', which was not capitalized in the original 1977 opening crawl. This altered the formatting of the text to accommodate the two additional lines, and slightly changed the timing so the crawl no longer appears at the same music cue. (This last change had been present on EMPIRE's initial release, and would remain on all four subsequent films as well.)
• The film was initially released in 70mm 6-track audio (in today's terms, a 4.2 track as opposed to a 5.1 track). The wider 35mm release had a 2-track Dolby Stereo matrixed 4-channel optical soundtrack. A mono mix was produced later for exhibition in cinemas with no Dolby Stereo support, which contains some changes from the stereo version.
• Alternate takes of some of C-3PO's dialogue are used in the mono sound version.
• The line "close the blast doors!" was added to the mono release. This line was also included in the 1997 special edition and 2004 DVD version.
• C-3PO's tractor beam line was added to the mono version. This line was also included in the 1997 special edition and 2004 DVD version.
• After Luke hands Leia his blaster in the chasm swing sequence, it sounds like Dirty Harry's .44 Magnum when she fires it. This is present in the mono mix and the 1997 Special Edition, but was changed back to a standard blaster sound in the 2004 DVD.
• The line "Blast it, Biggs, where are you?" from the original stereo version was changed to "Blast it, Wedge, where are you?" for the mono sound releases. The mono mix is the only occurrence of this change.
• Beru Lars is voiced by a different actress (or possibly different takes by the same actress) in the mono version.
• Ben Burtt supervised remastering of the sound mix for the 1985 VHS/Laserdisc release, which contains C-3PO's tractor beam line. Aside from this line, better dynamic range, and a slightly wider stereo image, this version is almost the same as the 1977 stereo mix.
• Another remix was produced for the 1993 Definitive Collection Laserdisc, which was also used for the 1995 "Faces" VHS/Laserdisc release and the 2006 Limited Edition DVD release. This mix was a matrixed stereo version of the 1977 70mm 6-track mix, with brand-new sound effects added, such as glass shattering when Han and Luke shoot the cameras in the detention block. C-3PO's tractor beam line is, again, not present in this mix.
• The color timing in the 1993 Definitive Collection Laserdisc version was altered slightly in the scene with R2-D2 in the canyon before he is captured by the Jawas. This same transfer was also used in 1995 for the "Faces" set. The original version of the scene takes place in daylight, while the color in the 1993 version is adjusted to make it appear more like twilight. This was further changed in the 1997 Special Edition, when the image was darkened and the sky altered from blue to an orange sunset.

Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

The 70 mm version of the film included a number of changes from the more widely seen 35 mm version. The list below can be found in Volume 2, Issue 1 of Film Score Monthly. It was compiled by Michael Matessino who reportedly saw the film 70 times theatrically in 1980.

• After the probe droid lands and moves left, there is an optical wipe to the overhead shot of Luke on his Tauntaun.
• After Luke wanders through the snow and falls, there is an optical wipe to Han instead of a straight cut.
• The bacta tank scene starts on a close-up of Two-One-Bee and pans right to a close-up of Luke in the tank. It then cuts to FX-7 extending its arm to the tank. There is no cut to Leia, Han, and 3PO observing.
• In the Emperor scene, the hologram of the Emperor is already present in the first shot instead of "tuning in" gradually.
• The Imperial Fleet establishing shot after the magic tree scene has a different TIE fighter sound effect.
• When Luke falls from Cloud City into the Millennium Falcon, the Falcon's radar dish is missing from the shot.
• The telepathy between Luke and Vader during the "Hyperspace" cue has straight cuts instead of quick dissolves.
• Lando's line at the end, "Luke, we're ready for takeoff," is a different take.
• In the final scene, there is no tracked music from "Yoda and the Force."

1997 Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition

Special coverage on CNN in 1997 notes that Lucas spent $10 million to rework his original 1977 film, which cost $26.49 million (in 1997 dollars) to produce in 1977. Of that amount, $3 million was spent on the audio track for the special edition. Lucas also spent $2.5 million each on Episodes V and VI. All of the films have newer versions of the 20th Century Fox and Lucasfilm production logos.

The following is a partial list of changes:

Episode IV: A New Hope

• Additional dewbacks and search teams are visible as the Stormtroopers look for the missing droids. An Imperial transport can be seen taking off in the background.
• There is an new shot of an evening Tatooine sky that pans down to show the opening of the scene in which R2-D2 is wandering through the hills before he is captured by Jawas.
• The Jawa sandcrawler has been revised. The sunset progression has been enhanced, with the sky darkened and stars added at the end of the sequence. The scene where R2-D2 is captured has been tinted red to resemble a sunset.
• A new digital matte painting of the sandcrawler and extended sky was added when the Jawas are setting up shop in front of the Lars farm. Artificial zooming in is also present. More vaporators have been added, but they disappear in subsequent shots.
• There is a new establishing shot of Ben Kenobi's hut.
• Mos Eisley is bigger and busier. Family members of ILM employees wore costumes and walked around a bluescreen mat. Their images were composited into the new scenes.
• Dash Rendar's ship, the Outrider, can be seen taking off in the background when Luke's landspeeder enters the city.
• The blur under the landspeeder caused by poor image quality from repeated optical compositing to obscure the wheels of the landspeeder with a hand-animated haze was removed and replaced with a new, more accurately shaped shadow.
• A short pause of the camera features a Jawa being bucked from its Ronto mount.
• New aliens are seen in the Cantina.
• In Han Solo's last line to Greedo, "Yes, I'll bet you have", the word "yes" is excised from the audio track, though Han's mouth is still seen forming the word.
• In the cantina, Greedo now fires first as Han dodges the shot then returns fire on Greedo. This is one of the more famous and controversial changes to the film.
• A CGI version of Jabba the Hutt confronts Han in the Millennium Falcon's launch bay with new dialogue recorded in the Huttese language. The live action footage in the scene was from the original 1976 shoot.
• There is a new scene in the Mos Eisley docks of the Falcon taking off.
• The explosion when Alderaan is destroyed by the Death Star has been completely redone.
• The Death Star docking bay is revised to be more consistent with the one seen in Return of the Jedi, most notably in the overhead shot when the Millennium Falcon has landed.
• C-3PO's line describing the tractor beam's power systems has been put back in after being deleted in the previous stereo sound versions.
• The flashes of blaster impacts on some of the Imperial officers were censored.
• When Han Solo is chasing a squad of Stormtroopers on the Death Star, instead of running to a dead end, he ends up at a hangar bay with seemingly hundreds of Stormtroopers and officers.
• "Close the blast doors!" is put back into the scene where Han and Chewbacca, pursued by Stormtroopers, jump through the doors as they close.
• A scene between Luke Skywalker and Biggs Darklighter just before the Battle of Yavin has been inserted.
• There are new digital shots of the X-wings and Y-wings taking off from Yavin (in the original version, they just appeared as white flashes) and approaching the Death Star.
• There are new and revised dog fighting and attack run scenes during the battle at the Death Star.
• After Red Leader's unsuccessful trench run, the line "He's on your tail!" was added to the film.
• The shot of the Rebel fighters flying away from the Death Star has been revised.
• The Praxis effect shockwave (so named for a similar effect seen in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country) was added to the destruction of the Death Star. (It was also added to the previous scene where Alderaan is destroyed.)
• Matte paintings (or cardboard cutouts) of the members of the assembly on the left and right sides of the Throne Room at the end of the film when Luke, Han, and Chewie approach the throne have been digitally replaced with real humans.
• James Earl Jones is now credited.
• "Luke's Theme" is partially repeated in the ending credits music to make room for the Special Edition release credits.

Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

• The opening battle sequence was cleaned up, including fixing some instances where the blue screen process allowed the cockpit window frames of the snow speeders to be partially transparent.
• There are new scenes on Hoth with a redesigned wampa ice creature, including showing the full-body wampa eating a carcass and later screeching in agony following the loss of its limb. Two close-up shots of the original wampa mask are still noticeable.
• When Luke Skywalker heads to the exit of the wampa's cave, his lightsaber's deactivation sound is heard, even though the blade does not retract.
• Errors were corrected from the original version wherein the blue rank indicators on Imperial uniforms turned black, likely because of the blue screen process that was meant to create a view of space outside a window.
• The scene where the Slave I follows the Falcon out of the Star Destroyer's floating garbage includes a newly created CG shot of it pursuing the Falcon.
• At the opening shot of Cloud City, the Cloud Car was replaced by a Tibanna refinery, though it is almost panned and scanned out of the 2004 full screen DVD version. The right side of the refinery can be seen briefly in the 2004 full screen DVD version if played on a PC or LCD television monitor.
• There are new and additional shots of Cloud City.
• Several wall panels have been digitally replaced with windows to show more of Cloud City.
• Luke's line, "You're lucky you don't taste very good," after R2-D2 is spat out by a Dagobah dragonsnake is changed back to the original "You were lucky to get out of there."
• The sound of the voice that says "Who are you?!" to C-3PO on Cloud City right before he gets blasted has been changed.
• Lando Calrissian says "Attention" twice (instead of once) when he speaks on the Cloud City public address system.
• Shots of people listening to Lando on the PA ordering the evacuation of the city have been added.
• Luke screams as he jumps off the platform in Cloud City (the scream is actually lifted from the Emperor's death scream from Return of the Jedi). The 1997 special edition is the only version to feature the scream as it has been removed from the 2004 release. Lucas' reasoning for removing the scream was that since Luke purposely fell, he would not scream.
• Darth Vader's tense-but-forceful line, "Bring my shuttle," has been changed to the more benignly-toned "Alert my Star Destroyer to prepare for my arrival," a line originally recorded for A New Hope. A wide-angle CGI visual has been added showing Vader boarding his shuttle. This short added scene is spliced directly into the action surrounding Leia, Lando, and Chewie's attempt to rescue Luke as he dangles from an antenna below Cloud City. The music track that has become known as "Rescue from Cloud City / Hyperspace" - a track that, in the film's original version, begins from the moment Vader cuts off Luke's hand and continues until Vader storms off the bridge of the Executor after the Millennium Falcon escapes into hyperspace - is also now spliced in a manner corresponding to the insertion of the short added scene. Specifically, for approximately 5 to 10 seconds, music originally played at the moment Vader informs Luke of his parentage (itself an earlier part of the "Rescue from Cloud City / Hyperspace" track) is incongruously inserted.
• There is a new shot of Darth Vader's shuttle heading toward his star destroyer.
• A digital hatch has been added to replace the white light that appears when Lando opens the outer hatch to rescue Luke.
• A new scene with Darth Vader landing in the docking bay of his Star Destroyer is included, taken from an outtake from Return of the Jedi. Like the footage of Vader boarding his shuttle, this short scene is similarly spliced directly into the action surrounding the Millennium Falcon's escape from Bespin, and the music accompanying the added footage (both a few short seconds of music taken from the very beginning of "Rescue from Cloud City / Hyperspace" and then a few seconds of the same music that was used during the shuttle-boarding footage insertion) likewise cuts incongruously into "Rescue from Cloud City / Hyperspace."
• "The Imperial March" is partially repeated in the ending credits music to make room for the Special Edition release credits.
• Like Episode IV, matte lines have been removed thanks to digitally compositing.
• R2-D2's panels have been colorized blue replacing the original black. Note: The black version was used in bluescreen shots in Star Wars Episodes IV, V, and VI.

Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

• A new Jabba's Palace Band musical number, "Jedi Rocks" replaces "Lapti Nek" with additional footage from the extended music number of "Lapti Nek." The puppet of female alien singer Sy Snootles is replaced with a new CGI version.
• Nine new characters were added to the Max Rebo Band: Joh Yowza, Umpass-stay, Ak-rev, Barquin D'an (Figrin D'an's brother), Doda Bodonawieedo, Greeata Jendowanian, Lyn Me, Rappertunie, and Rystáll.
• There is an additional scene of Oola in the Rancor pit. In the newly shot scene, Oola is played by Femi Taylor reprising her role 14 years after the original film. Taylor was cast in the new scenes after her brother spoke to a friend who was working on the special edition who mentioned that they were working on the dance scene in Jabba's palace. Taylor's brother said she was in the original and was in even better shape than 15 years previously. She was recast in the role, and a number of shots of her new dance moves were edited into the original footage with no noticeable difference in her body in the 15 years between the two shots.
• Boba Fett is briefly shown flirting with the Max Rebo band dancers Rystall and Lyn Me at Jabba's palace.
• There are additional scenes on Tatooine of a herd of wild Banthas (actually live action elements digitally replicated)before scenes at the Pit of Carkoon.
• The Sarlacc now has extra CG tentacles and CG beak at its center.
• During Han's attempt to rescue Lando from the Sarlacc, the skiff rocks more dynamically when it is shot rather than simply tipping forward as before.
• When shooting the sarlacc tentacle, Han says "It's all right, I can see a lot better now" rather than the original "It's all right, trust me."
• CGI rope has been added around Han's ankles as he dangles from the skiff above the Sarlacc.
• In the original version, a flight of four TIE fighters appear from behind the camera flying toward the Death Star and disappear a second before the scene changes to the Emperor's arrival. This is corrected and the fighters continue heading toward the Death Star.
• As with the destruction of the first Death Star, the second Death Star has a more pronounced explosion employing the Praxis effect.
• At the end of the trilogy after the Empire is defeated, scenes of celebration on Bespin, Tatooine, and Coruscant are shown in addition to the original and new celebration scenes on Endor. The musical theme "Ewok Celebration" during this sequence has been replaced with an entirely new John Williams composition, "Victory Celebration."
• During the end celebration, a brief shot of Luke hugging Wedge Antilles was inserted.
• "Parade of the Ewoks" is partially repeated in the ending credits music to make room for the new Special Edition release credits.
• Matte lines and bluescreen elements have been removed and sometimes shots have been recomposited.
• Unlike ESB and A New Hope, fewer wipes have been optically redone.

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace DVD Release

• Sebulba's subtitles during his enraged talk with Anakin originally read, "You won't walk away from this one, Skywalker... you slave scum!" For the DVD, "Skywalker" was removed from the subtitle, since Sebulba does not actually say Anakin's last name in the scene.
• Watto's celebratory cry of "Sebulba!" is removed.
• The podracing sequence is extended. Such enhancements include a scene with Anakin facing off with Gasgano, Anakin losing one of his engines, only to recover it, and more.
• The air taxi sequence is reincorporated.
• Orn Free Taa's human aides are replaced by Twi'leks.

Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones DVD Release

• Several speeders were removed from a shot during the Bounty Hunter pursuit scene.
• New dialogue was added to the scene where Anakin confesses to the Tusken slaughter.
• After Padmé falls out of the gunship on Geonosis, a clone trooper asks if she is all right. Her alert response of "Yes" has been changed to a more realistically groggy "Uh-huh."
• Anakin's mechanical hand now holds Padmé's hand during the closing wedding sequence (this was originally included in the DLP theatrical release of the film, but not in the 35 mm film version).
• During their duel on Kamino, a shot of Jango Fett headbutting Obi-Wan is removed from the UK version of the DVD.
• Jedi Coleman Trebor confronts Count Dooku on the lookout balcony during the battle of Geonosis. Trebor is instantly shot dead by Jango Fett. The following shot shows Jango twirling his blaster pistol before slotting it back into his holster. In the theatrical release, this was a solo shot of Jango, but the widescreen version of the DVD has Count Dooku in the foreground, smiling as Jango twirls his pistol.
• Moments before Mace Windu decapitates Jango Fett, sparks and a slight puff of smoke from Jango's jetpack can be seen, signifying that his jetpack malfunctioned.

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith DVD Release

• Despite Lucasfilm's official statement that there were absolutely no changes made to the theatrical version of the film, the November 1, 2005 DVD release of Revenge of the Sith had one slight change from the theatrical cut. In the scene where a shot transitions to Anakin crawling up the lava bank, the original theatrical release used a wipe effect from the shot of Obi-Wan and C-3PO in the cockpit of Padmé's ship leaving Mustafar to Anakin's mechanical hand grasping at the volcanic soil, whereas the DVD instead uses a straight cut from the Padmé's ship shot to Anakin.

Star Wars DVD Box Set

In 2004, a DVD box set was released with some changes to establish a better connection between the old and new trilogies. The 2004 DVD box set also received John D. Lowry's digital restoration and visual enhancement treatment. However, either due to Lowry's remastering or ILM's continued tinkering, all three films suffer from very poor color correction, resulting in issues such as Luke's lightsaber being green in one shot of the first film, Vader's lightsaber appearing rosy pink in several shots of Empire and Jedi, a general excessive blue cast to Empire (especially during the Hoth scenes), Yoda's color being wildly inconsistent throughout Empire and Jedi, and many other color-related issues, none of which had been apparent in any release prior to 2004. The new 5.1 audio mix of A New Hope also had the issue of the music's left and right channels being swapped in the rear channels, and several instances of music nearly being mixed out of the film completely. While Lucasfilm claimed that these issues were "deliberate creative decisions," many fans have questioned the truthfulness of this statement. The following is a partial list of changes:

Episode IV: A New Hope

File:Greedo shoots first.jpg

In the 2004 DVD, Han Solo shoots at approximately the same time, but is still slightly slower by about 2 frames.

• Before R2-D2 and C-3PO enter the escape pod near the beginning of the movie, a beeping sound is added when R2 pushes the switches to open the door to the escape pod.
• When the Jawa Sandcrawler stops outside the Lars Homestead, C-3PO says "We've stopped" before telling R2-D2 to wake up.
• The long shot of Luke's Landspeeder in the canyon with the two Tusken Raiders taking aim has changed. Now, instead of being merely a moving white blob, the landspeeder is seen in detail.
• Obi-Wan Kenobi's scream to scare off the Sand People has been changed to a higher-pitched wail. The old version of Obi-Wan's scream in the original and 1997 versions sounded similar to a dewback. The new version of Obi-Wan's scream in the 2004 version sounds similar to a krayt dragon.
• A brief shot of Luke's landspeeder as it enters Mos Eisley carrying Luke, Ben Kenobi, and the droids has been redone. The pink tint is removed from the Mos Eisley entrance scene.
• The Han vs. Greedo scene is redone again; this time Greedo and Han shoot at almost exactly the same moment, but Greedo is still fractionally ahead. Han also dodges Greedo's shot more convincingly. Additionally, Han's original line of, "Yes, I'll bet you have" has been restored (the 1997 Special Edition removed the word 'yes') but the shot is slightly shorter.
• A CGI version of Jabba the Hutt based on his appearance in The Phantom Menace now confronts Han Solo in the scene added to the 1997 re-release. When Han steps on Jabba's body to get to the Falcon, Jabba winds up as if to punch him; in the 1997 Special Edition, he yelped in pain. Also, to make Jabba look more convincing, shadows of Han Solo can be seen on his body.
• When the two stormtroopers exit the Millennium Falcon, one of them now says "There's no one here."
• When the docking bay controller tries to contact TK-421, slightly audible static can be heard over the communicator.
• The Matte painting in the detention block has been extended, making the corridor seem longer. The painting's perspective has been edited to make it appear more realistic.
• The Dianoga has been redone so it now blinks.
• In the shot where Luke has been pulled under by the Dianoga, Leia's cry of "Luke" has been retimed so its now heard when she mouths it. The original and Special Editions had it heard about a second after she said it. This is only noticeable in the widescreen versions. Leia is pan and scanned out of the full screen edition.
• The writing on the Death Star tractor beam control panel originally read 'POWER - TRACTOR BEAM 12 (SEC. N6)' and 'INOPERATIVE'. It has been changed from the Latin alphabet to the standard Star Wars Aurebesh alphabet. The word 'INOPERATIVE' is panned and scanned out of the full screen DVD version.
• The lights in the tractor beam control room are now green.
• An audible bump has been added to the infamous moment where a screen-right stormtrooper bumps his head on the door-frame as the stormtrooper squadron breaks into the control room. This mistake was hinted at in Episode II, when Jango Fett - escaping from Obi-Wan on Kamino - bangs his helmet on the closing door of the Slave I.
• Luke and Leia's echo when they are trapped in the Death Star chasm is now more convincing.
• Despite the revised lightsaber blades, Luke's still appears out of thin air when activated instead of extending out of the hilt. In his training on the Millennium Falcon, the lightsaber blade is pale green in one shot instead of blue and it later appears to be plain white as in previous versions.
• During the lightsaber duel between Obi-Wan and Vader, Obi-Wan's lightsaber blade does not look like it is flickering out towards the end of the fight like it does in previous versions, though it does show a noticeable shimmer of blue light.
• Following the lightsaber duel between Obi-Wan and Vader, as Vader approaches the closing blast doors towards the hangar in which the Millennium Falcon is docked (and Luke is firing at the Stormtroopers), his lightsaber blade is colored red and glowing. In all previous editions of the film, there was no glowing red animation on Vader's lightsaber blade. Instead, he was seen toting a tapered white tube with a rounded-off tip.
• John Williams' score has been flipped in the left and right rear channels and has been quieted or eliminated from some portions of the Battle of Yavin sequence.
• The "He's on your tail!" line that was added for the 1997 Special Edition has been removed.
• The code cylinders on Grand Moff Tarkin's uniform no longer move up and down between shots.
• The shot of the Y-Wings descending to make the first attack run has been fixed. Originally, the two lead Y-Wings disappeared when their leading edges touched the bottom of the screen while the third one smoothly moved out of frame like it should. Now all three move smoothly out of frame.
• The colors depicting the destruction of the planet Alderaan and the Death Star have been changed.
• When the X-Wings are seen lifting off from the Rebel base before the Death Star battle, the red planet of Yavin is now visible in the upper right of the shot.

Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

• More TIE-fighters were added to the lead-up to the scene where the Empire discovers that the Rebels are currently on Hoth, when the Executor and the Imperial Fleet are sitting in space. (This is now the first instance in which a TIE-Bomber is seen, rather than the scene when the Empire is trying to flush the Millennium Falcon out of the asteroid field.)
• In the scene where Darth Vader speaks to the Emperor via hologram, the Emperor is now portrayed by Ian McDiarmid; in the original film and the Special Edition, the Emperor was portrayed by an uncredited actress wearing a specially made mask with chimpanzee eyes superimposed over her own, with the voice dubbed in by Clive Revill. A few lines of new dialogue have been added to this scene as well, in which Palpatine informs Vader that their new enemy is the 'offspring' of Anakin Skywalker. McDiarmid actually filmed this scene during principal photography of Revenge of the Sith.
• The lines spoken by Boba Fett are now in the voice of Temuera Morrison, the actor who played Jango Fett and the Clone Troopers in Attack of the Clones. The voice was originally provided by Jason Wingreen.
• The lines "The first transport is away!" and later "Imperial troops have entered the base!" over the Echo Base public address system are no longer voiced by Mark Hamill.
• Enhancements were made to the shots featuring Cloud City, with additional shots of the following day's landing at the city.
• The pink tint is removed from the initial shot of Cloud City.
• In both the original and 1997 versions, a shadow across Han's chest during the scene in which Han is lowered into the carbon-freezing chamber was erroneously thought to be a wardrobe blooper with him wearing his blue vest. In this release, the dark lighting has been digitally erased.
• When Luke confronts Vader in the carbon-freezing chamber and ignites his lightsaber, the sound from the original release is overlapped in this scene by the sound produced by Luke's new lightsaber in Return of the Jedi.
• During the film's lightsaber duel, when Vader jumps off the staircase his lightsaber blade looks more orange than red due to miscoloration from the film's restoration team.
• The tracked scream of Luke Skywalker introduced in the 1997 re-release, which is heard during Luke's voluntary fall from the Cloud City platform after his duel with Vader, was removed. The track was actually the Emperor's death scream from Return of the Jedi.
• In the original and 1997 versions, when Darth Vader asks if the Falcon's hyperdrive is deactivated, Admiral Piett's rank plaque and code cylinders are on the wrong side of his uniform (the plaque is supposed to be on the left side of his tunic, but it was on his right side). This is corrected and Piett has the correct rank placement on his uniform.

Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

• The matte lines on the rancor have been further altered and the effect is now more realistic.
• The dialogue spoken by Jabba the Hutt in the scene where he is discussing the price for Chewbacca was subtitled in the 1997 Special Edition. In this version the subtitles have been removed, making C-3PO's verbal translations in the scene relevant again.
• In Anakin Skywalker's final scene, when he is not wearing his helmet, the eyebrows of actor Sebastian Shaw have been digitally removed, corresponding to what happened to Anakin's eyebrows when he got burned on Mustafar in Revenge of the Sith. His eyes have also been changed to blue and minor cosmetic alterations have been made to his face to more closely resemble the Anakin portrayed by Hayden Christensen in the prequel trilogy.
• When Vader throws his lightsaber on the bridge during the film's lightsaber duel, his blade looks more pink than red, once again due to miscoloration from the film's restoration team.

  

  Original scene with Sebastian Shaw as Anakin Skywalker (above), retouched version with Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker (below)

• When Anakin, Yoda, and Obi-Wan appear together in spirit form at the end of the movie, Sebastian Shaw is replaced by Hayden Christensen, showing a young Anakin, when he was still a Jedi, with an old Yoda and Obi-Wan.
• Another scene of celebration, this time on Naboo, is shown after the Empire is defeated. A Gungan, whom many fans assumed to be Jar Jar Binks, can be heard saying "Weesa free!" Nevertheless, Jar Jar is not listed in the Star Wars databank as appearing in Episode VI. The rumor of Jar Jar appearing in the film was officially debunked in an episode of The Force-Cast in which it was revealed that the unnamed Gungan was voiced by assistant sound designer Matthew Wood, who also voiced General Grievous in Revenge of the Sith.
• In the Coruscant celebration scene, the Galactic Senate and Jedi Temple have been added to the background. This indicates that the Jedi Temple was not destroyed during the Great Jedi Purge, thus carrying continuity with media released since Episode III, such as Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, which depicts a post-purge Jedi Temple.

Note that in each of the three films, the ending credits have remained unchanged from the Special Edition releases in 1997. Thus, they do not reflect such changes as Ian McDiarmid's Emperor in The Empire Strikes Back or Hayden Christensen's Anakin in Return of the Jedi. The exception is that the format of the ending credits was changed to that of the prequel trilogy. In the case of pan-and-scan versions of the re-releases, the 2004 DVD releases were pan-and-scanned differently from the 1997 theatrical releases.

Bootleg versions, fan edits, etc.

In addition to official authorized releases, a black market exists for other versions. These include versions of the films that are no longer available, or versions of the original films in different file formats. Aside from personal memory, "Theater Rips" are the only means of detecting changes between original theater releases and more recent releases. The majority of these rips are sourced from older releases of the "original" films, such as the pre-1997 VHS/Laserdisc releases.

Bootleg versions also include fan modified/edited versions. One of the most well-known of these is The Phantom Edit, a version of The Phantom Menace with certain elements removed, such as the majority of scenes with Jar Jar Binks that the editor deemed unnecessary. Bootleg versions of the infamous 1970s TV special The Star Wars Holiday Special remain the only source for consumers seeking it, as Lucasfilm has yet to release the special on any format. More recently, another more detailed fan edit of Star Wars called Star Wars Revisited was released in 2008. It has numerous changes including new visual effects, color correction, corrected continuity, and newly edited scenes.

Deleted scenes from Star Wars

This is a partial list of scenes that were not in a film version of the original trilogy or prequels and changes made to deleted scenes. These deleted scenes are included in some home video versions. Some scenes deleted from the original editions of the original trilogy were modified and added back in later versions. For example, a scene where Han Solo talks to a human Jabba the Hutt was not included in the original theater, laser disc, or home video versions of Star Wars (later renamed Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope), but was modified with CGI and included in the 1997 Special Edition.

Episode I: The Phantom Menace

• When Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon first land on Naboo, Obi-Wan is seen being chased by two droids on STAPs. Qui-Gon destroys them by deflecting laser bolts with his saber. In the original script, Obi-Wan then explains to Qui-Gon that the water fried his saber (thus explaining why Obi-Wan is wet and did not use his lightsaber to fight them himself) and Qui-Gon discusses the lesson learned.
• Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and Jar Jar escape their sub before it goes over a waterfall.
• The dawn before the podrace.
• Extended Podrace grid sequence, introducing nearly all of the racers. (Partially added into film on DVD)
• Extended Lap 2 (Partially added into film on DVD)
• Clieg Holdfast's racer crashes after Sebulba flashes his fire vents.
• Jawas try to salvage parts of Teemto Pagalies' racer and are shot at by Tusken Raiders.
• Ark "Bumpy" Roose pulls into the pit stop.
• Anakin fights young Greedo after Greedo accuses him of cheating.
• Anakin says good-bye to Jira. Shortly afterwards, Qui-Gon slices one of Darth Maul's probe droids which was following them and Qui-Gon and Anakin break into a run.
• There is an extended fight scene between Qui-Gon and Darth Maul on Tatooine. As Qui-Gon jumps onto the landing platform of the Naboo ship, Darth Maul swings his blade but misses. Enraged, he then leaps high into the air and lands next to Qui-Gon, who battles Maul briefly before kicking him off the platform. Maul lands on the desert floor and stands up, watching the Naboo ship fly away.
• The Coruscant Sky Taxi Ride (Added into film on DVD)
• Dialogue is shown between Darth Sidious and Darth Maul.
• Many extended scenes of fighting between Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon and Darth Maul during the Duel of the Fates.

Episode II: Attack of the Clones

Note: Many of these scenes still appear in the novelization.

• Padmé addresses the Senate an hour after the first attempt on her life.
• Obi-Wan brings the toxic dart to the analysis droids in the Jedi Temple, who cannot identify it. He then decides to take it to his friend Dexter Jettster.
• Obi-Wan and Mace Windu talk about the mystery of the missing data on Kamino and about Anakin being able to protect Padmé while Obi-Wan boards his Jedi starfighter. Some of the dialogue in this scene was used in the final cut of the film.
• Extended arrival of Anakin and Padmé on Naboo.
• Padmé introduces Anakin to her family on Naboo.
• Padmé shows Anakin her bedroom, which has holographic images of her humanitarian work.
• Anakin and Padmé are brought before Count Dooku to request Obi-Wan's release. Dooku says he cannot do so unless Naboo joins the Confederacy, giving reasons for why he is forming the new government.
• Padmé and Anakin are put on trial by Poggle the Lesser, who finds them guilty. (After the scene where they go before Count Dooku was cut, this scene did not make much sense and was cut as well.)
• A group of Jedi led by Ki-Adi Mundi and Plo Koon attempt to take over the Droid Command Centre on Geonosis.
• A shot of Jedi starfighters approaching Geonosis.
• Additional scenes at the Battle of Geonosis. These include CIS Tank Droids running over clone troopers and clones on speeder bikes planting grenades on Homing Spiders.
• Anakin cuts Count Dooku's shoulder and cape with a parry of his lightsaber early on in their duel, after he saves the injured Obi-Wan from being killed by Dooku.
• Dooku uses the Force and grabs Obi-Wan's borrowed lightsaber from the floor while dueling Yoda and starts wielding two lightsabers simultaneously for a short time. He is suddenly disarmed by one of Yoda's parries mid-battle, loses the use of Obi-Wan's lightsaber, and once again resorts to using only his own.

Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

Note: Only select scenes appear in the Revenge of the Sith DVD.

• The scene in which Bai Ling appears as Senator Bana Breemu.
• The spirit of Qui-Gon Jinn tells Yoda about the secret of immortality and Yoda becomes his apprentice.
• A group of senators including Mon Mothma meet to discuss the Chancellor's growing power. Bail Organa expresses fear that the Republic is becoming corrupt.
• General Grievous kills Shaak Ti, who was captured with the Chancellor. Obi-Wan and Anakin then cut through the floor and fall near a fuel line. (This scene appears in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (video game)

• On Kashyyyk, Yoda disguises himself as a mud monster to escape from some clones.
• Aayla Secura and Plo Koon's last lines are cut.
• Lieutenant Commander Lorth Needa offers General Grievous an opportunity to surrender.
• Padmé and the Loyalists present the Petition of the 2000 to Palpatine. Palpatine assures the group he will discontinue his new reorganization once the war is over.
• Additional scenes of the Separatist leaders pleading with Vader to spare their lives.
• A scene where Obi-Wan meets with Padmé in her apartment to express his concern about Anakin.
• The Mustafar fight sequence originally contained a scene in which Obi-Wan and Vader are dueling on the Separatist control room's table. Obi-Wan manages to disarm Vader of his lightsaber temporarily, which is why Vader is seen choking Obi-Wan and trying to force him to cut himself with his own lightsaber in the theatrical version.
• During the fight scene in the Senate chamber, Yoda manages to disarm Darth Sidious of his lightsaber, which explains why Sidious is not seen wielding his lightsaber while he launches Senate pods at Yoda in the theatrical version.
• Yoda's escape pod lands on Dagobah.

Episode IV: A New Hope

• While Luke is working on a moisture vaporator at the Lars homestead, he uses a set of binoculars to look up into the sky when his attention is caught by a few light flashes coming from the sky. Seeing two starships exchanging laser fire in space, he decides to go to tell his friends at Tosche Station. When he runs to his landspeeder, Treadwell, one of the moisture farming droids, malfunctions. Luke throws his hands up in frustration and continues to make his way to Anchorhead. This scene can be viewed on the CD-ROM Star Wars: Behind the Magic. It also appears in the deleted scenes trailer for The Complete Saga Blu-Ray release.
• As Luke blasts through Anchorhead with his landspeeder, he nearly knocks over an old lady who raises her fists in protest and yells for everyone to slow down.
• Luke visits his friends at Anchorhead. He tells his friends that he saw a space battle (between the Devastator and the blockade runner Tantive IV) with a set of binoculars, but at that point the battle is already over and his friends do not believe him. His friends all head back into the station, leaving Luke outside looking up at the sky. This scene can be viewed on the CD-ROM Star Wars: Behind the Magic.
• Outside Anchorhead, Biggs and Luke are walking and reminiscing about old times over a couple of drinks. During this conversation, Biggs tells Luke he wants to "jump ship and join the Rebellion." This revelation shocks Luke. Biggs then tries to convince Luke to leave with him, but Luke replies with a series of excuses and ends the conversation in quiet resignation. The two promise to meet again soon. This scene can be viewed on the CD-ROM Star Wars: Behind the Magic.
• While searching for a runaway R2-D2, Luke and C-3PO run into engine problems while traveling along the desert. As C-3PO is piloting the landspeeder, he yells out to Luke that he is experiencing a loss of power. Luke then crawls out of the cockpit to the rear of the craft and fixes a damaged circuit, which helps restore power. After a brief exchange of dialogue, the scene cuts away to a radar scanner on the dashboard indicating there is something ahead of them. Part of this scene can be seen in the documentary Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy.
• Han and a mysterious woman named Jenny are seen carousing and kissing in the Cantina before the meeting with Obi Wan and Luke. The intent was to give Han the aura of being a ladies' man. This scene can be viewed on the CD-ROM Star Wars: Behind the Magic.
• Darth Vader and Chief Bast discuss Grand Moff Tarkin and his ambitions (part of this scene was later redubbed and used in The Star Wars Holiday Special).
• Grand Moff Tarkin, Commander Tagge, and Admiral Motti view a schematic of the Death Star and discuss the threat the Rebel incursion aboard holds (the scene features one of the few wire-frame CG effects created for the film).
• After Tarkin destroys Alderaan, Princess Leia says: "And you call yourselves humans." (A similar line was included in the NPR radio play: "If there was any shred of humanity in you or these twisted creatures of yours, it's dead now.")
• Extended dialogue for Obi-Wan during the duel. This and the preceding scene can be seen in the documentary Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy.
• According to the CD-ROM Star Wars: Behind the Magic, another deleted scene exists, taking place just before the Battle of Yavin where another X-Wing pilot named Red Four announces himself, and gets shot down after destroying a Tie-fighter. (Even though this scene wasn't used, the actor who played Red Four, Jack Klaff, was mentioned at the end credits of Star Wars: A New Hope.)
• Biggs and Luke meet again at the Rebel base prior to the Battle of Yavin. Red Squadron leader Garven Dreis asks about Luke's piloting qualifications and discusses his service in the Clone Wars with Luke's father stating, "I remember your father from when I was a boy. He was one hell of a pilot." The scene was partially restored for the 1997 Special Edition, although most of Garven Dreis's dialogue was omitted.
• Han and Luke are seen congratulating each other after their successful fight against the TIE fighters while escaping the Death Star.

Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

• A number of Wampas infiltrate the Rebel base and kill at least one tauntaun. An image exists of a medical droid inspecting a tauntaun carcass. The Wampa attack is mentioned and shown in the Marvel Comics adaptation of the movie.
• While Luke is recovering inside a Bacta Tank, Han, Leia, Chewie, and C-3PO are in an adjacent room discussing what happened to Luke and the Wampa infiltration.
• Luke is recovering from the Bacta treatment and has his bandage mask removed. He and Leia have an intimate conversation afterwards that lead them toward a kiss but before they are able to do so, Artoo and Threepio enter.
• While travelling through Echo Base's corridors, R2-D2 is attacked by a Wampa. He is rescued and the wampa is killed by Rebel troops.
• Inside Echo Base, Luke mans a laser cannon. Various sites on the internet including starwarz.com show a photo of this scene.
• General Veers is killed when a snowspeeder piloted by Derek "Hobbie" Klivian crashes into his AT-AT Walker cockpit.
• While fleeing Imperial troops, Han suggests they take a shortcut through a room that has a sign on it. Leia tells him "that's where they keep those creatures" (the Wampas, which have been confined to the room). They run off and C-3PO tears off the warning sign, hoping the troops will mistake it for another room. Though never seen in any version of the film, shots of this scene were used in television ads and trailers, and the door is visible in the movie. Two Star Wars video games reference this room: Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire and the Star Wars: Trilogy arcade game.
• Originally, Luke's training on Dagobah was to include a montage sequences showing Luke's training and pace under master Yoda's watchful eye, from an extended run across the swamps to various force ability exercises and using his Lightsaber against four remotes (hovering Lightsaber training globes from Episode IV). Black and white pictures exist of Luke training with Yoda on his back while practicing with his Lightsaber. A page outlining the montage sequences was seen in the Marvel comic book adaptation of The Empire Strikes Back.
• In the carbon-freezing sequence, C-3PO's complete line would have been "I'm not ready to die on the back of a demented wookiee!" (the italicized words were deleted from all versions of the film, but were heard in their entirety on the Story of The Empire Strikes Back LP).
• A scene involving Lando, Leia, Chewbacca and the droids getting stuck in an elevator during the escape on Cloud City. In this scene, Lando climbs through a trapdoor in the ceiling of the elevator and uses his blaster to release the mechanism holding the elevator in place. The scene where they enter the elevator remains in the movie, yet the scene immediately after shows them appearing around a corner on an entirely different level of the city.
• During the rescue of Luke from beneath Cloud City, Leia positions the Millennium Falcon underneath Luke just as he lets go of the weather vane. Luke lands heavily on the top of the Falcon and Lando rushes off to bring him inside. Opening the top hatch, Lando attaches a ship cable to his belt and crawls out onto the roof of the Falcon. He sees Luke and grabs him, dragging him back to the safety of the ship as Leia steers the ship away from Cloud City.
• In the 2004 DVD box set of the Star Wars Trilogy, the Empire of Dreams documentary has an alternate scene at Cloud City between Han and Leia where they have different lines and they kiss.

Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

• After arriving on the second Death Star, Darth Vader communicates with Luke via the Force while Luke is assembling his new lightsaber just before he infiltrates Jabba's palace. This deleted scene is confirmed to be included in the upcoming Blu-ray release.
• Moff Jerjerrod and two Royal Guards refuse to let Darth Vader in to see the Emperor, so Vader uses his Force-chokehold on Jerjerrod, but does not kill him. Later, Jerjerrod is stunned by a Royal Guard directly after being denied access to the Emperor. Stills of this scene exist.
• Just after Jabba tells Leia that she will learn to appreciate him, he pulls her closer and makes her drink from his jug.
• Two of Jabba's minions, Ree Yees and Saelt Marae (Yak Face) get into a confrontation with Salacious Crumb as C-3PO is caught in the middle. Stills of this scene have been found in the photo insert of the novel.
• After Luke falls into the Rancor pit, he force-jumps and grabs ahold of the grate before Jawas smash his hands with their rifle butts. Luke then falls into the eye of the Rancor. Stills of this scene exist, as noted in the 1983 official movie storybook.
• Right after Jabba's Sail Barge blows up, Luke, Han, Leia, Lando, and the droids go back to the Millennium Falcon and Luke's X-Wing, both of which are in the middle of a sandstorm. (This scene appears in the deleted scenes teaser for the upcoming Blu-Ray release of The Complete Saga.)
• Darth Vader lands in the Death Star docking bay with Luke, taking him to the Emperor. This scene was reused in The Empire Strikes Back Special Edition as Vader returns to the Executor. Although Luke cannot be seen, Moff Jerjerrod can be seen mouthing his lines from Return of the Jedi.
• The Sullustan Ten Nunb has some scenes of him piloting a B-Wing starfighter. This has been confirmed by puppeteer Mike Quinn, who controlled him as well as fellow Sullustan pilot Nien Nunb, Lando Calrissian's co-pilot.
• When Luke is hiding from Vader in the Throne Room, Luke offers Vader a chance to come and speak with him. Vader rejects the offer saying that he would not give him that kind of advantage. Luke throws his lightsaber to Vader and Vader realizes that he is protecting Leia from Vader. After Vader discovers his feeling, Luke uses the Force to take the lightsaber from Vader. Evidence of this still exists in the final scene. As Vader talks to Luke, he can be seen holding Luke's lightsaber.
• Several scenes of Lando's Rebel flight crew while manning the quad-guns during the battle of Endor exist, as do General Madine's shouts of victory while piloting his cruiser.
• Additional footage of Han, Leia, Chewbacca, and a squad of Rebel troops engaged in combat with Stormtroopers as they infiltrate the shield generator bunker on Endor. (This scene appears in the deleted scenes teaser for the upcoming Blu-Ray release of The Complete Saga.)

Future

3-D edition

At a ShoWest convention in 2005, George Lucas demonstrated new technology and stated that he was planning to release all six films in a new 3-D film format, beginning with either A New Hope or The Phantom Menace in 2007. In January 2007, StarWars.com's Questions & Answers section stated that Lucasfilm was busy with other upcoming media such as the Star Wars live-action TV series, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and media related to the 30th anniversary of Star Wars. In September 2010, it was announced that the Star Wars films will be released in 3-D beginning in 2012 with the release of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.

Blu-ray edition

At the Chicago Comics and Entertainment Expo on April 17, 2010, Steve Sansweet said, "We have been at work for a couple of years working on - I won't call it the Ultimate Set because we keep finding stuff - but a very full set of all six movies on Blu-ray with lots of extra material. We're finding all kinds of scenes from dailies that have never been seen before. Beyond all of those things that you know about… there are some real treasures." He also mentioned that, "We're not ready to announce exactly when it's coming out, but it won't be in the too distant future."

On August 14, 2010, George Lucas announced that the Star Wars saga will be released as a Blu-ray box set in the third quarter of 2011. The set will feature all six live-action Star Wars feature films, along with extensive special features. Lucas stated that "There's some really good material that will be included in there, more deleted scenes that you haven't seen yet." One of the deleted scenes will be an alternative introduction to Return of the Jedi. At the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show, it was announced that the box sets will be released during September 2011. On May 4, 2011 (Star Wars Day), starwars.com announced that the Blu-ray set, entitled Star Wars: The Complete Saga, would be released on September 12, 2011 internationally and on September 16, 2011 in North America.

One change that has already been confirmed for the Blu-ray release is the replacement of the Yoda puppet in The Phantom Menace with a CGI model. Lucasfilm also confirmed that Darth Vader now shouts "No" when he saves Luke from Emperor Palpatine's Force lightning attack in Return of the Jedi.

External links

• DVDActive - A New Hope Differences (including some audio) between versions of A New Hope
• DVDActive - The Empire Strikes Back Differences (including some audio) between versions of The Empire Strikes Back
• DVDActive - Return of the Jedi Differences (including some audio) between versions of Return of the Jedi
• DVDActive - The Prequel Trilogy Differences between versions of the prequel trilogy