A port is where you go to enter a different destination. So you would go to an airport to enter the air in an airplane. Likewise, you would go to a spaceport to enter space on a spaceship.

This is likely a result of the Clone Wars. The Separatist Army was comprised mainly of droids, which had attacked and ravaged several planets. So some people still have prejudice against droids and don't want them in their establishments.

This is further substantiated with one of the short stories in the From a Certain Point of View book, in which it's revealed that Wuher the Bartender lost his family at the hands of droids in the Clone Wars.

It's possible that it was Garindan, the long-snouted imperial spy that had been following the group. Alternatively, the stormtroopers may have just been patrolling the streets and heard the commotion and came to investigate.

Given that this is the original film, where the climactic Battle of Yavin takes place. It is the starting point of the timeline. Therefore it takes place in both 0 BBY (Before the Battle of Yavin) and 0 ABY (After the Battle of Yavin)

Yes, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

No one has answered this question yet.

The force is a metaphysical presence. It doesn't really *come* from anywhere. Obi-Wan explains to Luke that the force surrounds all living things. It surrounds us, penetrates us and binds us. One more controversial aspect of the prequels was the addition of "midichlorians". Which are microscopic organisms found in the cells of living creatures. Anakin Skywalker is said to have the highest M-count on record. 20,000 midichlorians per cell.

Many fans misinterpreted that to mean you need to have midichlorians to have the force. However, what it means is the more midichlorians you have, the more naturally attuned to the force you are. A real world comparison could be learning to play guitar; a higher M-count means you could pick up the guitar. Fiddle with it for a few minutes and quickly figure out how to play a decent song. A rare ability. But some people do have it. Whereas a lower M-count would be years of lessons, discipline and practice before getting to be decent at it.

Therefore, in Star Wars, EVERYONE has the force. But those with a higher M-count are able to wield it without any training.

To conceal his identity, hide his disfigurement and to keep him alive.

As of July 2024, the most prominent cast still living are:

• Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker)
• Harrison Ford (Han Solo)
• James Earl Jones (The voice of Darth Vader)
• Anthony Daniels (C-3PO)
• Dennis Lawson (Wedge Antilles)
• Garrick Hagon (Biggs Darklighter)
• Angus McInnes (Gold Leader)

No one has answered this question yet.

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, the dark forces of the Galactic Empire, ruled by the tyrannic Emperor Palpatine, have constructed the all-powerful DeathStar, a weapon capable of destroying whole planets. However, a Rebel Alliance has also formed to restore freedom and justice to the Galaxy. Rebel leader Princess Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) obtains the schematics for the DeathStar and hides them in droid R2D2 (Kenny Baker) where they are discovered on the desert planet Tatooine by farmboy Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill). Aided by elderly Jedi knight Ben 'Obi-wan' Kenobi (Alec Guinness), smuggler pilot Han Solo (Harrison Ford), Solo's Wookie co-pilot Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew), and R2D2's friend C-3PO (Anthony Daniels), Skywalker sets out to rescue the princess, who has been taken captive by Palpatine's Sith Lord Darth Vader (David Prowse, voice of James Earl Jones).

Star Wars IV: A New Hope, the movie, was first released in 1977 with the simple title Star Wars, based on a screenplay by American film-maker George Lucas. Based on the screenplay, the film was novelized as Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker (1976) by Alan Dean Foster, ghost-writing as George Lucas. Star Wars was heralded as a trilogy, and Lucas went on to co-write the screenplays for two sequels: Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983). This original trilogy was followed by a second trilogy of movies-Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999), Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002), and Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005), actually prequels to the storyline of the original trilogy. A third trilogy, the sequel trilogy, is in the works, with two movies, Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015) and Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017) already released. The third movie, Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019) is set to release in a few months.

When the film was originally released in 1977, it was simply referred to as "Star Wars"; though supposedly, George Lucas had intended to include "Episode IV" and "A New Hope" in the opening crawl, but Twentieth Century Fox did not want Lucas to do so because they thought it would confuse audiences, since there were never any other episodes released before it. After the commercial success of the original Star Wars, Lucas was able to continue with the multi-film epic he originally envisioned. The first sequel, The Empire Strikes Back, was released in 1980 and bore the full title of "Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back" in the title crawl, although it was referred to only as "The Empire Strikes Back" as the title of its commercial release. It was the "Episode V" appearing in the opening crawl which originally confused those members of the audience who had not been made aware of what Lucas was explaining, that the original Star Wars was now to be understood to be the fourth part of a nine-part series. The original Star Wars was re-released in 1981 with a new title "Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope" in the title crawl. This title appeared on all subsequent re-releases and versions from then on (though the original version was released on a low-quality DVD in 2006, which shows the title crawl in its original form). All subsequent "Skywalker Saga" films have followed this new naming structure (at least for the opening crawl), although "Star Wars" often refers specifically to the 1977 film.

Most likely the Imperial Academy. Keep in mind that Luke is very much unsatisfied with his life as a farm hand on a backwater planet. He yearns to make a life for himself out in the galaxy. He likely sees the Empire as his only means to see the galaxy and make a name for himself, despite him hating it. He only feels motivated to join the Rebellion after the murder of his Aunt and Uncle.

While the film does not specify, the novelization of the film indicates to what academy Luke and his uncle were referring. A deleted scene wherein Luke talks with his recently graduated friend Biggs indicates that Biggs was planning, along with several friends, to jump ship and seek out the Rebel Alliance after beginning their tours of duty on the vessel Rand Ecliptic. Luke already knows this information when he has the discussion with his uncle, but the text of the missing scene, as well as Luke's later talk with Ben Kenobi, show that Luke was very uncertain of the idea of joining with the Alliance despite his voiced opposition to the Galactic Empire and likely was not desiring to attend the Academy for the same reasons as his friend (though Biggs did not necessarily go to the Academy with the intention of joining the Alliance and may have heard about it while in school and decided where his true loyalties lay).

In the course of the film, it is never specified exactly what is taught at "the academy", which might simply be a name for a general college. Biggs seems to have trained as a fighter pilot there, suggesting that it is a military academy, or something akin to the United States Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC). The Empire, like other totalitarian states, seems to have taken over all educational institutions. Both Luke and Biggs probably have no great sympathy for the Empire, but they have no other educational options. Luke's desire to leave his home for school in search of a better future is similar to the themes explored in Lucas' previous film, American Graffiti (1973) (1973). By virtue of that, it might be that the name and type of academy is left vague intentionally in the film to imply that it does not matter.

Although Luke had no official training as a pilot, he had developed sufficient piloting skills in his spare time on Tatooine (as mentioned by Ben Kenobi). In fact, in Marvel's Star Wars comic series, a younger Luke Skywalker is shown to be quite the adept T-16 pilot. In order to aid the Alliance as much as possible, he was allowed to join the Rebel assault on the DeathStar despite his lack of formal training. However, his old friend Biggs vouched for him to Red Leader, calling Luke "the best bush pilot in the Outer Rim Territories." As he had never been through any combat training, one can only attribute his abilities in battle to an innate skill, or his sensitivity to the Force, or (as in the case of his father) both.

It would, at first, seem unwise for Obi-Wan to hide a child with his adoptive parents and give him the same surname as the father from whom he was trying to hide the child. However, there are more sides to the story. In the film, the first time Luke is identified by his whole name is many scenes after he has agreed to go with Obi-Wan to Alderaan, so the audience cannot assume that he has always gone by the name of "Skywalker". Furthermore, as seen in the third prequel, Revenge of the Sith, Luke was delivered to Owen and Beru Lars by Obi-Wan Kenobi. We never learned what Obi-Wan has told them about Luke's family history.

In the Obi-Wan Kenobi series, Obi-Wan also believed he killed Anakin on Mustafar. It's only in that show does he realise Anakin/Vader still lives. So Obi-Wan likely didn't feel it necessary to change Luke's last name when he thought Anakin was dead.

Owen and Beru already knew that Anakin was a Jedi (having met him themselves in the second prequel, Attack of the Clones; but what Obi-Wan probably did not tell them was that Anakin had joined the Emperor, that Luke could one day destroy the Emperor and that Luke should therefore stay hidden from the Emperor (and, as Obi-Wan would later discover, Anakin/Vader too). If they had known, then Luke would certainly have been called "Lars", like his adoptive parents (just as Leia got her adoptive parents' name), to hide his ancestry. It may also have caused his uncle and aunt to take more extreme measures to keep Luke hidden, and if the truth about Luke was ever divulged by accident, the wrong people might have found out (since the Empire has spies everywhere surveying for a number of specific crucial things). Obi-Wan still needed Luke, believing that Luke might be the one to fulfill the prophecy of bringing balance to the Force. Owen and Beru were thus probably kept out of the loop, while Kenobi stuck around to made sure Luke would be safe and hear the truth when the time was right.

Obi-Wan probably told them that both Anakin and Padmé were killed in the Clone Wars, and that Owen and Beru were now Luke's only family. He may have added that: Luke might want to become a Jedi like his father one day and he could train with Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan rightly assumed that Tatooine was remote enough from the Empire for him not to be detected accidentally, so there would be no reason to give Luke a different name (the name "Skywalker" being already known from Luke's grandmother, Shmi, and not something to have raised questions on Tatooine).

From Obi-Wan's dialogue in the film, it appears that Owen assumed that Anakin died in the line of duty, and did not approve of Anakin's career as a reckless Jedi ("Your uncle didn't hold with your father's ideals. Thought he should have stayed here and not gotten involved"). Owen certainly did not want Luke to follow that same path ("Your father wanted you to have this lightsaber when you were old enough, but your uncle wouldn't allow it. He feared you might follow old Obi-Wan on some damn fool idealistic crusade like your father did"). He therefore told Luke that Anakin had been a navigator on a spice freighter, and warned him stay away from Obi-Wan ("That wizard's just a crazy old man"). The opposite is true of Leia, as her father is an important figure in the Rebel Alliance. Although Leia was never told about her true heritage; her father knew to keep her hidden from the Empire, and he even groomed her for an active role within the Rebel Alliance.

In the Star Wars comics released by Marvel, since Revenge of the Sith came out, a number of "side stories" have been released, showing Obi-Wan on Tatooine, looking over young Luke. In Obi-Wan's encounters with Owen Lars, it is clear that Owen does hold Obi-Wan responsible for Anakin's fate (exactly how much Owen was told is unclear) but he makes it clear that he does not want Anakin's son embarking down a similarly dangerous path.

To understand the general "behind the camera" answer to these question, one must realise that at no point was the entire "Star Wars" saga ever figured out, outlined, or written down. Each film was created from scratch as it was in production in every aspect including the story. For example, Lucas had no idea what would happen in "Return of The Jedi" while he was creating "A New Hope". George had a series of ideas and story arcs he wanted to toy around with, but massive changes happened as the saga continued from one film to another. The idea of what we see in "the prequel trilogy" having been already figured out in the 1970s is completely false in every possible way. Lucas didn't even know how he would flesh out and finish "the original trilogy" as it was. In between the two trilogies, it's become common place to have the understanding that there are massive, gaping plot holes and issues with continuity, because truth be told, Lucas isn't the best at paying attention to details. When C-3PO and R2-D2 crash land on Tatooine in "A New Hope", it is assumed that it is their very-first time on the planet (although "Revenge of the Sith" reveals that C-3PO's memory was wiped). The idea that they were there any time before that was not known in 1977 to the audience or Lucas himself. It's one of those retrospective things when trying to explain this. Of course, this is the real-life answer as you'll get a series of "in universe" attempts to explain all of this that usually all come up short.

As we see in Revenge of the Sith; Obi-Wan is referred to as "Master Kenobi" by Yoda after Luke's birth, but no one ever called him 'Ben' before that time, so it may be puzzling to hear him say otherwise in A New Hope. However, there are several explanations for this. The most technical would be that the chronology of the Star Wars saga was far from established at the time when the first movie was made. Lucas did not fully know how his saga would evolve, so he had no firmly established ideas about Obi-Wan Kenobi's back story yet. (In certain story drafts, Obi-Wan was even Owen Lars' brother, a fact offhandedly mentioned in the novelization of Return of the Jedi.) Kenobi's history gradually became more fleshed out during the production of the next five movies, and Lucas may have made changes along the way that sometimes deviated from what had been established earlier. This discrepancy may simply reflect the improvisational nature of the writing process. As an in-story explanation, one could argue that Kenobi has been on Tatooine for 19 years; assuming the name of "Ben" for a long time already, he may simply have forgotten when he exactly stopped using the name "Obi-Wan". He could also mean it in a symbolic way: Obi-Wan was his name by which his fellow Jedi used to call him. In the years when he had served in the Clone Wars before Luke was born, he was addressed as "Master Kenobi" or "General Kenobi" more often. He may have meant to say that he has been more of a soldier and a simple hermit than a Jedi for the last decades.

There is another important reason, which may tie in to the questions why Kenobi lies about Luke's father, the lightsaber and possibly also about not recognizing R2-D2 and C-3PO: Kenobi could tell Luke the truth, that he stopped using the name Obi-Wan just after Luke's birth, but such a coincidence would only increase Luke's curiosity. It would raise many questions from Luke, forcing Obi-Wan to admit he was present at Luke's birth, how he brought Luke to his uncle and aunt, and what really happened to his father, all information he is not yet ready to reveal. Therefore, Kenobi stays vague about this, acknowledging that he knew Anakin, but remaining silent about Anakin's fate, and his own part in this.

Obi-wan describes the Force as "an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us, penetrates us, and binds the galaxy together." It's the Force that gives the Jedi his powers. The Force may be conceived of as being similar to concepts of "life force" as found in many ancient cultures of this world, i.e., e.g., "chi" (氣) ("qi" in China) ("ki" in Japan), prana (प्राण) in India, Wakan Tanka or the Great Spirit in various Native American cultures.

The Empire was an oppressive regime which overtook The Galactic Republic. The Empire would strip certain planets of their resources, effectively polluting and destroying them. They would also enslave the populations of these planets. One example is the Chewbacca's homeworld of Kashyyyk. The Empire reached the pinnacle of their oppression with the creation of the Death Star, a super weapon capable of destroying an entire planet. Their intention was, as Tarkin explains to his staff aboard the Death Star, to use fear to keep anyone from considering a rebellion.

One could conclude that perhaps Anakin had at some time spoken of having a child and wanting that child to follow in his footsteps, but given the strict Jedi Code which forbade this (as revealed in the prequels), that would seem an unlikely desire/admission. Perhaps the best way to summarise what Obi-Wan really meant would be to say that: Obi-Wan knew that Luke would be the only hope of destroying the Emperor, and he himself wanted Luke to one day have the weapon and become a Jedi. But by telling Luke this was his father's wish and not his own, he knew Luke would be more drawn to taking the weapon. Or it could be that Obi-Wan honestly felt that this is what Anakin would have wanted. A central feature of both confrontations between Luke and Vader is Obi-Wan's trustworthiness, first about what really happened to Luke's father, then about having hidden Leia. Here Obi-Wan is again acting in the name of Anakin's good side. Alternately, he might simply wish to keep the truth of Luke's parentage secret for the time being, preferring for Luke to have fond feelings toward his father, the man Obi-Wan knew before Anakin's fall to the dark side. It could be assumed that based on their close friendship, Obi-Wan was projecting what he believed his friend Anakin would have wanted prior to turning to the dark side of the Force. Obi-Wan speaks of Anakin and Vader as if they are two completely separate people. He may truly feel that what he is telling Luke is the truth "from a certain point of view."

In the original release, Han shot first before Greedo ever even pressed the trigger of his blaster, so in reality Greedo never even got the chance to shoot—we see Han slyly drawing his own blaster during the conversation and when he shoots Greedo, we get a closeup of Greedo's face that disappears in a flash of flames. In the Special Edition and subsequent versions, Greedo's actions were retconned in that laser bolts were added as he raised his blaster. This newly inserted blaster shot missed which was then followed by Han's original deadly blaster shot. This revised scene has been presented thus far in three different ways. The 1997 theatrical release and subsequent VHS release allowed a rather slack amount of time between Greedo firing and Han returning fire. For the 2004 DVD release, the lag time was removed, with the characters firing very nearly at the same time. The Blu-ray release cut the scene even tighter-we now do not even see Greedo's pistol discharge; his laser bolt is already traversing the shot as it begins, with Han firing only a frame or so later.

In terms of the film, it could be said that it is possible that while Jabba knew that Han had shot Greedo in the cantina, he was not aware of the details of the conversation Han had with him. Therefore, if Jabba makes a similar comment to what Greedo said about dumping his shipment. He would get a similar answer. Also, it adds a bit more humour where Han uses the exact same excuse word-for-word with Jabba that he did with Greedo: "Even I get boarded sometimes. Do you think I had a choice?", showing what a smooth-talker Han is.

The scene with Greedo in the original shoot was much shorter and did not contain the dialogue revolving around Han's dumping of stolen goods meant for Jabba. When the decision was made to cut the Jabba scene out, owing to the time and funds needed to add the desired stop-motion creature, a new version of the Greedo scene was filmed, this time using a female performer in the costume, which added the needed exposition that would have otherwise been lost. (During the interim, a method was found for articulating the snout of the Greedo mask by having the performer hold a clothespin in her mouth; one may notice that the shot wherein Greedo first confronts Han and forces him to sit does not feature the alien's mouth moving during its dialogue.)

In the original 1976 shoot, Jabba was actually played by a short, rotund man (Declan Mulholland), with the intention of changing the character (either through stop-motion or more traditional animation) into an alien. When the Special Edition was being compiled in 1995, ILM artists realised that Han walks around Jabba when talking, and decided to fix this potential problem by making Han step on Jabba's tail. The image of Harrison Ford in the shot was lifted digitally, resulting in a somewhat jarring motion. Another clue as to Jabba's original form is when Han says "Jabba, you're a wonderful human being." With Jabba now being an alien, the line becomes a wry joke on Han's behalf. Some of the original footage from this scene can be found in the television special From Star Wars To Jedi and before the feature of the Star Wars (Special Edition) VHS cassette. When the decision was made to restore the Jabba scene, too many years had passed to have Harrison Ford record new lines; therefore, the scene appears as it was originally scripted, redundant dialogue and all.

These are Imperial code cylinders. They are given to officers to access computer mainframes and door locks. Their ranks designate them personalized code cylinders to allow them to accent certain levels of security. R2-D2 has one as well that he uses to hack computers and unlock doors.

Han Solo never said he didn't believe in the Jedi. He simply didn't believe that the Jedi had supernatural powers, as he never witnessed them for himself, dismissing the power of the force as simple tricks and nonsense. There were approximately ten thousand Jedi at the end of the Order. In the vast expanse of the galaxy, it's extremely unlikely Han ever met any of them, especially seeing as how he would have only been roughly 9 years old, on the streets of Corellia when the Republic fell.

Yes. During the scene where our heroes are caught in the trash compactor and are being aided by the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO via comlink, a group of Imperial stormtroopers manage to break into the control room where the droids are stationed. If you look at the stormtrooper on the right as he's rushing the door with the other troopers his height is too tall for the door frame so unfortunately he hits his head and it snaps back but like a trained trooper he recovers quickly and finishes the break in with the rest of the troopers. The stormtrooper hitting his head was actually a blooper and when Star Wars was released on DVD a thumping sound effect, which was not in the original release, (as well as the sound of another trooper saying 'Need a hand?') was added as the trooper hits his head. (In Attack of the Clones, Jango Fett bumps his own head on the hatch of Slave I when he and Boba are leaving Kamino after his battle with Obi-Wan. The gag was included as an homage to the original blooper.)

The one that bonked his head was the only stormtrooper that could shoot straight. After his accident, he was just as bad a shot as the rest.

We see the beginning of the Death Star's construction at the end of Revenge of the Sith. As Star Wars officially takes place 19 years later, we may wonder why it took the Galactic Empire so long to get it built. It is especially confusing in Return of the Jedi, in which a second, larger and fully operational (though incomplete), Death Star was shown, no more than four years having passed since the destruction of the first.

The new canon novel Rogue One: Catalyst has to do a great deal with the construction of the Death Star. The Death Star was commissioned in secret by Palptine while the Clone Wars raged on. Palpatine's excuse for commissioning the station came from the knowledge that Dooku and the Separatists had already began construction on their own version of the station (Obviously Palpatine was the mastermind behind that as well). Governor Tarkin suggested they build their own in response and Palpatine agreed, enlisting Lieutenant-Commander Orson Krennic of the Engineering Corps to begin construction on the Death Star for the Republic. Krennic enlists the captured Geonosian leader, Poggle the Lesser to use his work force to construct the station. Poggle then orders his work force to stall and eventually sabotage the majority of the station before escaping and re-joining the Separatists. This causes a major setback in the construction and it is put on hold until a new work force can be secured.

Shortly after the fall of the Republic, and death of the Seperatists, Krennic manipulates his old friend Galen Erso in to joining the Empire to work on the Death Star's super-laser, under the guise of the project being for sustainable energy with the use of kyber crystals (Galen's expertise), Krennic knowing Galen is the only one capable of unlocking the power of the crystals without the use of the force. Once Galen finds out what his research is actually being used for, he takes his family and goes in to hiding, delaying the work even more.

Although Palpatine, the Emperor, was not featured in this film, it is mentioned by Grand Moff Tarkin that the Emperor has dissolved the Imperial Senate permanently, that the regional governors will now have direct control over their "territories" and that fear of the Death Star will keep the local systems in line. This means that during the first nineteen years of his reign, the Emperor kept the Senate intact in order to maintain the appearance that the people still had a certain amount of power (a ploy also used by Roman emperors); however in reality, the Senate probably had increasingly less to say, up to the point where the Emperor had so much military power that he could dismiss the Senate without much resistance.

In the mythos of the Star Wars franchise, any Sith immediately outranks any member of the Imperials. However, that was back before the "Rule of Two" was introduced into the stories. It is possible that the Emperor was impressed with Tarkin's ruthlessness and ability to command the Imperial forces and so he is considered an equal to Vader, or simply the supreme commander of the Imperial forces, whereas Vader technically has no military rank (yet), just Lord and special servant to the Emperor (like Darth Maul was to Darth Sidious in The Phantom Menace. Tarkin never really gives Vader orders, but he simply tells him to release General Motti from his telekinetic choke and to terminate Leia. Vader and Tarkin obviously have a long history together, so Vader respects Tarkin enough to honour his requests: "As you wish." Any other scenes with Vader and Tarkin, they converse as if equals and Tarkin even refers to Vader as "my friend".

In the new canon novel Tarkin, the majority of which takes place roughly 5 years after the end of the clone wars. Emperor Palpatine, foreseeing how important they will both be to the Empire, sends Tarkin and Vader on a mission together. Much to their chagrin. During the mission, Vader comes to admire and respect Tarkin's fearless and brilliant combat tactics. Likewise, Tarkin respects Vader's abilities to wield the power of the force and even suspects that Vader is actually Anakin Skywalker (though he knows better than to ask), whom he came to respect as a Jedi during the clone wars. By the end of the novel, Tarkin is named Grand Moff. Making him one of the most powerful men in the galaxy, second only to The Emperor and Vader. Vader comes to respect him as a an equal and a friend. As close to a friend as Vader could have anyway.

Keep in mind, the Death Star is a space station the size of a small moon. Which means it's massive. The intricate workings of such a design could have several glitches and flaws that would go unnoticed. One specific thermal exhaust port leads right to the main reactor. There could be tens of thousands of exhaust ports on the station. In Rogue One, it is explained that Galen Erso realized that the Death Star would be completed with or without his expertise, so he decided to play along and continue his work in building the Death Star's super weapon. However, he worked in a design flaw that would destroy the station but would go unnoticed by the Empire.

The first lightsaber effects were created using wooden dowel rods wrapped in Scotchlite (a reflective white material used for lettering on road signs for night visibility) which were attached to the saber hilts. The hilts contained small motors which would spin the rod, which would reflect a front-projected light source, causing a shimmering effect. The activation and deactivation of the lightsabers were accomplished by simply stopping the camera with the actor (usually) standing still and attaching or removing the rod before restarting the camera, resulting in a slight jump in the image. This approach was not entirely successful for a number of reasons. It was hoped that the reflective surface would cast ambient light on the saber's immediate surroundings, but this was rarely if ever noticeable. The brightness of the saber could vary drastically depending upon its angle relative to the front-projected light, and additionally, the wooden blades were very fragile and tended to break during the dueling scenes. A few of these in-camera effects found their way into the film's first teaser trailer. The in-camera approach not culminating in satisfactory results, ILM added an animated glow to the blades in post-production, now differentiating the color of the individual sabers, which had all previously been white. For unknown reasons, two separate shots (one of Obi-Wan's saber and one of Vader's) did not have this effect applied, and the shots appeared in the finished film with the characters holding plain white sticks. This discrepancy was finally addressed in the DVD release of the film.

Two shots appearing in the film differed from this approach. The first scene of Luke training aboard the Millennium Falcon featured a completely animated blade. Without a practical blade attached to the hilt for reference, the saber beam appears slightly unsteady in this shot. The shot in which Obi-wan activates his saber as he prepares to confront Vader, the only instance in the original film wherein the saber is seen to slowly extend from the hilt as it would in all subsequent films, was achieved by attaching a glass rod to the hilt, initially pointed directly at the camera. Alec Guiness turned his hand slightly in the course of the shot, causing reflected light to travel along the length of the tube and give the effect of of an extruding blade. Again, a rotoscoped glow was eventually added for a more dynamic visual effect. All subsequent films in the series dispensed with the Scotchlite approach completely, and the sabers were equipped with sturdier metal rods for both dueling and as guides for the animated blades.

They were supposedly never part of any release of the film, having been edited out of the film long before the special effects, sound, and musical score were completed, and long before the first test screening. Though many fans claim to have seen them (as children, or on televised versions), they were never officially available until the CD-ROM "Behind the Magic" was released in the mid 1990s. Some photos from those scenes did, however, appear in books, such as The Star Wars Storybook, and the Marvel comic book adaptation. Lucas has said that these scenes were only added after he showed the script to friends, who told him that he waited too long (almost twenty minutes) to introduce the main character of Luke Skywalker. Lucas felt it would be best to follow the droids until their story connected with Luke, but he gave in to his friends' criticisms and added these new scenes. Soon after assembling a cut of the film, he realized these new scenes slowed down the pace of the opening section, so he edited them back out again. Also, one member of a private test screening upset Lucas by joking that these scenes made it look like "American Graffiti in space", and these comparisons were something he was desperate to avoid.

In 1997, Lucas re-released the original Star Wars trilogy. All three movies were not only reissued on video, but were also released in theaters worldwide, due to the 20th anniversary of the first movie. These versions contain the most changes the saga has seen yet. Particularly in the case of the first movie; complete scenes received new animations, and new scenes were added or were enhanced by numerous new characters. It was shown in cinemas, released on video twice and broadcast on television countless times.

The DVD edition is primarily the 1997 Special Edition with a few added changes for either continuity purposes or otherwise.

For the recently released Blu-ray discs, Lucas altered some shots and dialogues of the Star Wars movies again. In the first movie mostly very small changes can be found like modified colors, (e.g. the hatch of the escape capsule) or a digital rock that was added to the movie in the scene where R2-D2 is hiding from the sand people. Additionally, tiny sound alterations are audible as well, including the reinstatement of the "Force theme" heard as the X-Wings dive at the Death Star (which had been mixed out in the DVD version), and last but not least, the Solo-Greedo scene was edited too, the gap between the blaster shots being reduced again.

Lucas has stated that the more recent versions of the original trilogy are the "definitive" versions. He quoted a statement among moviemakers, "movies are not finished, they are abandoned", and added that he himself decided not to abandon his movies, but properly finish them. The reason for this is because at the time the original films were made (1977, 1980, and 1983), the technology to bring Lucas' true vision to the screen simply did not exist and the cost to realize it would have been astronomical. So with the technology available in the late 1990s through the 2000s; Lucas was able to touch-up, re-envision or create from scratch scenes from his original trilogy. On the flip-side, many die-hard Star Wars fans disagree with many of the changes or additions that Lucas made to his original trilogy (the most infamous being Greedo shooting at Han) and consider the original theatrical releases of the films the definitive "perfect" versions of the movies. It is your own personal opinion what version you consider "definitive"; but to ask the creator himself, you will find the newer "special editions" are his preferred visions.

See the Star Wars Enhanced Script Presentation, with highlighted dialogue, over 900 screenshots appropriately placed, and soundtrack/audio effects highlights.

Originally the plan was the release each Star Wars movie, post-converted to 3D every February, starting with The Phantom Menace, in 2012, though many fans complained about having to invest six years into getting to see each Star Wars movie in 3D. In late 2012, it was announced that both Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith would be released back-to-back in late 2013. However, once Walt Disney Studios acquired Lucasfilm, and the production of Episode VII was announced, Disney eventually declared that they were postponing the conversion to 3D and release of any more of the previous movies in order to focus on Episode VII. They also added that after production wraps on Episode VII they may continue to release the previous movies in 3D. Since then, there's been no word on 3D versions. Due to the fading demand for 3D films, it's likely it won't be released.