As we examined on a previous editorial, the history of missing Star Wars deleted scenes is finally being completed with the recent release of the Star Wars Blu-rays. Let's take a little time to break down what we got with Episode IV - Star Wars: A New Hope.
The Tosche Station sequence consists mainly of 4 parts: Luke watching the Star Destroyer/Rebel Blockade Runner battle, Luke entering Tosche Station and greeting a few of his friends including a visiting Biggs, the group going outdoors to try to see the space battle Luke saw, and the walk and chat Luke has with Biggs. This whole sequence is similar to the previously released 1998 Behind the Magic CD Rom. The main difference? You can now see it on a full aspect ratio television monitor instead of a tiny computer box display.
The first part shows Luke working on a Moisture Vaporator, when he notices far up in the sky, what might be a space battle. No doubt this was supposed to be intercut near the opening battle scene. This footage is displayed in color-an improvement over the older CD Rom black and white shots. As Luke looks through his macrobinoculars, we see what could be a Star Destroyer high in the sky. We also see his Treadwell droid malfunctioning, somewhat reminiscent of the later seen exploding R5-D5. This scene might have been removed because it introduces Luke too early, as opposed to letting C3PO and R2-D2 lead the audience to Luke.
Next up, Luke enters Tosche Station, where his friends, Camie, Fixer, Deak, Windy, and Biggs are hanging out. Here Luke is excited to see Biggs who happens to just be visiting from the Academy. He convinces everyone to come outside to see the battle he had spotted earlier. When they step outside, some of them take turns trying to spot the battle through Luke's macrobinoculars, but not much is seen. Biggs suggests it's just a freighter tanker refueling. Everyone then goes back inside somewhat disappointed at what Luke claimed he had seen.
Finally, is the Luke/Biggs chat. Here is the meat and potatoes of the Tosche Station scenes. We learn that Biggs is planning on leaving the Academy and joining the Rebellion before he gets drafted into the empire. Biggs tries to convince Luke to join him, but Luke is somewhat reluctant to do it. This exchange ends with Luke telling Biggs that because he needs to help out his uncle, he might not get to the Academy until next season. This is great exposition for Luke. It helps shape his character and shows us his restlessness in wanting to get off of Tatooine. Plus, it gives us insight into Luke’s closest friend. Biggs seems to be like an older brother to Luke, in the way that Luke looks up to him and misses him. If this scene was kept in the film it would have given Biggs' death in the Death Star battle more emotional weight. Once again, these four scenes make up almost 10 minutes of running time that would have slowed down the beginning of the film considerably. Luke’s exposition gets somewhat redelivered to the audience by the “Luke eating with his aunt and uncle” scene.
Old Woman on Tatooine
This is a very quick scene of an old woman reacting to Luke’s speeder as it zooms past her. She is visibly irate at the speed and lets him know it. What’s interesting is that we get no audio for this scene and we do not see Luke or his speeder in the shot. This might indicate that, maybe, Luke and his speeder would have been added later optically. This scene would also have taken place as Luke arrives at Tosche Station. Therefore, it could be considered part of the Tosche Station scene, hence easily eliminated as the film was edited down.
Aunt Beru’s Blue Milk
Here we have a short scene of Aunt Beru in her kitchen pouring “Blue Milk” into a container. She is basically prepping breakfast for the Luke/Owen/Beru eating scene. The audio consists of kitchen sounds. This is not a very important scene, merely a shot that gives us a closer look at the kitchen and how it works. Easy to see why it was not used when they needed to trim the film down.
The Search for R2-D2
These are a series of shots of Luke and C-3PO riding on the landspeeder looking for R2-D2. The scene has audio and Luke and C-3PO exchange some lines about the landspeeder malfunctioning and about locating R2-D2’s signal. We do get to hear an unaltered Anthony Daniels talking through his droid mask. These shots were put together via rear projection to simulate the movement of the landspeeder. The shots don’t work because the rear projection looks fake, resembling old '60s or '70s versions of the typical shot of people driving a car with obvious projected footage behind or to the side of them. These would have been some really cool shots added to the film if they could of made the landspeeder movement effect work.
Cantina Rough Cut
This black and white footage consists of an early cut of the cantina sequence shot in England. Notable here are a number of differences or deletions from the final cut. The overall pace of the scene is much slower. We seem to linger a little longer on certain shots. Unseen characters are shown including a woman identified as Jenny who happens to be kissing Han Solo before his meeting with Ben and Luke. I guess this made him look too much like a pirate. We see a cantina customer going outside and notifying some Stormtroopers about Ben and Luke’s presence. We see shots of aliens that were either later edited out or had their screen time diminished. Greedo delivers his dialogue in English as we hear the original actors voice. The cut away of Ponda Baba’s dismembered arm displays the correct suction- cup features as opposed to the ultimately used incorrect furry hand. We also hear the bartender’s original voice.
This entire sequence was later recut so it would move faster. Parts of the set were reassembled in the U.S. and new aliens were designed and shot to make the cantina look more exotic. Even Greedo was reshot with a different actor. Ironically, George Lucas was never happy with the final cut of the cantina and would once again replace characters and re-edit it for the 1997 Special Edition release.
Stormtrooper Search
This scene is supposed to show us life on the streets of Mos Eisley. We see aliens walking about. We follow a little person (referenced as “Flash”) evade an alien creature by running through its legs. Plus, we see Stormtroopers continuing to conduct the search for the droids.
The “Flash” sequence was probably not used because of its humorous tone. However, it would later be recycled for the Star Wars Holiday Special. The rest of the scenes act as alternate takes and additional B-Roll/Cutaway shots. Not much lost here.
Darth Vader Widens the Search
This material consists of Darth Vader and Chief Bast walking down a Death Star corridor discussing Princess Leia and the search for the Droids. One treat is that we get to hear David Prowse’s real voice from within Vader’s mask. This might have been edited out because it is a little repetitive of other scenes dealing with the search for the droids. But, once again, this scene was reused and dubbed for the Star Wars Holiday Special.
Alternate Biggs and Luke Reunion
Here, we witnesss a very slight change to a scene that was added back in 1997 for the Special Edition release. As they are getting ready for the Battle of Yavin, Red Leader speaks to Luke and Biggs and mentions that he met Luke’s father when he was a boy. It's easy to see why this scene was taken out. On the original cut of A New Hope, by not introducing us to Biggs earlier in the film, this "reunion" seems a little awkward. But more important, any mention of Luke's father by Red Leader would reek havoc on the overall continuity of future sequels and prequels. It makes sense to see why the "father" line was omitted for the 1997 Special Edition and remains that way in the Blu-ray.
This brings us to the end of our review of deletes scenes from the Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope Blu-ray. Come back soon when we will review deleted scenes from Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Stikes Back.
I can't wait to see scenes from Return of the Jedi with Klaatu and my dad!
Posted by: Corey Dee Williams | 03/25/2012 at 07:32 PM