I watched Star Wars (Unaltered) today and saw something I'd never noticed. That's one of my favorite things- having seen the flicks hundreds of times I always see something I've never noticed before. Then there's the good part about forgetting some of the stuff I've learned: there're so many SW factoids in my head that sometimes re-learning something can be as interesting as hearing it the first time. But this, I'm pretty sure was new.

A little over an hour in, as TK-421 and his counterpart are lured into the Falcon's hold the second stormtrooper has a different belt on (you'll see it as he ascends the ramp). Aha! Had I found an inconsistency? These should be the armor uniforms worn later by our heroes, right? Apparently, Luke ended up wearing this belt, as it's missing the typical thermal detonator cylindar on the back. It's got what turns out to be the grappling hook and rope he later uses. With a fairly careful eye I can't see a shot where this was inconsistant.

So I was happily schooled- even in the 70s this was right on. And speaking of the 70s. T-Bone from T-Bone's SWU has posted a knowing quote from Lucas found in Rolling Stone, May 1977,

Quote:--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I had a real problem because I was afraid that science-fiction buffs and everybody would say things like, 'You know there's no sound in outer space.' I just wanted to forget science. That would take care of itself. Stanley Kubrick made the ultimate science-fiction movie and it is going to be very hard for somebody to come along and make a better movie, as far as I'm concerned. I didn't want to make a 2001, 1 wanted to make a space fantasy that was more in the genre of Edgar Rice Burroughs; that whole other end of space fantasy that was there before science took it over in the Fifties. Once the atomic bomb came, everybody got into monsters and science and what would happen with this and what would happen with that. I think speculative fiction is very valid but they forgot the fairy tales and the dragons and Tolkien and all the real heroes."