Though floating around and known for years, and available online and through certain materials such as the Behind the Magic CD-ROM, many fans have never seen the deleted scenes from our beloved saga, especially the newer fans that grew up with the prequels.

So here now is the first part in a six-part series as I take you inside all the gems that were cut. With the impending Saga Boxset release next year (not confirmed officially but certainly definite) I would bet my top dollar that all the OT deleted scenes will be presented in that set in all their cinematic glory. So here now is a primer on those scenes, so next year you'll have a little background on what to expect.

And now, the first installment: Deleted Scenes Of Episode IV!

Luke And His Binoculars

Many fans swear this was once in the original cut, but it's really a combination of wishful thinking and the mind playing tricks. Stills of this scene were available in many areas as far back as 1976, including the original Star Wars novelization.

This scene takes place early in the film, and is intercut with footage of the battle onboard the Tantive IV. It occurs right before Vader boards the ship. In it, we see Luke on Tatooine working on a moisture vaporator, and then looks up and sees two ships in the sky. Using his macrobinoculars, he looks and sees the ships firing at each other. He then gets into his landspeeder and races to Anchorhead to tell his friends.

This is the start of the so-called "Anchorhead scenes", which all take place intercut between the Tantive IV battle and the droids' journey from the escape pod, into Jawa captivity, and finally to the Lars moisture farm.

The end result is that we see Luke and have him developed much earlier in the film than his appearance in the final cut. The focus was on both him and the droids, rather than just the droids. This essentially killed the pacing, resulting in the cut.

Furthermore, now with the prequels, Lucas' decision to cut these scenes is even more important. The film begins largely with characters we know from the prequels: Vader, the droids, Captain Antilles, and logically now the grown-up Leia. Then, by focusing on the droids, we see the journey of familiar characters before we get to Luke. By doing it this way it serves as a better transition from the prequels to the OT, with familiar established characters passing the torch to essentially new characters.

ORIGINAL SCRIPT EXCERPT:

EXT. TATOOINE - DESERT WASTELAND - DAY

A death-white wasteland stretches from horizon to horizon.

The tremendous heat of two huge twin suns settle on a lone figure, Luke Skywalker, a farm boy with heroic aspirations who looks much younger than his eighteen years.

His shaggy hair and baggy tunic give him the air of a simple but lovable lad with a prize-winning smile.

A light wind whips at him as he adjusts several valves on a large battered moisture vaporator which sticks out of the desert floor much like an oil pipe with valves.

He is aided by a beatup tread-robot with six claw arms.

The little robot appears to be barely functioning and moves with jerky motions.

A bright sparkle in the morning sky catches Luke's eye and he instinctively grabs a pair of electrobinoculars from his utility belt.

He stands transfixed for a few moments studying the heavens, then dashed toward his dented, crudely repaired Landspeeder (an auto-like transport that travels a few feet above the ground on a magnetic-field). He motions for the tiny robot to follow him.

LUKE
Hurry up! Come with me! What are you waiting for?! Get in gear!

The robot scoots around in a tight circle, stops short, and smoke begins to pour out of every joint.

Luke throws his arms up in disgust.

Exasperated, the young farm boy jumps into his Landspeeder leaving the smoldering robot to hum madly.



Tosche Station

This scene takes place after the droids' escape in the escape pod but before Leia is brought to Vader aboard the Tantive IV. As a continuation of the first Luke scene, he races his speeder into Anchorhead (nearly running down an old woman, an effects shot never finished) to tell his friends what he saw.

The characters of Deak, Windy, Camie and Fixer are seen, but most importantly is the emergence of Biggs, Luke's closest friend who is on leave from the Academy. Luke's nickname, :Wormie" is shown as Camie refers to him as that.

After describing the battle, Luke's friends look up into the sky and see nothing as it has ended. They mock him and accuse him of making it up.

This scene was cut early on, and rightly so. It makes Luke appear weak and is very "un-Star Wars like". However, it did serve as a segue to the next scene, an incredibly vital one in my opinion which had to be cut because editorially without the previous scenes it's hard to find a way to insert this next sequence.

ORIGINAL SCRIPT EXCERPT:

EXT. TATOOINE - ANCHORHEAD SETTLEMENT - POWER STATION - DAY

Heat waves radiate from the dozen or so bleached white buildings. Luke pilots his Landspeeder through the dusty empty street of the tiny settlement. An old woman runs to get out of the way of the speeding vehicle, shaking her fist at Luke as he flies past.

WOMAN
I've told you kids to slow down!

Luke pulls up behind a low concrete service station that is all but covered by the shifting desert sands.

INT. POWER STATION - DAY

Luke bursts into the power station, waking The Fixer, a rugged mechanic and Camie, a sexy, disheveled girl who has been asleep in his lap.

They grumble as he races through the office, yelling wildly.

FIXER
Did I hear a young noise blast through here?

CAMIE
It was just Wormie on another rampage.

Luke bounces into a small room behind the office where Deak and Windy, two tough boys about the same age as Luke, are playing a computer pool-like game with Biggs, a burly, handsome boy a few years older than the rest. His flashy city attire is a sharp contrast to the loose-fitting tunics of the farm boys. A robot repairs some equipment in the background.

LUKE
Shape it up you guys!... Biggs?

Luke's surprise at the appearance of Biggs gives way to great joy and emotion. They give each other a great bear hug.

LUKE
I didn't know you were back! When did you get in?

BIGGS
Just now. I wanted to surprise you, hot shot. I thought you'd be here... certainly didn't expect you to be out working.
(laughs)

LUKE
The Academy didn't change you much... but you're back so soon? Hey, what happened, didn't you get your commission?

Biggs has an air of cool that seems slightly phony.

BIGGS
Of course I got it. Signed aboard The Rand Ecliptic last week. First mate Biggs Darklighter at your service...
(he salutes)
... I just came back to say goodbye to all you unfortunate landlocked simpletons.

Everyone laughs. The dazzling spectacle of his dashing friend is almost too much for Luke, but suddenly he snaps out of it.

LUKE
I almost forgot. There's a battle going on! Right here in our system. Come and look!

DEAK
Not again! Forget it.

EXT. TATOOINE - ANCHORHEAD - SETTLEMENT - POWER STATION - DAY

The group stumbles out into the stifling desert sun.

Camie and The Fixer complain and are forced to shade their eyes. Luke has his binoculars out scanning the heavens.

LUKE
There they are!

Biggs takes the electrobinoculars from Luke as the others strain to see something with the naked eye. Through the electrobinoculars Biggs sees two small silver specks.

BIGGS
That's no battle, hot shot... they're just sitting there! Probably a freighter-tanker refueling.

LUKE
But there was a lot of firing earlier...

Camie grabs the electrobinoculars away banging them against the building in the process.

Luke grabs them.

LUKE
Hey, easy with those...

CAMIE
Don't worry about it, Wormie.

The Fixer gives Luke a hard look and the young farm boy shrugs his shoulders in resignation.

FIXER
I keep telling you, the Rebellion is a long way from here. I doubt if the Empire would even fight to keep this system. Believe me Luke, this planet is a big hunk of nothing...

Luke agrees, although it's obvious he isn't sure why. The group stumbles back into the power station, grumbling about Luke's ineptitude.



Luke And Biggs

Trashed because the whole Anchorhead plot was cut, it remains to me the most important cut scene of the entire Star Wars Saga. It was to occur somewhere between C-3PO's spotting of the Jawa Sandcrawler and the capture of R2-D2. After the previous deleted scene, Luke and Biggs go out to have a private conversation.

Biggs embodies what Luke wants to do: leave Tatooine and join the Academy. He is conflicted in his desire to do that and his obligations to Uncle Owen. This is great because it supports later scenes where Luke is frustrated about his destiny, such as the dinner conversation and of course the pivotal binary sunset scene.

But on a further level, this scene hits upon another important topic. In an intense exchange, Biggs reveals he is joining the Rebellion, which touches upon further scenes where Luke says he can't do anything about the Empire. The two friends bid each other goodbye.

To me, this scene is gold because it makes the death of Biggs more significant, and it relates to the themes of Luke's destiny and the Empire vs. the Rebellion.

ORIGINAL SCRIPT EXCERPT:

EXT. TATOOINE - ANCHORHEAD SETTLEMENT - POWER STATION - DAY

Luke and Biggs are walking and drinking a malt brew. Fixer and the others can be heard working inside.


LUKE
(Very animated)
... so I cut off my power, shut down the afterburners and came in low on
Deak's trail. I was so close I thought I was going to fry my instruments. As it was I busted up the Skyhopper pretty bad. Uncle Owen was pretty upset.
He grounded me for the rest of the season. You should have been there... it was fantastic.

BIGGS
You ought to take it a little easy Luke. You may be the hottest bushpilot this side of Mos Eisley, but those little Skyhoppers are dangerous. Keep it up, and one day, whammo, you're going to be nothing more than a dark spot on the down side of a canyon wall.

LUKE
Look who's talking. Now that you've been around those giant starships you're beginning to sound like my uncle. You've gotten soft in the city...

BIGGS
I've missed you kid.

LUKE
Well, things haven't been the same since you left, Biggs. It's been so...quiet.

Biggs looks around then leans close to Luke.

BIGGS
Luke, I didn't come back just to say goodbye... I shouldn't tell
you this, but you're the only one I can trust... and if I don't come
back, I want somebody to know.

Luke's eyes are wide with Biggs' seriousness and loyalty.

LUKE
What are you talking about?

BIGGS
I made some friends at the Academy. (he whispers)... when our frigate goes to one of the central systems, we're going to jump ship and join the Alliance...

Luke, amazed and stunned, is almost speechless.

LUKE
Join the Rebellion?! Are you kidding! How?

BIGGS
Quiet down will ya! You got a mouth bigger than a meteor crater!

LUKE
I'm sorry. I'm quiet. (he whispers) Listen how quiet I am. You can
barely hear me...

Biggs shakes his head angrily and then continues.

BIGGS
My friend has a friend on Bestine who might help us make contact.

LUKE
You're crazy! You could wander around forever trying to find them.

BIGGS
I know it's a long shot, but if I don't find them I'll do what I can on my own... It's what we always talked about. Luke, I'm not going to wait for the Empire to draft me into service. The Rebellion is spreading and I want to be on the
right side - the side I believe in.

LUKE
And I'm stuck here...

BIGGS
I thought you were going to the Academy next term. You'll get your chance to get off this rock.

LUKE
Not likely! I had to cancel my application. There has been a lot of unrest among the Sand People since you left... they've even raided the outskirts of Anchorhead.

BIGGS
Your uncle could hold off a whole colony of Sand People with one blaster.

LUKE
I know, but he's got enough vaporators going to make the place pay off. He
needs me for just one more season. I can't leave him now.

BIGGS
I feel for you, Luke, you're going to have to learn what seems to be important or what really is important. What good is all your uncle's work if
it's taken over by the Empire?... You know they're starting to nationalize
commerce in the central systems...it won't be long before your uncle
is merely a tenant, slaving for the greater glory of the Empire.

LUKE
It couldn't happen here. You said it yourself. The Empire won't bother
with this rock.

BIGGS
Things always change.

LUKE
I wish I was going... Are you going to be around long?

BIGGS
No, I'm leaving in the morning...

LUKE
Then I guess I won't see you.

BIGGS
Maybe someday... I'll keep a lookout.

LUKE
Well, I'll be at the Academy next season... after that who knows. I won't be drafted into the Imperial Starfleet that's for sure... Take care of yourself, you'll always be the best friend I've got.

BIGGS
So long, Luke.

Biggs turns away from his old friend and heads back towards the power station.



The Search For R2-D2

Occurring before Luke is attacked by the Tusken Raiders, it is a scene where he and C-3PO converse while in the landspeeder. Luke discusses "Old Ben" as well as how much trouble R2 will be in when he is found and subsequently how much trouble Luke will be in if Uncle Owen learns of this.

Just like the olden days, this scene was filmed against a moving image screen as it showed them in the cockpit driving along. It was cut because the quality was poor and looked like the cheesy car driving scenes found in many films where it's obvious that there's a moving screen behind the car.

ORIGINAL SCRIPT EXCERPT:

EXT. DESERT WASTELAND - LUKE'S SPEEDER - DAY

The rock and sand of the desert floor are a blur as Threepio pilots the sleek landspeeder gracefully across the vast wasteland.

INT/EXT. LUKE'S SPEEDER - DESERT WASTELAND - TRAVELING - DAY

Luke adjusts something in the motor compartment.

LUKE (yelling)
How's that?

Threepio signals that it is fine and Luke turns back into the wind-whipped cockpit and pops the canopy shut.

LUKE
Old Ben Kenobi lives out in this direction somewhere, but I don't see how that R-2 unit could have come this far. We must have missed him. Uncle Owen isn't going to take this very well.

THREEPIO
Sir, would it help if you told him it was my fault?

LUKE (brightening)
Sure. He needs you. He'd probably only deactivate you for a day or so...

THREEPIO
Deactivate! Well on the other hand if you hadn't removed his restraining bolt...

LUKE
Wait, there's something dead on the scanner. It looks like our droid... hit the accelerator.



Commander Bast's Report

First off, for those who don't know, Commander Bast is the Imperial Officer that asks Tarkin if he should "have his ship standing by" during the Battle Of Yavin. Anyway, occurring between the scene with Han and Jabba (which was at one time a deleted scene which means resurrection for deleted scenes is always possible) and the Falcon's escape from Mos Eisley, it details the search for the droids as Bast speaks to Darth Vader.

On board the Death Star, Bast reports that the search on Tatooine has expanded to Mos Eisley. Vader relates that Princess Leia's interrogation has gone nowhere and has no new information. Bast declares that Tarkin's attempts to make her talk are foolish.

Generally a superflous scene, it was cut for that reason. Princess Leia's resistance to interrogation is discussed in another scene, and the Imperial search of Mos Eisley is pretty self-explanatory.

ORIGINAL SCRIPT EXCERPT:

INT. DEATH STAR - CORRIDOR

Darth Vader and a stormtrooper commander stride down one of
the long Death Star corridors, followed by several aides.

COMMANDER
We've started to search the spaceport at Mos Eisley. It's just a matter of
time before we've found the droids.

VADER
Send in more men if you have to. It's her hope of that data being used against us that is the pillar of her resistance to the mind probe.

COMMANDER
Until then we must waste our time with Governor Tarkin's foolish plan to break her.



Alternate Shots/Cuts

Like any film, there were a large number of shots that made it into initial edits of the film but were deleted. These aren't full scenes, but do merit some explanation.

Luke's poncho is an infamous case. He wears it briefly in Mos Eisley and on Yavin, and uses it as a blanket on the Falcon after the escape from the Death Star. Other cuts showed him with it in more scenes, such as in the deleted Anchorhead scenes and various times on Tatooine. Cut most likely for creative/continuity concerns, and I like it because him walking around in a poncho for most of the film is dumb.

Additional shots of note include unused cantina shots (especially from the initial cut before pickup shooting made the cantina look better with less off the shelf horror masks like Insect Man). There was also additional shots of creatures in Mos Eisley. Perhaps the most famous shot was a brief scene of Han flirting with a girl, "Jenny" at his Cantina booth before Obi-Wan comes over. All of these deletions were for the better.

A couple of other famous cut shots were alternate angles of Obi-Wan at the Death Star tractor beam, Beru in the kitchen with her blue milk, and more close ups of Rebel pilots in the briefing scene.


Well, that's it, the deleted material of ANH.

Stay tuned next time for:

The Deleted Scenes Of Episode V