Episode IV: A New Hope

unused footage: scenes 1 - 10

Alternate opening text: A long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away an incredible adventure took place ... 1 - EXT. SPACE A vast sea of stars serves as the backdrop for the MAIN TITLE. War drums echo through the heavens, as a ROLLUP slowly crawls into infinity ... It is a period of civil wars in the galaxy. A brave alliance of underground freedom fighters has challenged the tyranny and oppression of the awesome GALACTIC EMPIRE. Striking from a fortress hidden among the billion stars of the galaxy, rebel spaceships have won their first victory in a battle with the powerful Imperial starfleet. The EMPIRE fears that another defeat could bring a thousand more solar systems into the rebellion, and Imperial control over the galaxy would be lost forever. To crush the rebellion once and for all, the EMPIRE is constructing a sinister new battle station. Powerful enough to destroy an entire planet, its completion spells certain doom for the champions of freedom. Commentary... 2 - INT. REBEL SPACEFIGHTER - MAIN PASSAGEWAY An explosion hits near the robots and the lanky Threepio becomes entangled in the mass of dangling wires, which spark and pop every time he attempts to move. Artoo waddles to his friend's aid. 1 THREEPIO Help me! I think something is melting ... This is all your fault! I should have known better than to trust the logic of a half-sized thermocapsulary dehousing assister ... Artoo counters with an angry rebuttal as the battle rages around the two hapless robots. Note: this moment was re-edited into a later scene (A123). 3 - EXT. TATOOINE - DESERT WASTELAND - DAY 2 A death-white wasteland stretches from horizon to horizon. The tremendous heat of two huge twin suns settles on a lone figure, LUKE STARKILLER, a farm boy with heroic aspirations who looks much younger than his twenty 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 beat-up 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 transfigured for a few moments studying the heavens, then dashes toward his dented, crudely repaired landspeeder (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 it 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. Special image gallery... 8 - EXT. ANCHORHEAD SETTLEMENT - POWER STATION - DAY 3 4 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! 5 6 Luke pulls up behind a low concrete service station that is all but covered by the shifting desert sands. 7 8 9 - INT. POWER STATION - DAY 9 10 Luke bursts into the power station, waking THE FIXER, a rugged mechanic and CAMIE, a sexy disheveled girl who has been asleep on 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? 11 12 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. (He 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 good-bye to all you unfortunate landlocked simpletons. Everyone laughs. The dazzling spectacle of his dashing friend is almost too much, but suddenly he snaps out of it. 13 LUKE I almost forgot. There's a battle going on! Right here in our system. Come and look! DEAK Not again! Forget it. 14 10 - EXT. 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. 15 LUKE There they are! Biggs takes the binoculars from Luke as the other strain to see something with the naked eye. Through the binoculars Biggs sees two small silver specks. 16 17 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 ... 18 Camie grabs the binoculars away banging them against the building in the process. Luke grabs them. LUKE Hey, easy with those ... CAMIE Don't worry about it, Wormie. 19 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 ... 20 21 Luke agrees, although it's obvious he isn't sure why. The group stumbles back into the power station, grumbling about Luke's ineptitude. 22 23 View special image gallery: Anchorhead Sources: 1 - Topps Widevision Star Wars #80. 2, 5 through 23 - Behind the Magic: The Insider's Guide to Star Wars, CD-ROM, LucasArts Entertainment Co., LLC 3 - The Art of Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, published by Ballantine Books, 1997. 4 - "The Evolution of Star Wars" by Dr. David West Reynolds, The Star Wars Insider, Issue #41

-select scene group- scenes 1-10 scenes 11-20 scenes 21-30 scenes 31-40 scenes 41-50 scenes 51-60 scenes 61-70 scenes 71-80 scenes 81-90 scenes 91-100 scenes 101-110 scenes 111-120 scenes 121-130 scenes 131-140 scenes 141-150 scenes 151-160 scenes 161-170 scenes 171-180 scenes 181-190 scenes 191-200 scenes 201-210 scenes 211-220 scenes 221-230 scenes 231-240 scenes 241-250 scenes 251-252

<- previous | next ->