Summary
There were plenty of hidden details in the originalStar Wars, which was later retitledA New Hope, and though it’s one of the most beloved movies of all time, there’s still a chance some of them went unnoticed. As the first ofall theStar Warsmoviesand the beginning of a massive multimedia franchise,A New Hopehas been watched and rewatched by millions of people. It’s a timeless classic, and the sheer number of great details inA New Hopehelped make it so enduring.
Countless details have been picked out ofA New Hopeover the years, and some of them have even gone on to inspire otherStar Warsstories. One of the most notable examples is Obi-Wan Kenobi’s mention of the Clone Wars, which became a major part of the prequel trilogy and the basis ofStar Wars: The Clone Wars. Over the years, almost every part ofA New Hopehas been reexamined, and the details hidden within it are still inspiringnewStar Warsmoviesand shows. Even with all that attention, however, there are still at least 10 details that can be easy to miss.
The 10 Best Scenes In The Star Wars Original Trilogy
The Star Wars original trilogy consists of three of the best movies ever made, but only 10 of its scenes can be considered the best of the trilogy.
A New Hopeintroduced stormtroopers and their iconic white armor, but one of the most important aspects of their armor was a little different in the beginning. Stormtrooper armor serves quite a few functions, from protection to intimidation, but one of the most important parts of the armor was that each piece was supposed to be identical.InA New Hope, Luke Skywalker and Han Solo used stormtrooper armor to walk through the Death Star unnoticed, and that only worked because their helmets were identical to all the others.
Star Wars: Does Stormtrooper Armor Actually Provide Protection?
Imperial stormtroopers are fully armored, yet seem to die pretty easily in the Star Wars films - does their armor actually protect them from anything?
Stormtrooper armor wasn’t originally as uniform as it was supposed to be, though.There are some minor differences between the various stormtrooper helmets shown inA New Hope. Some of the helmets have shorter mouthpieces and narrower eyeholes, for example, and there are a few other subtle things that set each one apart. This was most likely just a production issue, as the helmets used inA New Hopewere created with several plastic molds that weren’t perfectly identical. In any case, stormtrooper helmets became much more standardized asStar Warswent on.
9C-3PO’s Joints Nearly Froze Because Tatooine Is Cold At Night
Early on inA New Hope, C-3PO and R2-D2 took an escape pod off of theTantive IVand crash-landed in the desert of Tatooine. Shortly after emerging from the pod, Threepio complained that his joints are nearly frozen and argued with Artoo about taking a rest. The fact that Threepio’s joints would be cold seemed odd, given Tatooine is famously hot due to its twin suns, and the pair were walking through a desert when Threepio said it.
Star Wars: The 15 Most Hilarious Quotes From C-3PO
Melodramatic, pedantic, yet always charmingly hilarious, C-3P0 has some of the best quotes in the Star Wars franchise. Here are just a few of them.
WhileA New Hopedoesn’t directly address Threepio’s freezing joints, there’s an interesting behind the scenes reason for it. Some of the Tatooine scenes inA New Hopewere filmed in the sand dunes of the Sahara desert, but Paul Duncan’s “The Star Wars Archives” revealed those scenes were shot in March.Because of the season, the Sahara desert was still rather cool in the day, and the actor who played C-3PO, Anthony Daniels, actually had to wear thermal leggings under his costume to stay warm. Threepio’s line seems to imply that Tatooine cools off at night just like a real desert.
8Aunt Beru Wanted C-3PO To Speak Bocce, But He Never Does
Quite a few of the plot points inA New Hopeare dependent on sheer luck, and C-3PO’s fate is no different. Luke’s introduction came from Aunt Beru, who told him to pick a droid who knew the language Bocce.Uncle Owen and Luke only picked Threepio because he said he could speak Bocce and the binary language of vaporators. Threepio was also the only reason the Lars family bought Artoo, and therefore the only reason Luke found out about Leia Organa.
C-3PO
Created by Anakin Skywalker, C-3PO was originally supposed to help Anakin and his mother Shmi during the galactic adventures Anakin dreamed they would have together. Instead, C-3PO became a gift to Anakin’s beloved wife Padmé Amidala, and soon found himself thrust into galactic affairs for decades. Threepio has proved himself a key asset to both the Rebel Alliance and the Resistance.
Though Bocce seemed to be a very important language Threepio needed to know and the key to the rest ofA New Hope, he never spoke a word of it. Threepio, admittedly, never got a chance to speak Bocce - Owen and Beru were killed before they had a chance to actually use him. Despite that fact, Owen never actually got any confirmation that Threepio knew Bocce or binary, he just took the protocol droid at his word.Essentially, all ofStar Warsindirectly hinged on Uncle Owen trusting a protocol droid sold by Jawas who had just tried to swindle him.
7Uncle Owen Made The First Reference To Hell In Star Wars
There’s a long, somewhat complicated history behind the concept of hell inStar Wars, but it’s one of the franchise’s oldest components. Hell was most notably referenced inThe Empire Strikes Back, when Han Solo told a Rebel officer that he would see him in hell. Since then, it’s appeared in movies, shows, and books, most recently inThe Acolyte. The concept has also been slightly changed inStar Warscanon: the term “hell” is essentially a regional term for “chaos,” theStar Warsequivalent of an underworld.
Hell In Star Wars Explained
Despite being set in a galaxy far, far away, “hell” has been referenced numerous times throughout Star Wars. Here’s how it fits into the franchise.
While hell inStar Warshas had an unusual journey, it actually started very early on.Uncle Owen was the first person to reference hell inStar Wars, as he said that if Luke didn’t get his chores done by midday, “there’ll be hell to pay.“Owen’s reference to hell wasn’t even the only one inA New Hope, as Han also asked Leia, “what the hell are you doing?” Both ofA New Hope’s references to hell were as expletives rather than a location, but it is interesting that the concept has been a part of the franchise since the very first installment.
6Ben Kenobi Scared The Tuskens Off With A Krayt Dragon Call
Ben Kenobi made his first appearance inA New Hopein spectacular fashion. After Luke was knocked unconscious by Tuskens, Ben emerged with his cloak pulled over his head and scared the Tuskens away by making a frightening sound.While the sound he made was scary enough on its own, it turns out Kenobi was actually mimicking a krayt dragon, a dangerous predator of Tatooine. There isn’t a living krayt dragon inA New Hopeto compare the calls, but the skeleton C-3PO walked past in the desert gave an idea of why the Tuskens feared them so much.
In the years sinceA New Hope, krayt dragons have gained a much bigger role, and become much more fearsome.An episode ofThe Mandalorianseason 2 heavily featured a krayt dragon, and it explained what Kenobi was doing inA New Hope. That episode showed that krayt dragons were massive monsters that terrorized all of Tatooine, and that the Tuskens were right to fear them. It also made Kenobi’s trick inA New Hopeeven more clever, and made the fact that he could imitate its call so well more impressive.
5Mos Eisley Cantina Is Full Of Strange Alien Species
When Luke and Obi-Wan first entered the cantina at Mos Eisley, they saw a wide array of aliens of all different kinds of species. Most of theweird alien species in Mos Eisley Cantinaonly appeared for a few seconds in the background, and many of them have changed over the years. George Lucas has famously released various special editions ofA New Hopeand the entire original trilogy, and the establishing shots of the cantina have also gone through various tweaks.In the different versions ofA New Hope, there were species that resembled a giant preying mantis, a werewolf, a humanoid bat, and more.
Wretched Hive Of Scum And Villany: 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Star War’s Mos Eisley
Tatooine’s Mos Eisley is one of Star Wars most famous locations. Home to gangsters and smugglers, there are many things unknown about the place.
The aliens at Mos Eisley - even the ones who were cut - didn’t just appear inA New Hope, though, and many of them have become very important toStar Warsas a whole. The giant preying mantis species, for example, was identified as the Yam’rii, and they became quite important toGeneral Grievous' backstory.Other species, like the Talz, the Ithorians, and the Devaronians, have been featured across the franchise, fromStar Wars: The Clone WarstoThe Mandalorian. The short establishing shots of Mos Eisley Cantina inA New Hopehave become a great resource for the future ofStar Wars.
4Greedo Used A Hidden Huttese Insult Against Han
One of the many iconic scenes inA New Hopecame when Han Solo was cornered by a Rodian bounty hunter: Greedo. After a short exchange of insults and taunts, the two fired at each other, and Han ended up killing Greedo.The end of that scene inspired the saying that “Han shot first,” and it’s been one of Lucas' favorite to change in special editions, but the beginning of the scene also has some hidden details. Greedo spoke the alien language Huttese while talking to Han, and some of his lines have become iconic insults.
Han Solo
Hailing from Corellia, Han Solo deserted the Empire to become a smuggler, and he spent years working for the Hutts as a spice runner. Han’s life changed forever when he agreed to transport Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker to Alderaan from Tatooine, and he soon became an important member of the Rebel Alliance. Han’s romance with Leia Organa became the stuff of legend, and they married shortly after the Battle of Endor. Sadly, their relationship ended in tragedy when their son Ben fell to the dark side - eventually killing Han. Still, memories of Han helped bring Ben back to the light.
Most of Greedo’s taunts and insults had subtitles, but there was one notable exception.A special edition ofA New Hopegave Greedo another Huttese line, where he exclaims “ma klounkee” just before firing at Han.Greedo’s “maclunkey” lineroughly translates to “it’ll be the end of you,” but the fact that it was included in a special edition without a subtitle made it the subject of ridicule. It’s also yet another sign of the many changes Lucas wanted to make toA New Hopeover the years, and one that was only recently added.
3John Wayne Technically Voiced Garindan, The Imperial Spy
John Wayne was a legendary actor in countless Western movies, but his final film might not have been a Western. The last film he actually appeared in wasThe Shootistin 1976, butWayne’s last role was technically inA New Hopein 1977.Wayne voiced Garindan, the Imperial spy who gave the location of theMillennium Falconto the stormtroopers. While Wayne technically voiced the spy, it’s hard to call it his actual final role. Garindan was most known for his warbly, incomprehensible voice - in addition to his large trunk - which made it impossible to identify Wayne as his voice actor.
1975
1976
Garindan
1977
Part of the reason Wayne’s final movie isn’t officiallyA New Hopeis because he was never meant to appear in the movie at all. The production team behindA New Hopeused quite a few technical tricks to make the movie happen, and one of them inadvertently put Wayne’s voice into the movie.Sound designer Ben Burt used old clips of audio feedback to give Garindan’s voice some static, and that feedback was from a line delivered by John Wayne.
2A New Hope Has A Few Continuity Errors
WhileA New Hopeis nearly flawless, it also had a few continuity errors that serve as minor plot holes. For example, the scene where Luke first powered up a lightsaber was shot out of order.C-3PO told Luke he was going to power down, yet he woke up in time to hear R2-D2 replay Princess Leia’s message. Later in the film, after the trash compactor scene, Luke’s hair had returned to its dry and fluffy normal state despite the fact he had just been dragged underwater by the dianoga.
Star Wars: 10 Funniest Goofs & Mistakes That Made It Into The Original Trilogy
Whether it be character mistakes or production errors, there are a bunch of hilarious goofs that made it into the three original Star Wars movies.
While there are a few continuity errors inA New Hope, they’re very easy to miss. Part of the reason they go mostly unnoticed is thatA New Hopetells a compelling enough story that those minor mistakes can be almost completely overlooked. It doesn’t really matter if Luke’s hair was wet or dry because his escape from the Death Star was so much more interesting.In that way, the mistakes ofA New Hopeactually highlight its greatest strengths: it’s too fun to get caught up in continuity.
1There Are No Guard Rails On The Death Star
One of the funniest hidden details inA New Hopedoesn’t concern any continuity errors, alien languages, or anything even remotely fantastical. Instead, it’s about safety regulations and working conditions.Though most ofA New Hopetakes place on the Death Star, there wasn’t a single safety railing in sight. That design oversight is most notable when Obi-Wan had to shuffle along a dangerously narrow ledge to get to the tractor beam controls, but it must have been a huge problem for the station’s personnel.
Star Wars: 10 Crazy Facts About The Death Star Only Diehard Fans Know
From its size to its real-world cost, here are 10 crazy facts about Star War’s iconic Death Star that only Bothans and die-hard fans know about.
The fact that the Death Star doesn’t have safety railings has been a running joke for years now, andThe Mandalorianeven canonized the safety complaint.WhileStar Warshas explained that the Empire simply wasn’t concerned with the safety of its workers, it’s still a funny oversight. George Lucas even addressed this joke in the rest of the original trilogy, as bothThe Empire Strikes BackandReturn of the Jedifeature guard rails very prominently. The Death Star’s lack of safety, though it has since been addressed, remains as one of the many easy to miss details inA New Hope.
Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope
Cast
Star Wars is a seminal science fiction film released in 1977 that follows the quest of Luke Skywalker and Han Solo to rescue Princess Leia from the oppressive Imperial forces. They are aided by the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO, as they strive to restore peace to the galaxy.
