mentalfloss.com — Okay, so I’m as big a Star Wars fan as the next guy, but this really threw me. This YouTube video shows a “lost” beginning to the original Star Wars movie, and it’s terrible. Apparently these scenes were cut due to “time restrictions,” and boy am I glad. This is one of the best examples I’ve seen of how editing makes a movie better.
Jan 3, 2008 View in Crawl 4
Closed AccountJan 4, 2008
Yeah, at the beginning of his career. And the middle and end too.
fuzzynyankoJan 4, 2008
Wow. All that talk about getting drafted and joining the side against the government.
lynxproJan 4, 2008
Sorry...you beat me to the correction.He [Garrick Hagon, aka "Biggs"] was in the original Burton *Batman* film. Funny how he ended up in a minor role in *Batman* just as the actor who played "Porkins" also was in that film.
wwwdot1jesdotusJan 4, 2008
Ooooooh! Now the whole story makes sense!
Closed AccountJan 4, 2008
I have the Star Wars radio drama and this scene is acted out in it, as are several other scenes that were part of the script but were either never shot or just edited out. Great to listen to, especially if you're stuck in traffic.
christianboutinJan 4, 2008
The nationalizing boogyman is coming to take away Owen's farm. That screams anti-communism propaganda. Whether or not Lucas was a fan of Nixon doesn't mean he's a fan of the soviet bloc. Generally, the Empire is just portrayed as evil. The inner workings are generally left blank (economically and politically, aside from a brief mention of the senate being dissolved). But with this segment the Empire does become explicitly linked to the Soviet Bloc. It's not just an Empire of evil, it's also communism!
sumgirlJan 4, 2008
Does that offend your fanboy sensibilities?
allisonaxeJan 5, 2008
I actually really like these scenes, and at the same time, I'm glad they were cut. its very interesting to see more of "civilian luke, the kid with hope of getting off the farm and seeing the galaxy," but then, i also can't figure out a good spot where this would fit into the narrative flow of the movie we ended up getting. its an interesting look at the character, but cutting it was the right decision: it just doesn't fit into the movie.