This is a partial list of scenes (some filmed, some merely considered) that weren't included in any film version of either the original trilogy or the prequels. Some were cut due to time constraints, while others simply didn't fit into the overall flow of the story, though some fans hope that their favorite scenes will someday be included in a later edition of one of the films. Though it had been rumored that deleted scenes from the first six films of the series would be featured in the 2007 Star Wars Saga Boxed Set (which would most likely have included all six films and more special features), the year came and went and no such set was released. It would not be until the 2011 Blu-Ray release that this would happen. (NOTE: Most of these scenes made it to the novelization.) Dooku Interrogates PadméAnakin and Padmé on TrialJedi Attack Droid Control Ship Padmé Amidala sitting beside Chi Eekway PapanoidaYoda leaving his escape pod Luke Skywalker is in the Tatooine desert repairing a moisture vaporator, assisted by a WED Treadwell repair droid, when he notices shining objects in the sky.
With his macrobinoculars Luke sees two ships engaged in combat beyond the atmosphere. He jumps into his landspeeder. The malfunctioning Treadwell blows a fuse and is unable to follow. Luke speeds off into the desert to find his friends. The scene originally occurred after the Tantive IV is boarded, just before the first appearance in the film of Darth Vader. It is thought that there is no longer any clear footage of this scene available. Existing footage has been degraded by poor film storage conditions over the years. Nonetheless, the scene was restored somewhat in the blu-ray edition. Before the film was cut, this was the audience's first sight of the young Luke Skywalker, much earlier than in the final cut. It was removed along with subsequent scenes of Luke and his friends in Anchorhead. George Lucas had originally written the scenes and shot them at the suggestion of his industry friends who thought that audiences wouldn't understand the story strictly being told from a droid's point of view.
Upon realizing that the story was really about the droids' adventures and it was them leading things to Luke and Obi-Wan, etc. Lucas took the footage out. Luke's landspeeder races into the town of Anchorhead, nearly running over an old woman. Luke rushes into Tosche Station excitedly telling his friends about the battle above their planet. He is overjoyed to be reunited with his friend Biggs Darklighter who is on planet leave from the Academy. Deak, Windy, Camie, Fixer and Biggs all follow Luke outside to see the battle with Luke's macrobinoculars. The battle appears to have ended and Luke's friends ridicule him for making it all up. This scene was to come just after R2-D2 and C-3PO eject from the Tantive IV in an escape pod, and before the scene where Princess Leia is led captive before Darth Vader. This scene establishes Luke's difficult relationships with his peers, and gives a picture of life on Tatooine. Storyline pacing may have been the deciding factor, but it should also be borne in mind that after Lucas's first screening of the rough cut of Star Wars in 1977, a fellow film-maker jokingly accused him of producing "American Graffiti in space".
This jibe probably influenced Lucas to cut the scenes set in Anchorhead. The sequence where Luke nearly runs down an old woman was an effects shot that was never completed. This scene is a conversation between Luke and his oldest friend, Biggs Darklighter. Biggs has left Tatooine and is on planet leave from the Imperial Academy where he is training to be a space pilot. Luke's envy of Biggs's success conflicts with his duty to his uncle and his reasons for remaining on Tatooine. Biggs quietly tells Luke that he has decided to join the Rebellion against the Empire. In a tense and emotional conversation, the two young men say their final farewells. This scene was to come in between the scene where C-3PO spots a distant Jawa sandcrawler in the desert, and the capture R2-D2 by the Jawas in the canyon. The Luke and Biggs sequence was part of the whole Anchorhead back-story on Tatooine, and was cut along with the other early scenes on Tatooine probably for reasons of story pacing.
In this short scene, Darth Vader and Chief Bast walk along a corridor on the Death Star. Bast reports that the search for the missing droids has extended to Mos Eisley spaceport. Vader observes that Princess Leia is resisting interrogation, and Bast boldly criticizes Tarkin's plan to break her as "foolish." The scene would have appeared between the scene where Han Solo encounters Jabba the Hutt in Docking Bay 94 (also cut), and the scene where Luke and Ben find the Millennium Falcon in Docking Bay 94. Probably for reasons of time. The scene adds little to the plot. R2-D2 has absconded from his new master, Luke Skywalker. Early in the morning, Luke and Threepio rush off in the landspeeder to search for Artoo, with Threepio driving the landspeeder. They talk about Artoo, Ben Kenobi, and how angry Uncle Owen is going to be. The scene belongs at the start of the sequence where Luke and Threepio search for Artoo, before the attack of the Tusken Raiders. The moment was scored with a light version of Luke's theme;
the music can be heard at the beginning of the cue "Land of the Sand People" on the original LP and CD configurations, or "Landspeeder Search" in the Special Edition album. Before the days of CGI, scenes like this landspeeder cockpit sequence had to be filmed against a rear-projection screen. The scene was dropped due to poor quality. There are many short alternate takes throughout Star Wars where Luke appears in his poncho: Luke in the desert, in the Tusken Raiders' canyon, Luke finding the destroyed homestead, and in the hangar on Yavin 4. The only poncho scenes that made the final cut were in Docking Bay 94, on the Millennium Falcon flight from the Death Star, and on arrival on Yavin 4. There are no explanations, except speculation about continuity between shots. The first edit of Star Wars was the work of John Jympson, not by George Lucas. This rough cut contained a lot of alternate takes that were not used in the final version of the film, plus several scenes that were subsequently cut (detailed above).