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Think you know everything about Star Wars? Think again! Believe it or not, some scenes never made the final cut of the movies. Some of 'em fall pretty flat, others were actually really interesting. Either way, no hardcore fan should go to sleep at night without knowing about these. Let's take a look at the three original flicks and their super special deleted scenes...
Star Wars: I was born in 1987, so I missed the original theatrical releases of the entire trilogy. But, being born into a family with an older brother and a young uncle during a time when loving Star Wars was anything but geeky, I watched the video more times by age 7 than I could possibly count. Is it a perfect movie? Of course not. There's no perfect movies, with the possible exception of Gremlins 2. But Star Wars transcends 'good' and 'bad', kind of like reruns of Mama's Family and those 3-D Doritos. But aside from that - it's still a terrific movie and remains the greatest sci-fi fantasy of all time.
However, there were a few scenes that didn't make the final cut. Most fanboys know about them, but a lot of you might not. In long movies, time cuts often have to be made and some less crucial scenes get sacrificed. Luckily, in this case, the scenes weren't all that cool to begin with, so the cantina sequence running five minutes too long really was a godsend in disguise. Let's take a look...
Yes, the infamous 'Biggs Scene'. Believe it or not, Luke did have friends. He didn't spend all his time chillin' with Aunt Beru or arguing with Uncle Owen. Life on Tatooine wasn't exactly bright lights, big city...but Luke managed to maintain at least a small amount of social contact. His best friend on Tatooine was Biggs, who looked kind of like a white Lando, only with nowhere near as much sass. The scene details Luke and Biggs supposed last meeting, as Biggs is off to the Rebel Academy so he can learn how to get blown up in his first battle. Luke's pretty depressed about this...he wants to go to the academy too, but his evil uncle decided that there's no way he can stare at his moisture vaporators without Luke's help for one more season.
Well Uncle Owen, the joke's on you. You'll be a pile of charred bones within a half hour. Maybe next time your nephew wants to achieve his dream, you'll think twice before pulling out the old farming clause. Bastard.
Of course, in the movie, Luke and Biggs do meet up again at the Rebel base on Yavin. They begin to trade stories for a minute before realizing that they've got an important battle with the Death Star to devote their attention to. Unfortunately, they'll never get to catch up on old times, since Biggs' ship explodes in battle. But don't be too upset about it. Luke only seemed to mourn Biggs' death for three seconds, so if you give it any more than 1.5 seconds, you're just being a drama queen.
Why this scene was cut: Amazingly, the general conclusion brought to the movie's producers after showing the film to test audiences was crystal clear: nobody really gave a shit about Biggs. So, in total, he appeared in the final cut for about 70 seconds. And as you should know, it only takes an appearance of 0.12 seconds for George Lucas to feel warranted in making an action figure for the character. The end result?
Yes, the Biggs action figure. It's important for kids to have some toys that can die, and no child really wants to kill off their Luke or Han.
Another scene that got deleted (kinda) is Han's meeting with Jabba at Docking Bay 94. In the special editions, you'll notice that when Han meets with Jabba, he doesn't seem to be all that fearful of the guy. You'll also notice that he calls him a 'wonderful human being'. Han wasn't being cutesy, there's a reason for all this. Check it out...
The reason Han showed no fear wasn't because there was no reason to be worried about a giant alien slug with galactic mafia connections, it's because the person he was talking to was just a fat, Irish guy wearing a fur coat. Either George's supreme Jabba vision didn't hit him quite yet, or the technology budget was tight...either way, this is definitely not the Jabba the Hutt we've come to know and love.
Lucas' higher brain function kicked in, and the scene was left off the final cut. In the special editions, a computer-generated Jabba was placed over the fat Irish guy for the scene. Also, in the original, most of those aliens aren't there, and obviously, there's no Boba Fett either.
The Empire Strikes Back: Arguably the most acclaimed of the three flicks, it's certainly the most dramatic. Few sequels succeed in having a better story and better performances than the first, but it's hard to argue that ESB didn't accomplish that. This is a good movie to show people who aren't all that interested in Star Wars...out of the three, the cheese factor is at a minimum, and there's no way to deny that the plotline plays out wonderfully. It's also the longest of the three films - long enough that an entire subplot was altogether dropped. It's too bad too...from the looks of things, it was pretty interesting...
 After the Imperial troops infiltrate the Rebel's snowbase on Hoth, you'll notice Han and some others run past a door with a peculiar yellow sticker on it. What you probably don't know is that behind that door are supposed to be a herd of Wampa ice creatures that the Rebels had captured. (the same kind of creature that attacked Luke earlier in the movie) The original story has a subplot where the Rebels capture these creatures since they keep attacking and eating everyone. They trap a bunch of them in this room, and smartly put a sticker on it warning others that it's probably not a good idea to open the door.
 C-3P0 was no slouch, sometimes his Droid brain came up with some pretty clever ideas. As they're being chased through the base by Imperial troops on their way to the escape ships, 3P0 has the brilliant idea to peel off the sticker. It could be argued that he just wanted to take a momento from the time spent on this exotic ice world, but no matter how you look at it - the end results really helped those dirty Rebels.
I really wish the scene was filmed, and for all I know, it might've been, but this is the only picture I could find from the scene. The Imperial Snowtroopers (whom I love very dearly) come upon a suspicious room with no visible warning stickers, and conclude that there may be some Rebels hiding inside. After opening it, they come to two possible conclusions. Either the Rebels have added some really ugly members to their club, or they made a fatal error in judgement. The Wampas attack, maim, and kill...leaving the Rebels with a bit more time to escape the planet before the troopers have a chance to miss their targets for the 6,870th time.
In some versions of the novelization, this scene actually does exist. In some versions of the script, it's there too. And with these pics as evidence, the scene was definitely at one point going to be in the film. But alas, ESB had a lot of material to cover, so this little side story got axed.
Return of the Jedi: My sentimental favorite. I lived, breathed, and ate this movie for my entire life. Purists don't consider this one all that great, mainly because of the so-called Ewok marketing ploy...but for me, this movie was Star Wars.
One notable deleted scene takes place after the good guys succeed in rescuing Han and blowing up basically everyone associated with Jabba the Hutt. Before Luke and the rest of the Rebels go their seperate ways in space for a little while, there's a scene with them meeting up near the Falcon on Tatooine during a sandstorm.
Of course, technology then wasn't what it is today, so they created an actual sandstorm to create the scene. Ultimately, most of what they shot was too blurry to even use. And after some inspection, Lucas felt it hurt the flow of the movie, so it was altogether dropped.
The scene shows Luke explaining to everyone about how he had some 'business' to take care of before they go onto the Falcon. Of course, Luke's referring to his impending return to the Dagobah System so he can complete his Jedi training with Yoda. Obviously, Luke needs a little more training. He didn't even have the foresight to realize that Yoda would die five minutes after he got there. What a waste of time!
The most unfortunate part about this scene not making the final cut is that we didn't get a chance to see how silly Luke looks trying to be all serious while wearing these ridiculously exaggerated goggles.
These were just some of the scenes cut - there were others, just like with every movie. There was also talk of turning the book, Shadows of the Empire, into a full-length motion picture. I guess the end result wouldn't have been all that great, since by that time they would've needed to hire other actors to play the parts we already knew and loved with the original cast. Still - that book is terrific...I haven't read too many 'unofficial' Star Wars novels, but any fan of the movies will definitely appreciate it, as it totally fills in the time gap between the last two flicks and sticks with the continuity of the movies.
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