A scene in the first "Star Wars" movie about Luke's life on Tatooine before he became a hero ended up on the cutting room floor. Here's why Mark Hamill wishes it had stayed in.
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00:00 A scene in the first Star Wars movie about Luke's life on Tatooine before he became
00:04 a hero ended up on the cutting room floor.
00:07 Here's why Mark Hamill wishes it had stayed in.
00:10 When a film is as beloved as Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope, fans want to know every single
00:15 detail about the process of making it.
00:18 They want to see deleted scenes, concept art, hear from the cast and crew, and learn why
00:22 key creative decisions were made.
00:24 Any chance to talk to anyone involved, particularly with Star Wars, tends to bring out some interesting
00:29 information.
00:30 One such bit of info came out during a 2013 Reddit AMA with star Mark Hamill, who brought
00:36 up a deleted scene that he wanted to see in the movie.
00:39 The scene had actually been released for the world to see on a 2011 Blu-ray of A New Hope,
00:44 but Hamill brought broad attention to it for the first time here.
00:47 While fans can definitely get a sense of the reason for its removal, it also proves welcome
00:51 information about Luke's past and further insight into his motivation for the heroic
00:56 act he performs at the end of the film.
00:58 Hamill explained that the scene was originally slated to appear near the beginning of the
01:01 film.
01:02 He explained it was going to take place after Luke sees the space battle in which R2-D2
01:07 and C-3PO eject from the Star Destroyer above Tatooine.
01:11 Hamill says the deleted scene sees Luke head off to a cantina while the audience discovers
01:15 more about his day-to-day life on Tatooine.
01:18 A woman refers to him as "Wormy," which Hamill believes shows how lowly Luke was viewed by
01:22 those around him.
01:23 At the same time, Luke encounters his childhood friend Biggs Darklighter, who had joined the
01:28 Empire.
01:29 However, Biggs reveals to his friend how he is about to jump ship to the Rebel Alliance.
01:34 There is a bit of sadness for Luke as he receives the news, since he also wants to do something
01:39 special with his life like Biggs is doing.
01:41 The scene also demonstrates how Luke is largely apolitical about the matters taking place
01:45 in the galaxy, being far more concerned with his own future.
01:52 Another interesting tidbit revolves around the two other characters that appear in the
01:56 scene, Cammy and Fixer.
01:58 Both of these characters received their names in the film's official novelization, and they
02:02 also showed up in the Star Wars universe many years later.
02:06 In Episode 2 of the Book of Boba Fett series, Fixer and Cammy appear in a cantina, having
02:11 stayed on Tatooine.
02:12 They are now played by Skylar Bible and Mandy Kowalski, respectively.
02:16 The New Hope deleted scene shows that Luke clearly just wants to get off the planet and
02:20 see the galaxy.
02:21 Like Hamill said, he isn't especially motivated by politics.
02:25 The scene is pretty wordy, and it's clear why it was cut, since it definitely slows
02:29 down the story.
02:31 At the time, Hamill said in the AMA,
02:33 "They changed to get to the plot faster.
02:35 So now it goes straight into the fourth scene.
02:38 The only place you can see it is the novelization of the screenplay.
02:41 With all the tweaking and adaptations, why not put it in to add detail to the story that's
02:45 not there?"
02:47 At this point in the history of Star Wars, adding that to yet another cut of the film
02:51 would be fine, and it's always a blast to see these types of things.
02:55 While it may slow the film down a bit, it does give Luke a major connection that shows
02:59 up at the end of the film.
03:00 Biggs' death in the final battle is actually what gets Luke to turn off his targeting computer
03:05 and trust the voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi in his head, leading to the final blast that blows
03:09 up the Death Star.
03:11 His character arc works fine as is in the theatrical version, but it makes a little
03:15 more sense and adds more emotion to it if one thinks about it in conjunction with the
03:19 deleted scene.
03:20 [music]
03:22 (upbeat music)