List of Changes in Star Wars Re-releases - Changes - Pre-Special Edition - Episode IV: A New Hope

Episode IV: A New Hope

• The lines "Episode IV: A NEW HOPE" were added to the opening title crawl upon its 1981 re-release, one year after "Episode V: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK" was released with its full title. The new opening crawl also capitalized the word 'Rebel' in 'rebel spies', which was not capitalized in the original 1977 opening crawl. This altered the formatting of the text to accommodate the two additional lines, and slightly changed the timing so the crawl no longer appears at the same music cue. (This last change had been present on EMPIRE's initial release, and would remain on all four subsequent films as well.) The "Episode IV: A NEW HOPE" subtitle would appear in all future releases of the film with the exception of the 2006 DVD release of the unaltered film.
• The film was initially released in 70mm 6-track audio (in today's terms, a 4.2 track as opposed to a 5.1 track). The wider 35mm release had a 2-track Dolby Stereo matrixed 4-channel optical soundtrack. A mono mix was released in June 1977 for exhibition in cinemas with no Dolby Stereo support, which contains some changes from the stereo version (some of which were incorporated into subsequent releases if noted):
• A different klaxon, closer to the one heard in the Death Star, is heard in Tantive IV after the ship has been hit.
• Beru Lars is voiced by a different actress (or possibly different takes by the same actress).
• R2-D2 beeps while he is looking at a dead Jawa during the damaged Sandcrawler scene. This sound was inserted into the 1993/1995 THX sound mix and also appears on the Special Edition, the 2004 DVD and the 2011 Blu-ray.
• As Luke, Obi-Wan, C-3PO and R2-D2 head into the cantina, the cantina music can faintly be heard in the background.
• The cantina patron known on set as "Snake Head" (known later as Dice Ibegon) makes chirping sounds in the mono mix. A truncated version of this sound appears in the THX sound mix, while the full sound effect can be heard in the Special Edition, the 2004 DVD and the Blu-ray.
• When the two stormtroopers walk by Han and Chewbacca in the cantina, Chewbacca growls softly. The growl was added to the THX sound mix and also appears on the Special Edition, the 2004 DVD and the Blu-ray.
• While searching for the droids in the streets of Mos Eisley, the stormtrooper says "Alright, check that side of the street. It's secure. Move on to the next one." Instead of "Alright, check this side of the street. The door's locked. Move on to the next one." The line is also heard in a different voice in the mono mix.
• Chewbacca growls softly right before Han says, "Anyway, we should be at Alderaan in 0200 hours." This growl was incorporated into the 2004 DVD mix and Blu-ray but does not appear in the previous Special Edition mix or THX mix.
• The chess monsters make more noise and sound more vicious. The 2004 DVD mix is different yet again, incorporating elements from both earlier mixes.
• When the Millenium Falcon comes out of hyperspace there is a pronounced deceleration or winding down sound effect.
• After Han says, "Chewie, jam its transmissions" a radio frequency type sound effect is heard when Chewbacca flips the switches.
• A different sound effect is heard when the Millenium Falcon gets caught in the Death Star's tractor beam.
• C-3PO's tractor beam line was added to the mono version. This line was also included in the 1985 VHS release, the 1997 special edition, the 2004 DVD version and the 2011 Blu-ray edition. It was not included in the THX mix.
• When reporting the disturbance in the detention block to Tarkin, the voice over the comlink says, "Governor Tarkin?" before "We have an emergency alert in detention block AA-23." It is also said in a different voice.
• When Chewbacca beats on the door in the trash compactor, a knocking sound is heard. This sound returned with the Special Edition, DVD, and Blu-ray with a metallic clank to it.
• C-3PO's line, "Use the comlink? Oh my, I forgot, I turned it off." is from a different take.
• The hard echo effect for Luke's line, "I think we took a wrong turn." is removed.
• After Luke hands Leia his blaster in the chasm swing sequence, it sounds like Dirty Harry's .44 Magnum when she fires it. This is present in the 1997 Special Edition, but was changed back to a standard blaster sound in the 2004 DVD and the Blu-ray.
• The line "Close the blast doors!" was in the mono release. This line was also included in the 1997 special edition, the 2004 DVD version, and the Blu-ray. It was not included in the THX mix.
• Some of the Lightsaber sound effects were slightly more pronounced in the Darth Vader vs. Obi-Wan duel. These were added to the 2004 DVD release and the Blu-ray.
• Various beeping sound effects were heard when Luke charged up his gun turret in the Millenium Falcon. These sounds returned with the 2004 DVD release.
• Luke's line, "So, you got your reward and you're just leaving then?" is from a different take.
• Porkins' final scream is not heard in the mono mix.
• The lines counting down the Death Star's time to firing are in a different voice.
• Luke says "Blast it, Wedge! Where are you?" instead of "Blast it, Biggs! Where are you?"
• The conversation that takes place with Red Leader, Wedge and Biggs just before Red Leader's trench run is not synthesized correctly when heard in the control room.
• Ben Burtt supervised remastering of the sound mix for the 1985 VHS/Laserdisc release, which contains C-3PO's tractor beam line. Aside from this line, better dynamic range, and a slightly wider stereo image, this version is almost the same as the 1977 stereo mix.
• Another remix was produced for the 1993 Definitive Collection Laserdisc, (better known as the THX mix), which was also used for the 1995 "Faces" VHS/Laserdisc release and the 2006 Limited Edition DVD release. This mix was a matrixed stereo version of the 1977 70mm 6-track mix, with brand-new sound effects added, such as glass shattering when Han and Luke shoot the cameras in the detention block. C-3PO's tractor beam line is, again, not present in this mix.
• The color timing in the 1993 Definitive Collection Laserdisc version was altered slightly in the scene with R2-D2 in the canyon before he is captured by the Jawas. This same transfer was also used in 1995 for the "Faces" set. The original version of the scene takes place in daylight, while the color in the 1993 version is adjusted to make it appear more like twilight. This was further changed in the 1997 Special Edition, when the image was darkened and the sky altered from blue to an orange sunset.