Synopsis

On the desert world of Tatooine, farm boy Luke Skywalker is drawn into a galactic struggle when he discovers a message hidden inside a droid. Guided by Obi-Wan Kenobi, Luke joins Princess Leia, Han Solo, and Chewbacca in a mission to rescue Leia and aid the Rebel Alliance. Their efforts lead to a daring assault on the Empire's planet-destroying Death Star.

Factoids & Trivia

• Released theatrically in 1997 as part of the Star Wars Trilogy: Special Edition, the film marked the 20th anniversary of the original Star Wars.

• The Special Edition combined restoration and cleanup work with newly created digital effects, many of which were produced by Industrial Light & Magic as a technical proving ground before the Star Wars prequel trilogy.

• A previously deleted meeting between Han Solo and Jabba the Hutt was restored. Jabba was inserted digitally into footage originally filmed with a human actor portraying the character.

• The Mos Eisley sequence was substantially expanded with additional creatures, spacecraft, and computer-generated activity, making the spaceport feel more crowded and elaborate.

• The confrontation between Han Solo and Greedo was altered so that Greedo fires first. The change became one of the most debated revisions in the history of the Star Wars films.

• The film's restoration also included revised sound, cleaned-up picture elements, altered visual effects, and new shots intended to better connect it with the later chapters of the saga.

• The Special Edition helped establish the practice of revising previously released Star Wars films for later theatrical, home-video, and high-definition editions.