


Audio/visual unsynchronised 

It is frequently claimed that upon returning to the Rebel base after destroying the Death Star, Luke exclaims, "Carrie!" when he hears Leia (Carrie Fisher) call "Luke!" Sound designer Ben Burtt has confirmed that, after extensive listening, it appears to be "Hey" or "Yay"; 'Mark Hamill' reports that he said, "Hey! There she is!" but mumbled the last word. Yet, trained lip readers report only two syllables being spoken and they look like Carrie.
Back in the hangar bay on Yavin after the destruction of the Death Star, as Luke, Han and Leia are jubilant, C-3PO rushes to the side of Luke's X-wing. 'Anthony Daniels' in costume saying "Oh my! Artoo!" in the audio track. Shortly thereafter, C-3PO's proper "Oh my! Artoo!" (replete with robotic audio effect) is heard.
During the heroes' procession into the award ceremony, the assembled rebel soldiers turn (either left-face or right-face, depending on which side of the aisle they were standing), accompanied by the appropriate sound of their feet stomping to complete the movement. However, only a few actors (visible on the left side of the aisle) actually stomp their feet after making their turn.
Just before Alderaan is destroyed, Governor Tarkin asks the Princess "You would prefer another target, a military target, then name the system!" In the reaction shot of the Princess you can see Tarkin's mouth moving but there is no sound.
When Darth Vader says to Tarkin, "I told you she would never consciously betray the Rebellion," he then continues to gesture as if still talking.
When Luke, Ben, and the droids first enter the cantina and Wuher the bartender yells, "Hey! We don't serve their kind here!" his voice does not match his lips. (See trivia.)

Character error 

When C-3PO and R2-D2 are in the control room of the Death Star, the storm troopers barge in, and one hits his head on the door. This goof was highlighted in the remastered version with a comedy "donk" sound effect.
As Luke cleans R2-D2, watch C-3PO in the background. When Luke jumps back, surprised by Princess Leia's message, C-3PO slips off the steps (but recovers in time not to ruin the shot).
In the music in the ending credits, a trumpet overblows and hits a wrong note
Luke Skywalker tells his aunt and uncle he wants to go to the "Academy", but the Academy is an Imperial institution - this makes little sense when he later specifically tells Obi-Wan he hates the Empire (Luke's motivation is hinted at in deleted scenes from the film, in which friends of him talk about joining the Academy and "jumping ship" to run off and join the Rebellion, but the remark is left making little sense in the final released film.)
On the detention level, the stormtroopers blast a hole through the elevator door and all come out through there, which would negate any chance of any other troopers coming up.


In the first shot of the Millennium Falcon, the ship is missing its radar dish.
The windows of the TIE fighters are shaped differently when viewed from the inside and the outside.
In the original theatrical release, there is the scene where Grand Moff Tarkin gives the order to destroy Princess Leia's home planet, Alderaan. But when the laser bolt from the Death Star is fired at Alderaan, two separate explosions take place, not one, and some rubble that is fired from the planet during the first explosion disappears when the second explosion is taking place.
After C-3PO and R2-D2 escape from the Blockade Runner, the Blockade Runner has vanished from the Star Destroyer's underside tractor beam hatch. This is most evident in the last frame of the scene that shows the Star Destroyer flying by.
When Luke is practicing with the lightsaber in the Millennium Falcon, his lightsaber is green. He turns it off to talk to Ben and when he turns it back on, it is back to its "proper" light blue. This mistake is only in the 2004 DVD release.
As Luke prepares to board his fighter prior to the climactic space battle, he brushes his hand along the underside of the wing. The markings on the wing clearly indicate it is "Red One," shown by the one red stripe. However, during the battle it is repeatedly established that Luke is in fact "Red Five," and exterior shots of the spacecraft model have five red stripes. This is corrected in the special edition by adding the scene of Luke talking to Biggs. They start talking under red one and continue to walk to Luke's fighter. This scene was cut from the original.
C-3PO sustains a dent on his head during the Sandpeople attack, but the dent appears, disappears, and swaps sides frequently during the movie.
The blue panels on R2-D2 appear black when he is in the X-Wing with Luke in space. This is a blue screen shot which effectively makes R2's panels transparent. In the Special Edition, they left them as black but the newly added CGI X-Wing shots with R2-D2 are blue.
When the Death Star is approaching the Yavin Base to superlaser it, the times to arrival at the laser firing point don't even come close to matching the ones on the clock on the monitor of the control room.
Even after Darth Vader's TIE's laser hits R2, he appears undamaged for the rest of the Battle of Yavin. He doesn't even appear damaged until the return to the base following the Death Star's destruction.
When 3PO explains how the tractor beam is powered (in later versions like the Special Edition only), his voice is of a higher pitch than in the rest of the film, indicating an obvious dub.
Luke's sleeve and the position of his head and arms when he is lying unconscious after the Sandpeople attack.
When Ben gives Luke the lightsaber, and Luke activates it, the cape hanging on the wall behind him disappears while the saber is active, and re-appears when it is shut off.
A cloud appears over one of Tatooine's suns too quickly.
Red Leader's helmet mike switches sides several times just before he crashes.
The windows at the cockpit of the Millenium Falcon do not match when viewed from outside and when viewed from inside.
When the Falcon is escaping the Death Star, they are pursued by four fighter craft. After three of the fighters are destroyed, what should be the lone remaining craft is next seen accompanied by another. The second craft apparently reassembles itself just long enough for this one fly-by, as it is not seen again (this was corrected in the Special Edition, as only one TIE fighter is visible in the shot).
The pitcher in Luke's hand while he is talking to Uncle Owen changes hands a few times.
In the trash compactor, the metal bar that Leia uses to try and brace the walls is buried in debris. When she needs it moments later she is already resting her hands on it and it is easily obtainable.
When leaving the Yavin base, many of the rebel pilots are wearing brand new helmets. In the scenes that follow the helmets are clearly old and battered.
For the 1997 Special Edition, Industrial Light and Magic made CG models of the X-Wings (based on the "Red 2" filming model, Wedge's ship) and the Millennium Falcon (based on the filming model built for Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back). Thus in the new, CG Special Edition shots, Luke's X-Wing incorrectly has two red stripes on each wing (instead of five), and the Falcon has the two extra landing gear bays on its underside it didn't *originally* have until Empire (it also has a slightly different paint scheme).
In the Death Star conference, the back of Tarkin's chair is higher in the wide shots than it is in the close-ups.
Just after R5D4 "blows a fuse" when the droids are purchased from the Jawas and C3PO recommends R2D2, we see R5D4 behind R2 (as R2D2 stands against the sandcrawler). In the next shot, R5D4 is once again beside C3PO being taken back by the Jawas.
When Luke enters the Yavin hangar bay, the rebel "bird" insignia on his helmet is a uniform bright red. In subsequent shots it's a dark, blotchy red and the insignia is outlined in black.
C3PO tells Luke Sywalker, as Luke is about to get his father's lightsaber from Ben, he is going to shut down if not needed anymore. His head movements change from shot to shot as he is exposed when Luke is playing with the lightsaber.
The restraining bolt placed on R2-D2 by the Jawas moves between scenes.
The Jawa that stuns R2D2 puts his gun into the holster twice in subsequent shots.
In a wide shot, it is dusk when R2D2 rolls through the canyon. However during one brief shot, it is clearly sunny.
In the scene where C-3PO and R2-D2 take over the control room, three guns are leaning against the little window that overlooks the hanger. But in a few different shots, there are four guns.
The hologram of Leia that Luke discovers changes for one repetition as Luke and C3PO discuss it.
When Luke and his uncle are talking at supper he takes the cup of blue milk away from his face and in the next shot when he asks, "He knew my father?" the cup is at his mouth again and he is again taking it away.
When Vader is strangling Captain Raymus Antilles, a stormtrooper in the background holds his blaster at waist level in one shot and chest level in another.
Footage of R2-D2 turning his head skeptically during the Jawa auction is used twice.
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Items on Ben's table as he watches the hologram.
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The shrubs on the edge of the hole in Luke's desert home.
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When R2D2 and C-3PO are in the escape pod, the rotation of the pod and the view rearward of the star cruiser don't agree.
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On the way to the turbo lift to the detention area, the position of the rifle Han Solo (dressed as a stormtrooper) jumps from shot to shot.
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In the escape from Mos Eisley, Obi-Wan is visible in the background, out of position, with a green light shining on his white shirt, making it appear green.
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Shadows outside the Mos Eisley Cantina jump around before Luke and Obi-Wan enter.
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When Luke returns to the Lars homestead to find it destroyed, in all shots from behind Luke (or from his point of view) the wind is blowing from his left; all shots facing Luke show it blowing from his right.
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In the escape from Tatooine, Chewbacca'a sash disappears and reappears between shots.
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When Han, Luke, and Leia meet the group of stormtroopers just after seeing the Millenium Falcon, Leia's hair is falling apart, but when they meet up again at the ship, it has been fixed.
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Just after Leia has been rescued from her cell on the Death Star and says sarcastically, "Great Rescue!" as they are being fired at, her fringe is smoothed away from her face. The next time we see her part of her fringe is falling across her forehead, and in the shot after that it is back in place.
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After Leia blasts a hole into the garbage chamber and jumps in, Chewbacca begins to step into the hole. The shot cuts to Luke, but when it cuts back to Chewie he is once again beginning to step into the hole.
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During the assault on the Death Star, all the pilot's voices are distorted when heard over their intercom. That is until Luke takes charge. From that moment, all the intercom voices are crystal clear.
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Direction of the shadows changes several times by almost 180 degrees between shots when R2D2 and C3PO are sold to Owen. Light conditions change simultaneously several times from bright to moderate and back.
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In the shot directly before Owen approaches C-3PO, R5D4 is visible in the background in drive mode (body tilted, 3rd leg lowered). In the following shot, R5D4 stands straight with 3rd leg most likely retracted.
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After their escape from the trash compactor, Han and Luke exchange their belts for stormtrooper belts and blasters. As they escape from the Death Star, Han sits in the pilot's chair wearing the stormtrooper belt, but when he gets up to go to the gunnery chair he's wearing his original gun belt and blaster.
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In the scene with the oil bath in Luke's garage, C3PO is holding a rag. We cut away to R2D2, then cut back to C3PO, and the rag is gone. Then cut to R2D2 again and cut back to C3PO, then the rag is back.

Crew or equipment visible 

When the Falcon is on approach to the Death Star's docking bay, you can see the support prop under the vehicle. This was not corrected on the DVD releases.
When 3PO is arguing with R2D2 about which direction they should walk, the camera and the dolly track are reflected in 3PO's helmet.
When Han Solo is arguing with Jabba the Hutt, Jabba yells: "Come on!" and jerks to the left. As he jerks, we see dark crescent-moon object: Declan Mulholland's head, not fully covered by the animated figure of Jabba that was superimposed later. Since Jabba was re-animated for the 2004 DVD release, that is the only time it is seen.
Part of Kenny Baker's face visible through R2-D2's eye in the Sandcrawler.
When Han is going to the falcon,you can see the shadow of a crew member walk up to him.
Studio lights reflected in C-3POs head (at least 3) just before he enters the garage for the oil bath.

Factual errors 

Denis Lawson's name is misspelled "Dennis" in the credits, and was not fixed in the 1997 special edition.
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When Vader enters Leia's cell for interrogation, a guard takes position to the right of the door. When the floating orb enters the room, suddenly it's a different actor standing there (lips and position of chin strap are different).

Incorrectly regarded as goofs 

Considering what we now know from Star Wars 1-3, why doesn't Obi-Wan remember R2D2 and C3PO? We know C3PO's memory was wiped, so he wouldn't remember Obi-Wan, but Obi-Wan should remember R2D2, and vice-versa. However, there's no indication that he doesn't remember R2D2, he only says that he doesn't remember "owning a droid", which is actually true to some extent. (See also the FAQ entry about this issue.)
Some viewers have noted that the Jawas' eyes are obviously just light bulbs. However, in this fictional universe it is possible that Jawas' eyes have coincidentally evolved to look like light-bulbs.
After Greedo is killed in the Cantina we see him again crossing a street in the distance as Han and Luke are walking down the street. However, it's probably another alien of the same species, and they just look alike.
When Obi-Wan talks to Luke about the force for the first time, there's no mention of "midichlorians" because they didn't exist back in 1977, when this movie first came out. It's clear George Lucas had a good overall idea of where he wanted his story to go, however it's also clear that many little details, including midichlorians, were added later on. Obi-Wan doesn't mention them here because Lucas hadn't thought them up yet. From the character's point of view, midichlorians are trivial and not significant enough to mention.
Although Tatooine has two suns, the angular distance between them is quite small, so only very large objects would cast two distinct shadows.
During the final Death Star battle, Red Leader says, "Stay there, I just lost my starboard engine" shortly before we see his fighter get hit. However, he may not have lost it due to a hit; it may have had a mechanical failure that just came at a really bad time.
When telling Obi-Wan and Luke how fast the Millennium Falcon is, Han says it "made the Kessel run in under 12 parsecs." A parsec is not a measure of time. It is a measure of distance (approximately 3.26 light years or just over 19 trillion miles.) However, he was actually referring to the shorter route he was able to travel by skirting the nearby Maw black hole cluster, thus making the run in under the standard distance.
During the skirmish at the beginning of the movie, C3PO says to R2D2 "there will be no escape for the Princess this time." (The script reads "There'll be no escape for the Captain this time," foreshadowing the next scene where Vader strangles the Captain.) Later, C3PO sees a picture of the Princess and claims not to know who she is. It's likely that it was programmed not to divulge any important information that may endanger the mission of the Princess.
In the lightsaber fight between Vader and Obi Wan, David Prowse's eyes are visible through the Darth Vader helmet lenses. However, this is not an error because Darth Vader is a man (Anakin Skywalker), and as seen at the end of Return of the Jedi, Vader's face is still intact with fully functional eyes, which could understandably be revealed through his mask.
When Vader is in his TIE Fighter in the Battle of Yavin, more than once you can see the eyes and eyebrows of David Prowse through the visors on Vader's mask. This is not an error because Darth Vader is a man (Anakin Skywalker), and as seen at the end of Return of the Jedi, Vader's face is still intact with fully functional eyes, which could understandably be revealed through his mask. In this film the lenses of Vader's mask are a deep red color which is not visible through most of the film -- the lighting requirements in this scene are likely what made the lenses more transparent. In the subsequent films, the lenses were probably changed to a black color to compensate.
During the Death Star battle, you hear: "Red 6, can you see Red 5?" and a voice seems to answer. This is after Porkins, who was Red 6, has been destroyed. But there is a hectic space battle going on with tons of Rebel and Imperial ships - and as a result, tons of radio calls. The response was likely an irrelevant call that just happened to be sent at an inopportune moment.

Revealing mistakes 

At the end of the movie, many of the gathered soldiers are plainly cardboard cutouts.
The arm of the crane supporting the floating torture device is visible for a second or two when it enters Leia's cell. The needle on the device bears the letters "British Made".
Just before Leia and Luke swing across the chasm in the Death Star (and at other times), the "blasters" they are shooting are seen to eject shell casings. This is because the guns used in the movie are just dressed-up blank-firing prop guns.
When R2 is being picked up by the Jawas after he is stunned and has fallen onto his face, a Jawa's sleeve pulls up revealing a portion of the actor's bare forearm.
When Obi-Wan activates his lightsaber to fight Vader, he is clearly just holding the saber so the long end points directly at the camera, and rotating it slowly to create the illusion of the blade appearing.
Vader kills Captain Raymus Antilles, and throws his body into a wall. The "dead" man puts his hands out to protect himself from the impact.
(Special Edition) On the morning after R2's escape the image fades up to reveal the deserted courtyard of the homestead. Uncle Owen is heard calling for Luke who, as we find out a few seconds later, has already left with his Landspeeder in order to look for the missing droid. However, a close inspection of the courtyard shot reveals a ghost-like image of Luke in a doorway to the right. He seems frozen in mid-stride and has been slightly blended into the surrounding set, thereby turning somewhat transparent. This strange cameo is not featured in the original release.
When Luke activates his light saber after Obi Wan gives it to him, the reflection on C3P0 only shows the hilt, not the blue blade
During Kenobi's final lightsaber battle with Vader, Kenobi tips his lightsaber downwards, right before a scene change. The white "glow" that should be there isn't, showing the stick-like prop the actors used in filming. There is a small white light at the tip, too. This was not fixed in the Special Edition, but it was finally fixed on the 2004 DVD.
When Darth Vader releases Admiral Motti and he slumps on the desk, the force of the impact makes the whole set wobble.
During a gun battle just before Luke and Han Solo escape down the garbage chute, some close-ups of Luke and Han show flesh-colored make-up smeared from under their chins onto the white plastic Imperial armor they are wearing. These makeup smears do not appear in longer shots, but show up in a couple of close shots during the scene.
At the start of the Vader vs. Ben lightsaber battle, when Ben turns his on, a cord can be seen that runs up Ben's sleeve.
Leia blasts a hole in the wall to escape the detention level, leaving the remains of bars at the top of the hole. When Luke jumps down the garbage chute, his feet hit the bars lightly, making them shake, since they are made of foam.
When Princess Leia grabs the bar to stop the compactor, her hand puts a dent in the bar itself.
After Vader strikes down Obi-Wan by the hangar door inside the Death Star, Vader's lightsaber is revealed only as a white stick. The lightsaber's red glow is gone and you can clearly see the white pole as the actors used it on the set. This mistake has been corrected for the CGI-enhanced special edition and DVD edition, but is still visible in the old VHS and Laser Disc versions.
When the Jawas come to the homestead, one of the shots has a tall Jawa tinkering with one of the droids with "normal-sized" Jawas in the foreground.
Most of the times, when Luke or Ben ignite or deactivate a lightsaber, the saber is not shown igniting or deactivating; just the sound effect his heard. And the times when it IS shown, even though it is supposed to be one shot, the character or his/her body part is in a slightly different location after the weapon is ignited than before the weapon is ignited, indicating two separate shots.
When Luke tries to put the handcuffs on Chewie in the Death Star control room, you can see two holes in Chewie's mouth that let Peter Mayhew breathe through the costume.
Shot of Princess Leia and C-3PO monitoring the Rebels' attack on the Death Star has been reversed.
The shot of Darth Vader dueling Ben and saying "You should not have come back" is a mirror image - the three silver buttons on his chest plate are on the right instead of the left.
After C-3PO and R2-D2 split up on Tatooine, C-3PO has an oil streak down his right side. When he comes across the large skeleton in the sand, the oil streak has switched to the left (film was flipped). When he is calling and waving to the Sandcrawler, the oil is back on the right side.
In the Special Edition, as a figure passes in front of Luke and Biggs in the rebel hangar, R2D2's position jumps as he is being lifted up to the top of the X-Wing fighter (right side of the frame). This is a result of editing out a section of the scene where Red Leader mentions having known Luke's father. The passing figure is intended to mask the edit, but the jump in R2's position reveals the edit. This is mainly evident in the widescreen format.
On Tatooine when C-3PO and R2-D2 are walking (and Rolling) away from the Escape Pod, you can clearly see the hatch is off and is blue. Clearly meant to be edited but never filled.
When Luke, Ben, and the droids are in the landspeeder approaching the stormtroopers at Mos Eisley just prior to the famous scene "These aren't the droids you're looking for" the starboard engine cover is clearly empty.
At the Mos Eisley Cantina, Luke gets into it with two criminals and gets thrown at a wall. Obi Wan Kenobi then turns on his lightsaber and proceeds to cut one of the criminal's arm off. Then there is a closeup of the severed arm and there is blood on the ground. Lightsabers usually "seal" the cuts they make allowing no blood to come out.
Upon their arrival at the Yavin Base, we see Luke, Leia, and Han Solo get off of the little car. Han Solo's gun is now strapped to his left leg, thus indicating a reverse shot.
During the initial raid on the rebel ship there's a brief shot that shows the rebel troops with the small radio attachment on the right hand side of their helmets, where else it is on the left hand side (indicating flopped shot).
Rubber sole of Chewbacca's foot visible as he follows Han Solo in the Death Star.
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When Luke is searching for the runaway R2D2, a rope can be seen dragging a droid that passes in the foreground from right to left.
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In the 2004 edition, in the duel between Vader and Ben, Vader's bright red lightsaber is not reflected on his mask.
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In the Special Edition, when Luke and Obi-Wan first enter Mos Eisley, the shadows (real and CGI) indicate the sun is near overhead. However, the large CGI beast that is passed has a shadow that indicates it is several hours later. Shadows appear consistent after that.
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The technical data that R2D2 uploads to the Rebels shows a schematic image of the Death Star with at the "laser divot" along the equator of the Death Star, not off-center like it was constructed. This is because the schematics were from different concept art of the Death Star not used in the final movie version.
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When Han puts his feet on the control board where Kenobi leaves them you can see that the boots of his storm trooper armor are really just normal leather work boots painted white.You can see the elastic fabric on the sides of the boots are still there.
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The shot of R2-D2 being prepped for reading the Death Star plans is a mirror image.
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