CT ANH: Might there be a vanished scene in the part when Luke is attacked by the Sand People?

Yo everyone!

Whenever I watch E4, I notice a particular detail : After Artoo leaves Lars' farm in order to search the mysterious Obi-Wan Kenobi, Luke&C-3PO set off to find him. They spot R2-D2 beyond the dune sea, but when they arrive near him (Artoo) , he warns Luke and Threepio that the vicious scavengers (meaning the Sand People) were nearby. Upon Artoo's alert, Luke deploys to a safe place and watches them (the Sand People) with his binoculars. While Luke's peeking the scavengers, one of them suddenly attacks him with his staff. In the next scene (which-appears-4-screenshots later) , the audiences see Luke being dragged close to his hovering vehicle (by the scavengers).


Well, the scene comes too "through" for me. In a part ; one of the scavengers swoop down on Luke , and in the latter (part) , Luke's carried unconsciously by the Sand People. I mean ; there-HAS-to-be a scene that shows "what" happened in between those very parts. And also ; after Luke talks with Ben Kenobi , Artoo tells him (Luke) to pick up C-3PO. So ; when they approach Threepio, they find out that he'd been also attacked by the wicked raiders with one of his arms virulently pulled off.


I think there's-a-vanished-scene in the very part which includes a drastic brawl between the scavenger and Luke&Threepio. When he (the Sand Person) firstly appers, he hits Luke with his staff, causing Luke to fall down. When Luke lies on the floor, the Sand Person attempts to bang Luke's face (with the staff) a couple of times and Luke dodges the hits. At the very-part's-last-take , the audiences see the vicious raider holding his staff aloft with his hands and yelling. Well, I suppose right-after-that-savage exclamation, Luke makes use of the opportunity of the scavenger's being off his guard, (he) suddenly gets up and attacks him. But since the Sand Person is well-armed , he hits Luke's neck with his fescue and Luke faints because of the effect of the batting. Than C-3PO tries to intervene the affray , holds the raider with his hand, and he (the raider) hits Threepio's arm with his stick so severely, so much so that his arm chops.


Above, I've written that Luke'd had a dash to his neck, for there's-a-very-strong indication about that blow in-the-later-scenes : After Ben comes to Luke's aid and saves him from the bandits , he gets Luke up. While Luke's regaining consciousness , Ben says "Rest easy son. You've had a busy day. You're fortunate to be all in one piece" , and-when-he's-bidding "You're fortunate to be all in one piece" , the-camera-shoots-Luke from his back and we see Luke-scour-down-his neck , which-shows-that-the pain of the beating hadn't passed yet.....


Perhaps Mr Lucas thought that the scene was unnecessary, and he decided to cut it from the footage. The movie showed up on cinemas in '77 , and with assuming that the audience of the seventies wouldn't find the lack of the very scene odd , he (Mr Lucas) erased the part from the film , but IMHO , it'd have been better, much better if the scene'd remained in the movie...............Oh man , 46 years have passed since the release of "A New Hope". 46 years is a lifetime , and during those years , the universe of SW unstoppingly expanded and became even a more tremendeous world than it ever was. Since the Original Trilogy was shot way back when I was a child , every SW movie I watch (and not just the OT , but also the later-made ones) doesn't only give me a sci-fic feast , but also takes me to the days of my childhood , much like the nostalgia-filled tv shows "Cobra Kai" and "Stranger Things".


Ah, speaking of which , I'd opened a comprehensive topic about CK five months ago , but during that time , no trailer for the show's 6th season appeared on the internet , and unfortunately , since the massive strike on Hollywood made the show's production course stagger , we won't probably be able to see S6 airing on Netflix before 2024. But even though , I'd've been so happy to see a trailer (of the sixth season) within a close time .And in common with CK , I think the fifth season of Stranger Things shall show later than its scheduled date.


It saddens me that both shows (CK&ST) shall air their final seasons , and as I'd written in my previous Cobra Kai topic ; I wish to see spin-offs for them. Much like CK , ST has also an ever-enlarging world, and it'd be so cool to see it continuing to expand with an ex-ante spin-off. And in the anticipated show (i.e. the spin-off) , I'd also like to see Sadie Sink reprising his role as Max Wayfield. Instead of being an artist who has an unprecedented aptitude for acting , she also dazzles me with the loveliness of her eyes .


She has a very cherubically pulchritude , and when she appears on the screen , I can't take my eyes off her. I can't dismiss her from my mind, I can't, I just can't. I kneel before her beauty , for she's the ultimate empress of my rebellious soul and my feelings. Every minute, every second I spend without her comes like an endless, ruthless torture for me. I can't live without her, I can not even "breath" without her. The very air I draw in becomes toxic , unbreathable in her absence, and if my feelings for her are a crime, than I have to be executed immediately.


Well, we (me&ms Sink) live in different countries, but even though, I believe that the colossal, unstoppable tide of love overcomes all kind of obstacles, and in the end, it's true love that always stands tall ..............................












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I'm an untamed, free-spirited tiger with a rebellious soul, and rock 'n' roll is my lifestyle. I salute the Texan girl that enslaved me to her beauty with a track from my mp3 file : The Hardest Part Is The Night - Bon Jovi

 

I have no issues with the way the scene flows. It's perfectly obvious what happened. Sandpeople attacked Luke, knocked him out and dragged him to his speeder, and 3P0 got his arm torn off. Inserting more shots into the scene wouldn't add anything interesting to the story, IMO.

 

That scene / sequence in the movie was famously under shot so in editing there wasn’t much footage to work with. I believe that is what you are picking up on.


Shots with a Bantha were filmed later as pickups in the US. The scene was so short on footage the iconic shot of the Tusken Raider howling and repeatedly pumping his gaffi stick in the air is actual the Tusken raising the stick once then played in reverse to lower it and looped multiple times for repeated action. (It’s quick enough not to be obvious and for me the odd movement makes the Sandpeople feel alien.)

I’ve also heard additional pickup shots with Mark Hamill were planned for this scene to be filmed in the US in early 1977 but were cancelled after Hamill was in car accident in January ‘77.


I’m a fan of barebones almost documentary style for both the filming and editing of the original Star Wars. This scene works really well for me in a very efficient way.

I also like that the Star Wars Radio Drama ads a detail when putting him back together that C-3PO is designed for his limbs to detach rather than break on impact. And it makes reassembling him fairly easy. We sort of see this again when he’s shot on Bespin.

 

#strangerdanger

 

Huh? There doesn't have to be a scene in between those things. The sandperson disarms Luke and knocks him out, and they also knock out 3PO. What more was needed?

 

I've never heard anyone complain about that scene. I guess there is a first time for everything.

 

Speaking of which, I remember seeing a photo that belonged to a cut scene, which was Obi Wan and Luke taking C3po to Kenobi's house, has anyone seen this photo?

 

Nope. This is news to me.

 

It is sometimes not easy to tell if any image from a movie is from a deleted scene or a "production still", a picture taken with a still camera during filming, used for promotion or otherwise, but not directly appearing in the movie. It could be something like this:


I don't think we see those in the movie itself. You said "taken". Meaning they are all in the land speeder? But it's difficult to say if you don't have the actual image to show. I don't remember any, having seen tons of images in and on cereal boxes, stickers in collection albums, lunch boxes etc., from the late 70s, that were not directly in the film.
In general, I find that production stills are way less grainy and have higher resolution and better lighting, while actual frame enlargements are usually very grainy. Probably the reason why they take those stills in the first place. They just look better and are often composed as stills, in contrast to just part of an image sequence meant as a moving whole, not shown individually.

 

Implied horror is often a more effective way to instil a sense of fear in your audience. The old adage of show don't tell is effectively inverted allowing the viewer to fill in the blanks. Add to that a frenetic fight scene between Luke and the Tusken could have dampened the impact of the initial jump scare. Which is an abrupt emotional peak for the audience. So a calmer trough should rightly follow.

Keeping details back also helps to maintain a disconnect between the viewer and the new alien species. So they seem, err alien, unfamiliar, ergo: scary. Classic film making techniques. Particularly in the 1970s. See Jaws, Alien, and any number of slasher films. An obfuscated initial threat is a great way to give your audience the willies, but it also helps to keep their investment in the horrors that await.

Now modern cinema....

 

Are we sure 3PO got his arm torn off, though? The vanished scene may have involved the Sandpeople rummaging through the landspeeder's cargo compartments looking for tools to disconnect the arm, with one Sandperson insisting they need a flat-head screwdriver, and the other insisting they need a micro-Harris driver. After finally finding the Harris driver, they begin to tediously remove the screws, only to stop the process to rummage through the landspeeder once again, looking for a cup to put the screws in, and then they spend a few minutes looking for the one they dropped in the sand. Then, they find out they also need to use a flat-head screwdriver to remove just one more screw, so they go back to the landspeeder to retrieve it and finish the job.
Marcia decided in the editing room to cut the sequence.

 

Don't forget the gripping detail of them also having to remove the screw with the seven-prong Quaadlax head design. Because it's IN SPACE and some of their tool designs are different than ours, so it adds verisimilitude.

 

I was a professional airplane mechanic for 14 years. There are few things that irritate us worse than oddball screwheads.

 

I can't even imagine 3PO actually fighting back. To me, from the footage used, 3PO loses his balance, falls backwards, lands awkwardly (off screen) and his arm detaches.
We also see enough of the attack on Luke (the beginning of the assault, then seeing Luke unconscious being dragged by 2 Tusken) to figure out what went on.
Even though they use some reversed footage in the attack I don't think there's a vanished scene.

 

He falls over a lot does 3PO .

 

Spot on! The editors had to make wonders in order to make this movie flow. I love the insertions of the landscape with the echoes of the howls of the sandpeople through the canyon, and Johnny Williams's score really sells it. Lucas was a friggin' genius and so was his team (sound, vfx, music, editing). That marriage between his genius vision and the output from the pioneer team (that were later industry gurus) make this movie so special to me. With research and a trained eye you can spot where somethings were underfilmed, effects weren't polished enought, etc. But they made it work! It's amazing how great results can come from limited resources.

 

No scene is missing.

38. EXT. TATOOINE – CANYON RIDGE – DAY

Luke carefully makes his way to the top of a rock ridge and scans the canyon with his electrobinoculars. He spots the two riderless Banthas. Threepio struggles up behind the young adventurer.

LUKE: "There are two Banthas down there but I don’t see any… wait a second, they’re sandpeople all right. I see one of them."

Luke watches the distant Tusken Raider through his electrobinoculars. Suddenly something huge moves in front of his field of view. Before Luke or Threepio can react, a large gruesome Tusken Raider looms over them. Threepio is startled and backs away, right off the side of the cliff. He can be heard for several moments as he clangs, bangs and rattles down the side of the mountain.

The towering creature brings down his curved, double pointed “Gaderffii” – the dreaded axe blade that has struck terror in the heart of the local settlers. But Luke manages to block the blow with his laser rifle, which is smashed to pieces. The terrified farm boy scrambles backward until he is forced to the edge of a deep crevice. The sinister raider stands over him with his weapon raised and lets out a horrible shrieking laugh.

That's it. It then cuts to the next scene.

 

LOL! I'd love to see that! just like Homer Simpson.

 

That's the only part that didn't make it into the film. You hear his reaction, but not the sound of impact. The Tusken sound effects and the score drown it out.

 

I like the echo to Threepio's cry - sounded like a long drop. Lol.