Directed by:
George Lucas

Starring:
Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker
Harrison Ford as Han Solo
Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia Organa
Peter Cushing as Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin
Alec Guinness as Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi
Anthony Daniels as C-3PO
Kenny Baker as R2-D2
Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca
David Prowse as Darth Vader
Phil Brown as Uncle Owen Lars
James Earl Jones as Darth Vader

• Sissy Spacek originally cast as Leia, but when Carrie Fisher refused to do the nude scenes in Carrie (1976), they swapped roles.

• Jodie Foster was Lucas' second option for Princess Leia, Christopher Walken was second in line for Han Solo. Lucas also considered Nick Nolte for the role of Solo. Burt Reynolds was originally cast as Han Solo, but he dropped out.

• Harrison Ford deliberately didn't learn his lines for the intercom conversation in the cell block, so it would sound spontaneous.
  • It sure did, here's the line: "..everything is perfectly all right now, we're fine.. we're all fine here now thank you... how are you?"

• Mark Hamill held his breath for so long during the trash compactor scene that he broke a blood vessel in his face.

• Most of the crowd watching the heroes receive their medallions are cardboard cutouts.
  • Correction: The trivia about some of the crowd in the medallion-ceremony being cardboard cutouts is not quite true. Most of the throne-room and the crowd was, in the long shots, created by glasspainting. That is: You paint the scenery on a big sheet of glass and blend it optically with the live action. Even the power-shaft in the Deathstar, in the scene where Ben is switching of the tractor-beam, and several other scenes were created the same way. The artist was Harrison Ellenshaw. - Olav Westerman

• Harrison Ford was a builder on the set of Star Wars until George Lucas asked him to read Han Solos part. - Joker
  • Comment: I have seen the story about Harrison Ford being 'discovered' while working as a carpenter many times, but it is never noted that he had appeared in American Graffiti as the driver of the hot rod that suddenly shows up in town and was not an unknown to Spielberg and Lucas. (Source: American Graffiti credits) - JohnnyD

• Leia's last name is Organa.
  • Comment: What does that have to with anything? - OB1
    • It is trivia knowledge. I don't think Leia's last name is ever mentioned in the movies.
  • Addition: The reason Leia's last name is Organa is because Amidala seperated Leia and Luke and changed Leia's name to protect her from Vader who didn't know he had a daughter until the saber dual in Episode 6. - gl_bustr
    • Correction: I would like to say that Leia's last name is indeed Organa, and her name was Organa because when Obi-Wan (Not Padme Amidala!) had taken the twins (Luke & Leia) to hide them from their father (Anakin), he had given Luke to his uncle Owen Lars and his wife Beru, and Leia to Galactic Senator Bail Organa of Alderaan. Therefore that is why Leia's last name is Organa and not because Amidala had changed it as was said in a comment. (Source: Star Wars Behind The Magic) - Jedi Master Neo

• During the post-production of American Graffiti (1973), Lucas asked his sound editors for "Reel 2, dialogue 2." "R2-D2?" his coworker responded, and the name of a droid was born.
  • Correction: When the Arpanet (predecessor of the Internet) was being set up, the CPU-IDs of the first two machines to be connected were R2D2 and C3P0. (Source: I believe it was in Cliff Stoll's "The Cuckoos Egg", but I have seen it elsewhere since) - Spoc42

• Luke Skywalker's original name was "Starkiller."

• Mark Hamill suffered serious facial injuries in a car accident toward the end of the Star Wars shoot. His injuries required extensive reconstructive surgery. Lucas used a body double in some of the Mos Eisley speeder scenes.
  • Addition: That is why the beginning scene in Empire Strikes Back, when he gets malled by that monster, was added to explain his facial injuries. (Source: book) - MarsGRL

• Concerned that his Jedi robes looked too clean, Alec Guinness lay down and rolled around in the Tunisian desert dust before shooting Star Wars' first Tatooine scene.

• David Prowse, the British bodybuilder who wore Darth Vader's costume, had no idea that his dialogue had been dubbed over with James Earl Jones' rich baritone until he saw Star Wars in the theater.

• The Jawas' language was based on a Zulu dialect cranked up to twice normal speed.

• The sound of the stormtroopers' blasters was that of a powerline support cable being banged with a metal rod.

• "Vader" is Dutch for "father."

• The actors used broom sticks as light sabers. The glowing effect and sound were added later. - Vic Cherubini
  • Comment: My best friend's brother-in-law told us the same thing and we didn't believe him! We made fun of him and had this whole thing going that the Star Wars plot was originally about cleaning. Instead of "Darth Vader" it was "Dirt Vapors," "Luke Skywalker" was "Luke Dishwater," and "Use the Force, Luke!" was "Sweep the floor, Luke!" - one_eyed_beth
  • Comment: In the beginning the lightsabers were plastic rods covered by high-reflective frontprojection-material, so they would "glow", but they broke very easy, so wooden sticks were used instead, and the light-effects added by rotoscoping in the post-production. - Olav Westerman

• One Day Lucas and a friend went to a restaurant for a lunch break from writing Star Wars. When Lucas looked down at his food It was a burger with a olive on the corner of it, thus the Millennium Falcon. - Road Dogg

• The cell where Luke and Han are "transporting" Chewie is number 1138, referring to Lucas' 1967 short film, THX-1138:4EB and his first feature from 1970, THX-1138. (Can you guess where the name of the THX sound system comes from?)

• Princess Leia's cell number is 2187, which was the name of an abstract Canadian short film that Lucas loved.

• The entire star wars series was intended be one whole film. And the main stars of the film were supposed to be R2-D2 and C-3PO. Lucas, though, was unable to fit all that he wanted into one film. That's why the two droids are the only characters in all four of the current Star Wars films. (also anakin Skywalker). - casamann
  • Correction: Star Wars is not about a pair of droids (namely C-3P0 and R2-D2), but about the rise, fall, and sub-sequent redemption of Anakin Skywalker, aka Darth Vader. (Source: Common Sense) - DBGoldberg323

• The Stormtrooper's guns are actually British Sterling submachine guns, and Han Solo's gun is a Mauser pistol (Schnellfeuer model), a copy of which was used in the Chinese army. - SCReaM5911

• THX - from G. Lucas' movie THX1138. Officially stands for "Tomlinson Holman's eXperiment". (Tom Holman was George Lucas' audio engineer.) - tps

• A scuba regulator was used for Darth Vader's breathing sounds. - Webmaster

• In Star Wars, C-3PO tells Luke that their last master was Captain Antilles. Luke's friend and fellow X-wing pilot Wedge's last name is also Antilles. Intergalactic surname, or intergalactic coincidence? - Manix
  • Comment: I think that could have been Wedge's father, because in a character biography section of a Star Wars trivia book, it says that Wedge's parents were killed by the empire (that's why it he joined the Alliance) - jd
    • Correction: Antilles is supposed to be the equivalent of "Jones" or "Smith" in the SW galaxy - a very common name. The Captain Antilles that the droids refer to is the commander of the Tantive IV, the ship that is captured in the beginning of A New Hope. He is the one that Darth Vader is holding off of the ground, and kills when he doesn't give up the Death Star plans. No relation to Wedge, or the Bail Antilles of Alderaan that is nominated for Supreme Chancellor in The Phantom Menace. - Natrone Fett

• Very few people remember this but When Star Wars came out it was never intended to be a trilogy or have prequels. That is the lie that Lucas and 20th century fox would have you believe. Lucas act like he always intended to have the first movies a trilogy and their be 3 movies before star wars but that wasn't the case. When Star Wars (1977) first came out it was simple titled star wars and the beginning scroll didn't contain the "episode IV :A New hope" subtitle that wasn't added until the rerelease in early 1980 prior to the release of Empire strikes back. After it was decided that it would make a lucrative franchise. And Lucas perpetuated the lie that it was always referred to as Star War Episode Iv a new hope. Now don't get me wrong I love the movie especially the the original 3 but they are based on a lie. Even the book "Star Wars: The Adventures of Luke Skywalker" that came out in 1976 made no reference to it being the 4th in a series of 6 stories. Sad but the truth! - S Brown
  • Correction: S Brown is it fun being stupid? When Lucas wrote the script for star wars it was over 900 pages. Fox said no this movie would be to long so he broke it up into 9 stories he did a new hope empire and jedi first because of two reasons: one less costly and two it was the heart of the story he would of done episode 1, 2 and , 3 first but technology at the time wouldn't allow him to do what he wanted to do and by the way rumor has it that after episode 3 is released Lucas is going to do episode 7, 8, and 9. - ash
  • Comment: To have titled it Episode 4 right out of the gate would have not only been confusing to the audience but presumptuous to boot. 20th Century Fox grudgingly gave Lucas every penny he needed to put the movie together and expectations as to its box office performance were quite low. Many thought Lucas a fool for giving up a higher salary in exchange for sequel and merchandising rights. If you need further proof of the intent, look no further than the movie itself. Although the good guys win and blow up the Death Star, the Evil Empire still lives as does its principle villain Darth Vader. - patbuddha
  • Comment: "did George Lucas plan to make so many films originally?" If he did, then he's a sick puppy, getting Luke and Leia to kiss with tongues and everything in the first film, then revealing that they're brother and sister later. Bleugh! Sick puppy, or liar? The accountants decide.... - the mind
    • Correction: They didn't kiss 'with tongues and everything!' It was a very chaste kiss for luck. - B
      • Comment: I have seen a few seconds of a cut sequence from Empire which shows Luke and Leia kissing very passionately (not the kiss that is in the "fuzzball" scene). Lucas may have cut this after deciding he "might" make them siblings. (He probably didn't even know Leia was the "other" in Jedi yet.) (Source: various) - StevenFallon
  • Comment: Well, I'm not old enough to remember the original showing but if you take some time to read the original Star Wars script you will notice Lucas is indeed lying, the first draft is completely different from the plot line he is following in both trilogies, yes, it's really long, but not the 900 pages ash is talking about, and the characters are in a totally different point of view. You can find it in http://script-o-rama.com/snazzy/dircut.html look for the "S" section. (Source: drew's script-o-rama) - Tavo
  • Comment: S. Brown may have said it in strong words but I totally agree. There have been many little things over the years which indicate that Lucas certainly did not have the entire "Star Wars" saga planned and mapped out so early on. And I certainly believe that even up until "Jedi" Lucas didn't have a set plan yet. It makes for a great legend and some great filmlore that there was a huge mapped-out "master plan" that Lucas supposedly had. But I think given an awful lot that has been seen it's obvious he winged an awful lot as he went along even through the original trilogy. (Source: various) - StevenFallon
    • Correction: If you read the original draft for the first Star Wars movie, you'll notice it can be divided in three acts: first, rescue in the space fortress (Episode IV); second, escape from the Imperial Forces (Episode V); and third, battle in the forest planet against the space fortress (Episode VI). So when Lucas says he had to cut his script in three parts, he isn't lying. Obviously, after that, each script grow and suffered many changes. And, in the novel, that prologue talking about "the first saga, journal of the whills" has a subtle mention about the role of the trade federation in the rise of the empire... IT'S TRUE, LUCAS HAD OUTLINES FOR THE WHOLE STORY EARLY IN 1976!!! (Sorry for my poor English, I'm from Spain ;)) (Source: original draft) - juan-man
  • Comment: As to George Lucas ideal of franchising or originally having trilogies. IT is a set in stone fact that George Lucas originally wrote one long script for one Star Wars that would dictate everything we have seen and much more in one movie. Like others have said this was very long and would cost a bunch of money. The fact that Lucas did the fourth one first is Lucas being smart. The IV, V, and VI obviously are the three that would draw bigger crowds and more fans which would make it a certain fact that he could continue the story. As far as Leia and Luke kissing, that is not sick that is smart. That is a hook in the movie that makes it mysterious and draws more fans and surprises fans altogether. Lucas a money hungry tycoon, maybe, but a genius most definitely. (Source: Star Wars Trivia) - yourdebility

• George Lucas has publicly said that he will not make Episodes 7, 8 and 9 because he would be too old by then. Of course that never stopped Luke or Anakin from training to be Jedi. :) - swmchristian
  • Comment: Back in the days when the first Star Wars movie was released, the Starlog magazine had an article that stated that Lucas had 12 "Star Wars" stories outlined, and that he might want to make movies of all of them. - Olav Westerman

• In 1977, it was a widely-circulated rumor that there were going to be 12 Star Wars films. In fact, if you look at the "Prologue" at the start of the novel "Star Wars", you will see that it is taken from the First Saga of the Journal of the Whills. The First Saga is Episodes I to VI, and Episodes VII to XII is the Second Saga, which need not feature the same characters. The First Saga basically revolves around Anakin/Vader. - Steve

• The engine sound of a Tie Fighter is a mixture of an elephant war cry and a car running over a puddle of water! Pretty funny, huh? - stevo

• Alec Guinness was said to have detested working on Star Wars, and claimed that he persuaded George Lucas to have Obi-Wan Kenobi killed off so that the actor's involvement in the movie would be limited. He also claimed to have discarded his Star Wars-related fan mail unopened. - Michael R.
  • Addition: During filming of Return of the Jedi, supposedly, Harrison Ford was so tired of his Han Solo character that he begged George Lucas to kill him off (the character, that is). - Webmaster

• Throughout episodes four five and six, every good guy who speaks english has said "I have a bad feeling about this." (Source: My own insight) - Mike Moses

• Chewbacca's roar is made by a combination of 4 bears, a seal and a badger. (Source: http://freespace.virgin.net/john.connor2/FACTS.htm) - TAZ

• Funnily enough, Dennis Lawson-who plays Wedge Antilles, is Ewan McGregor's uncle (Ewan McGregor being the actor plays Obi-Wan Kenobi in the prequel trilogy). - Grant-Stab