Top 10 Scenes Cut From Star Wars

From time to time, things get left on the cutting room floor. Big movies sometimes lose big scenes – but it’s certainly not always to the detriment of the viewer. You’re obviously here because of your love for Star Wars, and here’s the Top Ten Scenes Deleted From SW: And Why We Should Be Glad They Were Axed. Love ’em, but leave ’em.

10. Episode III: Awkward Senatorial Meeting

This little meeting is one of the poorest-acted scenes in the prequels. More boring than the senate gatherings, more cheesy than the Anakin/Padme sparkle in The Phantom Menace. Causes viewers to leap out of the theater in a single bound.

First the early rebels talk about whether or not they’re separatists, and finish each other’s sentences in an eerily rehearsed way. Then (bum bum BUUUM) they decide that their resistance must be kept secret from everyone, including their families! Whatever is Padmé going to do?! Luckily (or unluckily), we never have to find out, because Padmé was turned from a strong rebel into a cowering wimp who let the Emperor walk all over her and her buddies.

9. Episode II: Jedi Temple Analysis Room

This scene was cut because the scene with Dexter explained the whole Kamino saber dart plot line. In essence, Obi-Wan walks into the analysis room knowing nothing, sits and does nothing, then walks out still not knowing anything, but now doing something. That’s good film.

8. Episode II: Dooku Interrogates Padme

It’s boring.

7. Episode V: Wampas In Echo Base

Unfortunately very little film of the wampas chilling in Echo Base exists. Basically, wampas were attracted to R2D2’s whistles and beeps, and followed the sounds into Echo Base. Once inside, the rebels trapped them in a room. A sign was hung on the door to let others know not to enter. As the base was attacked, in a moment of shear morbidity, C3PO pulls the sign down. Some confused troopers open the door and meet their fate at the hands of some grumpy overgrown yetis. This whole scenario really detracted from the important story that we so desperately needed to get to, so its omission was really necessary to progress the story past what was basically a slow-paced, lurching game of tag on a giant ice cube.

6. Episode I: Jedi Swimming Lesson

As if being nearly gassed on a Federation ship, run over by Federation transports, dying of asphyxiation in a busted bongo, and eaten by two giant Cloverfield monsters wasn’t enough, Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon, and Jar Jar almost cruised over the edge of a waterfall upon their arrival to Theed. Luckily, in a moment inspired by Bruce Wayne himself, the Jedi snag a grappling on a nearby wall. Darn the luck, that wall isn’t as sturdy as it once seemed, as the weight of the Gungan sub pulls with tremendous force on the taut cable. Luckily the Jedi make it to the edge, and Jar Jar goofily swims his way to safety. At this point in the film, it was fairly obvious that the Jedi were tempters of fate, this scene was certainly not necessary to prove that.

5. Episode IV: Going Into The Tosche Station

Luke and Biggs at Anchorhead will always be a missed scene for me, but ironically, I no longer care for the scene at the Tosche Station. Watching it now, the whole cast of characters feels weird, and they really are unnecessarily mean to Luke. I mean, would you be friends with people that treat you like you’re insane at every opportunity? This scene broke up the real action at the beginning of the film, and didn’t do much to advance Luke’s character at all. Unfortunately, the Anchorhead scene with Biggs did, but would never survive in the film without the prior exposition of this doomed scene.

4. Episode VI: The Sandstorm

Basically we have two minutes of people yelling with sand flying everywhere, saying things that are already said in other scenes in the film. Little footage of this exists, and not without reason. It had to be a pain in the acklay to shoot, and would never have worked.

3. Episode III: Shaak Ti’s Death and Fuel Tank Plunge

Many fans were excited about this scene when the rumors began flying. Now that it can be seen cut together, many of those fans realize why it was doomed never to make the cut. The interchange between Kenobi and Skywalker is far from comical, although all the attempts at making it so were there. Instead it feels like a Laurel and Hardy sketch as acted by two high school freshman in a school talent show. This scene did nothing to extend the drama of the opening battle, and its deletion only served to help speed up the pace of the film – getting us to the good stuff we’d all been waiting decades to see.

2. Episode IV: Red Leader Talks About Knowing Luke’s Father

So Luke and Biggs are hanging out in the hangar (appropriate) prior to the assault on the Death Star. Red Leader strolls in and mentions that he knew Luke’s dad, who was a great pilot. You know, just in passing drops a major movie bombshell. Luckily this was recut and a pilot strolls by allowing for a quick jump to another point in the dialog, shortening the scene, and saving the mystery for another (more appropriate) time.

1. Episode I: Anakin and Greedo’s Rumble

Who the hell lit the green light on this? Anakin beats up Greedo? Not only was this an extremely weak attempt at giving fans those little threads to tie things together, it was laughably acted and didn’t much fit into the plot line of getting Anakin off that godforsaken planet. Had this scene been left in Episode I, a million voices would have cried out and then… wait, they did.

Written by

Michael Djarin

Being a huge fan of the Star Wars franchise and model building I decided to create this website with the reviews of the top models I’ve met in my practice of creating Star Wars dioramas.