10 More Star Wars Changes George Lucas Made That Were Completely Justified
7. Removing English Text From The Death Star's Tractor Beam - A New Hope
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Back when A New Hope was in production, Lucas hadn't yet settled on any consistent in-universe written languages, and so when Obi-Wan (Alec Guinness) deactivates the tractor beam on the Death Star, its information gauge is initially very clearly in English.
But in Return of the Jedi, Lucas introduced Aurebesh-like text which eventually graduated into a full-on, detailed writing system in later Star Wars media, and so for A New Hope's 2004 DVD release, he decided to alter the tractor beam's gauge from English to Aurebesh.
Again, this is hardly a change that any fan desperately needed to see, but it's one that nevertheless makes the world feel more internally consistent in a small but noticeable way.
Today seeing written English in a Star Wars movie sticks out like a sore thumb, so Lucas was smart to phase it out as much as possible in favour of the now-firmly established Aurebesh.