10 Movie Character Designs Changed In Subtle Ways
4. Darth Vader's Helmet Got A Sneaky Redesign - Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
Between filming of Star Wars: A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, revisions were made to Darth Vader's (David Prowse) iconic uniform, especially his helmet.
These changes were both for aesthetic and comfort reasons, after Vader actor David Prowse complained that the helmet didn't fit his head too well while shooting A New Hope.
But cosmetically speaking, the subtle changes for Empire included the helmet getting a larger chin vent, changing the look of the mouth grill, and giving the eyes an amber-coloured tint (rather than black).
These alterations are scarcely noticeable unless you're watching the movies back-to-back, and even then, not really.
Presumably with Empire having almost triple the budget of A New Hope, the filmmakers felt that they could do a little better with Vader's design - hence these small changes, which of course carried through to Return of the Jedi also.