10 Star Wars Changes George Lucas Made That Were Completely Justified

4. A New Hope: Close The Blastdoors! Open The Blastdoors!

There's a fair amount of humour dispersed throughout A New Hope. Even during some of the more intense moments of nail-biting action, the film never quite abandons the whimsical, fun tone of the classic space adventure genre. After all, it wasn't until Empire Strikes Back that the series took a slightly darker turn, emphasising themes of betrayal and hopelessness in the face of insurmountable odds. A New Hope isn't nearly as brooding or dreary.

For that reason, it's surprising just how many opportunities for humour were passed up in the original version of the film. Thankfully, these opportunities were later capitalised on in the special additions, giving a few select scenes the comical edge that they always deserved.

One prime example: In the original version of the film, Han Solo and Chewbacca narrowly escape a gaggle of Stormtroopers through a closing blastdoor. Trapped on the wrong side of the doors, the Stormtroopers radio in to a command post to "open the blastdoors!" In later additions, an extra line was added to make this encounter slightly funnier. Just before Han and Chewy make their escape, one of the Stormtroopers can be heard requesting to "close the blastdoors!" only to have that decision immediately backfire as the two heroes vanish through the closing doors.