Continuity mistake: When Vader's shuttle exits the Star Destroyer in the beginning of the film, it is followed by two TIE fighters. The TIE fighters are far apart, but in the next shot, they're close together. (00:02:15)
Continuity mistake: When Vader's shuttle is approaching the Death Star, the crew in the control room of the Death Star are wearing black gloves. One of them then reaches forward to press a button, but in the close-up of his hand pressing the button, the hand is not wearing gloves at all. This can only be seen in the widescreen version. (00:02:25)
Continuity mistake: When Vader's shuttle has landed inside the Death Star, behind the stormtroopers on the left side, there is a large structure. But when Vader and Jerjerrod, the Death Star commander, pass these stormtroopers, the structure is no longer there. (00:03:20 - 00:04:05)
Continuity mistake: When Bib Fortuna attempts to persuade R2-D2 to show him the message to Jabba, his hands keep changing position between shots. (00:07:20)
Continuity mistake: As C-3PO and R2-D2 enter Jabba's throne room, C-3PO is walking down a small set of stairs with R2-D2 not following after him. When C-3PO again can be seen after the pillar blocking the camera's view, R2-D2 shows up behind him shortly after. (00:07:55)
Continuity mistake: When the droids enter Jabba's throne room, in the shot facing the droids, they are not standing on the same part of the floor as in the previous shot. Also, R2-D2 is facing Jabba, but in the previous shot, he was facing C-3PO. (00:08:15)
Continuity mistake: When R2-D2 is assigned to his duties in Jabba's palace, another droid (EV-9D9) says, "But you'll soon learn some respect." and her arm is in a different position from the previous shot. In the following shot, her arm is in its original position. (00:11:10)
Continuity mistake: In the Special Edition, Sy Snootles (the lead singer of Jabba's band) is CGI, but in the original version, she was a puppet, looking a bit differently. In the first shot of the band sequence, you can see the old puppet singing on the stage. (00:11:50)
Continuity mistake: When Boussh (Leia in disguise) is about to enter Jabba's throne room, there's a shot of Jabba where his arm is down by his side. In the next shot, on the left side of the screen, his arm is up by his head. (00:13:50)
Continuity mistake: When the guards take Chewie to his cell, you can plainly see that when the guard closes the door you only hear it close. You can see that it is still open. (00:17:15)
Continuity mistake: When the carbonite block begins to lower to the ground, Leia is standing in a corner. In the next shot, she is much closer to the corner. (00:17:40)
Continuity mistake: After Leia frees Han from the carbonite, she begins to put her hand on his face as she kisses him. As the first shot ends, her hand is on his jaw, but in the next shot, her hand is on his cheek. (00:19:10)
Continuity mistake: When Leia gets shoved on Jabba's belly upon her capture, watch carefully - in the side shot of her being pressed against him, we see her arching back from her master-to-be as he talks. Their faces are a good foot or so apart. However, in the next shot of her, we see her face is mere inches away from him as he licks his lips in horny anticipation. (00:19:54)
Continuity mistake: In the first shot of Chewbacca when he is in Jabba's dungeon with Han, his bandoleer is on the wrong side. (00:21:25)
Continuity mistake: When Luke confronts Jabba the Hutt, Jabba says to Bib Fortuna, "You weak-minded fool." In the next shot, Jabba's tail has switched position. (00:22:55)
Continuity mistake: When the Rancour grabs Luke, as the shot ends, Luke is holding the bone with two hands. In the next shot, he's holding it with only one hand. (00:25:20)
Continuity mistake: When Luke wedges the bone into the Rancour's mouth, in the first shoot from behind, he holds the bone horizontally. In the beginning of the next shot, it is pointing upwards. (00:25:25)
Continuity mistake: In the Rancor pit, watch as the Rancor starts to pick up the pig guard. The Rancor starts to grab the pig guard with its left hand. But while being eaten the pig guard is held in the Rancor's right hand. (00:25:40)
Continuity mistake: When Luke and Vader enter the Emperor's throne room, they walk towards the stairs, and as the shot ends, Luke put his foot on the first step. In the next shot, they have suddenly moved further up the stairs. (00:26:45)
Continuity mistake: After Luke kills the Rancour, Jabba says, "Bring me Solo and the Wookiee", and Lando is nowhere to be seen. In the next shot, he is suddenly standing in front of Jabba's platform, and some of the other people have changed position. (00:27:00)
Answer: The Jedi are shown to have something of a blind spot in regards to matters of the heart. Note that when Luke confronts Obi-Wan over lying to him about his father's fate, Obi-Wan's response is haughty and defensive, and gives Luke nothing in terms of regret or apology. They're focused on their mission, not on how Luke feels. Why waste time, in their eyes, telling Luke about his mother? If they had their way, he wouldn't even know about his father. The prequels would make this more explicit, showing that the Jedi are conditioned from the beginning to let go of all "passions" because they could so easily be corrupted, and their inability to understand Anakin's emotions just contributes to his downfall.
TonyPH