Continuity mistake: When Luke sees Red Leader hit the Death Star surface, an explosion appears out of nowhere and the X-Wing is not seen at all. Furthermore, the plummeting ship would have spread debris over a much wider area considering it was falling at such a shallow angle. (01:48:30)
Revealing mistake: When Darth Vader flies out of the Death Star you see the light falling on the back of the ship change as he clears the bay. Later, when he regains control of his spinning fighter the same shot with the falling shadow is used to show him flying away. (01:49:30)
Revealing mistake: When Wedge leaves the Death Star trench, the green screen is visible behind him for a few frames. (01:54:38)
Revealing mistake: During the final battle at the Death Star, nearly every time Darth Vader is shown in his ship's cockpit, David Prowse's eyes are visible through his helmet's lenses, because the combination of the red lenses in the helmet and the red lighting causes a transparent effect. (01:54:40)
Deliberate mistake: While Luke hears Ben's voice telling him to let go, Vader says, "The Force is strong with this one," and in the following wide shot as they say Luke's computer is turned off, the dent on C-3PO's head is on his right side instead of his left, revealing a flipped shot. (01:55:50)
Continuity mistake: Darth Vader fires at Luke's X-wing and blows R2D2's top off. Half a second later it shows no damage at all. It's not even scorched. When Luke lands, R2D2's head is destroyed and it's scorched all over. (01:56:15)
Continuity mistake: Just after the scene where R2-D2 is riding shotgun on Luke's X-Wing fighter and is hit by a shot from Darth Vader, there's a shot of C3-PO standing beside Leia in the rebel HQ, and the dent on C3-PO's head is on the right side (it's on the left side throughout the rest of the movie). (01:56:20)
Other mistake: Drewe Henley, who plays Red leader, is misidentified in the credits as "Drewe Hemley." (01:57:50)
Factual error: Admiral Motti tells General Tagge, "Dangerous to your star fleet, Commander," even though Tagge is an army general and could not command a star fleet.
Suggested correction: It's heartening to see how they adhered to human, earthly military conventions a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.
Continuity mistake: When R2-D2 is hiding from the Sand People, he is standing in front of a rock. When he comes out, the rock disappears. 2011 Blu-ray and 2019 4K.
Continuity mistake: DVD and Blu-ray only: When Darth Vader and Obi-Wan are dueling on the Death Star, all shots of Obi-Wan's lightsaber are blue. But in two shots, his lightsaber changes to purple. This was fixed on the 4K release.
Visible crew/equipment: At the beginning when R2-D2 is in the escape pod and C-3PO is arguing with him there is a shot of C-3PO from the side and you can see the reflection of the camera in his head.
Revealing mistake: On the Jawas' transporter, when R2D2 looks around in one of the shots, you can very clearly see the actor, Kenny Baker, inside through his eye hole.
Visible crew/equipment: In the original widescreen version, during a long shot of a loading bay in the Death Star, you can see a crew member walk just into shot on one side of the screen, stop, look up, and back out again.
Other mistake: During the scene when Obi-Wan is sneaking around the Imperial ship, a group of stormtroopers march by in a close group. One of the troopers is losing his armour and is attempting to hold it on.
Continuity mistake: Sometimes, the red stripes on the wings on the underside and topside of Luke's X-wing change. For example, compare the shot where he brushes his hand along the underside of the wing of the ship prior to the battle, and the shot before he says, "I'm hit, but not bad."
Continuity mistake: In Mos Eisley, when Ben and Luke are interrogated by the stormtroopers, the background changes. At the beginning and at the end of that scene, the street is large and full of people and beasts, but at other times, the street is small.
Continuity mistake: When Darth Vader is talking to Princess Leia, the chain holding his cape keeps changing between over and under his mask.
Continuity mistake: Widescreen version only: When the stormtroopers are searching for hiding Rebels in the blockade runner, Leia pokes her head out from her hiding place. In the next shot, in the lower left hand corner, something white sticks out behind the foremost "pillar" and then disappears out of view.
Continuity mistake: When R2D2 and C3PO land on Tatooine, the escape pod is on the flank of a dune. When the stormtroopers are doing their investigation, the pod is suddenly on more or less flat sand.
