johndoh – Member
But the text at the beginning (in the crawl out) said Episode 4: A New Hope didn’t it?
Not originally.
From http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Opening_crawl
When originally released in 1977, the first film was simply titled Star Wars, as Lucas was not certain if he would follow the film with a sequel (and 20th Century Fox felt that alluding to a non-existent ‘previous episode’ would be too confusing). Following The Empire Strikes Back, the film was re-released in 1981 with the subtitle Episode IV A New Hope. The original version, without the subtitle, was not released on home video until the 2006 limited-edition DVDs.
[video]https://youtu.be/UKRIUiyF0N4[/video]
Cougar – Moderator
Maybe it got added in the year (or whatever it was*) between the US and UK releases? I remember seeing it at the cinema (with my gran!) and being confused that it was episode 4. I could be misremembering of course, it was quite a while ago.
It’s possible, though I see mixed comments from some who say they remember it without and some with, but don’t know where they live. Not seen anything official saying UK got Episode IV originally though.
I can’t say I remember. I was four at the time and all I remember is white corridors, storm troopers and shooting.
Edit: Wikipedia says:
“Accounts differ as to when this designation was first added; some date the change at the theatrical re-release of April 10, 1981,[91] while others place it much earlier at the re-release in July 1978.[92] “