Showing posts with label film. Show all posts
Showing posts with label film. Show all posts

22 September, 2026

The Complete(ish) Marion Ravn

This is quite a long post, so I've included links to jump to the different sections:


Part 1: Albums (and a few more songs)

Video playlists



Introduction

If you’re a fan of Marion Ravn (and you should be – she’s great) and wanted a handy guide to the songs she’s recorded, well, here you go. Maybe you’re an M2M fan looking to dive into her solo work, or maybe you had her first album (one of them) and then lost track of her during that long gap between (released) albums.

That’s what happened to me and when, years later I looked into catching up, I found things were at first glance, confusing. For starters there was her first album and then her other first album, with some tracks shared between both. Then what is typically referred to as her second album, but is actually her fourth has two versions, again with some songs in common, but some differences as well. Oh, and on the second version, the new tracks are from her following albums.


Songs from a Blackbird, not to be confused with Songs from a Blackbird.

Alongside this (thanks to watching some music vids), the YouTube recommendation bot was giving me a bunch of other songs that had me wondering ‘wait, so where is that from?’. Ultimately I ended up going on a deeper dive than anticipated, even making a spreadsheet to keep track of it all, adding more as I found it. Having then put together a big list of songs, I figured people might find it useful and so have used it as the basis for this guide.

Quick note: Raven with an e?
"Ravn" translates to "raven" in English and this is what Marion initially used for her surname when being credited on releases. Whether you are picking up the CDs, hopping onto an online store or streaming you will find a mixture of both names.

The first “Marion Ravn” credit appears to have come with 2007’s Music From and Inspired by W.I.T.C.H (Marion sings the opening theme to the US version).

The Raven name is sometimes mentioned online as simply being a variation for international markets and whilst for a time that seems to have been the intention, for the most part it’s an either/or situation. You’re not going to find a Ravn Hear I Am for example, nor a Raven Mellom disse 4 vegger.

In fact only one album (and its singles) has versions with both names and there the Raven variation has since fallen out of favour and all subsequent releases (including 2025 M2M EP Still in my dreams) credit her as Marion Ravn.

Update: After initially posting this guide I noticed that TIDAL has changed all credits to Marion Ravn. Nevertheless you should still expect to encounter a mix of the two names elsewhere.



Part 1: Albums (and a few more songs)

Here I Am (2005)

CD, Cassette, Download


  1. Get Me Out of Here
  2. Break You
  3. Crawl
  4. Here I Am
  5. Little by Little
  6. End of Me
  7. 13 Days
  8. For You I'll Die
  9. Let Me Introduce Myself
10. Heads Will Roll
11. At the End of the Day feat. Art Alexakis
12. Six Feet Under
13. Gotta Be Kidding
14. In Spite of Me
x1. Surfing the Sun
x2. There I Said It

Notes:

  • The various Japanese releases add Surfing the Sun (B-side on the Break You single), as does the iTunes release. It's also on some streaming versions of the album.
  • The Japanese Limited Edition also adds a sixteenth track with There I Said It (B-side on the Here I Am single).
  • The Japanese Limited Edition includes a DVD of the Here I Am and Break You music videos.
  • The Taiwanese Limited Edition includes a DVD of the End of Me music video as well as a "making of", of said music video.
  • In the months leading up to the album's release, fan sites featured news on tracks that might possibly feature on it. Of those mentioned, seven didn’t make the cut. Of those seven, two would make their way online:
u1. Get Over Me [studio recording]
u2. Forgot His Name [live recording from a gig in Tokyo] 
 
Here I Am was released in Norway, Sweden, across Asia and in other countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and Venezuela. Following a change of record label (the rest of) Europe and North America would get a different debut album in 2007, with a couple of releases prior to that in 2006.

Let Me (re)Introduce Myself: Releases in 2006 and 2007

October 2006 saw the release of It's All Coming Back to Me Now (although Wikipedia tells me UK fans could grab the digital release in August). This lead single from Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster is Loose album was a duet with Marion and that same month she released her Heads Will Roll EP.

The EP featured three new tracks and three tracks from Here I Am: a new version of Heads Will Roll, 13 Days (same as on the album) and a new acoustic version of Let Me Introduce Myself.

The album, titled Set Me Free, followed in 2007 (CD and Download) and contained a mix of songs from Here I Am, the Heads Will Roll EP and some new tracks too.

For reference, the full track listing for Set Me Free is as follows:

  1. Set Me Free (new)
  2. Falling Away (new)
  3. Crawl (from Here I Am album)
  4. Here I Am (from Here I Am album)
  5. Thank You for Loving Me (new)
  6. 13 Days (from Here I Am album)
  7. Break You (from Here I Am album)
  8. Heads Will Roll [new version] (from Heads Will Roll EP)
  9. For You I’ll Die (from Here I Am album)
10. At the End of the Day (from Here I Am album)
11. All I Wanna Do is You (from Heads Will Roll EP)
(hidden) Let Me Introduce My Self (Acoustic) (from Heads Will Roll EP)* edited

Let Me Introduce Myself is edited compared to the EP version (to remove an f-bomb), whilst two other tacks (Spit You Out and Good 4 Sex) were on the EP, but not on the album – something to keep in mind if you were looking to pick up physical copies of all this.

If you are keeping track of music video availability then the Set Me Free CD includes the Falling Away music video as enhanced content and the Heads Will Roll music video is enhanced content on the CD of the EP. No future releases would include music videos, however.

~Interlude (2006-2007) - a playlist suggestion
Tracks released in 2006 and 2007 that didn’t feature on Here I Am, ordered into a playlist that I think flows quite well.

1. Set Me Free
2. Spit You Out
3. Heads Will Roll [new version]
4. All I Wanna Do is You
5. Good 4 Sex
6. Let Me Introduce Myself (Acoustic)
7. Falling Away
8. Thank You for Loving Me
9. It's All Coming Back to Me Now
    (Meat Loaf feat. Marion Raven)

If you wanted to follow this playlist, I recommended using the longer album version of It’s All Coming Back to Me Now.


Nevermore (2010*)

*well, that was the intention


  1. Flesh and Bone
  2. Heartless
  3. Nevermore
  4. Rosemarie
  5. Found Someone
  6. Blackbird
  7. Backstabbing Bitch
  8. Miss You Blind
  9. Vital Signs
10. Up To No Good
11. After You
12. We Are Dead
13. Surrender
14. Drive

Jumping ahead for a moment, Marion's next album (Songs from a Blackbird) would introduce a breezier, more folky sound that is great to listen to, but is very different to what came before. This album acts like a good bridge between the two styles, typically leaning towards the earlier rockier efforts, but with moments that wouldn't feel out of place with what would follow.

Most people won't have heard it.

Two digital singles (Flesh and Bone and Found Someone) saw a Scandinavian release, but record label issues meant the full album never materialised.

A promo copy did however, leak online at some point, so it is out there available to listen to should you wish. You can even listen via YouTube Music (albeit tucked away in a community playlist).

Although fourteen tracks are listed above, the promo CD includes a fifteenth track; a radio edit of Found Someone. This wouldn’t have necessarily been included on the retail release.


Songs from a Blackbird (2013)

CD, Vinyl, Download


  1. Start Over
  2. Driving
  3. The Minute
  4. Home feat. Lisa Miskovsky
  5. On Fire
  6. Never Leave Me
  7. You and I
  8. Don't You
  9. Prove Me Wrong
10. Rest Your Head feat. Thom Hell
11. Safe and Sound
x1. All Lies
x2. Comfort You
x3. Hush
x4. Colors Turn to Grey

The track listing is for the original Norwegian release (more on the 2014 edition in a moment). The four extra songs listed are bonus tracks on the iTunes version, although it should be noted that All Lies appears as a bonus on other digital stores too (and later on, streaming) and Colors Turn To Grey was originally released as a digital single in 2012.

The following year, a second version of the album was released (CD and Download) for other markets. This edition brought back the Raven name, removed some songs, re-ordered others and added in Colors Turn To Grey and tracks recorded for the Scandal albums. In fact due to an earlier release date, the Scandal tracks actually show up here first.

For reference, the track listing for the 2014 edition of Songs from a Blackbird is as follows:

  1. The Minute (from 2013 release)
  2. Driving (from 2013 release)
  3. Scandal (from Scandal – Vol. I)
  4. Better Than This (from Scandal – Vol. II)
  5. Home (from 2013 release)
  6. Colors Turn to Grey (previously a digital single/iTunes bonus)
  7. In Dreams (from Scandal – Vol. I)
  8. Never Gonna get It (from Scandal – Vol. I)
  9. Running (from Scandal – Vol. II)
10. On Fire (from 2013 release)
11. Never Leave Me (from 2013 release)
12. When You Come Around (from Scandal – Vol. II)
iTunes Bonus Tracks
x1. Start Over (from 2013 release)
x2. You and I (from 2013 release)
x3. Don’t You (from 2013 release)

Although the 2014 version is typically referred to as a “worldwide edition”, if you are streaming or buying a digital copy then the 2013 “Norwegian” version is what you are most likely to encounter.

Why? Well at some point digital copies were updated to the original release, giving everywhere the same version of the album, but making some people loose some of their favourite tracks (unless they had picked up the CD).

Another casualty of this Ravn reset was the removal of the 2015 Better Than This digital single. That wouldn’t be particularly notable, but it also included an acoustic version of the song that now appears to be unavailable from anywhere else.

Scandal - Vol. I (2014)

Scandal - Vol. II (2015)

CD, Download (volumes)
Vinyl (combined release)




 Vol. I
  1. Scandal
  2. You'll Get Up Again
  3. In Dreams
  4. The Beginning of the End
  5. Never Gonna Get It
  6. Scoundrels Like You
  7. Never Ask Why
  8. We're Heading Off Course






 Vol. II
  1. Kicks In
  2. The Flame
  3. Better Than This
  4. Clown
  5. Like a Moth
  6. Running
  7. When You Come Around
  8. Goodbye My Love
 


Scandinavian only releases. As mentioned above, some of the tracks recorded for these albums turned up on the 2014 edition of Songs from a Blackbird, but there are no alternate versions this time around – unless you count the fact the Vinyl combines the two volumes into one release.

Side note: these albums are less available than other albums. Physical copies you can import, but Downloads and streaming are geo-locked.

Following the two Scandal albums, Marion released two Norwegian language albums (and a digital single). Although the physical albums are exclusive to Norway, downloads and streaming copies are readily available.

The releases are also straightforward (no alternate versions or extra download tracks), so they are simply listed below:


Mellom disse 4 vegger (2019)

Vinyl, Download


  1. 4 vegger
  2. Fritt fall
  3. Tyv
  4. Svømmer
  5. Høsten som kommer
  6. Ikke deg
     (Marion Ravn & Magnus Grønneberg)
  7. 12-trikken
  8. Tidsfordriv
  9. En skygge av deg


Englene på Grand (2020)

(Digital Single)

Download

Ti ville hester (2023)

Vinyl, Download


  1. Danse
  2. Slik du vil
  3. En vanlig dag
  4. Ti ville hester
  5. Nesten
  6. Bitre dråper
  7. Han du ikke var
  8. Hold meg i hånda
  9. Vinden i ryggen
10. Virvelvind





Hver gang vi møtes (Every time we meet) is a Norwegian TV series that gathers together a bunch of musical artists and has them cover each others songs. Each episode focuses on one of the artist’s songs. 

Marion first appeared as one of the participants in Season 2 and a CD containing a large chunk (but not all) of the tracks performed was released. There was also a series of eight digital EPs (one for each artist episode and a duet episode as well) released that covered all of the tracks.

Well that’s what I thought.

After compiling my list, YouTube recommended me this video where Marion joins Kurt Nilsen to perform M2M song Everything. There’s a Kurt solo performance of the song that appears on both the CD and “Marion Ravns Day” EP, but there’s been no commercial release of the duet.

Moving back to tracks that were released, Marion was amongst those who returned for the Season 10 “Jubilee” to add another four tracks (available across a few digital EPs) to the list. Finally there’s one more track from when Marion returned again in Season 16 to make Marit cry (available as a digital single).

Here's the the list of songs Marion has performed, with mention of where you can listen to them:

    Season 2 (2013)
1. Casanova
     CD and Hver gang vi møtes - Sesong 2 - Anita Skorgans dag [digital]
2. Bullet Me
     Hver gang vi møtes - Sesong 2 - Morten Abels dag [digital]
3. Unforgivable Sinner
     CD and Hver gang vi møtes - Sesong 2 - Lene Marlins dag [digital]
4. Never Easy
     Hver gang vi møtes - Seasong 2 - Kurt Nilsens dag [digital]
5. Når du sover
     Hver gang vi møtes - Sesong 2 - Magnus Grønnebergs dag [digital]
6. Nerven i min sang
     CD and Hver gang vi møtes - Sesong 2 - Ole Paus' dag [digital]
7. Where I'm Headed
    (Lene Marlin / Marion Ravn)
     Hver gang vi møtes - Sesong 2 - Duetter [digital]
8. Syndere i sommersol
    (Marion Ravn / Magnus Grønneberg)
     CD and Hver gang vi møtes - Sesong 2 - Duetter [digital]

    Season 10 (2020)
1. Jeg er faen meg det beste som har skjedd deg
    (Hver gang vi møtes & Marion Ravn)
     Hver gang vi møtes - Femte dag (Jubileumssesong) [digital]
2. Last Night
    (Hver gang vi møtes & Tshawe Baqwa feat. Marion Ravn)
     Hver gang vi møtes - Femte dag (Jubileumssesong) [digital]
3. Det er meg en gåte
    (Hver gang vi møtes & Marion Ravn)
     Hver gang vi møtes - Sjette dag (Jubileumssesong) [digital]
4. Som splintra speil
    (Hver gang vi møtes & Marion Ravn)
     Hver gang vi møtes - Syvende dag (Jubileumssesong) [digital]

    Season 16 (2026)
1. Ustø grunn
    (Espen Lind, Marion Ravn & Hver gang vi møtes)
    Digital Single


Ta meg med! (2014)


Film


  1. Heksedans
      (Kjersti Elvik, Marion Ravn, Haddy N`jie, Magnus Grønneberg)
  2. Ryktet forteller
  3. Venner / Hver gang vi møtes - not on digital soundtrack album
  4. Tre er en for mye
  5. Ta meg med
  6. Sangen om i morra
     (Marion Ravn, Haddy N'Jie)
  7. Ta meg med (reprise) - not on digital soundtrack album
  8. Mang slags kjærlighet
     (Kjersti Elvik, Magnus Grønneberg, Haddy N`jie,
      Marion Ravn, Frank Kjosås)


Later released on Blu-Ray, DVD and Digital, this is a romantic musical film (based on songs by Jan Eggum and Halvdan Sivertsen) that follows five people living in an apartment building. Marion plays one of those people and the songs featuring her are included on the above list.

There’s also a (geo-locked) digital soundtrack album that is missing some tracks. Anything Marion-wise that is excluded from the album is noted on the list.


Ser du (2022)

Humle & Marion Ravn
(Digital Single)

Download


Chess På Norsk (2022)

Download


  1. Kirken I Moskva
  2. Dere Tror at Jeg Er Blind (Ni Dömer Mig)
      (André Søfteland & Marion Ravn)
  3. Hvem Er Jeg? (Han Är En Man, Han Är Ett Barn)
  4. Nå Ser Jeg Det Klart (Jag Vet Vad Han Vill)
      (Marion Ravn & Karoline Krüger)
  5. Capablanca (Capablanca)
      (André Søfteland, Espen Grjotheim, Karoline Krüger,
       Marion Ravn, Elisabeth Andreassen & Øystein Røger)

Digital soundtrack to the stage musical. Songs featuring Marion are included on the above list.


Det va du (2023)

Staut feat. Marion Ravn
(Digital Single)

Download



Part 3: Songs from animation

Alternate name: The part of the guide I'm most likely to have missed something on.

As previously mentioned Marion sang the opening theme to W.I.T.C.H (US version). This was from episode 14 onwards (2005) and was later included on the soundtrack album.

Music from and Inspired By

W.I.T.C.H (2007)

CD, Download



  1. We Are W.I.T.C.H. 


Over in Norway she has voiced a bunch of characters in different films and TV series. Most notably Rapunsel in Tangled, but she has also voiced characters in a variety of other things including Peter Rabbit, Encanto and My Little Pony.

Some of the roles have featured singing and some of those songs have subsequently turned up on digital soundtracks (and as a single in one case). There's some geo-locking, but for reference they are listed below:

To på rømmen (2011?)


Download?


  1. Blomst med glans og glød
      (Hilde Lyrån, Selma Isaksen, Marion Ravn)
  2. Når skal jeg få et liv
  3. Når skal jeg få et liv (reprise)
  4. Når skal jeg få et liv (reprise 2)
  5. Jeg har en drøm
      (Marion Ravn, Christian Ingebrigtsen, Dennis Storhøi, Hans Marius
      Hoff Mittet, Cheezy Keys)
  6. Nå ser jeg lys
      (Marion Ravn, Christian Ingebrigtsen)

Soundtrack to the Norwegian version of Tangled, with songs featuring Marion listed. Despite finding mentions of this album online, I can't actually find it for sale or streaming anywhere. Even the year I've listed is a guess based on the Norwegian release date of the film.

Når skal jeg få et liv would later be included on Disney Prinsesser - De beste sangene (2015). It's geo-locked, but I can at least confirm it exists.

The same song, along with Jeg har en drøm and Nå ser jeg lys would also be included on Disney 100 Norge (2023) which has some limited international availability (streaming) via Amazon.

To på rømmen - serien (2018)

Download


  1. Mye å se
  2. Lykkelig alle dager
      (Marion Ravn, Christian Ingebrigtsen and Aslag Guttormsgaard)
  3. Mye å se (reprise)
      (Marion Ravn, Christian Ingebrigtsen)
  4. Jeg er klar

More Tangled (or rather "Two on the Run") with this geo-locked soundtrack to the TV series. Songs on the album are credited to the characters, but these are the ones Marion sings.

Although a release for the series, these songs had previously featured in 2017's To på rømmen: Før Evig og alltid (Tangled: Before Ever After), which was essentially a pilot for the TV series. Mye å se had even been released as a digital single in promotion of that film.

Although it is the title on track listings and the single's artwork, Mye å se is sometimes given the (slightly) longer title of Så mye å se such as on Disney's upload of this music video.

Encanto (2021)

Download


  1. Snakker ikke om Bruno
      (Emilie Christensen, Numa Norderhaug, 
       Akuvi Kumoji, Markus Magne Rosså,
       Marion Ravn & Ulrikke Brandstorp)
  2. Hva mer får jeg til
      (Marion Ravn & Ulrikke Brandstorp)

Unlike the Tangled soundtracks, this one isn't geo-locked (well, at least not on streaming) and the tracks listed above are the ones Marion appears on (credited as her character Isabela). Snakker ikke om Bruno also appears on the previously mentioned Disney 100 Norge.


Also featuring Marion-sung songs, but apparently lacking any kind of soundtrack release are:

My Little Pony: En ny generasjon (My Little Pony: A New Generation) (2021)
My Little Pony: Sett ditt eget merke på verden (My Little Pony: Make Your Mark) (2022)
Tannfe i trøbbel (My Fairy Troublemaker) (2023 - in Norway)


Not included in this guide

This guide is intended to cover solo songs recorded by Marion (or that she's featured on) that have had a commercial audio release. If you can't play some sort of physical format, a download or stream to listen, then it hasn't been included.

I have bent the rules a bit.

Nevermore has been included, because it was at least intended to be released.

Ta meg med! is listed as the film rather than its soundtrack album. Doing so adds a couple of extra tracks. In part this is because it is a musical film (rather than a film with songs in it) and said film is available to buy, but mainly because Venner is too catchy a song to not include.

With those exceptions explained, there are a variety of performances not included in this guide. As mentioned, there are a couple of unreleased Here I Am era tracks and an additional Hver gang vi møtes performance. There's also a bunch of songs from animation (here's one from My Little Pony) that have been left off.

In addition to that, Marion has appeared on numerous TV and radio programs, sometimes performing songs that are unavailable elsewhere. There's lots, but for a few examples there's this performance of Chandelier, this quick blast of Eternal Flame and this duet with "Snow Monster".

Live performances can also throw up things of interest, such as additional covers or songs in a different language: Her står jeg and Alt kommer tilbake til meg being Norwegian language versions of Here I Am and It's All Coming Back to Me Now respectively. Or, going the other way, there's a (partial) video recording of an early version of Tidsfordriv in English.

Oh, and she was in Norwegian Les Misérables.

Basically, there's a lot of other songs she's performed - and that's just based on the ones I know about.

And yes, I'm aware that thanks to geo-locking, these "other songs" are more available than some of the ones listed in the guide.

Maybe an ever-expanding "you can't buy this" playlist would be a good future project, but for now I hope this "Complete(ish)" guide, covering commercial (and a few other) releases is of some use.


Video Playlists

Marion's singles (or singles that she's featured on). I've used the music videos where available, but I've had to drop in live performances (or just the audio) in some cases.

All of Marion's performances on Hver gang vi møtes. There's one song I couldn't find a video for, so for that one it's just the audio.

11 January, 2017

Another New Hope: A simple guide to the different versions of the first Star Wars film

Many people know that there are multiple versions of George Lucas’ first Star Wars movie, but how many are there and how different are they? Well…there’s lots. Dive into the OriginalTrilogy.com forums and you will find pictures of slight end credit variations. Then there are home video releases which are a different experience to a theatrical one due to technical limitations as well as the fact they may be pan-and-scan editions. Laserdisc releases may be time-compressed and PAL region releases have PAL speedup. There’s even a narrated logo. One release may be identical to another but with slight colour variations or a different level of noise reduction applied. There can be changes in subtitle placement and font, plus there have been releases with technical errors. Factor in foreign-language dubs and there have been a lot of different versions over the years.

Maybe one day I’ll work it out. The more likely scenario is that the posters on OriginalTrilogy.com will and I’ll stick up a link saying “hey look at this”. In any case, it seems likely that anyone asking how many versions are there of the first Star Wars film is not expecting these variations to be included in the tally. This guide then ignores things like that, focusing on just the English language releases and not counting home video releases as a new version of the film unless they did add something.

This is not a full list of every alteration ever made, but it should provide a guide to how each version differs from the others and when certain changes were made (and reverted in some cases).


1977 Stereo Theatrical  Releases

There were a couple of stereo options for Star Wars’ initial USA theatrical release. Two-track stereo was available on 35mm prints whilst 70mm prints boasted a six-track Dolby stereo mix. Whilst there may be different emphasis on certain effects, greater bass and dynamic range in the six-track, content-wise the mixes sound the same (no alternate dialogue here). The six-track was created first and then the two-track was derived from it.

In J.W. Rinzler’s The Making of Star Wars book, sound designer Ben Burtt says that whilst they were not completely happy with the mix there was no time to make changes, commenting “they were all too afraid to mess with it, ‘cause the deadline was so close-the whole system with the Dolby was kind of an experiment, and they didn’t want me to tamper with it.”



1977 Mono Theatrical Release

The monaural mix arrived a little later for the film’s general release and the extra time was used to make some changes. Ben Burtt (again in The Making of Star Wars) says “George, [editor] Paul Hirsch, and I and everyone in the crew sat down and made a list of the things we didn’t like in the stereo mix. Then we tried to achieve every one of those things on the mono”. Lucas himself adds “We were locked in this little room, but it was important because monaural was what most people were going to hear”.

Changes in the audio include alternate/additional sound effects and a different voice for Aunt Beru. There was some changed/additional dialogue too:

- When searching for the droids in Mos Eisley, a Stormtrooper says “All right, check that side of the street. It’s secure. Move on to the next one”. Previously the line was “All right, check this side of the street. The door’s locked? Move on to the next one”.

- As Artoo is making the location of the tractor beam control appear on a monitor, there’s an additional line from Threepio: “The tractor beam is coupled to the main reactor in seven locations. A power loss at one of the terminals will allow the ship to leave”.

- There’s the addition of a "Governor Tarkin" before the Grand Moff is informed “we have an emergency alert in detention block AA-twenty-three”.

- When Han and Chewie are running from some Stormtroopers, before the blast doors close (and cause a trooper to shout “Open the blast doors! Open the blast doors!”) one of them (in retrospect, a twonk) issues an instruction to “close the blast doors!”.

- During the Death Star battle Luke says “Blast it! Wedge, where are you?”. Previously he said “Blast it! Biggs, where are you?”.

Some of these changes could also be heard in The Story of Star Wars (an abridged audio version of the story) and the script included with 1979’s The Art of Star Wars book uses the mono mix’s altered dialogue.


1981 Theatrical Re-releases

Something else the script with The Art of Star Wars included was a new longer title, numbering the film “Episode IV: A New Hope”. When The Empire Strikes Back was released in 1980 it was identified on-screen as “Episode V”.

Star Wars received a theatrical re-release the following year and its opening crawl was updated to include the episode number and title.


Aside from the new episode number/title (and a slightly reformatted opening crawl) these re-releases were the same as before. The stereo version was used for initial home video releases (VHS, Betamax, CED, Laserdisc, VHD, Video 2000) and the mono mix was used for some TV broadcasts of the film.

In 1989 the film was released on Super 8mm. Stereo and mono versions were available.


1986 Home Video 

Although not a major update, a new audio mix was produced for home video in 1985. Despite the alterations and additions that had been made for the mono mix, the content of the 1985 mix was similar to the stereo version. Some reports mention improved stereo effects, but the only noticeable difference over the previous stereo version is that it includes Threepio’s tractor beam line from the mono mix.

It first appeared in the USA the following year on VHS and would be used for the various VHS and Laserdisc releases until 1993. Other places may have got the audio mix later; it appears it didn’t turn up in the UK until 1991.





1993 Definitive Edition
New decade, new sound mix. Produced for the Definitive Collection LaserDisc set, Threepio’s tractor beam line has been taken out again. Said to be a downmix of the six-track version, dialogue-wise this is identical to the first stereo mixes. There are, however, a number of additional sound effects added to the mix. Some of these were previously featured in the mono mix, but others are new.

This edition of the film would be used for VHS and LaserDisc releases until the arrival of the Special Edition, with the 1995 release being promoted as the “last chance to own the original version of Star Wars”.




1997 Special Edition
Previous alterations to the film could easily have gone unnoticed, but that would not be the case with 1997’s  Special Edition. Back in theatres (along with its two sequels) for the twentieth anniversary, this updated version featured additional scenes and new special effects. Audio-wise it should be noted that Threepio’s tractor beam line returned, as did “close the blast doors!” from the mono mix. There was also an additional “He’s on your tail” during the Death Star battle.

The big changes, however, were visual. There’s a new scene with Jabba the Hutt and Han, whilst later on Luke now has a brief conversation with Biggs before the Death Star battle.
   

There are additional shots in the film such as in Mos Eisley and of recently arrived on Tatooine Stormtroopers searching for the droids, whilst other shots have CGI additions and some effects work has been redone. There are far too  many changes to detail in a guide that’s trying to be brief, but a few examples are shown below:
    
Of course, this is also the version of the film that altered “The Greedo Scene” to make the bounty hunter fire a shot at Han. Additional tweaks to this confrontation would be made in subsequent versions of the film.

The Special Edition received a home video release on VHS, LaserDisc and Video CD.

2004 DVD
Although the format arrived in the 1990s, the Star Wars Trilogy would not be released on DVD until 2004. People expected the Special Editions, but that would not be the case as the films had received further updates for this boxset release.

As far as the first film is concerned, there are a few small visual updates such as these:


A bigger update was Jabba the Hutt, whose CG model was redone to make him look closer to his appearance in Return of the Jedi and The Phantom Menace.


This version of the film features an odd colouring error during Luke’s training aboard the Millennium Falcon. At one point his Lightsaber appears very green.


There were some audio changes too, with the “He’s on your tail” line that had been added to the Special Edition removed. There was a new Krayt Dragon sound effect for when Obi-Wan scares off the Sand People and a couple of dialogue additions as well:

- Aboard the Sandcrawler Threepio announces “We’ve stopped” before his “Wake up! Wake up!” line to Artoo.

- On the Death Star, after searching the Millennium Falcon, a Stormtrooper says “There’s no one here”.

Another notable audio change was the music as the rebels start their attack on the Death Star which is now buried deep beneath the sound effects. It seemed like an error, but Lucasfilm issued a statement to various websites insisting “any changes that you hear on the all-new Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround EX tracks on the Star Wars Trilogy DVD set are deliberate creative decisions. We can confirm that there are no technical glitches as has been reported.”

2006 “Original Theatrical Version” DVD
The 2004 editions of the films were released again in 2006 and whilst a boxset was available from some retailers, this was the first time the original trilogy films were available to buy individually on DVD. As an incentive for people to repurchase the films, each of them came with a “Bonus Disc” featuring the original theatrical version of the film.

Sort of.

These theatrical versions were created from the masters used for 1993’s Definitive Collection Laserdisc set, which in the case of A New Hope contains some changes. However, this wasn’t a simple DVD release of the 1993 version either as the original version of the opening crawl was restored (making its first appearance on home video).  So whilst there isn’t actually anything new here, adding the 1977 crawl to the 1993 edition created a new version of the film.

After these individual releases of the three films disappeared from shops they were repackaged in a slimline Star Wars Trilogy boxset that was released in 2008.


2011 Blu-Ray
Released on Blu-Ray, “Star Wars: The Complete Saga” packaged Episodes I-VI together for the first time (although separate trilogy sets were also available) and George Lucas took this opportunity to make some more alterations to the films.

For Episode IV a couple of changes fixed problems with the 2004 edition of the film. The music as the rebels start their attack on the Death Star was restored to prominence and the shot with Luke’s very green lightsaber was changed to make the blade blue.

Additional changes were made too, such as colouring the lid of Threepio and Artoo’s escape pod grey in most shots on Tatooine (having been blue in all previous versions of the film) and there was extra cover added to the spot where Artoo hides from the Tusken Raiders.

A shot during the Millennium Falcon’s battle with the TIE Fighters was also updated. All previous versions of the film had a portion of the image missing, although this was not particularly noticeable against the black of space. It was finally fixed for this release.

On the audio side of things, Obi-Wan’s Krayt Dragon call was changed again, sounding quite different to both the 1977 and 2004 versions. A line of Aunt Beru’s was slightly changed to “Luke, tell your Uncle that if he gets a translator to be sure it speaks Bocce”, having previously lacked the “your” part of  “tell your Uncle”.

This version of the film has been rereleased a few times on Blu-Ray and has also been released on DVD and Digital.

2019 4K Home Video

George Lucas would sell Lucasfilm to the Walt Disney Company in 2012, but prior to that further work was done to A New Hope for future 4K home video releases. This, however, would not be seen until 2019 when Disney launched their streaming service Disney+.

It featured a number of small visual tweaks, including an alternate fix to the TIE Fighter shot with some of the image missing. This time the image is shifted right, with the left part of the shot extended.

More noticeably, the Greedo scene now features an untranslated line of dialogue from Greedo (and a brief shot of him) right before his shootout with Han and the two now fire at the same time.


This version of the film was also released on Digital, 4K Ultra HD, Blu-Ray and DVD.

Please note that images are used to illustrate when changes were made and are not necessarily sourced from the indicated version.

Last Updated: 10/7/25 -  added 8mm information.