'STAR WARS' AT 40: INTO THE DIZZYING TRENCH!

The vertigo inducing trench shot, achieved by perfect inter-cutting between matte painting and model work at ILM.

The three key Y-wing fighter bomber pilots of Gold Squadron, headed by Gold Leader, fast accelerate into the Death Star trench- destination: the key target shaft to be hit by proton torpedoes. But with all the heavy cannon fire, this is clearly not going to be easy...

Gold Leader (Angus MacInnes).

Angus MacInnes, playing Gold Leader, would have several extra dialogue lines that never made the final cut, including the fateful, 'Looks like we're going to have a smooth run at it'.

https://uk.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?hspart=visicom&hsimp=yhs-weathernow&p=gold+leader+drops+the+f+word&type=9655080_GB_uk

Jeremy Sinden, son of actor Donald, would enjoy making his small sequence (a second line was filmed but cut) and later seeing the completed film at a London 1977 press screening, whilst stalwart film and TV actor Graham Ashley, a face mostly known for seventies UK comedy and drama, would be unrecognisable with helmet and later US redubbed voice, playing the nervy senior figure of Gold Five, aka 'Pops', who also had several additional dialogue scenes conferring with Gold Leader that never made the final cut. Watch the film and you'll see Ashley's helmet chin strap is broken - presumably there was not time to fix the problem on set and the footage ultimately got left in the film.

Gold Two (Jeremy Sinden)- Tiree.

Gold Five (Graham Ashley) - 'Pops'.

'STAR WARS' AT 40: A 'WEAKNESS' IS DISCOVERED...

Trusty, brave and resilient to the finish line, Artoo Detoo has been synced up to the Rebel battle computers and his information disc on the Death Star schematics transferred. Now, in the briefing room, thirty brave pilots and ancillary officers, a farmboy, and a pair of rogue smugglers, assemble to join Princess Leia in watching General Dodonna give out the information needed as to how to destroy the approaching battle station.

Leia and Dodonna together for a specially posed dramatic image.

Addressing the pilots and technicians of their ambitious plan. An image taken during filming rehearsals - note George Lucas sitting down in far left bottom corner..

Unused angle seen in one of the early edit assemblies for the film.

Filmed at Shepperton Studios in mid-May 1976, this scene introduces us to Angus MacInnes as Gold Leader and Colin Higgins, cast as the original Wedge Antilles, talking to Luke in the scene. There's no sign of Red Leader and the other pilots as they were still being cast- Drewe Henley would join the main filming at Shepperton in the fighter bay, for an ultimately deleted scene, in Hangar Bay footage shot the next month, whilst the other pilots (John Does!) wouldn't be needed for the fighter cockpit filming planned until July, 1976, at Elstree.

Threepio with Luke and Wedge (Colin Higgins).

Colin Higgins/pilots filming info at Shepperton Studios in 1976: https://starwarsaficionado.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/COLIN%20HIGGINS

The cast watched the majority of Larry Cuba's specially computer created graphic design footage for the Death Star schematics projected as live on set.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMeSw00n3Ac

In the Alan Dean Foster novelisation based on 1976 pre-filming drafts, Rebel senators were to have been a part of the gathering watching Jan Dodonna talk about the Death Star 'weakness'. This was an idea that was firmly incorporated into the later prequel ROGUE ONE.