Han’s Missing Vest

For years and years there were theories about a certain “blooper” in Episode V that dealt with Han Solo and a vest that seemed to disappear in one shot and reappear in the next. This shot in question takes place in the carbon freezing chamber. People swore up and down that in one shot Han wore a vest over his white shirt and that vest then disappeared magically in all of the other shots.

We know that continuity errors happen on films quite often, but this one made no sense to me. If Han wore a vest for half the film or something, I might be more inclined to believe it was a real blooper, but there was no vest in sight for the entire production. Why, all of the sudden, would they slap a vest on Han Solo? It made no sense.

In the beginning, the only reason everyone believed it was because no one could disprove it. However, with the release of the Original Trilogy on DVD, a short video clip surfaced that proved this so-called blooper was nothing but a trick of the light and not a continuity error.

Cable channel VH1, aired a special in 2004 called, “When Star Wars Ruled The World,” which contained interviews with the cast, crew, and even fans of the Star Wars saga. At some point they showed a clip of Harrison Ford readying himself for a shot in the freezing chamber and it was the shot we’re referring to that everyone thought was a blooper all these years.

You can clearly see that before the clapper comes into the shot, Ford is wearing his usual white shirt. As he moves into position, the light hits him at such an angle that his shoulders look black, thus giving us the illusion of a vest. A trick of the light, indeed.

* Thanks to John Green for supplying the photo and video evidence.