Han Solo describes what it was like to be frozen in carbonite in the deleted scene from RETURN OF THE JEDI

Here’s a fascinating and insightful deleted scene from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi that I wanted to share with you today. I know a lot of you have probably seen this before, but I also know a lot of people haven’t. It’s also always fun to remember that these things exist from time to time and revisit them!

This deleted scene was the first shot for the movie, which was originally titled Revenge of the Jedi. It’s set in the middle of a sandstorm on Tatooine, and it’s at this time that we learn an obscure detail about Han Solo (Harrison Ford) trapped in carbonite.

The scene was shared by Jamie Benning and takes place shortly after the Return of the Jediis the opening scene in Jabba the Hutt’s palace and is set near the pit of Sarlacc. Like Luke Skywalker (Mark Hammill), Han Solo and Princess Leia are trying to leave the desert planet, a sandstorm is raging. You can barely hear them talking as the characters reconnect, but this is the dialogue:

Han: “Hey, kid! Thanks for coming after me.

Luke replies, “Don’t think about it.”

Han: “I’m thinking… I owe you one.”

Han then reveals and describes what it was like for him to be frozen in carbonite and it’s a startling and nightmarish detail. He said:

“That carbon freeze was the closest thing to death there is. And she wasn’t just sleeping. It was a big awake nothing!

Good grief that sounds awful and makes me feel a newfound sympathy for anyone frozen in carbonite, especially if they don’t really deserve it! I mean, Han was conscious the whole time! It’s not like he was knocked out or anything. This is complete madness!

Forty years ago today, Return (later Revenge) of the Jedi began principal photography. Starting with this scene, later deleted. pic.twitter.com/35yqjuWm3I

— Jamie Benning – The Filmumentary Podcast (@jamieswb) January 11, 2022

You can see a cleaner version of the scene played through images at the 48 minute mark in the video below: