hairy_hen said:

The grappling hook thing is ridiculous.

I believe that people "remember" the missed grappling hook because every other motion picture with a similar scene includes a miss or two. The brain fills in what we expected to see. It's a common movie scene. I was sure I saw it too (I was 17 at the time and saw SW four or five times in 1977, in two different theaters), but now I'm convinced that my brain simply filled in what it expected - since I hadn't read the book it couldn't have come from there.

I much prefer "close the blast doors" in, because back in 1977 it was the one scene that drew audible laughs from the theater every time.

The one scene that I swear to god that I saw somewhere in 1977, was when Biggs and Luke met right before the battle (which was partially restored in the SE). I had never read any of the novelizations, but when I saw the SE I knew the dialogue about his father was missing.

I don't remember anything about garbage mattes. That isn't the sort of stuff I would have paid any attention to.