ZorkNation

Starboy said:

Both myself and a friend of mine remember Darth Vader saying “I want that ship” as the Falcon takes off from Hoth.

Yes. I distinctly remember this from the theatrical release and 1980’s VHS. The Falcon flies over his head, out the hangar door and then straight up. I recall it cut to the exterior shot of the Falcon flying away, then back to Vader in the hangar where he says “I want that ship” to the Snowtroopers with him.

I never saw the audio storybook.

I bet it was cut because of the repetition of that line when he says “I want that ship, Admiral, not excuses.” The later line is more informative to the plot, and it would be hard to cut without missing a more important character interaction. The earlier line was so iconic though. I think Lucas (or someone) was being overly perfectionistic by cutting what they thought was a cinematic literary mistake of a repeated phrase.

I personally think it would be better with this “mistake” left intact. Nobody’s perfect. Vader’s OCD anyway. Of course he would repeat himself. Besides it’s not like “I’ve got a bad feeling about this” isn’t a running joke through the whole franchise.