The original May 1977 Siskel and Ebert Star Wars review

[kenobi_65]

@MrAtoz

Likewise, I always stumble a bit in remembering that Luke’s callsign was Red Five. In the novelization he was Blue Five, and that’s what seems right to me.

My understanding is that it had to be changed during filming, as blue stripes on the X-Wings would not have worked with the blue-screen compositing technology that was used by ILM for the special-effects shots. But, for whatever reason, the references in the novelization weren’t changed.

However, in Rogue One, Blue Squadron does appear in the Battle of Scarif – as, by that time, the visual effects were done via CGI, rather than compositing.

[Miller]

@kenobi_65

My understanding is that it had to be changed during filming, as blue stripes on the X-Wings would not have worked with the blue-screen compositing technology that was used by ILM for the special-effects shots.

You can see the same problem on R2 during the Death Star assault - the whole time he’s in the x-wing, his blue panels are black, because the star field background is overlaying the blue on his head.

But, for whatever reason, the references in the novelization weren’t changed.

It’s because the novel came out six months before the movie. By the time they realized the problem on set, the manuscript for the novelization was already at the printers.