Solo: A Star Wars Story

[madguy30]

This thread.



For the record, it's fantastic. I have friends that are SW goobers and it's fun listening to them.

 

[BryceC]

Last thing here - as much as people hate TLJ... we could be watching a movie trilogy about midichlorians functionally.

 

[khardbored]

Saw it for the first time tonight, so I’m gonna put my initial impressions here before reading any of the other posts since opening night. I’m coming at this from the point of view of an original trilogy die-hard fan & “purist.”


It’s been out 2+ weeks so I assume I don’t have to say “Spoilers!”

• Had a hard time getting excited for this one, so I went in with low expectations. Because of that, I wasn’t disappointed. If I had gone in with high expectations, I would have been disappointed. It was a pretty good movie for a movie, but only “OK” for a Star Wars movie. Probably my least favorite of the Disney-era movies.
  
  
• Darth Maul? I dunno, that seemed a bit forced. This movie is obviously after Ep. I-III, so he “must” have survived. Clearly setting the stage for a Darth Maul movie. I saw Ray Park in the credits.
  
  
• How Han met Chewie was different than I expected, but cool.
  
  
• So the smugglers turn Han over to be killed but then go back to pick him up? C’mon.
  
  
• I didn’t have a hard time believing the actor was Han after the first 15 minutes or so.
  
  
• At the end I was so confused about who-betrayed-who I will have to watch it again to figure that out.
  
  
• The performance of Chewbacca was great! Kudos to the new actor. Back to “skinny” Chewbacca, not extra-wide fake looking Chewbacca like in Episode III.
  
  
• The explanation of why the Falcon is so good at calculating coordinates I actually liked (hooking up the girl robot to it)
  
  
• The Lando performance didn’t disappoint, and I liked the girl too (Kira?)
  
  
• Some of the fan service was a bit forced, but other parts were great . . . for example, when the “asteroid field” music starts while they were escaping from Kessel . . . that was awesome!
  
  
• Why did Han discharge the escape pod?
  
  
• How Han got his last name? Moderately cool.
  
  
• Never knew there were Imperial Infantry troops who didn’t wear helmets. Also odd that they kept calling him by name, not a number when he was in the imperial infantry. What kind of military unit was that? The Imperial B-team?
  
  
• Look was very Star-Wars ish, so that was nice. Seeing the Star Destroyer under construction on Corelia was neat.
  
  
• The droid fighting for “equal rights” was dumb.
  
  
• Special effects were pretty great & realistic. I was able to “lose” myself in the movie fairly easily. Never was a moment I consciously thought, “oh, that’s obviously CGI.”
  
  
• Overall, the main reason I said it was “OK” but not great was I left feeling disappointed. Like there was this big setup but then it was resolved too quickly at the end. Just like, “Oh . . . that’s it? OK.”
  

I would now rank the Disney-era movies so far as (best to worst) -- Rogue One, Ep. 7, Ep. 8, then this one.


OK, that’s it for now!

 

[NorthCyd]

Saw it for the first time tonight, so I’m gonna put my initial impressions here before reading any of the other posts since opening night. I’m coming at this from the point of view of an original trilogy die-hard fan & “purist.”


It’s been out 2+ weeks so I assume I don’t have to say “Spoilers!”

• Had a hard time getting excited for this one, so I went in with low expectations. Because of that, I wasn’t disappointed. If I had gone in with high expectations, I would have been disappointed. It was a pretty good movie for a movie, but only “OK” for a Star Wars movie. Probably my least favorite of the Disney-era movies.
  
  
• Darth Maul? I dunno, that seemed a bit forced. This movie is obviously after Ep. I-III, so he “must” have survived. Clearly setting the stage for a Darth Maul movie. I saw Ray Park in the credits.
  
  
• How Han met Chewie was different than I expected, but cool.
  
  
• So the smugglers turn Han over to be killed but then go back to pick him up? C’mon.
  
  
• I didn’t have a hard time believing the actor was Han after the first 15 minutes or so.
  
  
• At the end I was so confused about who-betrayed-who I will have to watch it again to figure that out.
  
  
• The performance of Chewbacca was great! Kudos to the new actor. Back to “skinny” Chewbacca, not extra-wide fake looking Chewbacca like in Episode III.
  
  
• The explanation of why the Falcon is so good at calculating coordinates I actually liked (hooking up the girl robot to it)
  
  
• The Lando performance didn’t disappoint, and I liked the girl too (Kira?)
  
  
• Some of the fan service was a bit forced, but other parts were great . . . for example, when the “asteroid field” music starts while they were escaping from Kessel . . . that was awesome!
  
  
• Why did Han discharge the escape pod?
  
  
• How Han got his last name? Moderately cool.
  
  
• Never knew there were Imperial Infantry troops who didn’t wear helmets. Also odd that they kept calling him by name, not a number when he was in the imperial infantry. What kind of military unit was that? The Imperial B-team?
  
  
• Look was very Star-Wars ish, so that was nice. Seeing the Star Destroyer under construction on Corelia was neat.
  
  
• The droid fighting for “equal rights” was dumb.
  
  
• Special effects were pretty great & realistic. I was able to “lose” myself in the movie fairly easily. Never was a moment I consciously thought, “oh, that’s obviously CGI.”
  
  
• Overall, the main reason I said it was “OK” but not great was I left feeling disappointed. Like there was this big setup but then it was resolved too quickly at the end. Just like, “Oh . . . that’s it? OK.”

I would now rank the Disney-era movies so far as (best to worst) -- Rogue One, Ep. 7, Ep. 8, then this one.


OK, that’s it for now!

FYI They set up the Darth Maul return in it other star Wars fiction like Clone Wars and Rebels. It's been known he survived for a long time now. They didn't just do it for this movie.

 

[khardbored]

FYI They set up the Darth Maul return in it other star Wars fiction like Clone Wars and Rebels. It's been known he survived for a long time now. They didn't just do it for this movie.

Yeah, I know that, but in my mind, anything other than the movies isn't quite as "canon" as the movies themselves.

Now it's unavoidably official. I'm not saying it's bad, but it was a surprise to me.

 

[NorthCyd]

Yeah, I know that, but in my mind, anything other than the movies isn't quite as "canon" as the movies themselves.

Now it's unavoidably official. I'm not saying it's bad, but it was a surprise to me.

I see. Well I don't think you have to worry too much about a Maul movie. The fact they brought Park back to do it tells me they don't have more than cameos planned for the character. Park can't carry a movie. That wasn't even his voice in Solo. It was Sam Witwer who voiced Maul in Clone Wars and Rebels.

 

[carvers4math]

We saw this a second time and enjoyed it even more when not focused on just following the plot. Had a greater appreciation for Emilia Clarke’s character this time around, caught more of what was going on in Kessel Run.

 

[Pitt_Clone]

Saw it a few days ago and thought it was great. Really entertaining. So no comments yet about how Han shot first at the end when talking to Woody Harrelson?

 

[everyyard]

Solo was terrible.

 

[khardbored]

I liked the movie (saw twice now -- better after 2nd time) but what brings it down a couple notches for me is this:

The ending --

So, in order for Han to hatch his plan to get the coxaixum to the "infant rebellion" (whatever their name) AND escape, we are to understand that Han predicted that Beckett would betray them and turn him in to Dryden Voss --- but then Han ALSO predicted that when it was revealed that the coaxium was not down on the planet, Beckett would kill the guards (but not shoot Voss, Han, or Qui’ra?) and take off with the coaxium, leaving Han and Qui’ra in a fight to the death with Voss, finish him off, but leave enough time to catch up with Beckett and kill him and recover the coaxium & save Chewie???


This is the part I find a little far fetched. Sure, predict the initial betrayal but also predict both Becket’s additional betrayal of Voss AND the manner in which he would do it? (logic would tell me that Beckett should have shot all of them except Chewie, as he needed someone to carry the stuff.)

 

[laminak]

Saw it for the first time tonight, so I’m gonna put my initial impressions here before reading any of the other posts since opening night. I’m coming at this from the point of view of an original trilogy die-hard fan & “purist.”

I just saw the film and also coming at this from the point of view of an original trilogy die-hard fan & “purist.”

• Had a hard time getting excited for this one, so I went in with low expectations. Because of that, I wasn’t disappointed. If I had gone in with high expectations, I would have been disappointed. It was a pretty good movie for a movie, but only “OK” for a Star Wars movie. Probably my least favorite of the Disney-era movies.

It didn't have the epic space battles or Jedi like other SW films/shows, however focused more on the grunt/smuggling side of the universe, which I enjoyed. I love space battles and Jedi, however there is so much unexplored area in the universe.

• Darth Maul? I dunno, that seemed a bit forced. This movie is obviously after Ep. I-III, so he “must” have survived. Clearly setting the stage for a Darth Maul movie. I saw Ray Park in the credits.

Darth Maul was resurrected in Star Wars The Clone Wars cartoon and was a major player in it with Mandalore and crime groups. He continued this arc in Star Wars Rebels cartoon. His survival of The Phantom Menace has been canon for quite a long time, however I can see how casual fans may be confused if they didn't follow other developments.

• How Han met Chewie was different than I expected, but cool.

It fit the lore of Han rescuing Chewie as a slave/being mistreated of the Empire and why he follows Han. I went in thinking the lore was when Han was actually a junior Imperial officer and did that to save Chewie. Agreed it's different, but loosely connected.

• So the smugglers turn Han over to be killed but then go back to pick him up? C’mon.

• 
  

They specifically cited that Han had a Wookie and they could use the muscle, hence why they picked him up.

• At the end I was so confused about who-betrayed-who I will have to watch it again to figure that out.

Becket betrayed Han, Chewie, and Vos, Qi'ra betrayed Vos, then Qi'ra betrayed Han.

• Why did Han discharge the escape pod?

He did it to get that space monster to follow it into the Maw.

• Never knew there were Imperial Infantry troops who didn’t wear helmets. Also odd that they kept calling him by name, not a number when he was in the imperial infantry. What kind of military unit was that? The Imperial B-team?

There are some troopers who don't wear covered helmets, mostly the naval (Death Star/Star Destroyer) troopers, however I agree it was odd to see faces and hear names.

I would now rank the Disney-era movies so far as (best to worst) -- Rogue One, Ep. 7, Ep. 8, then this one.

I actually enjoyed Solo the most out of the Disney and even probably the prequel trilogy.

Solo explored the scum underground, was pleasantly surprised with Han (considering the reports about his acting), loved Chewie and Lando characters, and thought Becket, Qi'ra, and Vos were good additions to the lore. The pace was good, action scenes were good, there was no cartoony moments (other than L3), and overall despite a few quips here and there, was an enjoyable experience.

Prequel trilogy had too much bad acting, quick rushed plots, and were way too cartoony...where even the Clone Wars cartoon was better.

I liked the concept of Rogue One, however it was way too jumpy for locations and way too jerky for camera work that I got a headache watching it, however it had the best space battle and awesome Vader moments in it.

TFA and TLJ were easily the worst. I loved the rollercoaster ride and realism of the former, however it was way too redone of ANH. TLJ has many criticisms, and I agree with, however still thought the movie was okay.

 

[khardbored]

I just saw the film and also coming at this from the point of view of an original trilogy die-hard fan & “purist.”

It didn't have the epic space battles or Jedi like other SW films/shows, however focused more on the grunt/smuggling side of the universe, which I enjoyed. I love space battles and Jedi, however there is so much unexplored area in the universe.

Darth Maul was resurrected in Star Wars The Clone Wars cartoon and was a major player in it with Mandalore and crime groups. He continued this arc in Star Wars Rebels cartoon. His survival of The Phantom Menace has been canon for quite a long time, however I can see how casual fans may be confused if they didn't follow other developments.

It fit the lore of Han rescuing Chewie as a slave/being mistreated of the Empire and why he follows Han. I went in thinking the lore was when Han was actually a junior Imperial officer and did that to save Chewie. Agreed it's different, but loosely connected.

They specifically cited that Han had a Wookie and they could use the muscle, hence why they picked him up.

Becket betrayed Han, Chewie, and Vos, Qi'ra betrayed Vos, then Qi'ra betrayed Han.

He did it to get that space monster to follow it into the Maw.

There are some troopers who don't wear covered helmets, mostly the naval (Death Star/Star Destroyer) troopers, however I agree it was odd to see faces and hear names.



I actually enjoyed Solo the most out of the Disney and even probably the prequel trilogy.

Solo explored the scum underground, was pleasantly surprised with Han (considering the reports about his acting), loved Chewie and Lando characters, and thought Becket, Qi'ra, and Vos were good additions to the lore. The pace was good, action scenes were good, there was no cartoony moments (other than L3), and overall despite a few quips here and there, was an enjoyable experience.

Prequel trilogy had too much bad acting, quick rushed plots, and were way too cartoony...where even the Clone Wars cartoon was better.

I liked the concept of Rogue One, however it was way too jumpy for locations and way too jerky for camera work that I got a headache watching it, however it had the best space battle and awesome Vader moments in it.

TFA and TLJ were easily the worst. I loved the rollercoaster ride and realism of the former, however it was way too redone of ANH. TLJ has many criticisms, and I agree with, however still thought the movie was okay.

Agree with about 70% of that . . . it's fun to watch and debate, regardless!!!

 

[khardbored]

The escape pod thing . . . what I mean is that the escape pod is so tiny compared to the space squid . . . I can't really believe it would "distract" him that much. It would be like shooting a spec of dust into the mouth of a lion chasing you and thinking it would distract him . . . and at the end, he was still within "tentacle reach" of them anyhow, so it didn't really do anything . . .

Seemed like a rather pointless maneuver just to explain why there was that "hole" in the front of the falcon.

(Don't get me wrong, I generally liked it, but it's fun to pick things apart!)

 

[cyhiphopp]

I just saw the film and also coming at this from the point of view of an original trilogy die-hard fan & “purist.”

It didn't have the epic space battles or Jedi like other SW films/shows, however focused more on the grunt/smuggling side of the universe, which I enjoyed. I love space battles and Jedi, however there is so much unexplored area in the universe.

Darth Maul was resurrected in Star Wars The Clone Wars cartoon and was a major player in it with Mandalore and crime groups. He continued this arc in Star Wars Rebels cartoon. His survival of The Phantom Menace has been canon for quite a long time, however I can see how casual fans may be confused if they didn't follow other developments.

I remember toward the end of the movie I thought to myself, this is the only movie in the Star Wars universe without any lightsabers or force users. Then Maul showed up. I was actually really excited to see that, because I know robot leg Maul is still canon.

Seems like they are setting up an interesting Solo sequel with Maul and the Crimson Dawn against Solo and the Rebellion.

 

[Bader]

I remember toward the end of the movie I thought to myself, this is the only movie in the Star Wars universe without any lightsabers or force users. Then Maul showed up. I was actually really excited to see that, because I know robot leg Maul is still canon.

Seems like they are setting up an interesting Solo sequel with Maul and the Crimson Dawn against Solo and the Rebellion.

I'm curious how far apart Rebels and Solo are. The Maul storyline has already been wrapped up, so I have a hard time believing he'll have major roles in other movies.

 

[247cy]

Han shares his plan with Beckett before Vos shows up, and Beckett tells him no thanks.

I believe Han's final plan was as follows... Have Enfys Nest's gang switch places with the locals in order to get the drop on Vos' goons. Take the coaxium in to Vos and see if Han, Chewie and Qi'ra can steal it from Vos - hence the DL44 hidden in the crate lid. Meanwhile he told Beckett a version of the plan and when Beckett says no, Han altered it a bit with regards to where the coaxium goes.

This is very much a Han Solo "plan". A bit impulsive and direct - true to his character throughout his entire arc. Wouldn't be the first time the "Solo luck" intervened favorably on behalf of Han and his friends.

As far as the Beckett cross and double cross - it's unknown weather Beckett was in on the plan as he understood it or really crossed Han. It seems that he really crossed Han. I believe Han told him the coaxium would stay with Enfys' gang, and when he found out Han brought the real stuff with him, he saw the opportunity for a payday and double crossed Vos. A fortunate turn for Han as Vos' guards are gunned down and he doesn't have to face down Vos & Beckett team - "Solo luck".

Why Beckett didn't shoot everyone? He certainly had the opportunity. Perhaps "its just business" comes in to play - Beckett believes he could smooth over things with the winner later. It also doesn't seem that Beckett is a shoot everyone kind of guy based on what little we are shown of his character in the film. He had several opportunities early to shoot Han and be done with him - maybe he likes the kid enough to just use him while he is useful. An alive Han Solo is more useful than the alternative. Only at the end when Han insists the coaxium doesn't leave does Beckett see the end of Han's usefulness, and prepares to draw.

 

[cyhiphopp]

I'm curious how far apart Rebels and Solo are. The Maul storyline has already been wrapped up, so I have a hard time believing he'll have major roles in other movies.

I haven't caught up with Rebels yet, so I didn't know that. Thanks.

Maybe that was just a little Easter Egg for Rebels and EU fans then.

 

[laminak]

I'm curious how far apart Rebels and Solo are. The Maul storyline has already been wrapped up, so I have a hard time believing he'll have major roles in other movies.

Isn't it about five years? I heard Solo was about ten years before A New Hope and Rebels was around five years before A New Hope.

Han and Chewie never appeared in Rebels (however Lando cameoed once), so there's room to have them grow in other stories. Maul was in a few seasons, so will need to be wrapped up by then. Perhaps Han and Chewie tangle with Crimson Dawn before they get in with the Hutt cartel.

 

[cyhiphopp]

Han shares his plan with Beckett before Vos shows up, and Beckett tells him no thanks.

I believe Han's final plan was as follows... Have Enfys Nest's gang switch places with the locals in order to get the drop on Vos' goons. Take the coaxium in to Vos and see if Han, Chewie and Qi'ra can steal it from Vos - hence the DL44 hidden in the crate lid. Meanwhile he told Beckett a version of the plan and when Beckett says no, Han altered it a bit with regards to where the coaxium goes.

This is very much a Han Solo "plan". A bit impulsive and direct - true to his character throughout his entire arc. Wouldn't be the first time the "Solo luck" intervened favorably on behalf of Han and his friends.

As far as the Beckett cross and double cross - it's unknown weather Beckett was in on the plan as he understood it or really crossed Han. It seems that he really crossed Han. I believe Han told him the coaxium would stay with Enfys' gang, and when he found out Han brought the real stuff with him, he saw the opportunity for a payday and double crossed Vos. A fortunate turn for Han as Vos' guards are gunned down and he doesn't have to face down Vos & Beckett team - "Solo luck".

Why Beckett didn't shoot everyone? He certainly had the opportunity. Perhaps "its just business" comes in to play - Beckett believes he could smooth over things with the winner later. It also doesn't seem that Beckett is a shoot everyone kind of guy based on what little we are shown of his character in the film. He had several opportunities early to shoot Han and be done with him - maybe he likes the kid enough to just use him while he is useful. An alive Han Solo is more useful than the alternative. Only at the end when Han insists the coaxium doesn't leave does Beckett see the end of Han's usefulness, and prepares to draw.

And thank goodness HAN SHOOTS FIRST BABY!!!

 

[laminak]

And thank goodness HAN SHOOTS FIRST BABY!!!

Other than that, I was relieved they kept the (expanded) lore of Han defects from Empire and saves Chewie and wins the Falcon from Lando playing Sabaac.

Also relieved Ron Howard cleaned up the movie where Han wasn't acting like Jim Carrey's The Mask character, which original directors had in there.