Solo: A Star Wars Story
- Thread starter Vivek
- Start date
I agree it was unnecessary, but I'm guessing this is just the beginning of a relationship with Jabba that goes sour. It's still like 7 years before ANH.
I guess that "my 8-y.o. ..." got stuck in my head, since that usually leads to "...could have done it better..." in discussions here on the RPF
But then again, I am curious what the 8-14 y.o. audience has to say about the movie. So if I twist everthing into the direction of "a movie series for the whole family" we got a winner here, right?
Because I personally watched a movie that hit my expectation mark pretty closely, namely "an EU comic style story, not too light hearted or goofy, not taking itself too serious, providing a little background for beloved characters".Granted, there were points that I did not like, i.e. how Han got his surname and later talking about his father. But hey, it annoys me much less than seeing established characters being relegated to mere echoes of their former movie selves.
Come on, did you really expect to see a movie about Han Solo without getting answers to all those old questions? How did Han and Chewie meet, how did their bond form, how did Han win his ship, why is he a smuggler and what about that Kessel run? Really? Those bits of information were what outlined Han as a character. And I think that the scoundrel and smuggler part of his personality was appropriately outlined. Where TLJ and probably even TFA and IMO the whole PT went for a far too serious tone in terms of topics and character detailing, the tone that was set for SOLO was IMO quite fitting.
As someone wrote before, the movie kind of felt like the Pilot for a series. And I must say that since all of the "nagging fanboy questions" have been answered, the road ahead is completely free for full on creative innovation. And I guess we all know that "where´s the Kessel run? How´d he meet Chewie? What´s Sabbacc?" would have been asked if it had NOT been shown in the SOLO movie.
Regarding "timeline", I think that this article http://collider.com/han-solo-movie-timeline-explained/#millennium-falcon is a good source of information.
I think Ehrenreich looks quite a lot younger than Harrison Ford´s Solo. Again, the german voice actor did a good job sounding like a young Harrison Ford-voice actor
I give you that the movie does indeed "shrink the universe", but IMO mainly because they took away our freedom to imagine what the Kessel run might have been. I was totally peeved when GL did that with the Clone Wars and the "Jedi Knights", because it was done in IMO boring (politics), overthought (politics) and sometimes bland (politics, Jedi Order, who knights them anyway?!) way. Here, with SOLO, it feels kind of okay. Or is it my old age that I do not expect too much innovation, since that is oftentimes confused with silly twists and turns and a grim, cynical atmosphere? SOLO satisfied my personal urge for entertainment, for a well and solidly made movie and returning to a place that I once knew and that felt alien when TLJ arrived. Namely the Star Wars universe. And I found a lot of things in SOLO that are essential in making up my personal SW universe. Yes, I really liked that my inner Fanboy of age 13 was humoured by seeing OT stormies and droids, sometimes flat jokes and the overall look.
Rogue1Luvr
Active Member
Well I seen Solo, well not all of it because I actually walked out on this one. For the first 20 or so minutes I could barely see anything, I just by God didn't like it. I knew going in that there would be no Boba Fett or any of the other bounty hunters that was seen in The Empire Strikes Back and there was also not going to be Vader who by the way IS the franchise. There was going to be none of that and I don't really care to see a character that I've already seen in 4 movies 2 of which aren't any good (Not only do I hate the force awakens for it's redundancy I don't like Return of the Jedi for it's derivative plot). My initial reaction to this movie when I first heard about it was "Why?" and then I started seeing the trailers and TV spots and then I got on board with it. I'm sorry that I did because it is a wretched turd. The Darth Maul cameo at the end of the movie is such a WTF moment and in a very, very bad way. Why bother with resurrecting his ass? This flick just doesn't work and I am starting to feel that Star Wars is being spread too thin. On a side note Rogue One and Star Wars is the only 2 movies in this franchise that I give perfect scores to.
robn1
Master Member
Well technically they didn't resurrect his ass.
Rogue1Luvr
Active Member
Yeah whatever. It was a stupid idea. Might as well have jar-jar binks in there for the love of God.
TheMechanic
Sr Member
This movie is about the little guy in the bad toupee cosplaying Han Solo right? Definitely won't be seeing it.
Westies14
Master Member
I don’t think of all of the beats I’m referring to as “nagging fanboy questions,” I guess. Like I said, I would certainly understand using something like meeting Chewbacca as an anchor for an original, surprising adventure. I just picture this list in crayon tacked to the wall of the writers’ room:
Han meets Chewie
Han meets Lando
Han wins Falcon - “fair and square”
Han does Kessel Run
Han gets DL-44
Han starts working for Jabba
Han joins Empire
Gold dice
Han shoots first
Millions of self-aware, self-referential line readings and moments. If you hug Lando, hug him like you hug him 20 years from now!
Many of these could have been a fine anchor for a story on their own. Maybe they could have saved the others for more adventures, if they had the confidence in the series to hold back. For the most part, calling them “questions” is pretty generous though. Seeing the Kessel Run or the Lando bet doesn’t answer anything.
We watched this movie while visiting Albuquerque, so Better Call Saul was part of the discussion as a “specific character prequel” point of comparison. Not that these are similar franchises, but those writers took a kind of 2-dimensional character in surprising directions without contradicting what existed already. They surrounded him with some familiar things, but also created a rich new world for him with original stories and characters which their fans could never have predicted - and that’s why it’s worth watching.
Han meets Chewie
Han meets Lando
Han wins Falcon - “fair and square”
Han does Kessel Run
Han gets DL-44
Han starts working for Jabba
Han joins Empire
Gold dice
Han shoots first
Millions of self-aware, self-referential line readings and moments. If you hug Lando, hug him like you hug him 20 years from now!
Many of these could have been a fine anchor for a story on their own. Maybe they could have saved the others for more adventures, if they had the confidence in the series to hold back. For the most part, calling them “questions” is pretty generous though. Seeing the Kessel Run or the Lando bet doesn’t answer anything.
We watched this movie while visiting Albuquerque, so Better Call Saul was part of the discussion as a “specific character prequel” point of comparison. Not that these are similar franchises, but those writers took a kind of 2-dimensional character in surprising directions without contradicting what existed already. They surrounded him with some familiar things, but also created a rich new world for him with original stories and characters which their fans could never have predicted - and that’s why it’s worth watching.
Toadmeister
Sr Member
Go see it, THAN complain and be snarky about it.
Really, it's a fun movie. Far better than TLJ IMHO.
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Toadmeister
Sr Member
Goes to show you can't please everyone. If Darth Vader showed up in this movie, you'd have fan boys complaining about that too... Vader may very well be the franchise concerning the OT and Prequels, but these anthology movies are meant to tell other stories. Yes, I did love Vader in R1 however.
I do agree the lighting was waaaaay to dark. Really annoying. I wonder if subsequent video releases will be brighter?
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Rogue1Luvr
Active Member
Anyone who complains about Vader being in ANY of these Star Wars movies is a complete jerky ass. Vader's rampage towards the end of Rogue One is the most purely cinematic moment in motion picture history!!
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Box Office: 'Solo: A Star Wars Story' Struggling to Hit $100M in U.S., Crashes Overseas
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/h...lo-a-star-wars-story-numbers-struggle-1114854
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/h...lo-a-star-wars-story-numbers-struggle-1114854
Toadmeister
Sr Member
I actually wept tears of joy during that scene
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Noeland
Master Member
After being sick for 3 days, I just had to get out of the house and see a movie. I ended up seing a double feature. First Solo, then Deadpool 2.
Solo was exactly what I expected it to be. While I enjoyed seeing a little of the backwater/back alley star wars stuff, this is something I've always wanted to see more of, I cannot pretend this felt like a Han Solo film. It was a fun adventure set in the world of star wars, yeah. Looked fantastic. Had some cool props and droids. But the bad was present in every scene. Alden is not Han Solo, or whatever the character's real name is supposed to be.
I walked away from the film thinking it was better than it had a right to be, and I credit Ron Howard for making it watchable, and even enjoyable. Woody Harrelson was damn near a deal breaker for me at first. He's just Woody Harrelson in Star Wars. You can put a wig on him, but the guy doesn't disappear into roles. Slap Tom Cruise into Episode 9, and it's Tom Cruise in a Star Wars film. They are just those kinds of actors.
Alden had big shoes to fill. He did not. Was he a good leading man otherwise? No. Not really. Chewy had way more charisma. Alden is not ready to carry films. They really needed to keep looking and find someone with more screen presence, and find someone who felt like they grew up on the streets. Alden just feels way too goody goody.
But like I said, it's an enjoyable film despite that. I think it's worth seeing and I'll probably watch it again just for the visuals and the props.
By contrast, Solo had about 6 people in the theater, and Deadpool was packed. We got the last 2 seats in the theater.
Solo was exactly what I expected it to be. While I enjoyed seeing a little of the backwater/back alley star wars stuff, this is something I've always wanted to see more of, I cannot pretend this felt like a Han Solo film. It was a fun adventure set in the world of star wars, yeah. Looked fantastic. Had some cool props and droids. But the bad was present in every scene. Alden is not Han Solo, or whatever the character's real name is supposed to be.
I walked away from the film thinking it was better than it had a right to be, and I credit Ron Howard for making it watchable, and even enjoyable. Woody Harrelson was damn near a deal breaker for me at first. He's just Woody Harrelson in Star Wars. You can put a wig on him, but the guy doesn't disappear into roles. Slap Tom Cruise into Episode 9, and it's Tom Cruise in a Star Wars film. They are just those kinds of actors.
Alden had big shoes to fill. He did not. Was he a good leading man otherwise? No. Not really. Chewy had way more charisma. Alden is not ready to carry films. They really needed to keep looking and find someone with more screen presence, and find someone who felt like they grew up on the streets. Alden just feels way too goody goody.
But like I said, it's an enjoyable film despite that. I think it's worth seeing and I'll probably watch it again just for the visuals and the props.
By contrast, Solo had about 6 people in the theater, and Deadpool was packed. We got the last 2 seats in the theater.
Will this be the first SW movie to actually lose money? Seems impossible to even imagine such a thing. Seems like it needs to clear perhaps $330M??...
"With an estimated $83.3 million over the three-day weekend, Solo: A Star Wars Story is the weekend's #1 film and while Disney is currently anticipating a $101 million, the question remains as to whether it will be able to bring in enough to reach $100 million over the four-day holiday frame. Disney entered the weekend projecting a performance anywhere from $130-150 million for the four-day weekend and with a reported $300 million price tag before prints and advertising this weekend's performance is extremely disappointing."
"With an estimated $83.3 million over the three-day weekend, Solo: A Star Wars Story is the weekend's #1 film and while Disney is currently anticipating a $101 million, the question remains as to whether it will be able to bring in enough to reach $100 million over the four-day holiday frame. Disney entered the weekend projecting a performance anywhere from $130-150 million for the four-day weekend and with a reported $300 million price tag before prints and advertising this weekend's performance is extremely disappointing."
Absolutely right, I am sure that they went into the writing process using such a list, if not tacked to the wall then for sure burned into their minds. And then there is the question, which one of those should have been omitted?
Yes, I again agree. But then again, we are looking at a movie with a timeframe of 120 minutes. It would IMO have worked very well within the arc of a (mini-)series on TV.
Actually a very good comparison. And a discussion that I had with a Doctor Who fan in the past, who compared the mythology of Doctor Who to Star Wars, saying that DW is much richer and more textured than those last two movies and the SW movies in general. I replied that it´s comparing appleas and pears. A series has a lot more time to develop and lay out a character, although you have to outline the characters pretty quickly to capture the audience.
I guess that Disney tried to play it absolutely safe with SOLO, and it looks like the BO predicitions are not that good. You can find arguments for and against either strategy, doing something new and dividing the fandom or playing it safe.
I personally like that movie, it made me feel good by entertaining me. Maybe in the end I am a simpleton who got served what he had craved for, a few bits of nostalgia and some escapism.
Vader is iconic but it's not necessary to shoe horn him into a story that has nothing to do with him.
Plus I disagree with the notion that a movie about Han Solo's origins was one fans had nagging questions to. Again this movie was just a checklist of back stories that were mentioned in previous movies and didn't do much to bring anything new to the character.
Plus I disagree with the notion that a movie about Han Solo's origins was one fans had nagging questions to. Again this movie was just a checklist of back stories that were mentioned in previous movies and didn't do much to bring anything new to the character.
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