Solo: A Star Wars Story (Post-release)

What did you think of Solo: A Star Wars Story?


  • Total voters
    278
I'm gonna wait till the home release

My kids don't want to go & see it,....& I'm not gonna sit & watch a kids movie on my own

This will be the only Star Wars film I haven't seen in the cinema,....(I even saw Caravan of Courage & The Clone Wars films in the picture house)

I just don't feel the urge,....Going to see Deadpool 2 tomorrow night though

J
 
what is the deal with Mauls eyes? Is it like that in the movie. It is bad enough he is in it but if he looks like that just wow. What is the deal with the lightsaber. That made it too? Is that so you know it is Maul.

It's clearer in the film, and he appears to have an Inquisitor saber. He looks older, and somewhat haggard.
Maul's blade.jpg
 
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There's a bit in there to
unpack... "Splinter..." was given the go-ahead by George to ADF (who ghost-wrote the Star Wars novelization) from his notes, figuring he'd never make "Star Wars 2". When a sequel did happen, that became the first big instance of canon contradicting ancillary material, with Luke facing Vader for the first time in both pieces. People have rationalized for some years that the "Vader" Luke faced on Mimban (note: the planet Han is serving on in this film!) was a vision or Force-projection or similar, augmented by the unusually large kaiber crystal there.

For the rest of the OT, there were three Han Solo and three Lando Calrissian books, the Marvel comics, and the Archie Goodwin newspaper strips, and that was it. The latter two had the problems comics always do -- needing to come up with a new "gag" every strip/issue, so there ends up being far more content than the time period would really allow for, and readers sort of had the tacit understanding that they were only to be accepted for the broad strokes of the story. That handful of books, though, was accepted as depicting actual events in the characters' lives. Luke and Leia did go on a mission right after the Yavin base was evacuated. Daley's Han Sollo trilogy was what Han was up to before Luke met him in Mos Eisley. Etc.

After that is where things started to go off the rails. On the heels of RotJ, George was semi-involved with the Ewoks TV movies and the Ewoks and Droids cartoons. But those were, at the time, the death-rattle of Star Wars. When West End Games got the role-playing game rights in the mid-'80s, it was cheap because Star Wars was considered a dead property, but one with a fan base that inexpensive things like that could be sold to. And then Heir to the Empire happened.

The Star Wars Renaissance that kicked off in the early '90s was when the EU really came into being. Dark Horse got the comics license, and would eventually far outstrip the measly hundred-ish issues Marvel had released. And starting with the Thrawn trilogy (which George said at the time he considered to be Episodes 7, 8, and 9), we got more than three times as many books as in the same period originally. And George wasn't really keeping up with any of it. So when he got to the Prequels, he included the couple things he'd noticed that he liked (like Coruscant) and didn't worry about whether his new films worked with the rest of it or not.

So the books and comics and games were always "secondary" to the films. Sort of... "canon until they aren't", as we never knew what George would overwrite next -- like Boba's backstory. But starting during the Prequels, the licensing arm of LFL started trying to get the new ancillary material to align with the films and with each other more and more. This coalesced in '08 with the official formation of the Story Group. So the last five to ten years of the EU are sort of "more canon" than the earlier stuff -- i.e., less likely to contradict or be contradicted. Obviously, everything set post-RotJ is gone*, but everything during and prior to the OT is tacitly still in, in one slightly tweaked-to-fit form or another. All of the KOTOR-era stuff kicked off by the Tales of the Jedi comics, set roughly four thousand years before the films, is well structured, internally consistent, and has gotten many references in the canon, and vice versa.

[*And at the same time, not gone -- but to a less-tnagible extent than the pre-RotJ stuff. We have a scion of the Skywalker bloodline named Ben -- but it's Leia's kid, not Luke's. We have a young Force-sensitive named Jacen, but he's someone else's kid. We have a young female Force prodigy, but she's also (as far as we know) not part of the Skywalker line. We can treat the old post-RotJ EU as the garbled account of events from a couple hundred years further on -- uncertain details about what exactly happened when, or trying to elevate someone's importance by tying them to the Skywalkers making things less than reliable.]

But because George was almost as involved in Clone Wars as in the movies, that series was elevated to the level of the films as far as "what really happened". Bad moments and all. Maul not being dead? All female Dark-Sideers being Dathomiri Nightsisters (or exiled Dathomiri Nightsisters, in the case of the Witch of Endor)? Dave Filoni's misunderstanding of Wulff Yularen's uniform in ANH? Savage Opress? The Father-Brother-Sister Force avatars? All every bit as sacrosanct as "Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi -- you're my only hope".

And, since George retired, all new ancillary content is directly and deliberately the same level as the films and Clone Wars. Not counting Young Adult and younger, we have the new Marvel comics, which are largely worth reading, and conveniently available as inexpensive (or check-out-able-from-the-library) trade paperbacks; and only a dozen or so novels to contend with. Not everything is a fit for everybody, but there are few enough yet since 2014 that one should be able to read first-chapters online to see if they'd be interested in the whole story, and if one has any time to read worth mentioning, one could read (or read the Wookieepedia summary of) all of them by the time Episode IX comes out... And not worry about any of it being for naught as a new film tosses it out the airlock.

(And, for what it's worth, I still swear by the old Brian Daley Han Solo books as God's Honest Truth, regardless of the Prequels' screwing up the uniforms...)

So, while I feel you definitely don't have to have read every single piece of ancillary fiction to come out over the past forty years, some of it is worthwhile, and the newer stuff, especially, enriches one's appreciation of the films... *sigh* ...In no small part because of how much important information and character development the films leave out, for one reason or another. I recommend the Shattered Empire comic miniseries, the Aftermath trilogy, Bloodlines, Phasma, and the Force Awakens novelization, at least, just to frikkin' understand what's going on in the Sequel Trilogy.

--Jonah

Is there gonna be a test on this later ?
 
I'm shocked to say that I really liked this a lot. I didn't LOVE it, but I liked it a lot. Absolutely worth seeing.

EDIT: Expanded thoughts now that I've had some time to digest it. I was hooked right from the first shot basically. I felt the movie moved at a good pace initially. It did drag in the middle, and the end was perhaps a bit convoluted but I'm sure on repeat viewings things I didn't catch will make more sense. At no point could I tell that this movie was rushed or that it had changed directors. The effects were great, better than the Last Jedi which had some pretty embarrassing green screen work unfortunately.

I like the all the actors to my immense surprise. At no point did I have any issue with that, and that was my big concern.

The humor was dialed way way way back compared to the Last Jedi. That is a good thing. I was surprised since I thought this was the comedy Star Wars though.

The call backs as always were a bit too much for my liking. The guard costume was just in your face.

I also really really really did not like the Droid but I figured that would be the case going in.

The one thing Disney nails perfectly with these movies is making them feel like they take place in our real world. Very grounded and you really get a sense that this is the proverbial lived in universe. These movies continue to be very interesting to me visually, although I know they're not to everyone's taste. It's fun starting to see reuse of props and costumes haha.

At times the movie seems to lack energy when it was most crucial that it'd be exciting. It felt strangely flat. The most interesting part was definitely the character interaction and that was spot-on. It was definitely the actors that carried this movie not the action. Speaking of the actors some of the situations that were hinted at felt a bit too adult for a fairytale. I know Star Wars is not what it was in 1977, but the suggestion that the girlfriend is a gangsters sex slave essentially was uncomfortable for me. Not that I'm uncomfortable with that content, but I'm a little uncomfortable with such adult ideas in Star Wars.

This is definitely my least favorite of the Disney Star Wars movies. And maybe even below Revenge of the Sith. But I'd still rank it above Phantom Menace and Clones.

We've reached the point where there are so many of these movies and so many more anticipated that it just doesn't feel like a big deal to get another one. So emotionally I guess I'm just not super invested. It was pretty good and I liked it a lot. That's good enough. It doesn't have to be the second coming. Overall a solid B.
 
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It's clearer in the film, and he appears to have an Inquisitor saber. He looks older, and somewhat haggard.
View attachment 819701

I did not think of this at the time but this must be when Darth Maul allies a bunch of crime syndicates during the Clone Wars and eventually takes over Mandalore. I remember the Pikes being one of the groups in the alliance. Cool use of canon!

- - - Updated - - -

Also, I really enjoyed the movie. Lots of action, lots of new aliens, lots of old alien types, lots of cool stuff!
 
Just got back seeing it with the kids, had a great time. Fun movie, no stupid SJW bull****.

In fact, I think they sort of parodied SJW B.S. with the whole droid rights thing!

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
 
Anyone else notice the Indy fertility idol in bad dudes office? It was right under the big crystal skull, lol

Loved the bit about Lando’s pronunciation of Han.
 
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Saw it tonight at the Opening Night Fan Event (got some lucky dice - very excited about that!)

Overall, it was ok. 6/10

I thought Alden did a wonderful job. Rather than doing a Ford impression the whole time, he managed to portray the character of Han pretty well. Sometimes his mannerisms were so Ford like it was like woah!

Chewie was wonderful. Love that big walking carpet. And in this one he actually does a lot of stuff, which is to be expected.

Donald Glover's Lando was amazing, just as I expected. The interactions between him and Han were great.

Movie had some really fun parts that felt really Star Warsy to me, like the Kessel Run bit for example. Although, I was disappointed about what they came up with for the Kessel Run. I'm confused how exactly they quantify "getting through the Kessel Run." Do you have to through the entire maelstrom to count? Or can you go in, get to the middle, take a sharp turn, and come out of the side?

For the most part, the humor was great. Early reports kept saying "it's the funniest Star Wars yet!" "It's hilarious!" etc., and that had me worried. But luckily, it's more in line with the OT-styled humor than the slapstick, in your face, and cringy humor of TLJ.

I absolutely hated that we got an origin to Han's last name. Why that even needed any backstory is beyond me, but I will refuse to believe that he was given his awesome title by some random Imperial officer. Yuck.

After the Kessel Run sequence, the movie fell flat on its face, losing all the adrenaline-fueled energy it had. The final act was messy and predicable.

Some scenes were really messy and strangely written/edited. The one where Han and Beckett improvise a plan to save their lives in front of Vos comes to mind.

I hated L3 and was very happy I didn't have to see her on screen any longer than I had to. She felt like she was only there as proxy for commentary on political issues happening on our planet. Why EARTH issues belong in a galaxy far far away a long time ago is just silly. At least try to be subtle about it if you have to shoehorn it in at all.

I did at least appreciate that L3 freed the slaves, as opposed to just leaving them there (*cough* Finn and Rose leaving the slave children on Canto Bight *cough*)

Those are all my burning thoughts at the moment. Thanks for reading.
 
The kid and I just got home from seeing this.Honestly I give Solo a solid B. It's a fun film. And pretty much washed out the FOUL taste of TLJ out of my mind. Why not an A? Alden as Solo still should have been Anthony. Again , voice/tone,look,height etc. Nothing in this film that Ingruber couldn't have "acted" and pulled off. Chewie stole the show, every scene he's in is either a laugh or something that drives the story forward.
Lando isn't in it as much as you would expect. "Glover" does a good job with what he's given. The droid L3 is ok, cool that it becomes the mind of the falcon.
Emilia Clarke is great, what a doll!!! The rest of the cast is forgettable.
 
Just finished watching it. Without any real planning we knew a dozen more people there and we all lingered in the lobby afterwards.

Big thumbs up from everybody, especially from the not quite so big Star Wars fan family members.

Bring on the sequel!
 
Yikes I’m sitting in an near empty theatre.

At least got my favourite seat!

Well this will be something.... don’t need it to be great, just “bored on a Thursday night” entertaining.
 
I went into this with an open mind, saw it tonight. I can't say I'm disappointed because I didn't have high hopes to begin with. I think as a generic space pirate movie, it was mildly entertaining. But nothing about this film felt like Star Wars except seeing Chewie. I'm not going to say AE can't act, I think he can, I just wish he could have acted like Han Solo. The movie was forgettable. Chewie was the best part. When Glover is first introduced I was blown away because he sounded just like Billy Dee for the first two lines, but that was it. I'm convinced those first few lines were Billy Dee dubbed in because you don't see Glover's face very clearly while he's speaking. All the other scenes where you see him speak, not the same. I do think he did better at portraying Lando than AE did with Solo. Woody was horribly miscast in this movie. I didn't feel vested in any of the characters. I could go on and on, but why bother at this point........
 
Just left the theater and I have to say that I was pretty surprised by how much I liked this movie. Not perfect by any measure, but a solid, fun film. Not really any cringe-worthy moments that I can remember and the humor felt pretty much right on. I didn't feel the fan service went too far with the exception of Maul's appearance. I know it's already established as canon but I'm not a fan of him surviving TPM.

Assorted musings:

What appeared to be a super-cool shout out to the origins of the original DL-44 prop.

Easy to miss Beckett being named as Aurra Sing's killer.

The movie is ridiculously dark. All the footage I've seen online as well as the trailers seemed much brighter to me. Not sure what the dealio is.
 
Yeah, I was glad to see some nice references to off screen stuff: Aurra Sing, Bossk, the "Zahn sisters." Two tubes made an appearance...what else? I can see Vos's office displays being a deep study thread here...

My main takeaway is that brandy exists in Star Wars...
 
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