Solo: A Star Wars Story – May 25th, 2018
What’s It About
Young Han Solo finds adventure when he joins a gang of galactic smugglers, including a 196-year-old Wookie named Chewbacca. Indebted to the gangster Dryden Vos, the crew devises a daring plan to travel to the mining planet Kessel to steal a batch of valuable coaxium. In need of a fast ship, Solo meets Lando Calrissian, the suave owner of the perfect vessel for the dangerous mission — the Millennium Falcon.
MOVIESinMO REVIEW
Why does this movie exist? No one asked for it, and we all know Disney is not going broke, so they didn’t need the money. Oh well, here we go. Han’s life as a kid was one of theft. As an orphan, he and the rest of the children are forced to steal. When an opportunity to get away presents itself, Han runs away and joins the Imperial Navy. Han, being who he is, gets expelled for insubordination. This leads him to Tobias Beckett, who wants Han dead because of a blackmail attempt. He meets Chewbacca and rejoins a gang, and that’s the first twenty-five minutes. The rest of the movie is just one criminal problem after the next. Again, I say, why was this movie made? I’m sure the concept of a movie about Han Solo sounds great, but the execution was half-assed. In other words, they took the basic knowledge of what we know about Han and expanded upon it. The only “original story” was about his girlfriend, but that got minimal screen time, so I guess that was an unimportant story. ANY Star Wars fan could have written the other stuff – Han wants to be a pilot, but he needs money. Han is a thief for survival only because he has no money. Han meets a wookie to help him acquire money. Han meets Lando, a hustler who has money. Han wins Lando’s ship (Millenium Falcon) in a card game and uses it to make money. Han flies to Tatooine to meet someone (Jabba) to make money. That’s the story of Han Solo. One that could have been a fantastic story if the writers gave a damn, but as usual, it’s a Disney commodity, and therefore it’s all about making money first, story second. I’m a Star Wars fan, and I can honestly say Solo: A Star Wars Story was a waste of time that adds nothing to the Star Wars continuum.
OUR RATING – A SMUGGLERS 5
MEDIA
- Genre – Science Fiction
- Street date
- Digital – September 14th 2018
- DVD/Blu-Ray/4K – September 25th 2018
- Video – 1080p
- Screen size – 2.39:1
- Sound – English DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1, French Dolby Digital 5.1,
- Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
- Subtitles – English SDH, French, Spanish
Extras
- The Director & Cast Roundtable (HD, 22 min): As the title suggests, Ron Howard sits with cast members to discuss the overall production, casting process, the characters, and performances, working with each other and share various anecdotes from the set.
- The Train Heist (HD, 15 min): A closer, more detailed look at filming the key action sequence with comments on some of the tricks of the trade and BTS footage.
- Escape from Corellia (HD, 10 min): Focus on the chase sequence and some of the practical effects while also touching on the planet’s importance to the character.
- Kasdan on Kasdan (HD, 8 min): Father-son writing duo talks about their working relationship and how the Star Wars plays a role in their lives while sharing their thoughts on Han Solo.
- Scoundrels, Droids, Creatures, and Cards (HD, 8 min): A detailed look at the Fort Ypso scene where Han meets Lando, the role such seedy gambling dives play in the Star Wars universe, and interviews on the fictional card game and the characters shown in the movie.
- Into the Maelstrom (HD, 8 min): An informative discussion on the work that went into bringing the infamous Kessel Run to life, from shooting the scene on set to post-production.
- Team Chewie (HD, 7 min): Interviews on Han Solo and Chewbacca, their relationship as an equal partnership and shooting certain scenes.
- Remaking the Millennium Falcon (HD, 6 min): Discussion on how this version of the famous ship differs from others and watching it evolve in the film.
- Becoming a Droid (HD, 5 min): a Short piece on L3-37, Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s performance, the use of practical and CG effects, and thoughts on the character.
- Deleted Scenes (HD, 15 min): A collection of eight excised sequences.