OFFICIAL NEWS Solo Reaction Thread

He can start by doing what Abrams does; making movies.

I'm not going to stomp around and demand anything like that.
What can I do that even comes close to Abrams' quality?
Jack [beep]; that's what.

I'll let Abrams do his job.

Cheers,
Jayson

 

Well I can tell you that Directors on these big budget franchise films have only a token input into the large action set pieces. The VFX sup is really the director on big action scenes. Bigger directors like JJ would have a big say but smaller names like Lord and Miller less so. Ron Howard would be an interesting case of how much input he would have on the big action/FX set pieces. To be honest only the Train heist and the speeder chase would qualify so their wouldn't be that much.

 

I just came out of the movie, and I must say I really enjoyed it. I found it to be a great view, and insight into the galaxy, and the goings-on in the lives of general civilians affected by the war. The plot was not at all cliche'd and although L3 began to really annoy me, I felt asthough there weren't many flaws in the characters, and plot of the movie.

Again we see the spin-offs being a highlight out of the 4 movies released by Disney.

 

It was mediocre at best. I really liked Alden's performance though, he was a much better young Han Solo than I could possibly imagine. They got Chewie right too, although that's not very hard to succeed with.

What makes the movie boring is the disjointed plot and uninspiring story. It's not very good, and it just feels like a mishmash of scenes put together. The movie was actually pretty good up until the point they went to see Dryden Vos, that's when it started to fall apart. Dryden wasn't intimidating, and I never felt like the characters were in danger. Tobias, Val, Q'ira, Lando.. they were all boring and it felt like the actors were just playing themselves in a Star Wars film.

L3 is basically a SJW robot, the worst character in Star Wars history now. Even worse than Rose Tico and Admiral Holdo. And then you have Enfys Nest, a character who seemed badass until the helmet went off and she is revealed to be a "good person fighting for a good cause"... OK, so just because Enfys is a teenage girl, we're supposed to believe that Tobias and Han will just forgive her for murdering their friends? It's completely illogical, and more of the SJW bantha poodoo that Lucasfilm seems to be focusing on. I'm sorry Lucasfilm but you'll just continue to lose fan interest if you continue down this route.

And they just had to make Han the "nice guy", didn't they? Please. No! Han is NOT the nice guy, but in this movie they make it look like Han is just a nice guy trying to act tough. That' wrong on so many levels. Alden did a great job at portraying Han Solo, but what Qi'Ra says about him makes no sense. In my opinion, when Qi'Ra says "I might be the only person who knows what you really are" , she is actually wrong. I'd like to think that Qi'Ra has no damn clue who Han is. She doesn't know him, but WE as fans do.

That being said, I'd love to see Alden return as Han Solo in a sequel, but with a COMPLETELY different direction and story that makes justice to his character.

 

After 6 viewings...so far. I've enjoyed it, great story, great cast & another great spin-off experience.

 

Six, ya said ?
Yeah !
Go Galen @Grand Master Galen Marek !
I think ya might just be likin' the Story .
Me ? I got three.
Love It So !

So, if this here's what Broader Star Wars Stories can be ?

Yes ! More Please !!

 

Going into this i’ve never been less excited to see a Star Wars film, It was a film i’d never really felt the need for, then their was all the production problems, the firing of the directors and my disillusionment with how Lucasfilm is been ran right now. Well credit where credit is due, Kathleen Kennedy may be doing a terrible job planning these films out in advance, but she seems to be an excellent fire firefighter becuase just like with Rogue One, which had similar production problems, I had a great time with this film.

This isn’t an epic galaxy changing story, its a fun space adventure caper film. The film is like an episode of Firefly if it was written by the writers of Facrcape, which makes sense as both drew a lot of inspiration from Han Solo. It’s quite a straight forward story of Han trying to get enough money to buy a ship, pay of his debts and fly away with the girl of his dreams(no not Leia). While he is surrounded by people who may or may not be trying to double cross him. Its a fun ride and takes place against in a imaginatively designed back drop that feels fleshed out and lived in ( the Star Wars galaxy has never looked so beaten up).

The cinematography is my favourite of any Star Wars film! It’s beautifully shot, I don't know what cinematographer Bradford Young is doing next, but his attachment to a project would on its own be enough for me to buy ticket. The alien and creature design is also the best of any of the Disney Star Wars films. The CGI and practical effects blend together much better then they did in Maz’s castle scene in the Force Awakens or the Last Jedi’s Canto Bight casino scene.

The characters that live in this beautifully constructed galaxy, don't quite live up to the imagination and detail of the world they reside. Woody Harrison maybe the most watchable actor working today, but while I wouldn't say he phoned it in, it defiantly feels like a performance below his usual really high standard. Emilia Clarke is fine, her characters arc is quite intriguing especially her sort of double cross at the end. Paul Bethany plays an enjoyable villain but isn't on screen very much. L3 is quite fun as a droid fighting for equal rights, but still some how seems like a bit of a re-hash of the superior character K-2S0 from Rogue One. Donald Glover is great as Lando (sadly though the whole pan sexuality hype turned out to be not much more prevalent then Dumbledore been gay in the Harry Potter franchise) and its nice to get to spend a bit more time with Chewie.

The main issue with the film is it never really felt like I was watching Han Solo. I’m not one of those who think Han can only be played by Harrison Ford, I have no problem with some one else playing an Iconic role if it feels like i’m watching the same character. It’s worked numerous times in Sci-fi & Fantasy: Mcgregor felt like Obi Wan, Pine felt like Kirk, Hardy felt like Max, hell even in this film we see Glover nailed Lando, so it can be done. Unfortunately while Alden Ehrenreich gives an ok performance, he never really feels like Han Solo. Which kind of defeats the point of making a Solo film if you don’t feel like you are watching the same Iconic character. However it turns out I didn't need the to feel like I was watching Han Solo on screen to enjoy the film.

I have some other minor gripes too, the opening crawl… with Rogue One they didn't do one, here they half did one, if your going to half do one, then just give us a proper crawl! Also Han winning the Falcon the way he did kind of feels like a add on scene at the end of the film, like it’s a bit of an after thought.

These hardly diminished my enjoyment of this film though. Whats interesting is that like most Star Wars fans I didn't really want this film, yet it feels like Disney made this film for the us fans. Their are nods and winks to what is now known as ‘Legends’ all over the place, it feels like the Kasdan’s (the writers) have actually paid attention to what happened in the Clone Wars and Rebels. It made me actually think that we may one day see Thrawn of the big screen, something i’d never thought was going to happen before. Becuase I can honestly say if anyone had told me we would ever see Darth Maul on the big screen again I would have flat out laughed in their face, it reminded me of how I felt when you first see Yoda pull out a lightsaber in Attack of Clones…. say what you want about the rest of the films but I challenge any fan to not get a kick out of moments like that. I’m still not sure I want more Han solo films or a Boba Fett film, but the idea of a film based around Darth Maul been a crime boss is incredibly exciting.

Really thats the best thing about this film is that the Last Jedi was the first time I had seen a Star Wars film and walked away not feeling excited. Solo brought that feeling back. I left excited and happy, which is all I wanted from this film and I’m so glad it delivered.

 

I agree about the cinematography. I just watched a terrific interview with Bradford Young talking about the different characteristics of the lenses he chose to use, the new Arri DNA line of lenses, and how important the particulars of those glass elements are, using some for close-ups and some for landscapes. I mean this isn't itself anything that great DPs don't consider, but you can tell how much thought and testing he put into every element of the shot. The most surprising thing for me was that he was using 45mm for closeups and 50mm for landscapes, which is such a small difference that he was noticing eccentricities in the lens characteristics like that.

Found it:

 

Thanks for sharing this!! really enjoyed it! It's fascinating. I don't really know much about how great cinematographer achieve what they achieve I just love films that look beautiful, and after seeing Solo & Arrival, Bradford Young seems to be one of the best cinematographers working today, up thier with the likes of Roger Deakins.

 

I think they'll be good for a Jar Jar spin off?

 

DOP's think about nothing but Light and lenses. Well, a bit about story.

 

It's over 90 degrees where I live, who wants to be outdoors in that? Not us, so we went to see Solo. I have to say that after the disappointment of TLJ, this was a good palate cleanser. The last SW film I watched back in December, I walked out frustrated and kind of upset. I walked out of Solo with a smile. I don't know that it adds to the overall saga much, but it was a fun, light and entertaining movie. The actor and character that I was most worried about (Han and Alden) ended up being the one I was the most impressed with. Harrison will always be Han, but Alden did a fine job. I do have to say that L3 annoyed me quite a bit. She was just a bit much. Thankfully, she wasn't in it that much! Overall, I thought it was a good story and I enjoyed it.

 

And this the problem with the fandom...

 

I've never really seen a problem with the fandom as a whole. I see a large group of people who have different opinions about what makes and what is a good Star Wars film. They argue about it, as with everything else in life, the argument eventually turns to insults by various members.

 

This is what I am thinking now, because there is no way this movie will make enough money to warrant a sequel. Alden Ehrenreich has 3 films in his contract, but that doesn't mean he has to be in a starring role. The "sequel" they set up to this was that Solo works for Jabba and that would bring him into contact with Fett, but I think now they will just make a Fett film that continues this storyline but is told from Fett's POV with Han in a smaller role.

 

You know what is sad about SOLO.....it is a GREAT movie IMO, I think the more and more people see it, discuss it, listen to the awesome score, deconstruct easter eggs, etc etc.....it looks like it won't have the box office legs to garner a sequel. It will be fun talking about this movie for some time to come.

However, I think this movie is already going a long way to uniting the fandom.....it surely will not have any of the negativity of the TLJ reaction.

A great SW movie released at the wrong time?