Solo: A Star Wars Story (Ron Howard 2018)

[The Illustrious Jerry 3,356]

Of course. I'm Jerry.

2 minutes ago, John said:

I still maintain that the Maul scene at the end of Solo is the worst thing these new Star Wars movies have done. Take it out and boom, you’ve just made the movie 10x better. 

To each his own.

[John 2,032]

4 minutes ago, Nick Parker said:

More spoilers! 

 

It’s been four months since it came out! If anyone has any interest in that movie, they would’ve seen it by now!

 

3 minutes ago, Jerry said:

To each his own.

 

You disagree? It’d be nice if you would elaborate. 

[The Illustrious Jerry 3,356]

1 minute ago, John said:

You disagree? It’d be nice if you would elaborate. 

On the contrary, I  do agree with you. But part of me initially thought it was "cool", or whatever people say these days.

3 minutes ago, John said:

It’s been four months since it came out! If anyone has any interest in that movie, they would’ve seen it by now!

My idea exactly.

[Nick Parker 3,040]

Just now, John said:

 You disagree? It’d be nice if you’d elaborate

 

Agreed. Such a nice movie, why did they want to throw some Goof Trip clown at the end like that? The whole time I was just thinking, "This dude got cut in half, now out of nowhere he's alive, and a crime boss?"

 

Is this what Star Wars fans like?

Just now, Jerry said:

On the contrary, I  do agree with you. But part of me initially thought it was "cool", or whatever people say these days.

 

We say "wizard".

[The Illustrious Jerry 3,356]

3 minutes ago, Nick Parker said:

The whole time I was just thinking, "This dude got cut in half, now out of nowhere he's alive, and a crime boss?"

Same with everyone else in the theatre save myself. At the end I almost went up to the front and explained the SW lore they were missing out on, but instead I got a bag of popcorn to go. His appearance made me feel like there was a reason for me to binge Clone Wars two years ago, but yes it's not fair to the category one fans.

[Nick Parker 3,040]

Just now, Jerry said:

Same with everyone else in the theatre save myself. At the end I almost went up to the front and explained the SW lore they were missing out on, 

 

All two of them?

[The Illustrious Jerry 3,356]

1 minute ago, Nick Parker said:

All two of them?

A mother and her child. I figured I'd only terrify and confuse them.

[Nick Parker 3,040]

Just now, Jerry said:

A mother and her child. I figured I'd only terrify and confuse them.

 

You should've  just printed out some flyers of a meme that you made to explain it and hand it out at the end.

[The Illustrious Jerry 3,356]

1 minute ago, Nick Parker said:

You should've  just printed out some flyers of a meme that you made to explain it and hand it out at the end.

You mean as a way of advertising for my memeography? Clever.

[Holko 9,499]

The new Star Wars Show has a horrible deleted scene (8:16), but also some behind the scenes info - looks like special effects are coming around full circle.

 

For vehicle closeups, they used giant LED screens with preshot footage of sets. Apparently no shot inside the Falcon cockpit used blue or greenscreens, they had a 180 wraparound screen with 4K projectors playing premade visual effects shots in real time, sometimes reacting to lever pulls, so the actors can react and feel giddy when going to hyperspace or dodging asteroids. Cool!

[The Illustrious Jerry 3,356]

8 hours ago, Holko said:

For vehicle closeups, they used giant LED screens with preshot footage of sets. Apparently no shot inside the Falcon cockpit used blue or greenscreens, they had a 180 wraparound screen with 4K projectors playing premade visual effects shots in real time, sometimes reacting to lever pulls, so the actors can react and feel giddy when going to hyperspace or dodging asteroids. Cool!

That is awesome!!!

[Holko 9,499]

 

Another stupid, useless scene, good that it was deleted. The early SD design didn't have much of a role after all.

But is that unreleased Powell I hear? Even if only different mixes or alternates of The Maw or Marauders Arrive? It's a hodgepodge, could be original.

[Jay 37,322]

Heh, I thought that scene was pretty good!

On 9/13/2018 at 3:01 AM, Holko said:

The new Star Wars Show has a horrible deleted scene (8:16),

 

Heh, I kinda liked that one too!  Would work better with score, though.

On 9/7/2018 at 11:37 AM, The Illustrious Jerry said:

Deleted scene. Corellia Foot Chase with some alternate Powell score maybe. 

 

That also wasn't bad!

[The Illustrious Jerry 3,356]

2 hours ago, Jay said:

Heh, I thought that scene was pretty good!

We'll have you flying in no time...

2 hours ago, Jay said:

Heh, I kinda liked that one too!  Would work better with score, though.

A quirky Powell riff, yes.

2 hours ago, Jay said:

That also wasn't bad!

Such a likeable film; even the deleted scenes were good!

[Pellaeon 593]

Such a shame that it was a financial flop. It wasn’t perfect, but it was a great setup for sequels. I was more enthusiastic about that prospect than anything else they are doing.

[Holko 9,499]

Yeah, Han, Chewie, Lando and the Falcon going on random adventures on outrageous alien planets, sometimes intersecting with Jabba or Crimson Dawn but mostly just having fun and being themselves seems potentially more interesting than this callbacky origin story.

[The Illustrious Jerry 3,356]

The Adventures of Han Trilogy would've had a nice ring, especially in the wake of Williams' suite. Too bad it's currently discontinued.

[crumbs 14,305]

14 hours ago, Pellaeon said:

Such a shame that it was a financial flop. It wasn’t perfect, but it was a great setup for sequels. I was more enthusiastic about that prospect than anything else they are doing.

 

Kinda sums up the problem with Hollywood nowadays. So preoccupied setting up origin stories for future films that they struggle to focus on what really matters: making a great film in the first place.

 

WB and DC have made an artform out of it.

[Nick Parker 3,040]

1 hour ago, crumbs said:

So preoccupied setting up origin stories for future films that they struggle to focus on what really matters: making a great film in the first place.

 

 

 

Solo's a good movie! The most solid Star Wars movie we've gotten in decades!

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

That might be true!

 

Its not a film anyone needed though.

[Jurassic Shark 12,033]

There's very few films that really are needed.

[John 2,032]

23 minutes ago, Nick Parker said:

The most solid Star Wars movie we've gotten in decades!

 

Really? I think it’s the worst of these new Disney movies by a long shot. 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Really?

[John 2,032]

Its pacing is all over the place, and I couldn’t make out what was happening on the screen half the time. It’s a shame, because TFA, TLJ, and R1 were gorgeous-looking, well-lit movies. 

 

The characters and Alden’s performance were probably the strongest aspects of the movie. 

[Chen G. 3,944]

34 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

There's very few films that really are needed.

 

I think what people mean in terms of "needed" is that it doesn't forward the overarching story of the series. There are two types of film series:

Episodic series' where the individual films don't amount to one unified story, but do share a main character or core cast and certain iconographical and narrative elements. Think Indiana Jones.

A series with a unified story, whether it was premeditated or emerged spontaneously. Think Middle Earth.

 

Disney's Star Wars is a hybrid of sorts, in that it has a central, unified story which is that of the conflict between good and evil in the Galaxy; but its also trying to dabble in episodic entries that only use this conflict as a backdrop, and audiences are having a hard time adapting to that.

 

If you look at Rogue One (a film I'm not overly fond of, but still), there's a spinoff that nevertheless fits into the overarching story: its basically episode 3.5. Solo? That it is in the Star Wars universe is just about incidental. 

[Holko 9,499]

With my strongly 'meh' rating, it's probably my least favourite of the Disney movies, too.

[Nick Parker 3,040]

Oh god, not another "moving the plot forward" discussion! Peace be!

1 hour ago, John said:

I couldn’t make out what was happening on the screen half the time.

 

I heard that complaint a lot before seeing it, I was surprised by much I disagreed with it.

@Stefancos Did you see Solo?

[Jurassic Shark 12,033]

11 minutes ago, Nick Parker said:

heard that complaint a lot before seeing it, I was surprised by much I disagreed with it.

 

Yes, but the picture was often lacking detail because of low light levels, especially in the 3D version I watched.

[Nick Parker 3,040]

6 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

Yes, but the picture was often lacking detail because of low light levels, especially in the 3D version I watched.

 

With this movie, I can totally see that happening, but I had no problems whatsoever. It was pretty crisp for the most part, except for some of the environments where things were really brown.

[Jurassic Shark 12,033]

1 minute ago, Nick Parker said:

 

With this movie, I can totally see that happening, but I had no problems whatsoever.

 

It guess it largely depends on the theatre, and 3D projectors naturally often give lower light levels on the retina.

[Nick Parker 3,040]

Frankly I didn't know people still went to 3D showings of movies anymore.

[The Illustrious Jerry 3,356]

A lot of times the 3D showings are at the times that make most sense (almost always 7 p.m. or 7:30 p.m.) so I've been stuck with those for a while.

 

I'm looking forward to the release to see if I was really missing out.

[Smaug The Iron 510]

Solo is the second best Disney Star Wars movie in my opinion. It was funny, it had great action and likeable characters. 

1. The Last Jedi
2. Solo
3. The Force Awakens 
4. Rouge One

[Pellaeon 593]

1. The Force Awakens
2. Solo
3. Rogue One
4. The Last Jedi

[Datameister 2,037]

I don't even know how I'd rank them. Each has such idiosyncratic flaws: TFA's been-there-done-that plot, Rogue One's underdeveloped characters, Solo's inoffensive overall blandness...and then there's TLJ, which constantly switches back and forth between great moments and terrible moments for me.

 

My most joyous viewing experience was probably seeing TFA for the second time. If I had to watch one of them right now, I'd probably pick Rogue One. (Solo is the first Star Wars movie I only saw once in theaters; if it shows up on Netflix, I'm sure I'll watch it again eventually.)

[Jay 37,322]

11 hours ago, crumbs said:

 

Kinda sums up the problem with Hollywood nowadays. So preoccupied setting up origin stories for future films that they struggle to focus on what really matters: making a great film in the first place.

 

WB and DC have made an artform out of it.

 

Terminator 5 was the same way too

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

4 hours ago, Datameister said:

(Solo is the first Star Wars movie I only saw once in theaters; if it shows up on Netflix, I'm sure I'll watch it again eventually.)

 

I didn't see TLJ and Solo at all in cinemas.

[Kasey Kockroach 2,344]

Solo's the only Star Wars movie I've seen in theatres. Music aside, the only aspects I remember are Chewie being awesome, Emilia Clarke being cute and the giant space octopus. 

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

That's my little Octopussy.

[Chen G. 3,944]

7 hours ago, Datameister said:

My most joyous viewing experience was probably seeing TFA

 

That!

 

Still the best Disney Star Wars film, deriviative though it may be.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Its an excellent crown pleaser.

[Chen G. 3,944]

And yet, as much as it is a crowd pleaser, it also has moments that truly carry weight. I'm thinking especially about the scene where Kylo Ren is ostensibly praying to Darth Vader's helmet.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

His helmet was sooo bigggg...

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

You pick that moment out? I mean i like it. But its just SW reference box ticking.

 

The whole first act of the film, up untill when they escape from Jakkuu is very good film making. I especially like how JJ gets the audience to bond with Rey before she's even said a word.

[Nick1Ø66 4,689]

Yes! The films works remarkably well up until they get to Maz's bar.

 

It's still pretty good after that, but the opening act of the film is fantastic and great Star Wars.

[Chen G. 3,944]

39 minutes ago, Stefancos said:

The whole first act of the film, up untill when they escape from Jakkuu is very good film making.

 

<super-pedantic mode> well, technically the first act doesn't end until the introduction of Snoke (and the first view of Starkiller Base) and the reveal of the identity of Kylo Ren's father. </super-pedantic mode>

 

But yeah, its damn fine filmmaking. Namely, because its action-packed. There's something to be said for having more than one action setpiece in your first act. On paper, the first act is excruciatingly long, but the action alleviates that.

 

But I do really like that Kylo is praying to the helmet. There's real gravity there, regardless of the reference.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

56 minutes ago, Chen G. said:

But yeah, its damn fine filmmaking. Namely, because its action-packed.

 

I like it because it introduces us to all the new characters and sets them up really nicely. 

The action is fine.

[crumbs 14,305]

3 hours ago, Cherry Pie That'll Kill Ya said:

His helmet was sooo bigggg...

 

A large helmet is all good and well, but it's still better when covered by a beanie.

 

2 hours ago, Nick1066 said:

Yes! The films works remarkably well up until they get to Maz's bar.

 

It's still pretty good after that, but the opening act of the film is fantastic and great Star Wars.

 

Yep. TFA is overall a fantastically directed movie, but it goes off the rails in the middle act for about 25 minutes with some pedestrian production design and artistic choices. Basically from Maz onwards until they arrive at Starkiller.

[Chen G. 3,944]

But in the grand scheme of things its perfectly excusable.

 

Its not the best thing since sliced bread or anything, but it is for the most part a joy to watch.

[Datameister 2,037]

Yep. I'd particularly echo what Stefancos said about getting the audience to bond with Rey right off the bat - I remember feeling instantly drawn into her world. Finn's, too, for that matter. And Kylo Ren had my attention from the start. Those characters were what really sold me on that film, despite how painstakingly it apes the story beats of ANH. Rogue One felt like the opposite to me: a much newer and more interesting story (and an insanely great third act), but I couldn't really connect with the characters. (Although I do like Director Krennic.)