Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)

[starri]

Edit: Jinx.

Well, this has me marginally more excited.

Although frankly, it just makes me hunger for Calrissian: A Star Wars Story.

Edited April 9, 2018 by starri

[WritinMan]

Looks fun to me, but I've thought that about trailers in the past and have been thoroughly disappointed.

[Joe]

1 hour ago, WritinMan said:

Looks fun to me, but I've thought that about trailers in the past and have been thoroughly disappointed.

That's fair. I've been lied to by plenty of trailers in the past. Valerian. But I believe in Star Wars. :)

In other news, I feel that the armoured figure is a Mandalorian. Maybe it's Boba Fett, maybe not. There's a moment when Han and Chewie are walking up stairs. There's a tusked skull, the Mando symbol.

[thuganomics85]

Hmm... after being pretty underwhelmed with the past trailers, this one actually got me a bit more interested.  I do enjoy the idea of a good old-fashioned heist in space, the Han actor seemed more comfortable this go around, Emilia Clarke is certainly rocking all the outfits they put her in, Woody Harrelson doing his thing (although, he's totally either going to a) die or b) turn on Han and the team), and I'm glad that it seems there will be plenty of focus on the Han/Chewie relationship.

Still, I have a feeling that Donald Glover as Lando will easily be my favorite thing about this.

[VCRTracking]

I like the visuals and I'm intrigued by seeing the underworld of the Star Wars universe and the new characters like whoever Woody Harrelson and Thandie Newton are playing  and Lando's droid and Chewbacca's wife(?)

I don't agree with the opinion online Alden Ehrenreich was bad casting because he doesn't look or sound like Harrison Ford when the same people also go on how Donald Glover is great as Lando even though he doesn't really look or sound anything like Billy Dee Williams either.

So I'm hoping it's good and lowering my expectations.

Edited April 9, 2018 by VCRTracking

[voiceover]

Yeah, I'm in.

[VCRTracking]

A lot of "Oh no! Is Chewie going to die?!" jokes on Twitter but there are some reactions on Youtube that were legit gasping at that final moment!

[Joe]

1 hour ago, VCRTracking said:

A lot of "Oh no! Is Chewie going to die?!" jokes on Twitter but there are some reactions on Youtube that were legit gasping at that final moment!

It actually got me the first time. Only afterwards I remembered that we've seen him 40+ years later, head intact.

[Spartan Girl]

He was 190 years old in this movie? How long do wookies live?!

[Bill1978]

Still not overly excited for this film. It says a lot that the thing that makes me most what to see it is to find out what is going on with Chewie's 'girlfriend'. The rest is very ho hum for me.

[BetterButter]

38 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

How long do wookies live?!

400 years

[Danny Franks]

I'm still not convinced. The trailer makes me more excited about Donald Glover as Lando, but no more excited about Han. I don't care that he looks and sounds different, but this is the first time we've heard him speak, and he's not exactly oozing Harrison Ford style charm.... We'll see. 

And Emilia Clarke seems exactly the same in these clips as she does in Games of Thrones. I want to see if she actually has any range at all.

[benteen]

1 hour ago, Spartan Girl said:

He was 190 years old in this movie? How long do wookies live?!

Chewie's age is actually nothing new and has been out there since the beginning.  Although not mentioned in the original trilogy, Chewbacca is specifically mentioned in the original A New Hope screenplay as being 200 years old (which means this film takes place 10 years before the first film).  Harrison Ford also mentioned in 1977's The Making of Star Wars that Chewie is 200 years old.

I'll admit, I liked the trailer quite a bit and am looking forward to this film more and more.  Alden still looks entirely unimpressive as Han and I thin his might still be the greatest liability.  Granted, Glover's Lando doesn't remind me of Billy Dee Williams either but I think he'll deliver in the role.  Hope to be proven wrong with Alden.  The movie looks like it might be really fun.

Edited April 9, 2018 by benteen

[BetterButter]

[Sarah 103]

5 hours ago, Danny Franks said:

 he's not exactly oozing Harrison Ford style charm.... We'll see. 

My working theory is that the charm came later. We are seeing a slightly different (younger) person from the character we meet in the Cantina during A New Hope. 

16 hours ago, starri said:

Although frankly, it just makes me hunger for Calrissian: A Star Wars Story.

I'm excited for Solo: A Star Wars Story. That being said, I would totally watch a movie about Lando Calrissian. It could be Lando having adventures on his own or a buddy movie with Lando and Han, something like The Sting. 

[voiceover]

Eh.  I think the key to it all is separating Harrison Ford's Han from the film.

Otherwise you'll spend the time thinking, "Nothing like him!", and that's a killer distraction.  If the movie rises and falls on Alden's ability to imitate Harrison -- in 1977 -- looks like it's DOA.

Having made that argument, I'm going to add, wanting the title character to incorporate the intangibles of the role's originator = not an unreasonable expectation.  Ewan McGregor made a studied, sincere effort to evoke Alec Guinness in Phantom Menace, and it was the best thing about that film.

I've just decided imma let that go, and try to watch it for what it is.  Then I'll hate it on its own merits.

Edited April 9, 2018 by voiceover

[Browncoat]

I'm totally in.

[voiceover]

Bwah!

The Onion weighs in:

Quote

Fans Excited As ‘Solo’ Trailer Sheds Light On Specifically How It Will Suck

[SnoGirl]

14 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

He was 190 years old in this movie? How long do wookies live?!

That line in the trailer was the first time I felt the actor had a “Solo” reaction. I definitely laughed hard.

I LOVE that we have a “female” droid. I say that gender identification loosely (Can robots have genders? I know their voices help the audience identify them one way but they’re robots sooooo) but I was super pumped by that. 

[Joe]

5 hours ago, SnoGirl said:

That line in the trailer was the first time I felt the actor had a “Solo” reaction. I definitely laughed hard.

I LOVE that we have a “female” droid. I say that gender identification loosely (Can robots have genders? I know their voices help the audience identify them one way but they’re robots sooooo) but I was super pumped by that. 

What, EV-9D9 isn't enough for you? And BB8 was nearly female. How much more do you want? Kidding, don't worry. I'm fine with her too, though the name is a bit silly. L3-37. Yes, really. I'm going to blame that on Jon Kasdan. It's the kind of thing us millenials do.

[VCRTracking]

I knew he'd have his brother Clint in it!

[afterbite]

Alden Ehrenreich Has a 3-Movie Deal as Han Solo. 

[VCRTracking]

[Matt K]

So I saw a kind of behind the scenes while waiting for Infinity War to start up.  It has Donald Glover showing "you" around the Millenium Falcon.  Honestly, I'm still kind of pissed that they didn't just make a Lando movie.  Glover was a perfect pick and honestly he's more interesting.  I just hope he gets a lot of screen time.  

[starri]

1 hour ago, Matt K said:

So I saw a kind of behind the scenes while waiting for Infinity War to start up.  It has Donald Glover showing "you" around the Millenium Falcon.  Honestly, I'm still kind of pissed that they didn't just make a Lando movie

Saw the same one, loved the tour of the Cape Armoire.  And yes, this should have been a Lando movie.

I have to admit, after a first trailer that was the definition of "meh," the second one has me more excited.  Although I am going for Lando, L3, and Chewie, in that order, not Han.

[VCRTracking]

On 4/30/2018 at 1:50 PM, Matt K said:

So I saw a kind of behind the scenes while waiting for Infinity War to start up.  It has Donald Glover showing "you" around the Millenium Falcon.  Honestly, I'm still kind of pissed that they didn't just make a Lando movie.  Glover was a perfect pick and honestly he's more interesting.  I just hope he gets a lot of screen time.  

Here it is:

[Joe]

That solidifies a feeling I've had for a while. Glover is miscast as Lando. He's too good. Lando just isn't that cool. He wishes he was, but he isn't.

[Wynterwolf]

On 4/30/2018 at 1:50 PM, Matt K said:

It has Donald Glover showing "you" around the Millenium Falcon.  Honestly, I'm still kind of pissed that they didn't just make a Lando movie.  Glover was a perfect pick and honestly he's more interesting.  I just hope he gets a lot of screen time.

Heh, I saw the same clip and had the exact same thought.  Also watched The Martian recently and he was by far the best thing in that movie too.

[VCRTracking]

8 hours ago, Joe said:

That solidifies a feeling I've had for a while. Glover is miscast as Lando. He's too good. Lando just isn't that cool. He wishes he was, but he isn't.

I don't agree with that. Billy Dee back in the day was pretty damn cool. Lando in Empire was putting on a front because the Empire had already gotten there. It's hard to be cool when Darth Vader is putting the screws to you.

On 4/30/2018 at 1:50 PM, Matt K said:

So I saw a kind of behind the scenes while waiting for Infinity War to start up.  It has Donald Glover showing "you" around the Millenium Falcon.  Honestly, I'm still kind of pissed that they didn't just make a Lando movie.  Glover was a perfect pick and honestly he's more interesting.  I just hope he gets a lot of screen time.  

That's probably what people said about the first Star Wars movie, that Han was more interesting than Luke. Han is the "Luke" of this movie.

[Joe]

2 hours ago, VCRTracking said:

I don't agree with that. Billy Dee back in the day was pretty damn cool. Lando in Empire was putting on a front because the Empire had already gotten there. It's hard to be cool when Darth Vader is putting the screws to you.

He's not that cool in ROTJ either, IMO. He's fine, just not exceptional.

[VCRTracking]

Whoa. I don't know how they did this but I'm impressed:

[Joe]

8 hours ago, VCRTracking said:

Whoa. I don't know how they did this but I'm impressed:

 

There's a Gran in that video! Sure it has six eyes, but it's still a familiar background alien.

In other news, advance ticket sales are now on. I say that only after I've bought my ticket. I don't know if any of you are around my way, but I don't want you getting the best seat before me. :)

[VCRTracking]

[Joe]

Okay, this is surprising. Advance tickets have sold faster than those for Black Panther, though behind Infinity War. Okay, there's a new app that makes it easier. Doesn't make it cheaper, though. Also, I thought the negative reception to TLJ might give it a lower initial take. We'll see what happens over time.

[WritinMan]

What's this fascination with a Lando movie? He's one of the least interesting characters in the Star Wars universe.

[BetterButter]

[Ravenya003]

On 06/05/2018 at 4:42 PM, WritinMan said:

What's this fascination with a Lando movie? He's one of the least interesting characters in the Star Wars universe.

I can't speak for everyone, but as a kid, Lando was my first experience with a character that was genuinely ambiguous and who kept me guessing. Sure, Han was a bad-boy smuggler, but there was never any doubt that he was one of the good guys. Lando on the other is introduced as someone whose motivations are less clear-cut. Leia and Han obviously don't trust him, but he puts up a charming and friendly facade. What little we get on his backstory is up for grabs as well. Is he a reformed rake? Is he serious about being a responsible leader for Cloud City? Are we meant to take his flirting with Leia at face value? Or is it a sign he can't be trusted? My little seven-year old brain was addled. 

Then the penny drops and we realize he's working with Vader. Okay, so he's a bad guy. In a film involving a clear-cut good versus evil conflict, that settled the matter. But THEN we learn he was being coerced. He's a good guy in a bad situation, weighing up loyalty to his old friends with the safety of his people. He has a plan to make sure both parties get out relatively unscathed, and he ends up joining the Rebellion as a fully-fledged member of the team. Kid mind = BLOWN.

It all sounds fairly obvious by today's standards, but as a young first-time viewer, the back-and-forth over the trustworthiness of his character was genuinely surprising. (And even today, most characters in Lando's position end up betraying the heroes). I probably won't catch "Solo" at the cinema, but I am looking forward to seeing the initial rapport between Han/Lando, and how it leads into their reunion in ESB (in which Han clearly isn't at ease with how he'll be received by Lando, yet still takes a chance on him). 

[VCRTracking]

The First Reactions to Solo: A Star Wars Story Are (Mostly) Very, Very Good

[starri]

I guess Kathleen Kennedy's decision to basically start over from scratch was a good one.  Perhaps the movie will end up losing money (just because of the expense in having to make the same movie twice, not because it won't sell a lot of tickets), but it'll still cost less than the damage a crappy movie would have done to the brand.

[VCRTracking]

Edited May 12, 2018 by VCRTracking

[Sarah 103]

On 4/30/2018 at 4:50 PM, Matt K said:

Honestly, I'm still kind of pissed that they didn't just make a Lando movie.  Glover was a perfect pick and honestly he's more interesting.  I just hope he gets a lot of screen time.  

They could do a Lando movie after this one. Maybe this movie will somehow set up a Lando movie. I would totally be interested in a stand alone Lando movie, or a buddy movie about the adventures of Lando and Han (and Chewie). 

[Danny Franks]

On 11/05/2018 at 4:42 PM, VCRTracking said:

The First Reactions to Solo: A Star Wars Story Are (Mostly) Very, Very Good

This is good to hear. While I have never been a fan of the idea of exploring young Han Solo, I've also never actually wanted this movie to be bad.

A successful, well-received movie will go a long way to shutting up complainers about The Last Jedi, and "the death of Star Wars". It will also be another step on Donald Glover's quest for entertainment supremacy. And I'd also like to see Emilia Clarke get a good movie under her belt.

And this does go to show that rewrites and directorial changes aren't necessarily a bad thing. I remember the concerns over Rogue One, when the news of extensive rewrites was floating about, but after talking to an editor who worked on the movie (fortuitously met at a friend's wedding) I felt a lot more comfortable with what they were doing, and the reasons behind it. Of course, we know a lot more now about those rewrites, and I think most people would say they were definitely for the better.

[VCRTracking]

1 hour ago, Danny Franks said:

And this does go to show that rewrites and directorial changes aren't necessarily a bad thing. I remember the concerns over Rogue One, when the news of extensive rewrites was floating about, but after talking to an editor who worked on the movie (fortuitously met at a friend's wedding) I felt a lot more comfortable with what they were doing, and the reasons behind it. Of course, we know a lot more now about those rewrites, and I think most people would say they were definitely for the better.

Dude, please let us in or as they say nowadays "spill some tea"!

[Danny Franks]

9 minutes ago, VCRTracking said:

Dude, please let us in or as they say nowadays "spill some tea"!

He basically explained to me that the rewrites and re-shoots weren't because the movie was bad, or that they were panicking over it, but they just decided they wanted to reframe the narrative and change the tone of the film. He also said it wasn't something that was unusual in movies, that rewrites and re-shoots were far more common than the sensationalised news about Rogue One would have people believe (though it seems like he was downplaying it a bit). Of course, he wouldn't go into much detail, as this was a month or two prior to the film's release.

But what he told me made sense, after I saw Rogue One. And made even more sense when the stories came out about Disney not being sure whether to kill the characters off, and not being happy about how some of the characters came across in the original script and some of the originally shot scenes.

[VCRTracking]

48 minutes ago, Danny Franks said:

He basically explained to me that the rewrites and re-shoots weren't because the movie was bad, or that they were panicking over it, but they just decided they wanted to reframe the narrative and change the tone of the film. He also said it wasn't something that was unusual in movies, that rewrites and re-shoots were far more common than the sensationalised news about Rogue One would have people believe (though it seems like he was downplaying it a bit). Of course, he wouldn't go into much detail, as this was a month or two prior to the film's release.

But what he told me made sense, after I saw Rogue One. And made even more sense when the stories came out about Disney not being sure whether to kill the characters off, and not being happy about how some of the characters came across in the original script and some of the originally shot scenes.

That goes with what Tony Gilroy said recently how he came in to write and direct the reshoots:
 

Quote

 

"If you look at Rogue, all the difficulty with Rogue, all the confusion of it … and all the mess, and in the end when you get in there, it's actually very, very simple to solve," Gilroy said of the film. "Because you sort of go, 'This is a movie where, folks, just look. Everyone is going to die.' So it's a movie about sacrifice."

He saw the opportunity to explore why the film's characters — played by stars Felicity Jones, Diego Luna and Donnie Yen — would ultimately sacrifice themselves at the end of the film in order to allow the Rebels to gain the plans to the Death Star.

 

The original idea for Rogue One was a heist movie. In a heist movie it's all about the objective and you don't spend that much time the people pulling off the job and are basically cyphers. Not much emotional investment. Gareth Edwards the director also wanted to make a gritty war movie in the Star Wars universe. So the first cut was probably a movie of characters you barely know pulling off a job for a cause some of them don't believe in and then getting brutally killed at the end. Not exactly a rousing good time. At least in the final version, they're characters we care about willing to make a heroic sacrifice and their deaths mean something.

Edited May 13, 2018 by VCRTracking

[VCRTracking]

A Han Solo Movie Was in Development Even Before The Force Awakens

[Morrigan2575]

Jeremy Jahns gave it a bad review, said it was boring and easily forgotten.

No real spoilers that I could tell.

 

[WritinMan]

2 hours ago, Morrigan2575 said:

Jeremy Jahns gave it a bad review, said it was boring and easily forgotten.

No real spoilers that I could tell.

 

 

Fortunately, I've never cared what the overly caffeinated Jahns thinks about movies...or anything to be honest.

[Sharpie66]

The Chicago Tribune's review is pretty positive, even if it's not effusive. They call it Ron Howard's best film in a decade, but then say that the direction is solid, if a bit square. Basically, he gets the job done, in their opinion. (I do love the line, "The Kasdans — Lawrence worked on three previous “Star Wars” scripts — wield those narrative questions like arrows declaring: THIS WAY TO THE NEXT CHASE SCENE.") The reviewer does say that Ehrenreich resembles a young Robert Wagner (albeit a better actor); now that's something I probably won't be able to get out of my head while watching the film.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/movies/sc-mov-solo-star-wars-rev-0515-story.html

[VCRTracking]

The positive reviews I've read are enough for me to want to see it in the theater.

Edited May 16, 2018 by VCRTracking