Movies: Solo: A Star Wars Story, 25 May 2018 Release (Early reviews are in)

[bambamcam4ever]

Minus the fact that it explains other parts of the Star Wars universe.

This seems like circular logic in that any movie called 'Star Wars' inherently provides detail on the SW universe.

What I want to know is why it is important that there is a movie on how the Death Star schematics were obtained.

 

[OhCaptainMyCaptain]

This seems like circular logic in that any movie called 'Star Wars' inherently provides detail on the SW universe.

What I want to know is why it is important that there is a movie on how the Death Star schematics were obtained.

Because... there was an entire movie based on blowing it up... so it’s kind of a big deal to figure out how they get that.

 

[bambamcam4ever]

Because... there was an entire movie based on blowing it up... so it’s kind of a big deal to figure out how they get that.

No, it actually doesn't change anything, and many things are better left unexplained. Explaining how everything happens is commonplace in sci-fi movies. Star Wars is not a sci-fi story though.

Plus, only a quarter of a movie was concerned with destroying the DS. LOTR had 3 movies based on destroying the One Ring, I don't see anyone clamoring for a full length movie detailing how it was made beyond the description in the movies/books.

 

[Tawnos]

No, it actually doesn't change anything, and many things are better left unexplained. Explaining how everything happens is commonplace in sci-fi movies. Star Wars is not a sci-fi story though.

Plus, only a quarter of a movie was concerned with destroying the DS. LOTR had 3 movies based on destroying the One Ring, I don't see anyone clamoring for a full length movie detailing how it was made beyond the description in the movies/books.

We are better off with the explanation than we were without it.

 

[ArGarBarGar]

We were better off without the explanation if you ask me (I know you didn't).

I thought the details of why they put a vent there were unnecessary. I'm fine with it being a guy designing it specifically as a weak point, but I preferred it just as being the weak point for the final boss. Who cares why it is there?

 

[johnjm22]

There was no need for an explanation at all. In fact you could argue that Rogue One creates more plot holes.

It's a pointless boring moving that feels like a big budget fan film. It also misunderstands Darth Vader.

It is the best looking of the new SW films though.

 

[Bjorn Le]

It seems like there's a lot of people obsessed with Star Wars being some franchise where the story is entirely contained within the main trilogy. There's a middle ground between Disney pumping out largely mediocre material and leaving most background to "mystery."

Rogue One was a SW movie set around stealing the plans for the Death Star but it was not a movie about stealing plans for the Death Star. It was the characters that made Rogue One.

 

[ArGarBarGar]

The characters in Rogue One were bland except for Chirrut and K-2SO.

 

[bambamcam4ever]

It seems like there's a lot of people obsessed with Star Wars being some franchise where the story is entirely contained within the main trilogy. There's a middle ground between Disney pumping out largely mediocre material and leaving most background to "mystery."

Rogue One was a SW movie set around stealing the plans for the Death Star but it was not a movie about stealing plans for the Death Star. It was the characters that made Rogue One.

But they never made me care about the characters at all.

 

[CokenoPepsi]

Star Wars simply is a average franchise

 

[Osprey]

Something that helped the Star Wars universe seem larger than it was in the original trilogy is that there were unanswered questions. How did the Rebels get the plans to the Death Star? What did Luke, Han and crew do in the 3 years between ANH and ESB? What happened to Luke in the year between ESB and RotJ to turn him from a timid young man into a cool and confident Jedi Knight? What were Han and Lando like before ANH? Who is Boba Fett?

Questions like those made the universe seem larger than just what we saw on-screen in those original 6 hours. Going back now and answering them doesn't really expand the universe any more. It may even contribute to the opposite effect: making it seem smaller. If films keep being made about characters that we already know and/or stories that we've already imagined and every mystery gets an explanation, the universe can start feeling smaller and smaller, as if those are the only characters and stories and what's left to learn about it seems to shrink.

 

[Blender]

Star Wars simply is a average franchise

Definitely. The last great Star Wars movie came out in 1980.

 

[Osprey]

Star Wars simply is a average franchise

Definitely. The last great Star Wars movie came out in 1980.

I'd argue that it's an above average franchise because it's had a few great films. How many franchises can boast that? An average franchise would be something like X-Men, where each one is received pretty well, but none really stand out from the others. The OT proved how much potential Star Wars has to be great, greater than most franchises could dream of becoming. The fact that that potential has been squandered for 30 years doesn't make the franchise average like all of the rest, IMO.

Now, if you want to call all of the latest Star Wars films average and no better than other big budget films from other franchises, you won't receive any argument from me and, I suspect, many others. The reason why we're still critical, though, is that average isn't good enough for this franchise.

 

[Blender]

I'd argue that it's an above average franchise because it's had a few great films. How many franchises can boast that? An average franchise would be something like X-Men, where each one is received pretty well, but none really stand out from the others. The OT proved how much potential Star Wars has to be great, greater than most franchises could dream of becoming. The fact that that potential has been squandered for 30 years doesn't make the franchise average like all of the rest, IMO. Now, if you want to call all of the latest Star Wars films average and no better than other big budget films from other franchises, you won't receive any argument from me.

That's fair. It has two amazing movies in Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi is a pretty good movie as well, but a drop off from the first two. Not many franchises can claim that.

 

[Tawnos]

Guys. 100% of the EU falls in the category you’re complaining about.

None of it “needs” to be hashed out.

 

[CartographerNo611]

Disney is clearly in it for the toys and not making even average movies for the Star Wars franchise.

 

[ArGarBarGar]

Guys. 100% of the EU falls in the category you’re complaining about.

None of it “needs” to be hashed out.

And the EU is lame.

I'm only half kidding.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

I thought it was a great comparison film. Well cast, just the right amount of humor, and some good action sequences. Probably my favorite of the newer movies.

 

[Ninety7]

Just watched solo. Liked it way better than that disgrace of a movie the last Jedi.

 

[HanSolo]

Relative to my expectations when the first trailer/teaser came out I'd say that surpassed them. I thought Alden did as good a job as you could ask without trying to do a straight up Harrison Ford impression. And I'm glad he didn't try. It was good not great but I didn't think it was bad. The first third had some strange pacing and the ending dragged a bit but I didn't think it suffered from as many structural problems as Rogue One. I think overall it was better than Rogue One but it lacked anything quite like that final battle.

As to these movies answering questions no one is asking, I don't really mind. I don't see it as much as supplying the masses with answers to these questions as using that backstory to tell some stories with potential to entertain. Like did the stories of Rogue One and Solo have to be told? No. But no new Star Wars story HAS to be told. Do we need more Obi Wan, Boba Fett, or let's say Lando? No but it's been entertaining thus far IMO. I think worrying about the necessity of these films is a waste of time. The narrative value of the Star Wars product doesn't gain much but I don't think it loses much either.

Random but I thought the very brief war scenes in the beginning were really aesthetically well done.

 

[EchoesoftheEighties]

Expected it to suck and was pleasantly surprised. It was actually pretty good. Not amazing but good. Better than the abortion that was TLJ (not hard to be) but not as good as Rogue One.

 

[Pilky01]

I’m gonna go see it later this week.

I almost feel bad that it has bombed so hard. Ron Howard’s Twitter response to the poor showing was all class. He didn’t deserve to suffer the backlash of TLJ.

It seems especially insane that Lucas Film greenlit Rian Johnson’s ‘fans are stupid and your nostalgia is shit’ Star Wars movie to release just 6 months before their “OMG nostalgia is so fun!” movie.

Not only do they not have a story for their new movies, they don’t even have a release strategy.

 

[Blackhawkswincup]

They pretty clearly did have a release schedule

Blame Disney for shifting this too a crowded summer field right on heals of TLJ. A major reason Disney did that was to avoid potential of Solo competing against Mary Poppins Returns which Disney is releasing on Christmas as a major family movie event

So why not release it earlier in December you say? Because Wreck it Ralph sequel comes out on Thanksgiving from Disney

Disney expected to make a lot of $$$ off those films and doesn't want a film like Solo potentially undercutting there box office performances

Disney took a gamble releasing Solo so close at TLJ and in crowded summer competition and it appears to have been a mistake

 

[Jumptheshark]

Man times have changed

Once upon a time a 100mill open ment something

 

[ArGarBarGar]

Solo had its own problems that are not affected by the reaction of TLJ. Like I have said, it had probably the worst press leading up to its release and other than the Super Bowl spot had the worst marketing of the recent films. Also adding the fact people weren't particularly interested in the premise to begin with.