Solo: A Star Wars Story [DVD]

It’s a good spin off

I very much enjoyed this movie, though I'll admit I'm the only one in the family who gives it five stars – most hover around 4. But how can I not like a Ron Howard movie, not to mention: 1) an action movie, 2) how Solo got his last name, 3) why Solo wasn't sure Lando would greet him with friendliness, 4) how Solo and Chewie met, 5) what is a Kessel Run, 6) Lando's capes! Not to mention scenes that harken back to the original film trio, such as: "This is a thermal detonator."In Bonus Feature E, Ron Howard says, "One of the things that really interested me about this story is that it's about a person choosing an outlaw's life. And it's really important for this young guy to quickly understand that this life of thievery is not romantic."If you buy it on disc, you have many options for languages and subtitles:Languages – English, English Descriptive Audio, FrenchSubtitles – English, French, Dutch, Danish, Suomi, Norwegian, SyenskaI LOVE Bonus Features, especially if they give me insights into the director's plan for the movie and "making of" scenes. With BluRay, you get a whole 2nd disc of Bonus Features, which have even more subtitle options – English, CESKE, Nederlands, French, German, Magyar, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, and two more (I cannot, unfortunately, read the characters).BONUS FEATURES:....A... "Solo: The Director & Art Roundtable" (22 minutes) After filming, Ron Howard (director) asks 8 actors to join him at a roundtable (actually an octagon) to discuss the movie. Commentators include Alden Ehrenreich (plays Han), Donald Glover (plays Lando Calrissian), Joonas Suotamo (plays Chewbacca), Emilia Clarke (plays Qi'ra), Phoebe Waller-Bridge (plays L3-37), Thandie Newton (plays Val), Woody Harrelson (plays Tobias Beckett) and Paul Bettany (plays Dryden Vos). Everybody was over the moon, including Howard, when George Lucas visited the set, and challenged Ron to a game of dejarik = holo-chess.Howard asks, Who inspired you for your role? Thandie replies, "There was a woman who grew up in Zimbabwe in the Colonial Era, and, who, in the 70s ... was part of the independent struggle in Zimbabwe. She left because members of her friendship group had been assassinated because of the struggles. She found herself in England when she was in a really difficult, sometimes racist environment. She struggled through that, she raised a family. And that was my mom."....B... "Kasdan on Kasdan" (8 minutes) New commentators include Lawrence Kasdan (producer/cowriter), Kathleen Kennedy (president Lucas Film), Jonathan Kasdan (cowriter). Larry Kasdan wrote three Star Wars franchise movies, and, as Kennedy says, "knows Han Solo better than anybody." He returned to work with his son, Jon, to write this movie.....C... "Remaking the Millennium Falcon" (5 minutes) New commentators include Lee Sandales (set decorator), James Clyne (design supervisor), John Swartz (producer), Liam Georgensen (asst. art director), Neil Lamont (production designer) and Alistair Bullock (art director). As Donald Glover notes, "The Falcon in this movie is brand new."....D... "Escape From Corella" (10 minutes) New commentators include Simon Emanuel (producer), Rob Bredow (special effects supervisor, producer), Gary Tomkins (art director), Ben Collins (stunt performer) and Matthew Samway (ILM). The Corella world was created new, because it is only mentioned in dialogue in Episode V. As much as possible of the car chase on Corella was done for real rather than special effects. Really enjoyed how they made and ran the stolen speeder. Tomkins says they used stuff like baguette warmers from a local supermarket and a refueling nose cone of a military jet......E... "The Train Heist" (14 minutes) New commentators include Paul Marsh (senior model maker), Nick Fulton (Italy production manager), Bradford Young (director photography) and Charles Jellis (action vehicles chargehand). The background snow scenes were filmed in the Italian mountains. Fulton, "We managed to get 250 people up here, and a Wookie. Getting that amount of people on top of a mountain brings its own challenges. So we built roads as far as we an, and then operating the four helicopters bringing people in and out."....F... "Team Chewie" (7 minutes) New commentators include Tim Nielsen (sound editor and designer) and Maria Cork (supervising animatronic designer). Per Nielsen, Chewie "is introduced as a man-eating beast with this massive roar.... The main recording of Chewbacca is a bear that Ben Burtt, the original sound designer, recorded many many years ago."....G... "Becoming a Droid: L3-37" (5 minutes) New commentators include T J Falls (visual effects producer) and Karin Cooper (digital artist supervisor). It is marvelous how they filmed Waller-Bridge and illustrates why the robot's movements are so human-like.....H... "Scoundrels, Droids, Creatures and Cards: Welcome to Fort Ypso" (8 minutes) New commentator Neil Scanlon (creature effects). The Lodge is the "tough seedy bar" where Han meets Lando, and joins the card game of Sabaac.....I... "Into the Maelstrom: The Kessel Run" (7 minutes) Jonathan Kasdan quotes Han in the first Star Wars movie, "This is the ship that made the Kessel Run in 12 parsecs." He continues, "That is a nonsensical statement. A parsec is a unit of distance, not a unit of speed. So, what did he mean when he said that?" The movie explains.Tim Nielsen on his work on the Kessel Run: "Coaxium canisters are about to explode, so that was really fun trying to figure out what's the sound of these decaying metal canisters. I saw this video on youtube years ago of somebody dropping a Gummi Bear into potassium chlorate. It causes the Gummi Bear to spontaneously combust." Voila!....J... "Delted Scenes" (6 minutes) Eight deleted scenes, including how Han got into the Imperial Infantry in the first place.I have such a good time watching this prequel!Happy Reader

Awesome movie

Loved the story, and great Star Wars movie

I'll admit that when this first came out a badmouthed this movie quite a bit. Like really? Did we need to know more about Han Solo? How could anyone come close to Harrison Ford? Why can't we get an original star wars story that has nothing to do with the old movies?However, now that it's been a while and my original outrage is over, I saw it again and actually--it's not bad. It's actually a pretty fun movie. The actors playing Han and Lando nail the performance, the cast overall is pretty top notch, and the story is pretty fun, suspenseful, and interesting.I hope they make a sequel or tv show out of it because I'd like to see these characters continue to grow. I'd like to see Han Solo transform into a more cynical, sarcastic, and jaded character. I'd like to see the the Hutt gang grow and rub shoulders with the other cartels.TLDR: It's funny, has great action, great acting, great casting, and a pretty good star wars feel to it. Highly recommend.

Introduces several iconic characters from the original "chapter 4" storyThis movie introduces several characters of the original Star Wars movie released in 1977. Where they came from and how they evolved into the people we met in the original three movies. It's exciting, has great special effects and has a good, easy to follow storyline. The music is unique to the first part of the movie, gradually edging its way to the beloved theme now known worldwide. I don't believe the advertising fairly indicated that this was the storys premise which generated a lot of negative buzz from people with their own ideas of "what it should've been." But for myself, as a soul who stood in the 3-hr lines with friends to see it in Los Angeles in 1977 - it was great! It was exciting! And the casting of these well known and much loved characters as their fledgling selves by a new generation of actors was fantastic! It's a wholly enjoyable movie if you open your mind to experiencing it for what it is - our heroes origins story.