Official Synopsis for Solo: A Star Wars Story Revealed

[Graham Kennedy]

So I saw it today, here's how I did...

Since this seems a spoilerrific thread, I won't spoiler this. So read on at your own risk.


I predicted...

1) Solo will meet Chewie.

Yep. Nailed it. But it was obvious that he would.

2) Solo will win the Falcon from Lando in a gambling game. (It won't be in a high-end casino with a rebel looking on disapprovingly though.)

Again, nailed it. Again, an obvious one.

3) The Falcon will be a much nicer looking version of itself, newer, fresher and cleaner both outside and in. There may be some attempt to explain why it is so fast - Lando spent a fortune pimping out the engines or something.

Pretty much nailed this too, it is indeed nice and shiny. I don't recall much mention of Lando pimping it out to be super fast... I think there's some mention of it, but I'd have to watch again.

4) Solo will outrun an Imperial starship. Not a local bulk cruiser mind you, I'm talking about a big Corellian ship now.

Newp.

5) Somebody will mention the Force to Solo, and he will express ignorance of and disbelief in it. There will be an attempt to handwave this away by implying that the Empire wiped all the official records of the Jedi and tried to erase them from history or something.

Newp.

6) Solo will perform the Kessel run in twelve parsecs. I predict this will be a major set-piece of the movie, possibly even the central event of the whole film. It will involve some brave but ultimately futile attempt to explain why parsecs are used as a unit or time, or to pretend that it wasn't used as a unit of time at all. Probably different from that weird black hole one.

Boo-ya! They kind of did include the black hole thing, with them encountering a gravity well in the cloud thing. It amused me that in an attempt to retcon a simple science mistake they made a scientifically abused nonsensical sequence. But it was fun, I admit.

Also pretty obvious though.

7) Solo will become a smuggler. He'll maybe start off trying to be an honest businessman, but then will be forced by events to smuggle something. Then he'll go, "Hmmmm, this smuggling thing could be profitable..."

No, he's pretty much a criminal type all along.

8) Solo will be a rogue, but with goodness on the inside. He will never do anything truly bad. (He will not shoot at anybody first.) He may well go to do something bad, then change his mind at the last second. This would make having that same arc in ANH kind of weird and redundant, but the makers will not care about that.

Kinda, kinda not. Yes, Han is a criminal type. But yes, he does have a heart of gold - hell, he gives up his big score to kick-start the rebellion! Which makes something of a nonsense of his character arc in the original movie, actually.

Still, he does have a "shot first" moment. In fact that script practically screams in your face "SEE! HE SHOOTS FIRST! BECAUSE WHY WOULDN'T HE!!!!!!"

9) Solo will have some contact with the first inklings of the rebellion, and will dismiss them as having no way to win.

I'm calling this a win - he actually kick starts the entire rebellion! But he does indeed decline to become involved with them himself.

10) Solo will end the film on Tattooine.

Almost! He ends the film on the way there.

11) In fact Solo will end the film in Mos Eisley, and visit the bar from ANH.

Newp.

12) Solo will meet Jabba and start working for him.

Newp. But again, that's why he is on the way there.



So... I did reasonably well, I thought. That said, my hits were the more obvious ones, my misses were the less obvious. So I don't claim any great kudos.

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

I see it the Monday after next. I am... cautiously optimistic.

[Graham Kennedy]

I see it the Monday after next. I am... cautiously optimistic.

I guess it depends on what you're hoping for.

Ian and I both thought it was kind of underwhelming. We didn't think it was bad, as such, just kind of meh.

Personally I thought it spent way too much time referencing the original movie stuff - to the point where half the movie is "the Kessel run" and "12 parsecs". Did they really need to spend half a movie justifying a bad word choice in the original movie?

But hey, if references to the original movies are your thing, you might like it.

One sequence I did really like was the Imperial ground action we see. For all the talk of how Rogue One was "the war part of Star Wars", this sequence has it waaay beat on the horrors of war aspect. They don't dwell on it hugely, but it's grim, filthy, deadly stuff.

Anyway, let us know what you think when you do see it!

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

I see it the Monday after next. I am... cautiously optimistic.

I guess it depends on what you're hoping for.

Ian and I both thought it was kind of underwhelming. We didn't think it was bad, as such, just kind of meh.

Personally I thought it spent way too much time referencing the original movie stuff - to the point where half the movie is "the Kessel run" and "12 parsecs". Did they really need to spend half a movie justifying a bad word choice in the original movie?

But hey, if references to the original movies are your thing, you might like it.

One sequence I did really like was the Imperial ground action we see. For all the talk of how Rogue One was "the war part of Star Wars", this sequence has it waaay beat on the horrors of war aspect. They don't dwell on it hugely, but it's grim, filthy, deadly stuff.

Anyway, let us know what you think when you do see it!

I will, Graham. As for Kessel... I really wish those in charge looked at Alec Guinness' face when Han said 'Kessel Run' back in ANH and the eye roll he did. Han was bullshitting!

[Captain Picard's Hair]

I went to see it Wednesday. Well it checked off all the expected checkboxes, and it was just fun without being weighed down with too much in terms of scope. Since that's all it's supposed to be it succeeded for me.

It does go through some gymnastics to make the infamous "parsecs" comment kind of make sense, though in doing it nullifies what it means as far as pure speed

[Captain Picard's Hair]

It also sets the table for a Solo 2 sequel to explain how Han encounters, then winds up in trouble with Jabba.

[Graham Kennedy]

I went to see it Wednesday. Well it checked off all the expected checkboxes, and it was just fun without being weighed down with too much in terms of scope. Since that's all it's supposed to be it succeeded for me.

It does go through some gymnastics to make the infamous "parsecs" comment kind of make sense, though in doing it nullifies what it means as far as pure speed

Yeah, I didn't really get that. He was able to do the route in 12 parsecs because he took a shortcut. But... how is that an explanation of how fast his ship is? All that effort to explain the line, and they didn't actually explain the line?

[Nutso]

I went to see it Wednesday. Well it checked off all the expected checkboxes, and it was just fun without being weighed down with too much in terms of scope. Since that's all it's supposed to be it succeeded for me.

It does go through some gymnastics to make the infamous "parsecs" comment kind of make sense, though in doing it nullifies what it means as far as pure speed

Yeah, I didn't really get that. He was able to do the route in 12 parsecs because he took a shortcut. But... how is that an explanation of how fast his ship is? All that effort to explain the line, and they didn't actually explain the line?

And yet Lucas keeps that parsec line, but changes the movie so Han shoots second/shoots at the same time.

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

Yeah, I didn't really get that. He was able to do the route in 12 parsecs because he took a shortcut. But... how is that an explanation of how fast his ship is? All that effort to explain the line, and they didn't actually explain the line?

And yet Lucas keeps that parsec line, but changes the movie so Han shoots second/shoots at the same time.

Misplaced priorities: Special Edition!

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

Saw it this afternoon. And you know what? I really liked it. It was quite enjoyable. Good acting, great scenes. Just.... really all-around good.

[Graham Kennedy]

Saw it this afternoon. And you know what? I really liked it. It was quite enjoyable. Good acting, great scenes. Just.... really all-around good.

Check out the Red Letter Media review. Mike made his name brutalising the prequels, and they've all been pretty hard on most of the modern Star Wars movies and the modern franchise in general. Yet they gave Solo a pretty good review.

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

Saw it this afternoon. And you know what? I really liked it. It was quite enjoyable. Good acting, great scenes. Just.... really all-around good.

Check out the Red Letter Media review. Mike made his name brutalising the prequels, and they've all been pretty hard on most of the modern Star Wars movies and the modern franchise in general. Yet they gave Solo a pretty good review.

Thank you for that. And holy crap, a Red Letter media video I actually finished!