Spoilers Star Wars: Solo - Grading and Discussion Thread

[Campe]

^^^
To be fair - that whole sequence WASN'T IN the original Star Wars either. (And I'll take the original version over Lucas remastered garbage any day...YMMV> )

My mileage matches yours. This was a few days ago but if I recall I was just arguing whether spice was actually mentioned in the scene. Twas not. And I did not bring it up.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Whining over whether or not remastered sequences "count" or canon is just as ridiculous as whining and complaining over animated shows, books and comics being canon. It is what it is, whether you like it or not. (And I'm not necessarily saying that I do like it in all cases.)

 

[NinjaRaiden2005]

I personally loved Solo. Alden Ehrenreich gave a great performance as Han learning some harsh lessons as he settles into his new job. Qi'ra was a fantastic female lead with her own ambitions and survival instincts. I love Rey and Jyn, however I felt Qi'ra was a much more well rounded character. That might be to the credit of having a director like Ron Howard who can flesh out people in a short span of time. Speaking of the director, Ron Howard took a movie with such storied production problems and managed to rewrite and reshoot almost the entire thing in just about half the time as a normal film production and then have it released on time. Just the fact that it has a coherent story, wonderful cast performances, and finished visual and special effects is nothing short of a miracle and really speaks volumes about Howard's experience and professionalism in his job.

And can I just gush about the fanservice for a bit? It was quite appropriate that a movie based on the old Expanded Universe shows Mimban, the planet from the very first piece of the EU material ever made. Seeing Maul at the end was cool and voiced by Sam Witwer for extra points. By far the standout reference was Teras Kasi. As a fan of Star Wars and of fighting games I can honestly say it's one of the worst ever made for both. Jump physics of the first Virtua Fighter, poor hit detection, clipping out of the ring, and weapons that had to be drawn slowly meant it wouldn't be viewed in the same favorable eye as Tekken or Soul Calibur, but I love it for it's awfulness and the memories of renting it for my PS1 back when it first released. For giving Star Wars: Masters of Teras Kasi any kind of canonization is something that makes me like the movie even more than I do.

I'm glad I didn't believe those people online who do nothing but bash anything that doesn't fit their specific criteria of what they want to see in a movie or else I would have missed a good, fun time at the movies. Even my friend who is a more casual fan said it was a good movie with a cohesive story and good characters.

 

[Tuskin38]

Well, the game didn't create Teras Kasi, it was created for Shadows of the Empire.

It is the most infamous use of it though.

 

[Reverend]

Whining over whether or not remastered sequences "count" or canon is just as ridiculous as whining and complaining over animated shows, books and comics being canon. It is what it is, whether you like it or not. (And I'm not necessarily saying that I do like it in all cases.)

Personally I find it a little amusing how precious some fans get about the "original" version of Star Wars.
I remember an anecdote Hamill tells about having lunch with Lucas just across the street from where Star Wars was playing in it's first week and Lucas asking him to come to do some ADR work and Hamill is all like "are you nuts? The movie is already out!"
That movie was always a work in progress in Lucas's mind, right from the rough draft, all the way to when he sold the company.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Personally I find it a little amusing how precious some fans get about the "original" version of Star Wars.
I remember an anecdote Hamill tells about having lunch with Lucas just across the street from where Star Wars was playing in it's first week and Lucas asking him to come to do some ADR work and Hamill is all like "are you nuts? The movie is already out!"
That movie was always a work in progress in Lucas's mind, right from the rough draft, all the way to when he sold the company.

That reminds me, here's that YouTube video of the differences in the sound mixes for the two different versions of the original 1977 film for different sound systems, Dolby and Mono.

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The first six times I saw the film on original release, it was the mono version. That's the one that's always stuck in my head. Every single time I rewatch the film to this day, a lot of scenes feel off to me, like Beru scenes but also e.g. the klaxon on the blockade runner right out of the gate.

 

[Tuskin38]

Well they dubbed over Beru with a new actress at some point

 

[David cgc]

The first six times I saw the film on original release, it was the mono version. That's the one that's always stuck in my head. Every single time I rewatch the film to this day, a lot of scenes feel off to me, like Beru scenes but also e.g. the klaxon on the blockade runner right out of the gate.

I had the opposite problem with Adywan's fan-edit, which used the mono version of Beru's performance. So weird. (He also uses several of the more sensible alternate lines, like the "It's secure" version of when the stormtroopers are searching for the droids, which makes them sound much, much less stupid for moving on from a locked door.)

There's another post-release tweak this reminds me of. There's an extra VFX shot at the end of Empire Strikes Back that was added just after its release, IIRC, which shows where how the Falcon is plugged into the Medical Frigate a little more clearly.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

There's another post-release tweak this reminds me of. There's an extra VFX shot at the end of Empire Strikes Back that was added just after its release, IIRC, which shows where how the Falcon is plugged into the Medical Frigate a little more clearly.

I'm not familiar with that specifically. Do you have any more information on that?

 

[David cgc]

I'm not familiar with that specifically. Do you have any more information on that?

Sure. I first heard about it on the podcast Star Wars Oxygen, when David Collins mentioned that the soundtrack version of the music is different from the film because of the added shots, so I never actually saw the short version until I just looked it up. You can see the original version here. I misremembered a little; it was 70mm version that wasn't changed, and the 35 mm prints (and every subsequent release) had the additional shots. There were other differences as well, listed on Wookiepedia (though it seems to have missed this one).

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Sure. I first heard about it on the podcast Star Wars Oxygen, when David Collins mentioned that the soundtrack version of the music is different from the film because of the added shots, so I never actually saw the short version until I just looked it up. You can see the original version here. I misremembered a little; it was 70mm version that wasn't changed, and the 35 mm prints (and every subsequent release) had the additional shots. There were other differences as well, listed on Wookiepedia (though it seems to have missed this one).

Oh, yes. I know the shot you mean. I thought that might be the one. I'm certain we had only the 35mm version, so it would have been always there for me.

 

[Set Harth]

If someone had told me back in the day that Han & Chewie first met on Mimban of all places, I would have been like

 

[Reverend]

Well they dubbed over Beru with a new actress at some point

So far as I'm aware, it's the same actress, it was just done later back in London so it doesn't quite match. Also I'm pretty sure it was recorded very ad-hoc in someone's living room instead of a proper studio, which obviously complicates matters.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

So far as I'm aware, it's the same actress, it was just done later back in London so it doesn't quite match. Also I'm pretty sure it was recorded very ad-hoc in someone's living room instead of a proper studio, which obviously complicates matters.

According to Wookieepedia, the actress is the same, but it's unclear about which version uses which takes from what recording session.

British actress Shelagh Fraser was cast to play Aunt Beru in Star Wars. Fraser's first day of shooting was April 1, 1976; the shots of the Lars' charred skeletons were filmed a few days prior. When post-production on the film began, sound mixer Derek Ball traveled to Fraser's house and recorded additional dialogue.[9] In the mono soundmix of the first release of Star Wars, different takes for Beru's lines were used. All subsequent home video sound mixes use the same take that was used in the initial theatrical Dolby mixes.[10]

9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 The Making of Star Wars: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film
10. ↑ The Original First-Week Engagements Of “Star Wars”. in70mm.com. Retrieved on August 22, 2013.​

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Beru_Whitesun_Lars

 

[Reverend]

According to Wookieepedia, the actress is the same, but it's unclear about which version uses which takes from what recording session.

British actress Shelagh Fraser was cast to play Aunt Beru in Star Wars. Fraser's first day of shooting was April 1, 1976; the shots of the Lars' charred skeletons were filmed a few days prior. When post-production on the film began, sound mixer Derek Ball traveled to Fraser's house and recorded additional dialogue.[9] In the mono soundmix of the first release of Star Wars, different takes for Beru's lines were used. All subsequent home video sound mixes use the same take that was used in the initial theatrical Dolby mixes.[10]

9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 The Making of Star Wars: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film
10. ↑ The Original First-Week Engagements Of “Star Wars”. in70mm.com. Retrieved on August 22, 2013.​

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Beru_Whitesun_Lars

All I could find after a quick skim from Rinzler's book was this brief mention.

"Derek Ball, the sound man, also traveled to the home of Shelagh Fraser (Aunt Beru) to record “wild track”—lines that can be inserted anywhere when the actor is off camera."

From the context of the paragraph, this would seem to have been around June/July '76, so a fair bit after they got back from Tunisia. Also, the "wild track" bit seems to imply to me that it was probably just the "Luke! Luuuke!" lines, not the full dialogue scenes which were probably done another time in a better recording environment.

 

[Mudd]

Personally I find it a little amusing how precious some fans get about the "original" version of Star Wars.

I just don't give a fuck about any of the revised versions. It was a movie. I saw it a lot of times between 1977 and 1980. Nothing they've done to it matters at all.

Of course, knowing that his editors had to save Lucas's ass in post on the original film doesn't do much to engender any confidence or interest in his "continuing work in progress."

 

[Jedi_Master]

I'm glad I didn't believe those people online who do nothing but bash anything that doesn't fit their specific criteria of what they want to see in a movie or else I would have missed a good, fun time at the movies. Even my friend who is a more casual fan said it was a good movie with a cohesive story and good characters.

I have a feeling that this film will slowly grow on SW fans as more of them take a chance and see the film in their homes via streaming or through a purchase of a physical copy.

 

[Reverend]

Of course, knowing that his editors had to save Lucas's ass in post on the original film doesn't do much to engender any confidence or interest in his "continuing work in progress."

Not an entirely accurate characterisation of what went down.
He had to fire the editor he'd initially hired (John Jympson) for what was basically a clash of styles and working method, at a point in production when the cut should already have been well underway.
So he had to fall back on Marcia Lucas (his wife at the time and an already skilled editor), Richard Chew (who was his first choice anyway) and Paul Hirsch to recut everything from scratch. All of whom by the way worked their arses off just to catch up, but they all got what Lucas was going for and worked in close collaboration. That is as much as it was possible while Lucas was busy overseeing *every* other aspect of production, including an ILM that was even more of a disaster then the initial rough cut. Most of the budget spent on R&D and building the new equipment but hardly any shots completed. Add to that some poor communication with the set crew in regards to how best to accommodate the effects crew's work for comp shots and a terrifying number of retakes for technical errors...it's no wonder Lucas ended up in hospital around that time.

The way some fans tell it, you'd think Lucas just shot a bunch of random footage of rocks and some Halloween masks and the editors magically turned it into a masterpiece without any input from him whatsoever.

 

[Campe]

The way some fans tell it, you'd think Lucas just shot a bunch of random footage of rocks and some Halloween masks and the editors magically turned it into a masterpiece without any input from him whatsoever.

He didn't?

 

[Mudd]

Not an entirely accurate characterisation of what went down.

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