On this episode of The World’s Best Podcast, I finally review the much debated new Star Wars film , Solo: A Star Wars Story! Unfortunately, I also forgot to introduce myself at the start of the show! So… I’m Paul Wright! Look, this isn’t easy, ok?!
Ive also included some cool promo images from the movie for your viewing pleasure.
I do get into SPOILER territory later in the episode, but I give my spoiler free thoughts on the movie ear Lin the episode. Here you can get my take on the film and inside info on the making of Solo: A Star Wars Story, as well background on characters and mythology you can’t find anywhere else! I do go into SPOILERS, so beware! The World’s Best Podcast is available on iTunes, Stitcher, The Boston Podcast Network pod617.com ,and here on Spreaker. Enjoy!
This is long overdue, but take a look at my video commentary for the most recent trailer for Solo: A Star Wars Story. This is the first time I’ve done something like this with video, so please give me feedback and let me know if you’d like to see more of this kind of thing. Anyway, take a look,! Enjoy!
Paul did a podcast a week or so ago that covered the show Star Wars: Rebels, and out of curiosity, I began watching it with my son. We’re hooked. I like the fact that it’s a legitimately great entry into the Star Wars saga, and my son loved that there were half a dozen Wookies (or as he calls them “Bacca!”) and he also loves that there are lots of “Star Wars” which is what he calls the stormtroopers. I’m starting him off young if you can’t tell.
So we’re hooked, but I’ve also been looking into Star Wars animation, since I had also heard that Clone Wars was a good show, and in the process, I found out that there is a lot of speculation that the next series will be Star Wars: Resistance. This hasn’t been confirmed but apparently Lucasfilm and Disney have been getting the trademarks in order.
Now, I haven’t made it through the entirety of Rebels, and I will dive into Clone Wars when I’m done (I know it’s backwards but I don’t care, I saw Return of the Jedi first as a kid, and honestly it didn’t ruin anything for me). I also recently read an article about how Disney with their television programming has a tendency to shut shows down, regardless of success with in about 65 episodes. Rebels runs for 69, but many adhere to the 65 rule. While this might be irritating for some, I think it may actually be good with Star Wars, because if we get multiple series, that might be a great way of doing things. So I’m ok with this idea of 65ish episodes.
If the next show is Star Wars: Resistance, I have some specific things that I want to see. First, I want this to take place between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens, it could be right in the middle, or leaning toward either one, but I really don’t want there to be much overlap with Force Awakens. There are supposed to be roughly 30 years between the two films, and I don’t want this to just be the lead up to Force Awakens.
I’m interested in seeing the creation of The First Order. There must be a power vacuum created in the wake of Return of the Jedi, and with both those loyal to the Empire, and the Rebels wanting to recreate the Republic, there must be a lot of story that happens within that power struggle, and arguably it could be more interesting than much of what we’ve seen. One of the things that I love about Rebels, is that we’re getting to see a group of 5 rebels take on Ezra, and then become a part of a larger rebellion faction which then begins recruiting and forming the alliance. Meanwhile, we’re seeing the Empire slowly complete their destruction of the Republic and its remnants. Seeing both sides regrouping and seeing the Rebels trying to take more control from the crumbling Empire, while the Empire loyalists try to find their own new structure could provide some great storylines along with the ‘scrappy’ type of action that the originals, and now Rebels provide us.
I don’t really want to see much of Poe, Rey, or Finn in this show. I love those characters, and sure Poe has something of a background in the Resistance, and Finn goes through stormtrooper training, but ultimately, I want any interaction with the younger versions of them to be cameo or Easter Egg level.
I’m somewhat interested in Kylo and the Knights of Ren, but I think perhaps that should be in its own series, something based on Luke training new Jedi or something, but it seems to be somewhat separated from the action of the Resistance.
This show however, could provide some of the answers that people are wanting that haven’t necessarily been necessary answers. We could see who Snoke is, and fill him in more, we could see more about Hux, and I’d be ok with those explorations as long as they’re not the main focus. What I really want to see though, is new characters. These wars span the course of 90ish years so far, and an entire Galaxy, and so I want to see more of the people who are also giving it their all, but aren’t necessarily connected, or not deeply connected to the Skywalkers.
I am sure that now that I have started down the rabbit hole of the Star Wars animated universe, that I will likely be along for the entire ride, so I’m not saying I won’t watch if they don’t do it the way I necessarily want, but that is ultimately what I do want to see.
Well, for better or for worse here it is the full teaser trailer for Solo: A Star Wars Story. As I’ve said before I must admit it does look cool, but a good trailer doesn’t equal a good movie. We’ll just have to wait and see.
This week on “The World’s Best Podcast with Paul & Tim”, we present Part Two of our monumental episode looking back at the Best and Worst, Films , TV shows, Comics, and more of 2017! In Part One we mostly talked about the best and worst TV shows we’d seen over the past year (with a little bit of talk about movies). In Part Two, we shift focus to our favorite and our most disappointing movies of 2017. Plus, towards the end of the episode I cover some of the big comic book news of the year and list a few of my favorite graphic novels! So, definitely check it out. It’s a great episode. Listen here or subscribe on iTunes:
So here it is, our final entry in our look back at the epic Star Wars saga. Thank you so much for reading and supporting this series of articles. Everyone involved has had a blast doing it and we hope to do something similar in the future. I also want to personally thank the writers who contributed to the series. Thank you, guys! You all did a great job. Now all that’s left is to see the new movie! I know I have my tickets to Star Wars Episode VIII The Last Jedi! May The Force Be With You…
-Paul
Star Wars Episode VII The Force Awakens Written by Paul Wright
We never thought it would happen. A promise 40 years in the making. The fabled final 3rd act in an epic 9 part Saga. We knew that Anakin and The Republic’s story in the prequels would ultimately, inevitably end in tragedy. Now a new, uncharted story awaited us…
I don’t remember when I realized “This is really going to happen. We are getting the final 3 films.”. As I’ve always said seeing Star Wars films have always been deeply personal experiences for me and I was thrilled that as I entered a new chapter in my own life that I’d get to share in The Star War Saga with my friends and family once again. They thrilled me as a kid with the re-released Special Editions, The Prequels illicit many fond memories from my high school and college years, but now I’d get to experience the Saga as an adult. It’s a great feeling.
I do remember the excitement leading up to The Force Awakens. I remember that first incredible teaser released over a year before the film opened. Man, if there’s one thing Star Wars is incredible at, it’s the art of teaser trailers: Andy Serkis’ voice over. A panicked looking stormtrooper, a droid shaped like a ball, a girl on a big speeder, and of course a snow cover landscape with a dark figure unsheathing a red lightsaber with a cross guard. Then… BOOM The Millenium Falcon being chased by tie fighters. The trailer said “Here’s something new, but it’s continuing the story you love.” The idea of watching the fall of the Jedi and Anakin Skywalker’s decent into Vader was interesting (at least on paper). But there were a lot of questions left unanswered after Return of The Jedi and all our key characters were still in play. Finally we’d see that story.
As soon as I heard J.J. Abrams was the director, I knew we were in good hands. I remember him being interviewed for his first Star Trek movie and saying that he wasn’t a Star Trek fan, but Star Wars was why he became a film maker. In fact, if you look back on almost all of his work, he constantly brings up Star Wars as his reason for being a film maker. Personally, I think he did a hell of a job. The worst thing that could have happened would have been if The Force Awakens was… fine. Just a movie, just OK. Terrible is better than “OK” in a strange way. But he didn’t do that, he made a Star Wars film and one of the great Star Wars films at that. Yes the film has it’s flaws, but the movie is exactly what it needs to: a great start to a new trilogy.
What makes this movie work so well is its characters, both new and old. We all fell in love with Rey and Finn. Poe was cool enough, we’d see more from him in subsequent films. Kylo Ren gave us another truly great Star Wars villain. Everyone’s favorite Princess was now General Organa. In hindsight, I like what they did with Luke, it gave us that much more anticipation for the next Episode without being a true cliffhanger. But the man who stole the show was the smuggler who made The Kessel Run in 12 Parsecs…
There are so many things I could bring up and analyze with this film, but today I’m going to focus on one aspect a little more than the others: The Solo family (mainly Han and Kylo Ren AKA Ben Solo.
One of my favorite parts of this film is how Han Solo is portrayed and especially how Harrison Ford plays him. It’s been no secret that Ford has no great love for the Star Wars franchise. I was surprised he agreed to do The Force Awakens, but I think it was a great idea for Ford as an actor. He’s alive in this character and in this film in a way we hadn’t seen him in far too long. It was like, Holy shit, Harrison Ford… its good to have you back. This was not the Han Solo of the Original Trilogy. The thirty years had changed him, this was a man with more depth and perspective than the cowboy smuggler we new and loved. But the cowboy smuggler was still there.
This films biggest weakness is it’s plot. As so many other have said, when it comes to the story, it might as well be a remake of A New Hope. But in one of my favorite scenes of the film, when Han, Chewie, Finn, and Rey are on The Millenum Falcon, that “weakness” actually helps the movie to give us one hell of a great character moment:
Han Solo: This map’s not complete. It’s just a piece. Ever since Luke disappeared, people have been looking for him.
Rey: Why did he leave?
Han Solo: He was training a new generation of Jedi. One boy, an apprentice, turned against him, destroyed it all. Luke felt responsible. He just walked away from everything.
Finn: Do you know what happened to him?
Han Solo: A lot of rumors. Stories. People that knew him best think he went looking for the first Jedi temple.
Rey: The Jedi were real?
Han Solo: I used to wonder about that myself. Thought it was a bunch of mumbo-jumbo. A magical power holding together good and evil, the dark side and the light. Crazy thing is… it’s true. The Force. The Jedi… All of it… It’s all true.
What’s wonderful about this scene is that it brings Han’s story full circle. 40 years ago he stood in almost the same spot and called The Force bullshit to Ben Kenobi. Which gives me the perfect opportunity to point out how significant it was that Han and Leia chose to name their son Ben. This goes back to that new depth to Han that I spoke about before. I think that naming his son Ben was almost certainly Han’s idea, not Leia’s. Leia knew him more as the fabled General Obi-Wan Kenobi The Jedi warrior who fought in The Clones Wars, Han was the one who knew him as Ben in the short time they spent in each other’s lives. This tells the audience that the massive impact Old Ben Kenobi had on his life, was not lost on Han. This old man who Han dismissed as a fool set Han on the path that would define him. The path that led him to everything in his life that mattered. They spend such little time on screen together that fans forget how important Han Solo meeting Obi-Wan Kenobi was. But Han didn’t forget.
Ben Solo AKA Kylo Ren played brilliantly by Adam Driver has the potential to be one of the most complicated, interesting, and best characters in the Saga. As far as I’m concerned he’s already great. But depending on where the story takes him, by the end of the trilogy, he could become iconic. I always felt like this was how Anakin should have been portrayed in the prequels. What made Kylo Ren unique was his struggle not with the dark side, but with his better nature.
That was take on a dark force user that we hadn’t seen before. He saw the light as something tempting him off his path, where the dark side was so easy to slip onto for so many others.
I knew Harrison Ford would die in this movie the second I’d heard he signed on. There was no way he was going to stick around for two more films (they’re lucky they got him for this one). So I knew walking into the theatre, that’d we’d probably be saying goodbye to one of the most beloved characters in cinematic history.
As death’s of legendary characters go, it’s fine I suppose. Killed by his son and falling into an abyss. I still don’t know if Ben Solo intended to kill his father no matter. Had Ben Solo known what he was going to as soon as Han stepped onto that catwalk. Was Han getting through to him or was this the only way that confrontation could play put? I think there was doubt there in Ben Solo. The Dark and The Light inside of him pushing and pulling. Who knows? Unfortunately we all know the choice he makes…
Will he find some sort of redemption like his grandfather did? Does he even deserve redemption?
In the end, what makes The Force Awakens a great chapter in the Star Wars Saga is the magic. It manages to tap into the moments of wonder, the excellent characters, and excitement that make a great Star Wars movie. The stage has been set for Episode VIII. I hope The Last Jedi is The Empire Strikes Back of the new trilogy. All I know is that I can’t wait to visit this world and these characters again.
May The Force Be With You…
(To my female readers.. I’m sorry. I couldn’t help it)
It’s Paul, today we have the next piece of our series of articles looking back at The Star Wars Saga with Episode V The Empire Strikes Back. Our guest writer today is Marc Rodolfo who is a Incredible wordsmith. He’ll also be writing our Return of The Jedi article which I’m excited for you guys to read, (it’s one of my favorites from the entire series of articles). Without further ado, please enjoy our article on arguably the best Star Wars film: The Empire Strikes Back…
Star Wars Episode V The Empire Strikes Back Written by Marc Rodolfo
The Darkside of Dagobah: Reflecting on The Empire Strikes Back
Empire…Empire…Man…If you tell me that A New Hope truly made you a Star Wars fan, I simply, and unequivocally, don’t believe you. And I mean, a true fan. I’m sure you liked A New Hope. I am sure you thought it fun and interesting and if pressed you may even admit you WERE a fan. However, it was Empire that truly made you a fan. Empire that turned you from a fair-weather Storm Trooper (puns!) to a Darkside lovin’ Darth Vader. This is how it was for me and for the purposes of this article, for you too.
What follows is a piece written with an unmitigated love for the best Star Wars film ever…and yes, I am going to be THAT stubborn and say it will be better than Episode VIII and Episode IX and any A Star Wars Story movie that is bestowed upon us in the future. Because this is Empire and Empire changed the essence of Star Wars. Empire took a franchise that was supposedly created for the enjoyment of children and made it for everyone.
It’s funny, I don’t really have a nostalgic story for Empire like I do for A New Hope and, as you will see in the next article, for Return of the Jedi. All I truly remember is that I went to the movie theater and I saw the movie. I don’t remember who I was with. I don’t remember if it was at the old General Cinema in Shopper’s World or the new AMC “A Lesson in Excess” Theater. I don’t remember the trailers or the ticket. I don’t remember if I got popcorn or soda. I don’t remember anything except for the movie. All that mattered was Empire. Yes, once the auditorium lights dimmed and the excited voices drifted off into soft murmurs and then to silence and the opening crawl accompanied that oh-so-familiar theme, I was back: enraptured in a universe that the previous chapter didn’t quite prepare me for…
And as the opening preamble drifted upwards and the camera panned down towards this new planet, the hushed silence of the theater began to echo the icy azure aerospace of Hoth. Soon though the silence would be broken by a roar, a flash of a lightsaber, mumblings about someone called Yoda, and the incoming Imperial onslaught of the AT-ATs. Those AT-ATs…I mean, the Death Star was huge, sure, but it never really gave a menacing presence. It was just a giant steel ball after all; a “small moon.” But these new machines, these new tanks, looked like giant mechanical camels or elephants or something and slowly, they stalked towards their tiny prey, not unlike a monster in a slasher flick.
And then, we got Vader. The last we saw of him he was spinning away into the eternal blackness of space. But now he was back, on the ground, and cutting rebels down left and right. Sounds of lasers, explosions, and the whirring of a red lightsaber pervaded the once tranquil theater. We were all on the edge.
Empire started with a bang and continued throughout with more and more revelations: “I am your father!” (Notice he didn’t say Luke first?) Force ghosts. Removable hands. Immovable Hans. Betrayals and backstabbing. Cities in the clouds. And an ending…an ending that tipped us over that edge.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Yoda. But let’s face it-Yoda was a risk. In a complete tonal shift from the maturity of the movie, we got a seemingly goofy puppet with a weird backward voice. We all complain about Jar-Jar, but if Yoda wasn’t putting us on and pulling a fast one, he would have made no sense in that movie. Luckily for us, it was a ruse; it was a test for Luke to see if he had the patience to start his training. It was then that Yoda quickly went from just another Star Wars muppet, to the wizened Jedi Master we know today. It was from Yoda we learned the true extent of what “the force” was capable.
More than a “bad feeling about this” (a cliche that is uttered over ten times throughout the movies and is even mocked in Rogue One), more than intuition, more than mental connections, the force was a strength that awed even the most skeptical of us (Han Solo-lookin’ at you). It was Yoda that made us all, and I’m admitting it, actually try to move things with our minds. Yoda who taught us even the smallest of us can have strength and power as well as wisdom. Yoda that taught us the path to becoming a Jedi was found in patience and virtue. Yes, our little Buddhist monk quickly became a fan favorite.
The Empire Strikes Back is one of those rare near perfect films. It brings back old characters and introduces new ones that quickly became fan favorites. It is the movie that cemented the Star Wars fandom and expanded it from a somewhat claustrophobic space opera (Episode IV was really only Tatooine and the Death Star) to a vast open wide space epic. From tundra to jungle and cave, from space to cloud and sky, each of Empire’s set pieces is as epic as the next and each moment is as memorable as the last. It is the Star Wars movie that created a universe.
Hey everyone,
Here’s the next in our series of articles looking back at the Star Wars Saga. Today we look back at the one, the only, the ORIGINAL, STAR WARS EPISODE IV A NEW HOPE. This excellent article is written by our very own Ryan McDonald and it is not to be missed. With respect to all of my other fantastic writers, I think this may be my favorite article in our Star Wars series. Enjoy!
-Paul
Star Wars EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE written by Ryan McDonald
Unfortunately, I can’t remember the first time I saw Star Wars, (I can remember the copied VHS tape I had) but I really can’t remember the exact moment I saw it. I feel ashamed being as Tim called me in his Phantom Menace article, a “Star Wars Guy”. I wish I had some great “blown away” story about seeing it as a kid and it changing my life forever. What I can always remember though is, how it felt, or should I say how Star Wars makes me feel. Having watched Episodes I to VI in a single day (ladies, I’ll post my phone number in the comments) I know if someone had never seen a single Star Wars movie, I would definitely have them start with Star Wars Episode IV New Hope. A New Hope has a timeless quality to it that makes it feel brand new every time I see it and I keep getting sucked down the rabbit hole again and again every time I watch the movie.
I think what gives the movie this unique quality is how you’re just immediately thrown into this world. Most movies that take a place in a fictional universe tend to take up a lot of screen time, or even whole movies, setting up the history of the world before they can tell story they actually want to tell. I think George Lucas brilliantly began the Star Wars saga in medias res, with what would later learn was the fourth movie, right in the middle of a chaotic shoot-out between the Rebels and the Imperial army. He has you follow C-3PO and R2-D2, two seemingly unimportant characters as they escape from this conflict, unintentionally find Luke Skywalker and along the way uncover Princess Leia’s secret mission for R2 to find the mythic Obi-Wan Kenobi, thus our first steps into this larger world.
Let’s highlight Princess Leia Organa for a minute here. In my opinion she’s truly the first female bad-ass in science fiction movies. One moment I absolutely fucking love, is when one of the imperial Stormtroopers finds her during the aforementioned shoot-out and says “there’s one, set for stun” like she’s just some defenseless little thing who poses no threat, so I’ll just stun her and BOOM she just blows him away. She seems to have this stigma of being a damsel-in-distress. Yes, the fact that she did have to be rescued and the “help me Obi-Wan Kenobi” message doesn’t really help my case here. I love that she was hurling insults as Darth Vader and Grand Moff Tarkin took her prisoner, tortured her and eventually blew up her home planet. She would later go on in the trilogy to have some truly great moments, like killing the Al Capone of the Star Wars universe, Jabba the Hutt. Princess Leia was a trailblazer in film. I think future sci-fi heroines like Ellen Ripley or Sarah Connor owe Leia some kind of gratitude or at least their creators do.
Leia’s rescuers are our two heroes, Luke Skywalker and Han Solo. Han was what every fan wanted to be, smooth, all the best lines, coolest ship and he had the best partner-in-crime ever, Chewbacca. Luke was who every fan actually was, the kid stuck in a rut, longing for more. Luke gazing off into the binary sunset on Tatooine with John Williams’ music doing what it does best is the epitome of that Star Wars feeling for me. I whole heartedly believe that a huge part of the success of these films is the Incredible music of John Williams. He’s carved out some of the best themes in movie history, but his music for the Star Wars Saga, is the playbook on how to score anything. Literally every character, moment and scene has some kind of musical acknowledgement. They never felt repetitive or feel copied and pasted from one scene to another, they just felt right. Williams is so fucking good he even makes the background music in the Cantina bar scene memorable.
Speaking of the Cantina, let’s talk about something I never saw before in any sci-fi movie, a dive bar. Filled with every awful looking creature you can think of: yeti-thing, thirsty-rat, butt-face, satan-guy etc. they’re all just hanging out, drinking like regulars you would see at any dive.
One of these scumbags makes the fatal mistake of messing with Luke and attacking old Ben Kenobi resulting in Ben cutting its fucking arm off. The band stops playing and all the patrons are just staring at Ben, Luke and the severed arm on the floor, only to immediately go back to what they were doing, the band continues to play, not giving the slightest shit, CLASSIC DIVE BAR, I love this place.
I obviously can’t talk about A New Hope without mentioning is main antagonist, the one, the only Darth Vader. Without the influence of the prequels, we only knew Vader as the half man/half machine Imperial Commander, who could strangle people with his mind and stuck to his belief in the long forgotten Force. To me, Vader is at his coldest in this installment, strictly business, trying to locate that damn Rebel Base. The only tiny crack we see in his armor is when he sees Obi-Wan for the first time in very a long time. What I love is just how much I felt their history, in the way these two characters felt each other’s presence in this moment. I love how the shot lingers on Old Ben as he walks down the quiet Death Star corridor then comes to a slow stop. We see Vader standing there with his lightsaber drawn, just waiting for him and of course, that breathing.
Their duel that follows is barely a duel really and I don’t think it was meant to be either. Their dialogue during this scene is almost unnecessary; the sound of the lightsabers, Obi- Wan’s facial expressions, Darth Vader’s body movements and the lack of music does it all, you know shit just got real.
Obi Wan sees Luke and the gang escaping, that stirring force theme whispers its way into the foreground again, he holds his lightsaber up to his face, closes his eyes in moment of Zen and Vader takes him down. I remember being full-on panicked when Old Ben died “what the fuck are they gonna do now?”
A New Hope’s final act is Luke in his X-Wing with his fellow Rebel pilots, against Darth Vader and his TIE Fighters in a dog fight along the crevice of the Death Star. Han, who bailed earlier, shows up just in time to knock Vader out of the fight and give Luke a clear path to destroy the Death Star, stopping the Empire…for now.
When I saw the Death Star explode in theatres during the 1997 Special Edition re-release, I think the entire audience reacted as if something had actually blown up inside the theatre, everyone screamed and immediately began laughing and clapping when the scene ended.
The movie of course ends with a medal ceremony for Luke and Han (not for Chewbacca though? I call bullshit) bestowed upon them by Leia and the Rebel alliance leaders. The recipients turn and face the audience as they are applauded to one final reprise of the Star Wars theme and cut to stars in space…and cut to me buying hundreds of toys, making friends who also love these movies, seeing every episode after with these friends and feeling it every time.
Han Solo: A Star Wars story, the stand alone Han Solo origin movie that no one asked for has lost it’s directors, Christopher Lord & Phil Miller, the directing team that gave us The Lego Movie, 21 and 22 Jump Street, have left the film because of the classic bullshit Hollywood excuse “creative differences”. (Which in this case seems to mean they were fired).
When the term “creative differences” is used in Hollywood, it basically means some bad shit was going down. It’s blanket term used when things are going badly on a project, but they don’t want to make specific people look bad. So “creative differences” could mean anything from the directors constantly throwing their feces at crew members to the movie being a piece of hot garbage and the studio has to make a desperate attempt to salvage their massively expensive tent pole film. Kathleen Kennedy, the head of Lucasfilm was the one to make this call and this woman knows what she’s doing. She started her career working with Spielberg on Raiders of the Lost Ark and has since been part of many of the most successful films ever made.
But Lord and Miller did The Lego Movie with that stupid fucking song everyone loves!
(to the tune of “Everything Is Awesome”)
“EVERYTHING IS SHITTYYYYYYYY!
EVERYTHING BLOWS WHEN YOUR MOVIE SUCKS!”
However, on rare occasions, “creative differences” means “creative differences”. That means that there’s a creative aspect of the film, be it story, character, or something else that the film makers and studio disagree on, but won’t come to a middle ground about. Movie studios finance these projects and can get nervous when film makers do things creatively that they consider risky. At which point the film maker either quits or is fired by the studio. Then, with the world watching, studio tries to make gold out of diarrhea.
This case is especially bad because “Han Solo: A Star Wars Story” (or whatever the fuck they’re calling it) has been filming since February which mean a good chunk of this film has been shot. This type of thing usually happens before filming starts or at the very beginning. Even after a film is completed a movie studio may bring someone else in to the editing room to put the finishing touches on a movie they think needs work.
Now the studio needs to find a director that they think can right this metaphorical ship. Unfortunately, it’s pretty much a done deal that it’s gonna be Ron Howard.
I wrote a previous article for this site was basically praising Star Wars as my personal religion. I never thought I’d actively be rooting against a Star Wars film. But I fucking HATE Ron Howard as a film maker. I think he’s an overrated hack who has made some of my most loathed films. (I’d rather get one of my nuts torn off than have to sit through his fucking Grinch movie with Jim Carrey again)
Having said that, I’m torn by this news. On the one hand I love the Star Wars Universe with all my heart and I don’t want to see it take a step backward. On the other hand, I hated the whole idea of this movie. As soon as it was rumored to be one of the stand alone Star Wars movies.
I have strong feelings why I feel doing a Han Solo prequel movie in particular is a bad idea. But first I want to talk about some of the other parts of the Star Wars Universe that could have been better places to draw stories from than a …(sigh) Han Solo prequel movie.
When the stand alone Star Wars movies were announced I thought it was great storytelling opportunity. Star Wars has a massive mythology outside of the Skywalker family saga, even if they completely ignore the Expanded Universe content (Star Wars books, comics, video games , ect.).
But The Expanded Universe still has some excellent material to mine. The comics in particular are really special. They began to publish fantastic in continuity Star Wars comics, telling stories that took place between “A New Hope” and “The Empire Strikes Back”. Issue #6 of the flagship book “Star Wars”, written by Jason Aaron and drawn by John Cassaday, ends on a key scene that is incredibly important to the overall Saga (especially The Original Trilogy) that we never actually see in the films. It’s relatively simple scene that is a perfect mix of art and dialogue. Shortly after the destruction of the original Death Star, Vader hired Boba Fett to capture the pilot who destroyed the deadly space station. He couldn’t capture him, but he doesn’t come to Vader empty handed. Keep in mind, at this point Vader thinks his children died with his wife.Check it out:
That was an exceptionally well done sequence.
There’s so much more that this universe has to offer that most people haven’t seen. There’s the excellent Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars: Rebels Animated series’. The Clone Wars chronicles the period between Episodes II & III. Currently Star Wars Rebels which is about to enter its final season in the fall, chronicles the rise of The Rebellion shortly before Episode IV. Both of these are phenomenal shows, don’t let the fact that they are animated turn you off. There are new characters that are just as compelling as some of the characters from the films and they also have the opportunity to further flesh out some of the relationships we see in the movies. Here’s an incredible scene from Rebels, we see the sad, beautiful, decades in the making final confrontation between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Maul:
Another great example of the larger Star Wars Universe is Grand Admiral Thrawn, a fan-favorite Imperial villain from Timothy Zahn’s series of novels. Now he’s been introduced as a major villain in Star Wars Rebels. There are plenty of in continuity books, TV shows, and comics that are cannon that could be used in films.
Which is my whole point! why the fuck would you limit yourself to a shitty Han Solo prequel (why the fuck do these Hollywood assholes think we love prequels?). As usual they make the most predictable, “safe” (on paper), bullshit decision possible and do a Han Solo prequel movie. It’s especially disappointing coming from somebody as intelligent as Kathleen Kennedy at head of Lucasfilm, who’s someone I’d normally have a lot of faith in. Now besides the shit show they currently dealing with behind the scenes, here’s why a Han Solo prequel film was a dog piss idea in the first place…
I’ve always felt one of the biggest reasons this project wouldn’t work in the same way other prequels do is the fact that we associate Han Solo with Harrison Ford so much. Batman, James Bond, these are characters that were adapted from other mediums. I think recasting Han Solo is more of a slap in the face to fans is because Harrison Ford created that character as we see him on screen. This wasn’t an interpretation of a property that already existed in another medium or had been played by a different actor in a different film. George Lucas is famous for not being an actor’s director; he doesn’t give actors a lot of nuanced notes on performance. It’s safe to say that in many ways Harrison Ford helped create the character of Han Solo. All of the little moments, ticks, and nuances that we love about Han Solo all come out of Harrison Ford. There’s no source material for whatever asshole they got to play young Han Solo to refer to. It’s all Harrison Ford. Which is why at best this would just be some kid doing a Harrison Ford impression. If that’s the case, what’s the fucking point of making the movie at all? This is why it shouldn’t be touched.
This is the kid playing Han Solo:
There’s another issues with doing a Han Solo prequel film that I haven’t heard anyone mention yet. Han Solo is an outlaw and a pirate (Like Jack Sparrow when he was still cool and not just creepy). Giving Han Solo a film that fills in all the blanks takes a bit of mystique away from the character. Some mystery for a roguish character like Han is part of his appeal.
There’s an old saying that audiences don’t really know what they want, even if they think they do. We may think we want to see Han meet Chewie and Lando and win the Millennium Falcon in a game of Sabbac, but sometimes things are better left to the imagination. (That’s right, I know the name of the fictional card game played in the Star Wars universe. Winner!)
Personally, I felt if they had to do a prequel movie starring a character that we already know it should be an Obi-Wan Kenobi movie. Ewan McGregor has said multiple times that he would love to play the character again. Tell a story that takes place between Episodes III and Episode IV. What was he up to on Tatooine for 20 years? Maybe he decided to break those pointless fucking celibacy vows the Jedi had for some reason? Maybe 50 years later he’s got a hot granddaughter running around the galaxy? Who knows? I swear I had this idea before the comics did, but in the main Star Wars comic written by Jason Aaron, every now and then Luke will read Obi-Wan’s Journal and we get a flashback to one on his adventures during his time on Tantooine. These issues are always fun and they show that Kenobi wasn’t just sweating his ass off in that fucking hut for 20 years.
They could tell a western style adventure with Obi-Wan trying to stay in hiding, but maybe he keeps seeing The Hutts or some other alien gangsters harassing simple moisture farmers around him. Finally, he’s reluctantly forced to do something about it. That’s just off the top of my head! I’d see the fuck out of that movie! Maybe he runs into another surviving Jedi, those guys are all running around the galaxy left and right. The Empire certainly didn’t get all of them. Also, we don’t have actor recasting issues like we have with Harrison Ford because Obi-Wan has already been played by multiple actors.
The positive side is that Lucasfilm and Kathleen Kennedy know what they’re doing and I have more faith in them then the guys who did the fucking Lego Movie. I know I’m gonna get shit for this, but I absolutely fucking HATE the Lego movie trend. Fuck The Lego Movie. Fuck The Lego Batman Movie. Just…Fuck Off.
The Force Awakens was far from perfect but it was a great movie. I have a lot less love for Rogue One, but there is greatness in that film. The “Vader Scene” (you know what I’m talking about) was one of the best scenes in the saga. The new Expanded Universe is excellent. Star Wars Rebels is one of my favorite shows and occasionally manages to outdo the films in shear thrilling, emotional, spectacle.
At the end of the day, Star Wars, Lucasfilm, and Disney will be just fine. It does suck however to see a chink in their creative armor. Since Lucasfilm was acquired by Disney they just kept cranking out solid fucking content. They went about building their universe in a smart, fun, and well thought out way. They decided what would be cannon and what wouldn’t and went to work. Movies, TV shows, books, comic books. They haven’t made a misstep yet so this is their first major hiccup. But let’s be honest even if this is a total disaster in every way, shape, or form, this is not going to hurt the Star Wars brand in the long run.
Who knows? Maybe I’m wrong and the studio brought Ron Howard (UPDATE: They did. Ron Howard is officially directing Young Han Solo). I hope he crushes it. I hate most of his movies and think he’s a MASSIVELY overrated director, but I did love Cinderella Man. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see the color and consistency of the shit they spray all over the movie screen.
Also keep an eye out for the new episode of “The World’s Best Podcast with Paul & Tim” where Tim and I will be discussing the season 2 premiere of Preacher on AMC. It’s gonna be really fucking good…probably.
I do get into SPOILER territory later in the episode, but I give my spoiler free thoughts on the movie ear Lin the episode. Here you can get my take on the film and inside info on the making of Solo: A Star Wars Story, as well background on characters and mythology you can’t find anywhere else! I do go into SPOILERS, so beware! The World’s Best Podcast is available on iTunes, Stitcher, The Boston Podcast Network pod617.com ,and here on Spreaker. Enjoy!
Speaking of the Cantina, let’s talk about something I never saw before in any sci-fi movie, a dive bar. Filled with every awful looking creature you can think of: yeti-thing, thirsty-rat, butt-face, satan-guy etc. they’re all just hanging out, drinking like regulars you would see at any dive.
World’s Best Media 