Solo: A Star Wars Story (Blu-ray/Digital HD) - Home Video

Review | Talking Points | Discussion

MAKE THE JUMP TO LIGHTSPEED!

Review

The quality of this Star Wars: The Last Jedi Blu-ray release was determined using a Pioneer 7.1 Surround system, and viewed on a Panosonic 58" television in a home-theater environment. Your personal results may vary based on your viewing environment.

Disney's line of Star Wars films continues with the home release of Solo: A Star Wars Story. I personally enjoyed this film for what it was, so getting the chance to see it again at home was a nice treat. As usual with the basic Blu-ray release, you get the feature presentation on one Blu-ray disc, and the bonus features on the second disc.

We will be reviewing the Blu-ray release for Solo: A Star Wars Story. This review will concentrate on the qualities of this set, and not the movie itself. You can read our full movie review right here. There are several retail exclusive versions available, but for this review we will be looking at the standard Blu-ray/Digital Copy release.

Picture

The need for excellent picture quality with a Star Wars movie is a must, and we get a crisp 1080P transfer with Solo. Like all recent home video releases, Solo provides plenty of detail with smooth action scenes and stellar dark scenes. If you need to pick apart what's going on in the background in some of the busier scenes such as the spaceport on Corellia, you will get plenty of detail to analyze when you pause the movie. Find a nice big screen to watch the movie on so you can take full advantage of the 1080P transfer.

Sound

Solo's DTS-HD Master audio track absolutely dazzles the senses during the action scenes. If you are watching this in full surround then you will thoroughly enjoy the train heist and the Kessel run. The explosion at the end of the train heist is literally ground shaking, and the Kessel run will envelop you completely. Because of the type of high-action sequences these are, I enjoyed the sound element from these scenes more than any of the Disney-era Star Wars movies previouis Blu-ray releases, with the Battle of Scarif a close second. So flip all those surround sound settings on high, and sit back and enjoy this movie how it meant to be!

Packaging

Solo is bundled up in standard Blu-ray style packaging, with a slip case on the outside and a blue-colored Blu-ray case inside. There was an abundance of Solo marketing material with the movie's release, and both the slip case and the case art are decorated with one of the more popular designs. The orange theme adorns all aspects of the art for this set.

   

The case interior has two tabs to hold both discs: the Blu-ray feature film, and the bonus features disc. There's no packaging insert to go with the set, although it does come with a Digital Movie code insert so you can add Solo to your online collection as well.

The disc art for this set follows suit with the packaging art and utilizes marketing art instead of movie stills. I like the continued use of the art, although with the amount of art produced and marketed for this film it would have been nice if the feature film disc had something different than the case art. However, this doesn't lessen the attractiveness of the main disc. The bonus disc gives us another version of the marketing art, as it should. These silkscreen prints do the set justice.

   

Also included is a digital code so that you can redeem your included digital copy of Solo. With the download, you get a full 1080P version of the movie. There's also a 4K digital and disc version, but those are a separate purchase.

Menus and Presentation

Disney has not strayed one bit from their menu formatting that debuted with The Force Awaken's home release. Keeping the same style of menus as previous releases helps maintain consistency from movie to movie, making them feel more like a combined set rather than individual releases. As with the previous releases, we are presented with a slick animated intro screen, followed up by a small section of the window showing a collage of scenes from the movie.

   

   

These scenes are accompanied with thematic music from the Solo soundtrack, and slowly recycle if you watch it long enough. Navigation is simple as you pan through the options along the bottom of the screen. As with all of the previous movie releases, the only complaint I have is the scene selection screen, where only 3 scenes are shown at a time. This can be cumbersome and time consuming if you want to navigate to one of the later scenes in the movie.

Bonus Content

There are plenty of special features to take you behind the scenes for this fun movie. It's always intriguing to see how science fiction scenes are developed to bring them to the big screen. The bonus disc packs in 10 featurettes, along with 8 deleted scenes. Several of the deleted scenes are unfinished, with just minimal special effects. But, you still get the idea behind them. It would have been nice to see these fully realized. As usual, you can see why some of these did not make it into the movie, but a few of them standout above the rest. Han Solo: Imperial Cadet is a fun look at why Han Solo ended up on Mimban. And, with The Battle of Mimban: Extended, we get a small look at another of Beckett's team that didn't make the final cut of the film. All in all we get a nice collection of bonus materials to give us further insight into the making of Solo: A Star Wars Story.

• Solo: The Director & Cast Roundtable – Sit down with director Ron Howard and the stars for an intimate and entertaining discussion of the film’s making.
• Team Chewie – See what it takes to bring your favorite Wookiee to life in this lighthearted look behind the scenes.
• Kasdan on Kasdan – Iconic Star Wars screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan and son Jonathan share what it was like to write the movie’s script together.
• Remaking the Millennium Falcon – Track the transformation of the most famous ship in the galaxy, from Lando’s swank and impeccable pride and joy to Han’s stripped-down hot-rod freighter with “special modifications.” 
• Escape from Corellia – Get behind the wheel for the making of this high-octane chase through the streets of Corellia. 
• The Train Heist – Explore the challenges and thrills of creating this action-packed sequence, including its remote location and spectacular effects. 
• Becoming a Droid: L3-37 – Meet the newest droid—and the talented actor who helps bring her to life. 
• Scoundrels, Droids, Creatures and Cards: Welcome to Fort Ypso – Take an in-depth tour of the rough-and-tumble bar where strangers mix and gamblers risk all in the legendary card game, Sabaac. 
• Into the Maelstrom: The Kessel Run – Join Han and Chewie at the controls of the Millennium Falcon to see how this legendary moment in Star Wars history unfolds. 
• Deleted Scenes
  • Proxima's Den
  • Corellian Foot Chase
  • Han Solo: Imperial Cadet
  • The Battle of Mimban: Extended
  • Han Versus Chewie: Extended
  • Snowball Fight!
  • Meet Dryden: Extended
  • Coaxium Double-Cross
• The Millenium Falcon: From Page to Park – An exclusive look at the history of the most famous ship in the galaxy, its origin and development, and how it will translate in one of the most anticipated expansions in Disneyland’s history.

Disc Specifications

Feature Film Run Time: Approximately 135 minutes
Rating: PG-13 in U.S.; PG in CE; G in CF
Aspect Ratio: Feature Film (Blu-ray) = 2.40:1
Audio: English 7.1 DTS-HDMA, English 2.0 Descriptive Audio, French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital Language Tracks
Languages: English, French & Spanish
Subtitles: English SDH, French & Spanish

Wrap-up

With the basic Blu-ray release of Solo: A Star Wars Story you are going to get everything you need to fully enjoy this at home. If 4K video is not necessary for you, then you won't be disappointed with the 1080P version. So plug in the disc, crank up the sound, and sit back and enjoy the ride!

Solo: A Star Wars Story In-Home Trailer 

Points of Discussion

• Deleted Scenes
• Special Features

External Links:

• Buy on Amazon.com
• IMDB Listing