Solo: A Star Wars Story Blu-ray review

Sep 23, 2018- Permalink

During production, it sometimes seemed that most of the drama with Solo: A Star Wars Story was happening behind the scenes. Directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller of The Lego Movie had creative differences with Lucasfilm over the standalone’s tone and direction and the production was then put in the hands of Ron Howard. Critics and fans had mixed reactions, but with Disney releasing 4K and Blu-ray versions on September 25th, you can take it home and decide for yourself. Father and son screenwriters Lawrence and Jonathan Kasdan have done a good job of balancing new elements with the Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich) backstory die-hard fans think they know by heart. We’re taking a look at the Blu-ray version.

The movie’s AVC-encoded transfer is released in the theatrical version’s 2.39:1 aspect ratio. Digitally shot, the transfer is full of detail, from the wear and tear on worn fabrics to the scrapes and dings on older vessels and droids. The underworld that Han Solo operates in is a dark place and the resulting colour palette is a bit flat with the occasional pop of colour from Lando Calrissian’s more colourful wardrobe. Black levels are a bit off witch means that details are sometimes lost in the darkest of scenes. There is also some occasional noise.

On the audio side of things, the disc offers an English DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 soundtrack as well as Spanish and French Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks. Subtitles are available for English SDH, French, and Spanish. While the video presentation isn’t exactly reference level, the audio side is a blast. Like several recent Disney releases, the audio is a little quieter at usual volume levels but cranking it up a bit (not to 11, Nigel) solves those issues. Ambient sounds make excellent use of your surround speakers, enveloping the listener in laser blasts, reverberations and natural environments. The explosions and other fun moments make good use of your subwoofer. Music is of course an important part of the Star Wars experience and here it is given great clarity. Dialogue is also crisp and clear.

Besides getting a download code for a digital copy, Solo: A Star Wars Story also comes with a second disc full of extras. There’s a 21 minute round-table with the cast moderated by Rom Howard. The Kasdan’s discuss working together and their love of the franchise. We get to see the build process for the Millennium Falcon, as well as several timeline breakdowns of key scenes. We also get deleted scenes.

Solo: A Star Wars Story to your collection. Fire up the popcorn and have a good time.