During an adventure into the criminal underworld, Han Solo meets his future copilot Chewbacca and encounters Lando Calrissian years before joining the Rebellion. (from IMDB)

Ever since Disney purchased Lucasfilm, pop culture has been flooded with anything and everything Star Wars, and the Mouse House has promised a new Star Wars film every year for the foreseeable future. Aside from continuing the Skywalker storyline with additional episodes (The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, with Episode IX due out next year), the franchise launched its first standalone story in 2016 with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. But these "standalone" movies actually fit within the known, existing Star Wars saga. Rogue One led directly into Episode 4, A New Hope, while the newest entry, Solo: A Star Wars Story takes place sometime after Episode 3, Revenge of the Sith and before Rogue One.

It's risky business to be so bold as to cast someone in such an iconic role as Han Solo - a character that has only been played by Harrison Ford for 40 years. While I'm sure he's thrilled that someone can take over the role from him (since he has wanted to be done with the role for years), it's still bizarre to see someone else playing his character. As a child of the 80s myself, and Empire Strikes Back being my favorite Star Wars film, Ford has been and always will be Han Solo. It seemed rather arrogant of Disney and Lucasfilm to want to do a Han Solo film without Ford, but given the actor's age, there is no other way (aside from maybe making it an animated film with his voice) to put Ford in the role of a younger version of the character. I was nervous about a "young Han Solo" movie from the moment it was announced, but for some reason, I remained hopeful enough that it could end up being good. The initial announcement that Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the directors of The LEGO Movie and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, would be taking the lead on the film intrigued me, but when they were fired last summer, it was cause for serious concern. Furthermore, having director Ron Howard take over left a lot of questions -- how much would he keep of the original footage? How will it be different? Will it be a total mess? And after the same thing pretty much happened with last year's Justice League -- which resulted in a very chaotic, stitched-together end product -- it was even more concerning.

Thankfully, the end result of Solo: A Star Wars Story exceeds the worrisome expectations. It promised to be a fun ride, and for the most part, it really is. It's not as goofy as it probably could have been, but it doesn't take itself too seriously either. However, it leaves much more room for Howard and company to push the envelope on content and tone for a Star Wars film -- including language and sexual content. (But more on that later.) Solo: A Star Wars Story is a lot like Rogue One in the sense that it has a different look and feel from the episodic entries of Star Wars. The movie opens on Corellia with Han being not much more than a "street rat" of sorts. He meets what is basically a slumlord (which is a gigantic slug type creature) and the entire film's palette is saturated with dark blues and grays. The tone of the movie isn't necessarily "dark," but the look certainly is. This film is the the epitome of a "side story" in that the characters exist and dwell in more of the "underbelly" of the galaxy. They encounter the Empire on occasion, but the Empire is never a real focal point of the story. We never see significant Imperial characters, especially not recurring ones. It's interesting to see a Star Wars almost entirely from the perspective of the smuggling lifestyle. It's so interesting in fact, that it left me hoping we'll see more of this in the near future.

Solo: A Star Wars Story gets off to a bumpy start. Alden Ehrenreich turns in a different take on the character from the get-go, but slowly seems to slip into the character as the movie progresses. It makes Solo feel much like what Casino Royale did for James Bond; it introduces the character to audiences before the character is who we know them to be. Casino Royale showed Bond learn to not trust people and even nurse a broken heart -- all things that helped shape who he would become (and humanized his usually rather one-sided character). Solo shows Han as much more "green," and he's happier, more trusting, and even emotional. I would have loved to see what a younger Ford would have done with this kind of character development, but Ehrenreich certainly gives the character more depth. Solo ends in a way that sets up the character to be more like the Han we know, but there's certainly room for another movie or two to continue that process. Han is a bit cantankerous or grumpy in the films we know him from (albeit still lovable), and Ehrenreich's Han is far more friendly and agreeable.

The story offers plenty of action from start to finish, so anyone fearing a politically-charged prequel-style film won't have to worry about that. The opening speeder chase sequence is decent, but it isn't until the train heist sequence that the film feels equal parts Star Wars and equal parts something new. It has a bit of an old west train robbery feel set in a more futuristic sci-fi world. Of course, the action scenes involving the Millennium Falcon are the highlights of the film, being the most fun and exciting sequences. The finale itself isn't quite as big or thrilling as the sequences before it, but it still works as a finish for the film.

The cast supporting Ehrenreich is all-around quite good. Emilia Clarke is charming as Han's love interest, Qi'Ra, while Donald Glover turns in a spot-on impression of Billy D. Williams' Lando Calrissian. Woody Harrelson is solid as a smuggler (and scoundrel) named Tobias Beckett to serve as a sort of mentor for Han, and the always reliable Paul Bettany is appropriately intimidating as Dryden Vos (although his performance, surprisingly, does teeter on being a little too over-the-top at times). And there's one completely unexpected cameo appearance from a known Star Wars saga character near the film's end which will surprise - and confuse some - viewers. Fans who've kept up with the cartoon shows will be thrilled, while others will wonder if they'd missed something.

The content takes advantage of the PG-13 rating pretty well, with Solo: A Star Wars Story, by far, having the most profanity of any film in the franchise to date (maybe even if you added all of the others up, this would still surpass the total). In addition to an incomplete "Ohh shhhh--" from Lando, there are around 10 uses of "h*ll," 6 of "d*mn," 1 "cr*p" and one "*ss." Furthermore, with the recent controversy sparked on social media from the film's cowriter about Lando's intended sexual orientation (cue exaggerated eyeroll), there's definitely some weird things happening on screen with Lando. His female-voiced droid L3-37 alludes to some romantic thing between the two of them, and Lando expresses some awkward passion for the character at one point. And when L3 is trying to get Lando to focus on flying and not be talking to Han, she tells him to "stop flirting." There are also quite a few passionate kissing scenes between Han and Qi'Ra, including one that looks like it was going to possibly escalate beyond passionate kissing before they're interrupted. Finally, there's also plenty of violence, with some characters dying on screen by blaster wounds or getting blown up. A character is also stabbed to death with a blade, although it's mostly off screen, and we some additional war/battle violence. There's even a pay-off gag where we hear some violent sounds off screen and Han looks over to see that Chewie has ripped the arms off of another character (it's not gory, but we do see him holding two dismembered limbs for a moment before dropping them). Some characters die seemingly a bit too early on in the story to care much for, while one of the deaths is overly dramatic to the point where it seems like everyone involved with the movie wants you to care way more than you do (or should).

For the most part, Solo: A Star Wars Story appears to defy all odds to become a mostly successful and worthwhile addition to the Star Wars franchise. It's more intense than the episodes, for the most part, and is more in line with the grittiness of Rogue One than some of the other films. I'd venture to say it's still worth a look for some of the naysayers who wrote it off before giving it a chance, but those determined to not like it from the start probably shouldn't bother. For young Star Wars fans, I recommend exercising caution as it is a visually dark film with some violent scenes that may disturb some viewers (and the cussing doesn't help either). But when all is said and done, Solo: A Star Wars Story was a sweet enough surprise to make this diehard Harrison-Ford-Han-Solo fan interested in seeing another high-flying adventure featuring this younger Han and Chewie in the Falcon's driver seats.

Along with the feature film in 4K UHD, the 2D Blu-Ray disc and digital copy of the film are the following features:

Solo: A Star Wars Story in 4K UHD - I did catch Solo on the big screen twice and I enjoyed both viewings. I was really looking forward to seeing it again at home and I was also hoping to see if the darkness--the dim lighting of so many scenes--was just a theatrical issue or if it was the actual movie. I was surprised to find that, even in 4K UHD, the dim light of much of the film is indeed part of the actual film. You can adjust your TV's settings to brighten things a bit, but it's definitely not the ideal option. The 4K transfer is crisp and clear, and is most noticeable when you see such exquisite detail in a given scene's background -- especially the mountains during the train heist. At times, the clarity and the dim lighting lend to some mild smearing of the picture during the action, but it's not terrible. I don't like to use the "TruMotion" or "Cinemotion" setting (different TV brands have different names for it) on my TV's since it tends to make the picture look to fake, so that could be the culprit for that look, but I think most people prefer the more cinematic picture presentation (especially since movies in the theater don't have that "news" effect). If you have 4K capabilities at home and are curious about Solo, I'd still recommend it, although it's definitely not the best 4K presentation I've seen.

Extras
Solo: The Director and Cast Roundtable (21:45) - Director Ron Howard interviews the cast and asks them what happened when they heard they’d be in a Star Wars movie and who did they tell. He continues asking fun questions, like "What would Han say about Lando and vice versa?" He also asks Emilia Clarke what she thinks Qi'Ra's future is. They then talk about filming L3-37 with Phoebe Waller-Bridge acting out the droid in a green suit and what that was like. They also briefly touch on Ron taking over the directing duties during the production and George Lucas showing up on set and helping by giving input on Han's character. Overall, it's a really fun discussion session, although I would have loved to hear more about how the original directors had been fired and what that film would have looked like before Ron Howard was brought in mid-production to finish the movie. (1 "a" word, 2 "d*mn")

Deleted Scenes (15:18) - There are 8 deleted scenes. The first one, "Proxima's Den," is an alternate version of what's in the final film, and here Han wakes up Qi'Ra (to tell her they need to escape), who immediately reacts by putting a knife to his throat. "Corellian Foot Chase" extends the chase sequence that soon follows. In this one, they hide in metal tanks filled with eels to throw off the scent of the alien dogs their pursuers are using. "Han Solo: Imperial Cadet" shows more of Han as part of the Empire. We see unfinished effects of a TIE Fighter crashing, and then he's brought before a council that demotes him to a mudtrooper. (1 "a" word). "The Battle of Mimban: Extended" shows more of the battle with Han alongside Beckett and his crew. A soldier gets injured, so they drag him out of harm's way where he dies. "Han versus Chewie: Extended" adds more fighting and makes the scuffle more violent. "Snowball Fight!" shows Chewie throwing snow at Han which breaks into a full-on snowball fight between the two, before Beckett tells them to stop. It's super goofy and wouldn't have fit in the film, so I'm glad it was cut. "Meet Dryden: Extended" shows Han trying to eat crab legs, which is goofy and kind of gross. "Coaxium Double Cross" shows some of Han setting up his plan.

Remaking the Millennium Falcon (5:36) discusses revisiting the iconic ship and trying to figure out a new design for when it was "younger" and newer. They also talk here about taking inspiration for the design of it, and then the act of building the sets. We also see how they designed some new rooms for it, as well as redesigning some familiar ones. And we get a nice little tour of the ship's interior.

Kasdan on Kasdan (7:50) - Lawrence Kasdan wrote Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi and brought his son (who had grown up with the movies) on this time to help write Solo. Kasdan also talks about how Solo has always been his favorite character in Star Wars and how he was a character he really wanted to explore more. When they had announced a Han Solo movie was in production, most fans wondered why they would dare choose and recast such a beloved character, but after hearing Lawrence talk about the character, it's easy to understand why. This was a great little featurette and I loved hearing him talk about it.

Escape from Corellia (9:59) is all about the speeder chase at the beginning of the movie, and how they filmed a lot of it with using the speeders mounted on wheels so they could drive them like cars -- all with the intentions of recreating a 1970's car chase. They also talk about the design for the vehicles and treat us to some great on set footage of the cars racing.

The Train Heist (14:30) - The filmmakers wanted a physical challenge for Han and for it to be an event that would greatly change (and alter the course of) his life. They wanted the train heist sequence to be Star Wars' take on the classic western train robbery. In this featurette, they talk about how they used Previs animation to figure out the sequence ahead of time and plot it out. And for some of the mountain based scenes, the cast and crew climbed a real mountain together in Italy. (We even get to see some new deleted scene footage of Beckett and Val talking while they travel the mountainside). The featurette then takes us inside a stage at Pinewood Studios where they had built part of the train on a gimbal so it could be rotated. The featurette wraps up with a focus on the sounds of the train and the foley artist talking about it, Jon Favreau in the studio recording his lines for Rio (and how they mixed a circus performer's performance as Rio with computer animation), and how they designed the coaxium explosion at the end of the sequence. (2 "d*mn")

Team Chewie (6:41) first focuses on the pair's relationship and how the filmmakers wanted to tell the story in unexpected ways. They then talk about having four suits for Chewie made, testing using mud on it, and how his voice was made. We learn that the original voice for Chewie was from a bear and, for Solo, they recorded new bear and seal sounds to expand on Chewbacca's sounds. Current Chewie actor Joonas Suotamo affectionately talks about playing the iconic character and the physicality of it.

Becoming a Droid: L3-37 (5:07) focuses on the character of L3 and the different designs and concepts that were originally made for the character. Phoebe then talks about the character and L3's personal mission to free "enslaved" droids.

Scoundrels, Droids, Creatures and Cards: Welcome to Fort Ypso (8:03) - Fort Ypso was designed as an entirely physical set and was meant to be like Solo's version of the cantina from A New Hope. They talk about the game of Sabacc and how they came up with it as a fully functional game. They also reveal that they had modeled the design of the aliens and creatures in the scene and their placement in it after what was featured in original Renaissance paintings.

Into the Maelstrom: the Kessel Run (8:29) focuses on the legendary Kessel Run that Han mentions in A New Hope when we meet him. The Falcon's cockpit was surrounded by a round screen that projected their path through the maelstrom so the actors could feel like they’re actually flying through it. They also talk about designing the monster that's in the maelstrom, as well as the sounds of the ship and the space beast.