Star Wars offers so many great lessons about life. You might not think that a thieving, scoundrel like the early Han Solo would have qualities that you would want to emulate, but while watching Solo: A Star Wars Story I found several ways I want to be more like young Han Solo. The life lessons from Han Solo include knowing your strengths, picking your friends wisely, keeping your promises, and picking the right side.
Life Lessons from Han Solo
In Solo: A Star Wars Story we get a glimpse into Solo’s early life and how he became the man we love now. For young Han Solo, times are tough under Imperial rule. He makes his way as a reckless street thief, working for a notorious gang on Corellia, which is headed up by an ill-tempered crime boss. After an arduous stint as an Imperial mudtrooper, Han calls it quits and finds that he is very comfortable reinventing himself and traveling in the company of scoundrels around the galaxy.
His journey of reinventing himself teaches some very valuable life lessons.
Know Your Strengths. We know that Han Solo is the best space pilot there ever was. It seems like he always knew it as well and didn’t let anything get in his way of achieving his goal. When you are good at something, let other people know. Don’t let fear of failure stand in the way of becoming something spectacular. All throughout Solo, I kept thinking “what if”. If at any point he had doubted his ability, we wouldn’t know Han Solo as we know him now.
Pick Your Friends Wisely. Choosing friends is such a hard thing to do sometimes. Being friendly is just being a good person but choosing people that you are willing to put into your inner circle is a little more difficult. You need to trust them, you need to love them.
Han did two things that showed he is wise in regards to friendship. The first is that he looked at the inside rather than the outside. Some people may seem rough around the edges, but they are really needing a friend. The second is that he knew when to let go of a toxic friendship.
Keep Your Promises. Whether the promise was to return for a friend or to complete a job for a criminal mastermind, Han kept his promises.
Choose the Right Side. This is a lesson that played out in Solo: A Star Wars Story. Not knowing what side you are fighting for sometimes happens. When someone educated Han about what is really going on, Han had a tough choice to make. He could take the easy way to achieve his pilot goals or he could fight for the weak ones.
Solo: A Star Wars Story Review
This is one Star Wars movie that I was skeptical about as to whether I was going to like or not. I mean why couldn’t they have used some cool technology had Harrison Ford play a young Han. It took a few scenes before I got used to the “new” Han. According to TooFab.com, Harrison Ford gave a glowing review of Alden Ehrenreich’s performance as Han. “I just thought it was spectacular,” he said. “And I thought he was so smart about what he did and how he did it. I just couldn’t be happier.” I have to agree with Harrison Ford, Alden Ehrenreich did a great job portraying Han Solo. His snarkiness, confidence, and other personality traits were captured perfectly.
My favorite characters in this movie were Chewbacca and L3-37. Chewbacca had quite a few reasons to not follow Han, but he chose to. Chewbacca’s heart is just as huge as he is and this is portrayed perfectly in this movie. L3, Lando’s droid, provides some comic relief. She is a strong female droid that cares deeply about droid rights. She comes off as a tough droid but has a soft spot for Lando.
The ending of the movie reveals a twist I was not quite expecting and I am looking forward to a TV show or sequel sharing more about Qi’Ra’s story. Not sure how much this is in the works but the ending leaves the possibility wide open. She is streetsmart, calculating and ambitious. Qi’Ra puts her early life as a powerless street urchin behind her and uses all her wits to move up in status within a prominent criminal organization.
Overall, I give the movie 4/5 stars. It honors the original series well. You aren’t missing huge plot holes to the story if you wait to see this movie until it is released on Blu-ray. This movie is really just a feel-good Star Wars story.
Solo: A Star Wars Story Fun Facts
- There are 25 pairs of the iconic gold dice that hang in the Millennium Falcon. Three of these were made by Tiffany.
- The exterior Millennium Falcon build weighs 31 tons and has to be moved around using two cranes.
- The interior Millennium Falcon set on C stage took three months to build. It is the largest
interior Falcon set ever made on any Star Wars film due to the addition of new areas. - On the Interior Millennium Falcon cockpit set, rear projection screens have been utilized so that the actors can see and react to pre-designed animations flying and entering hyperspace!
- Over 500 designs for the creatures were produced in the design process for the film.
- Six Eyes is the most sophisticated mechanical head ever produced. It has 50 servos inside the head with onboard intelligence.
- This is the first film to feature Chewbacca in a lead role, so to achieve this level of onscreen action, production produced eight suits and 10 heads.
- A speeder that appears in the background in Corellia is very well-traveled. It first appeared in Star Wars: The Force Awakens in Abu Dhabi; it was then revamped and traveled to Iceland for “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” and was then revamped for a second time and shipped to the U.K. for this film.
- For stunt work, two of Han’s speeders were built on a custom-built chassis with a V8 engine, allowing them to reach over 100 mph!
If you have seen Solo: A Star Wars Story, what are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments below.