History Awesome / Solo

* [[TheBigGuy Chewbacca]]'s sheer strength is on full display here, giving us a reminder of how lucky everyone around him is that he is a BruiserWithASoftCenter. When we meet him, the Imps treat him like a monster kept to [[FedToTheBeast throw helpless victims at]] and during that sequence he throws Han around like a ragdoll and somewhat easily breaks a metal pillar. When Han and he are running in opposite directions, instead of the classic gag of the two falling and having to compromise we get Han being dragged on the ground by Chewie who doesn't even seem to notice. There's also his opening the train hatches, [[MythologyGag ripping a mook's arms off]], giving away his weapon to a random slave before attacking a group of guards [[JustForPun bear]]-handed, and finally the simple fact that during the last act everybody uses him to [[BoringButPractical carry those 110kg (that's 243 lb for the non-metrics among us) of coaxium around]].

* Han catching Lando's trick in the Sabaac game that allows him to win the Millennium Falcon.

* [[TheBigGuy Chewbacca]]'s sheer strength is on full display here, giving us a reminder of how lucky everyone around him is that he is a BruiserWithASoftCenter. When we meet him, the Imps treat him like a monster kept to [[FedToTheBeast throw helpless victims at]] and during that sequence he throws Han around like a ragdoll and somewhat easily breaks a metal pillar. When Han and he are running in opposite directions, instead of the classic gag of the two falling and having to compromise we get Han being dragged on the ground by Chewie [[UpToEleven who doesn't even seem to notice]]. There's also his opening the train hatches, [[MythologyGag ripping a mook's arms off]], giving away his weapon to a random slave before attacking a group of guards [[JustForPun bear]]-handed, and finally the simple fact that during the last act everybody uses him to [[BoringButPractical carry those 110kg (that's 243 lb for the non-metrics among us) of coaxium around]].

** L3 is shot and severely damaged, and Lando rushes out to try and save her. Seeing the prison guards closing in and Lando taking a shot to the shoulder, Han rushes out to help him and L3 get back to the ship. Seeing this convinces Chewie and another Wookiee that Han is truly worthy of their assistance. The Life Debt may or may not be canon again, but Han earns it with this act.

** The movie does ''not'' dick around and plays it up for all its worth when we finally get to see [[BashBrothers Han and Chewie]] pilot the ''Millennium Falcon'' for the first time.

* Sure, the battle of Mimban is full of WarIsHell and we don't get to see the other side, but it's quite refreshing to see a battle from the Empire's viewpoint this time around, especially with the classic Imperial March rearranged for the scene.

** When the ''Falcon'' is about to be dragged down as well with no way to escape, the crew comes up with a desperate plan to inject a tiny amount of coaxiam directly into the main engine to give it a tremendous boost. ''And it works.'' The ''Falcon'''s engine stopped dead for a few seconds, before the engine kicks back on and rockets the ship out of the gravity well in a sparkling blue trail of light toward the exit. And for the icing on the cake, with the carbon mountains closing in from both sides and threatens to crush the ship, Han pulls his signature move of flying sideways ''before jumping to lightspeed, split-second away before the carbon mountains closed the exit.''

!Meta

* Comedian/writer Demi Adejuyigbe [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFkPf_uYNv0 made a parody music video]] spotlighting Lando Calrissian, done in the style of Childish Gambino (the rap name for Creator/DonaldGlover, who plays Lando in this film). The video works as a genuinely catchy song in praise of Lando (playing up his suaveness) while also expertly touching on elements of Childish Gambino's music, emulating his cadence and delivery, throwing in pop culture references throughout, and lampooning how frequently Childish Gambino talks about his attraction to Asian women.
* Several trailer reactions actually show the person apparently forgetting for a second that Chewbacca obviously survives the LiteralCliffhanger at the end, because that's how wrapped up in it they are.
* On April 22, 2018 Creator/RonHoward revealed [[https://instagram.com/p/Bh4kl3jlAML/ on his instagram]] that post-production has officially finished. Despite the TroubledProduction and being brought in at the last minute, Howard, the cast and crew managed to pull it off and have the movie completed on time without much of the issues that usually plague such films with heavy changes late into production.
* [[https://twitter.com/realronhoward/status/996118193717510144?s=21 Solo made it to the Cannes Film Festival]], much to the delight and relief of fans everywhere. It really goes to show how much faith Lucasfilm had in the final product.
* Creator/RonHoward and Jonathan Kasdan taking the time to thank fans for seeing the film and still being optimistic despite the low box-office results is both heartwarming and awesome.
* Music/JohnWilliams finally composed a {{Leitmotif}} for Han Solo in this movie, making up for Han not actually having one in the original trilogy ("Han Solo and the Princess" is a love theme shared with Leia, "Rebel Fanfare" is the Rebel Alliance's Leitmotif, and "TIE Fighter Attack" is the ''Millennium Falcon'''s.)
** And speaking of music, the track that plays when Han makes the Kessel Run ("Reminiscence Therapy") is so full of Williams' musical cues from the classic trilogy that it's guaranteed to evoke nostalgia from long-time fans.
* Despite only being a small performance, Ray Park and Sam Witwer's role as Maul is a crowning achievement on its own for how in depth they and Ron Howard went for the role. Witwer recorded his initial performance, Park performed while lip-syncing, and then Witwer re-recorded his dialogue. As stated by Witwer himself, Park flawlessly incorporated the elements of Maul from ''The Clone Wars'' into his physical acting.

* While it's also the Tearjerker moment seeing Han has to confront Beckett for the latter's betrayal]]. Han manages to pull the trigger and shoot Beckett first while he also held the blaster in his right hand ready to kill Han if it wasn't for [[GoodIsNotDumb him not learning from his mistakes.]]

* While it's also [[{{Tearjerker tragic}} seeing Han has to confront Beckett for the latter's betrayal]]. Han manages to pull the trigger and shoot Beckett first while he also held the blaster in his right hand ready to kill Han if it wasn't for [[GoodIsNotDumb him not learning from his mistakes.]]

* Creator/RonHoward and Jonathan Kasdan taking the time to thank fans for seeing the film and still being optimistic despite low box-office is both heartwarming and awesome.