Solo Was the lighting a problem?

One of the more common complaints I’ve been hearing about the movie is that the lighting is bad. Some people have said that they had a hard time seeing the action because the film was too dark. Complaints have also been lodged at the “blue tint” of early scenes.

Personally, I could see everything just fine, so I’m curious how widespread this problem has been. Has anyone experienced these reported lighting issues?

 

I saw the film in 3d, and the 3d glasses exasperated the "film is too dark" problem even more. Absolutely - it was a little too (visually) dark - especially that blue scene sequence where Solo meets Lady Proxima.

Furthermore, I feel like the film needed a handful more vibrant / bright coloured scenes, just to juxtapose/mix things up - and give the audience a visual palette cleanser. (Like the Gravity Well scene in all its glorious red/orange hues).

 

It was like watching a film with sunglasses on - and that was while watching the 2D version.

 

Shoot, I meant to vote "no" but accidentally voted "yes" and I don't see a way to change my vote. I respect this criticism and I get where people are coming from. I didn't love the visuals personally, it was at times hard to see, but honestly it didn't bother me during the movie so I'm not going to knock it. I thought it matched the dark seedy underbelly tone of the film.

 

Yeah, this was a problem, and a bad one. It doesn't make the movie completely unenjoyable, but it is a serious mark against it. It's mind boggling that they didn't realize this was a problem. The entire beginning on Correllia is difficult to watch and then parts on Mimban are bad too. I wonder if it will look better on an HD TV? It's very odd.

 

The light coming through the windows of the yacht made everything inside hard to really see well and look dark.
I saw it in 2D both times, one time closer to the screen than the other, and I noticed this the first time. This comes at a time when I seem to have gotten more sensitive to light.

 

How much of that do you think was caused by the reshoots? I recall reading that Ron Howard reshot some scenes up close to conceal any discrepancies with the backgrounding. Might've also darkened the edges and corners

 

Yes, I'm not sure if it was the theatre I was in but I found Corellia, Mimban and the train heist incredibly dark and hard to see.

 

The cinematography was intentionally shot to be more moody and dark then previous Star Wars films. I think the major problem is theaters not properly projecting the image. Some theaters will lower the wattage on the projecting bulb in an attempt to make it last longer. I saw Solo at an IMAX and it looked great. I later saw it at my small local theater and it looked really bad and washed out. I saw it again at this same theater in a different smaller auditorium and it looked much better. So obviously there is an issue with the light being projected.

Although this article by Roger Ebert is seven years old it gives a basic breakdown of theaters not properly projecting films with the correct amount of light.
https://www.rogerebert.com/rogers-journal/the-dying-of-the-light

 

Gotta say, Han throwing the rock to let in the light was super effective.

 

I wouldn't say it was a problem, but I certainly would've liked not nearly as much when it comes to the dark scenes. Hell, even in other SW movies - say, scenes on Dagobah or Kamino - it isn't nearly as difficult to see

That was awkwardly worded

 

Didn't think this was a problem at all. I really enjoyed the mood In Proxima's sewer, in fact. The lighting, especially at the start of the film, felt entirely appropriate considering we were seeing what it's like for the lower classes under the Empire's boot. At no point did I have trouble seeing what was going on.

 

Yes.

 

Yea it was a very dark film for sure. I could tell what was going on, but I didn't like it. Almost everything was dark or night or overcast or something. I think the only well lit scenes I can recall were the scenes on the planet at the end of the movie, and the outdoor scenes on kessel.

Heck even the interior falcon shots felt darker than the falcon shots we've seen in the other movies at times.

 

I saw no issues with the lighting. Yeah Correlia was dark, as was the casino where they met Lando, but I could clearly see what was going on. If no one was mentioning it I wouldn't have even thought about it.


Maybe this is dependent on the individual calibration of theaters? Most of the theaters around here are newer or remodeled, so the equipment is pretty good.

 

I didn't really have a hard time seeing anything but I still thought it was a problem since I didn't like how it looked. Especially Mimban looked like it could have been shot in an empty parking lot with a fog machine.

 

I expect they increase the brightness for the Bluray release. I agree it could have been A LITTLE more bright.

 

it is very dark. haven't seen it at my local theater yet but the easy one i go to has a darker screen. the trailer was very dark. older theater's equipment isn't bright enough a lot of times. also sometimes adjustments need to be made. it just depends on the theater, the equipment and the staff.

 

I notice the muddy-mustard-mud filter thing, but it was much less mustardy than Blade Runner 2049 . I wasn't bothered by the darkness. But this reminds me of Black Panther which I watched recently on a small screen and we had to keep the lights off or we couldn't see what was happening at all. We were all complaining about how dark it was. Then I reflected back on how some people pointed out racist comments about the movie being too dark from Chinese viewers, and I began to think people literally complaining about the lighting had a point. In theater, it's so big, the lighting is fine. And with Solo, same thing: the lighting is fine. On a small screen though, I'm not so sure.

 

Loved it Dark & atmospheric - it gave Solo a more gritty look unlike TLJ......

 

Everything on Corellia was a real chore to see.

 

Especially if you wear sunglasses while watching it.

 

Apparently it IS a projection issue. If the projection is even slightly off, the look suffers significantly.