Star Wars: 10 Best Han Solo Moments in the Saga

While everyone has their own favorite Star Wars character, few are as popular and loved as the scruffiest nerf herder in the galaxy, the infamous smuggler Han Solo.

The pirate turned Rebel hero turned pirate again turned Resistance hero has had an indelible impact on the franchise, both in the canon and on fans across the world. He’s one of the few established characters that warrants his own spinoff movie, which Lucasfilm is releasing later this year.

Han Solo, like Leia Organa and Luke Skywalker, will continue to cast a shadow on the franchise as it moves beyond the original trilogy, and the franchise will always be indebted to Harrison Ford’s contributions on the screen.

And with such a huge impact and so many wonderful scenes, it’s hard to determine which were the greatest across four different films in the long-running franchise. But some stand out among the rest, and that’s why we’re counting down the 10 best Han Solo moments in the Star Wars saga.

It’s time to get hyped for Solo: A Star Wars Story!

Killing Boba Fett… While Blind

The devious bounty hunter known as Boba Fett quickly became a fan favorite due to his awesome character design and intimidating presence. But aside from tracking down the Millennium Falcon, a couple lines of dialogue, and escorting Solo’s carbonite slab onto his ship, he doesn’t do much in The Empire Strikes Back.

And just when you thought George Lucas would make up for it in Return of the Jedi, a blind Han Solo accidentally whacks his jetpack with a stick and sends him flying into the gaping maw of the Sarlacc pit.

It was one of those casual moments when Solo, even when he’s under immense pressure and all of the odds are stacked, manages to flip the script and secure a major victory in the heat of a battle. It’s far from his finest moments, but it goes to show that the dashing smuggler can even win a fight on accident.

“That’s not how the Force works!”

Bringing Lawrence Kasdan on board to help write Star Wars: The Force Awakens was one of the best decisions J.J. Abrams made, and it paid off with the writer’s keen dialogue skills for Han Solo.

The returning Harrison Ford had one of the most memorable exchanges with Finn during their attempt to infiltrate Starkiller Base, finding out that Finn doesn’t have the expertise to figure out how to destroy the First Order’s weapon.

The next few lines are laugh-out-loud hilarious, capping off with Solo chiding the thick-furred Chewbacca for being cold.

Asteroid Hideout

After escaping the Empire’s assault on the ice planet Hoth, the Millennium Falcon is pursued by Imperial forces led by Darth Vader, knowing it would lead them to Luke Skywalker.

Without a functional hyperdrive and no where to run, the Falcon leads a pursuing squadron of TIE Fighters into an asteroid field where the Star Destroyers can’t follow. Han and Chewie’s deft piloting skills allows them to avoid obstacles that destroys their pursuers, and they take temporary refuge in a tunnel while waiting for the Empire to move on.

Despite almost being eaten by a space slug, they manage to escape the Imperial fleet. Sure, Boba Fett was patiently waiting in the wings, but in the moment? Han was a bad ass.

“It’s true. All of it.”

Another key moment from The Force Awakens, Han proves he’s not the cynical curmudgeon he was in the previous films. Well, he’s actually still a curmudgeon, but he’s more open to the mystical mumbo jumbo that binds all living creatures in the galaxy.

It’s an awesome scene that positions Han Solo into the mentor role, something he never previously did in the previous Star Wars films. The character was always reluctant to take responsibility, but here he sheds some light on the galaxy’s sensational history, setting the tone for him to help guide Rey in her journey.

Saving Luke

Throughout the first two Star Wars movies in the original trilogy, Han frequently mentions shirking his debts to Jabba the Hutt. While it comes back to bite him later on, he uses it as an excuse not to remain with the Rebellion.

He abandons Luke, Leia, and the rest before their assault on the first Death Star, but whether it’s out of guilt or duty he returns at a pivotal moment to “yeeehaw” and blow up a group of TIEs, stopping Darth Vader from shooting down Luke’s X-Wing.

He and Chewbacca enable Luke to deliver the killing blow on the Death Star and manage to earn a couple of medals in the process.

Tauntaun Cut

That’s two Luke owes him.

After establishing that the concept of hell exists in the Star Wars galaxy, Han rides off into the freezing cold by himself in order to rescue his friend. While Luke manages to get out of the wampa cave, he nearly succumbs to the cold while hallucinating his dead mentor telling him to go to a swamp planet (Star Wars is weird).

Han rescues him, but Luke needed to warm up lest he die, and it would take Han too long to put up the shelter. Thankfully, his tauntaun conveniently froze to death — but its innards were still nice and toasty. Some quick thinking and some smelly intestines later, Han saved Luke’s life for the second time.

Endor Shrug

After being overrun and chased out of the shield generator on Endor’s moon, the Rebels were saved by the furious ewoks. And Chewbacca played his part by hijacking an AT-ST, allowing Han to use a bit of trickery to gain access to the generator’s interior.

After using the coms to give the officers inside the all-clear, Han delivers the gif-worthy shrug that has since gone on to become an Internet meme. Even if it didn’t become a ubiquitous image on every social media site, it would still have a place on the list of great Han Solo moments for encapsulating what’s so cool about the character.

The Bridge Scene

It’s one of the most heart-breaking scenes in a saga filled with depressing encounters, but the encounter between Han Solo and Kylo Ren is also one of the most touching moments in the franchise.

After pleading with the former Ben Solo to denounce Snoke and the Dark Side and return with him, Kylo admits he’s not strong enough to do what needs to be done. Han tells his son he’d do anything to help him.

Though Kylo ignites the blade right through his father’s chest, Han touches his face in a way that’s loaded with subtext. He’s not only forgiving his son for the action, it’s as if he’s apologizing for his failure as a father. It’s one of the most impactful deaths, but it resonates as one of the most memorable scenes in the franchise for the emotion it packs.

“I know.”

Just like the bridge scene from The Force Awakens, another one of Han Solo’s greatest scenes shows when he’s most vulnerable. And yet, he’s still hardened in his resolve. After calming Chewbacca and asking him to protect the princess, Leia ignites one of the most famous exchanges in franchise history.

Han Solo’s response to being told that she loves him has gone down in pop culture history, showing that “too cool for school” attitude doesn’t falter even in the face of true love or being frozen in carbonite.

Han Shot First

This one should go without saying, but it’s the first moment where viewers get to see how much of a bad ass Han Solo actually is. Though George Lucas’ edits to the original version have since changed the sequence of events, that first version of the Mos Eisley Cantina showdown is a perfect example of Han’s swashbuckling attitude.

He’s an opportunist, willing to take the killshot in order to save his own life. And just when he gets the sense that he’s not going to talk his way out of the confrontation, he makes use of his blaster. Resourceful, cunning, and a crack shot, Han Solo proved with that one moment that he was going to be a memorable character for decades to come.

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