Fans have been wowed by Han Solo’s flying feats at the controls of the Millennium Falcon for over 40 years. That’s a lot of smuggling, close calls, and outrunning Imperial starships. It’s important everyone knows that.
With decades worth of adventures, it’s hard to pick favorites. Luckily, you don’t have to — we did that. So, strap in and check out Han Solo’s greatest Millennium Falcon moments.
Successfully navigating an asteroid field against the odds
C-3PO may know the odds of getting through a bunch of space rocks without smashing yourself to bits. But Han’s got no time for math because he’s too focused on flying his way out of it.
Escaping the Exogorth
Alright, so in order to escape from inside a giant space slug living in one of those asteroids, Han had to carelessly fly into it in the first place. But the good news is that everyone — and the ship — lived on to care about details like this.
Infiltrating Starkiller Base
People put force fields around their planet-sized superweapons to keep scrappy rebels from blowing them up. But Han built his career and reputation on doing the opposite of what people expect. And all he had to do to sneak onto the First Order’s base in The Force Awakens was come out of hyperspace in the split second before he crashed into it. See? Easy.
Pretending to be garbage
Not all of Han’s greatest piloting feats have his passengers grateful for their safety restraints. He sneakily manages to lose the Imperials in The Empire Strikes Back by hiding out in their trash. It didn’t fool Boba Fett, but it worked well enough.
Shooting down Vader
Not many people can list this among their accomplishments, but at the end of A New Hope, Han saves Luke Skywalker’s “hail mary” trench run by blasting Darth Vader into space. That’s even more impressive than his record-setting go at the Kessel Run.
You may not have to worry about Darth Vader or Boba Fett when at the controls of your own vehicle, FANDOM and NHTSA remind you to “Click It or Ticket” — buckle up when you’re behind the wheel and don’t risk a fine, injury, or death.