Audio Video News

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Lands on Disney+

Al Griffin  |  May 4, 2020

Viewing fantasy epics turns out, unsurprisingly, to be a fine way to pass time while social distancing. Over the past few weeks I’ve binged both The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit film trilogies and am now working my way once again through Game of Thrones. What to view next? Some good news today for Star Wars fans seeking to ingest the full suite of films based on George Lucas’ original space opera: Disney+ has added 2019’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, the latest entry in the series, to the list of titles available to stream on the service in 4K with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos sound. May the Fourth be with you!

From the official Star Wars website:

“The final chapter of the Skywalker saga, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, will begin streaming two months early on Disney+ in honor of May the 4th, also known as Star Wars Day. For the first time ever, fans will be able to stream the complete Skywalker saga all in one place — perfect for Star Wars Day marathons. What began in 1977 with George Lucas’ groundbreaking Star Wars: A New Hope, the nine-part saga is available within Disney+’s extensive collection of Star Wars movies and series including The Mandalorian and Star Wars: The Clone Wars.”

Disney+ can be had for the low price of $7/month, making it one of the better streaming service deals out there. Along with the Star Wars films, it features other content from the vast Disney Library, including Pixar and Marvel titles, much of it available to stream in Dolby Vision/Dolby Atmos. Getting the best A/V experience will depend on the capabilities of your gear, however, since not all streaming devices (Roku, Apple TV 4K, Nvidia Shield TV, Amazon Fire TV, etc.) support both Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, and the same goes for the built-in apps on smart TVs. Check the support page for your specific streamer or TV to confirm that it can deliver the goods with Disney+.

Visit starwars.com for more info on Star Wars Day (today!) and all things Star Wars-related.

COMMENTS
BigMac's picture
Submitted by BigMac on May 5, 2020 - 8:46pm

Just watched the movie last night and it was not streamed in Dolby Atmos like the article says. It was only offered in 5.1 surround sound.

Old Ben's picture
Submitted by Old Ben on May 6, 2020 - 4:57am

BigMac, how did you watch Rise of Skywalker? I have the Disney+ app on my Vizio TV and send the audio back to my Denon AVR via ARC, but I know that ARC has limits on the audio bandwidth such that I am not going to get Dolby Atmos. To get Dolby Atmos, I think I would have to stream from a Roku or other such device into the AVR.

BigMac's picture
Submitted by BigMac on May 6, 2020 - 10:19am

Old Ben, I watched it on my Xbox One X. The description on the movie info screen said HDR DOLBY VISION & 5.1. I have my Xbox connected to my Denon AVR -X4400H receiver and the receiver is connected via fiber-optic HDMI cable. While the movie was playing my receiver said Multi-Channel + DDS. If there was a Dolby Atmos soundtrack then my receiver would say Dolby Atmos like it does for the other movies and games.

Old Ben's picture
Submitted by Old Ben on May 6, 2020 - 10:48am

I found the following article, which explains that the ability to get Atmos from Disney+ depends on the streaming device. The article is from late 2019 and does not specifically mention the XBox, but I have to imagine it is the same issue.

https://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/disney-plus-dolby-atmos-probl...

BigMac's picture
Submitted by BigMac on May 6, 2020 - 11:50am

Old Ben, thanks for the article. I figured out my problem and it's not Disney's fault! The problem is with the Dolby App for XBox that must be installed in order to receive the Atmos soundtracks from the various streaming services. This app frequently crashes and I'm not sure why? When the app crashes while watching a movie on Netflix I'll get a message that says this program cannot be played at this time. However, Amazon Prime Video and I guess Disney + just reduces the soundtrack to 5.1. Once I uninstalled and re-installed this app on my XBox One X then I was able to receive the Atmos soundtrack for this movie. Now I'm going to have to watch it again!

lcabello's picture
Submitted by lcabello on May 6, 2020 - 1:10pm

Did anyone notice lots of grain in the film?

David Vaughn's picture
Submitted by David Vaughn on May 9, 2020 - 5:51pm

The movie was shot on actual 35mm film, not a digital camera. Grain is inherent in film...the is how moves "used" to look :)

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