Ultra HD Blu-ray Movie Reviews

There is nothing like Star Wars. Across its three trilogies of Roman-numeraled Episodes, creator George Lucas and the inheritors of his galaxy far, far away opened the minds of audiences across the globe as well as across generations of fiercely devoted fans, thanks to their unique spin on epic fantasy. Love it, hate it, or anywhere in the middle: Star Wars has left an undeniable mark on the world of entertainment. It all began simply enough with the exploits of frustrated dreamer Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), yearning for a life beyond his family's desolate farm. Soon, fate—or perhaps the mystical Force—would grant his wish, casting him upon a mission to rescue feisty Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) with the help of that cynical smuggler with a heart of gold, Han Solo (Harrison Ford). Vastly outnumbered and outgunned, they dared to challenge an evil Empire and restored freedom to the galaxy, making new allies and enemies along the way on their voyages to strange worlds.

The first film was 1977's Star Wars, later re-branded Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, which was the most logical dramatic anchor to tell the elaborate tale Lucas had in mind. Hollywood wasn't ready for his bold vision, and the director's tenacity was the main reason this game-changing movie was actually produced, elevating visual effects and cinema sound along the way as a necessary perk. Its record-breaking success paved the way for further adventures: Our plucky heroes are dealt some major setbacks at the hands of quintessential antagonist Darth Vader in 1980's The Empire Strikes Back, its grim originality leading many to consider it the pinnacle of the entire series and maybe the best movie sequel ever made. Luke then fulfills his destiny as the conflict between good and evil reaches a bittersweet conclusion in 1983's Return of the Jedi.

For the next 16 years, that was pretty much it. Rumors flew of a deep backstory to the familiar characters and events of what would become known as the "Classic Trilogy" (Episodes IV, V and VI), and eventually Lucas announced his return as director/principal writer for the Prequel Trilogy. Episodes I-III—The Phantom Menace (1999), Attack of the Clones (2002) and Revenge of the Sith (2005)—brought a different sensibility to the story of noble-Jedi-turned-villainous-Sith Annakin Skywalker's descent into the mantle of Vader. Largely absent were the charismatic star-warriors of yore, replaced by kid-friendly critters, oppressively political plots, and dubious dialogue, all of it held together by wildly ambitious visuals.

Once again, the series was put on possibly permanent break, until Disney shocked the industry by announcing on the same day in 2012 its purchase of Lucasfilm and plan to turn out new Star Wars films. For the first time, these would be developed without George's direct involvement, and the Sequel Trilogy kicked off in 2015 with Episode VII The Force Awakens. Directed and co-written by J.J. Abrams, a professed devotee of the originals, it used grayer, sadder versions of Luke, Han and Leia as a bridge to a new crop of heroes and villains. The trappings were oddly familiar: The First Order supplanting The Empire, opposed by a Resistance in place of a Rebellion, but here mixed up with angry heroine Rey and her defecting Stormtrooper sidekick Finn. The overarching story structure of this trilogy even seemed to mirror that of IV-VI, with the middle movie (2017's divisive The Last Jedi) including an extended Force training on a remote planet with a reluctant old Jedi and a serious ass-whooping for our heroes, à la Empire. The Rise of Skywalker (2019), meanwhile, could have been called Return of Return of the Jedi's Bad Guy. To be fair, Last Jedi (written and directed by Rian Johnson) was quite novel...probably too novel for such a well-entrenched franchise, and its reliance upon "humor" often undercut some solid drama. On Rise, Abrams retook the reins for the unenviable job of wrapping up not merely the Sequel Trilogy but the entirety of the nine-film "Skywalker Saga," as it would come to be known. It's sufficiently entertaining, albeit overflowing with fan service.

Watching these all over again, we can feel the transportive power of Star Wars as masterpiece-level escapism, lured in by timeless themes as our eyes are irresistibly widened by the well-produced wonder of all the swash and buckle. Grown men and women become children again, adoring and debating the films with seemingly limitless vigor.

For nearly four decades (see Remaster Class: Star Wars), there have been standalone releases, trilogy sets, and a nifty six-film Blu-ray box. Now, in the 4K era, Disney has brought us a massive Best Buy-exclusive compilation of all nine numbered Episodes (no Rogue One, no Solo) on both Ultra HD and regular Blu-ray, plus another Blu-ray of extras for every movie. That's 27 platters in all, nestled in the prettily illustrated horizontal sleeves of a book-style case reminiscent of Fox's 2011 then-"Complete Saga" package. I still contend that their Earthly chronology (IV, V, VI, I, II, III, VII, VIII, IX) is ideal for contemporary viewing, for the deliberate revelation of character and story along the way, but since the set is assembled in numerical sequence, let's proceed I-IX.

The movies span a variety of production techniques and were captured on different media, although all are presented here on disc at 4K with HDR10 high dynamic range. Lucas was a driving force to digitize movie production, with the partial digital capture and famous first-of-its-kind digital theatrical exhibition of Phantom Menace. That pioneering push led to some inherent compromises to give the disparate scenes a more uniform appearance, and the 2.39:1 image here is unexpectedly soft and flat, while the compositing of real actors atop simulated backgrounds is rather noticeable. This first prequel also introduced a new stylistic approach for the glory days of the Republic, with brighter, more pleasing colors. Three years later, Clones was a full digital capture, albeit at HD quality, and so state-of-the-art upscaling was necessary to generate the 4K master (true of the entire Prequel Trilogy). There's a slight uptick in shadow detail over Episode I, while long shots of the gladiatorial arena battle and teeming masses in the stands on Geonosis stand out for their clarity, but the CGI often looks like a videogame, or an experiment in computer graphics. Further progress in high-definition video technology yielded Sith, the best of this bunch, with another bump in shadow nuance plus superb highlights, vibrant hues, and impressive detail. These are definitely improved from their previous incarnations, but none should be considered reference-quality Ultra HD presentations.

The real standout of this set is the Classic Trilogy, its remastering—including new color timing—personally overseen by Lucas, according to Disney. These were all initially captured on film, of course, with additional scenes either enhanced or fully rendered in the digital realm for the modified 1997 "Special Editions," but not at 4K quality. All three discs are basically those altered versions with a string of subsequent creative adjustments, but after painstaking efforts with the best available elements and modern equipment, they are now true 4K/16-bit masters.

A New Hope looks gorgeous, with a level of detail I never noticed before, with facial imperfections, scratches and dust in the handcrafted sets, tiny lights, and the texture of the Tatooine sands all revealed. Subtle HDR highlights gleam as never before, and while mild grain is evident, intrusive dirt has been diminished. The comparably refreshed Empire is a darker movie visually as well as thematically, its shadowy recesses rife with detail, its subdued palette revealing many gradations, and the warm dusky tones of Bespin taking on magical new life in Ultra HD. Jedi is perhaps the least distinguished of the classics—not particularly remarkable in any way but with respectable color (those lush Endor greens) and an appreciable step up in overall clarity brought on by high dynamic range. Noise reduction might have been employed a bit too heavily on these three—a bit of verisimilitude feels stripped away—but there's no question that they are keepers.

The stratospherically budgeted and highly scrutinized Sequel Trilogy was produced for the latest exhibition technologies, and the audio/video results are nothing short of spectacular. While purist Abrams shot Awakens almost 100 percent on film, Last Jedi was a balance of film and 21st-century digital. Then, for Rise, J.J. took us back to analog film. As a whole, they represent the finest the format has to offer: a rock-solid image boasting deep, rich blacks; the brightest HDR highlights in this set with pure, stable whites; a dazzling array of vibrant colors; and all of the detail you would demand from native 4K transfers, especially in the exquisitely rendered visual effects. These are reference-quality 4K Ultra HD discs.

Even so, one persistent issue that cuts across all nine movies to varying degrees is artifacts during certain lightsaber battles. I remain in awe of the Jedi weapon of choice but found myself pulled out of the majesty of these grand duels as the edges became unattractively pixelated. (It was less of an issue on the jagged silhouette of Kylo Ren's blade, I grant you.) For reference, I pulled up the Disney+ streaming versions and the included digital copies, which utilize the same 4K masters (but with Dolby Vision HDR, unlike the physical discs) and the problem persisted. Unfortunate, though not a dealbreaker.

With the right resources—and Skywalker Sound certainly has them—audio can be more straightforward to modernize than video, and the sonic news for this set is all good. The stellar 2011 Blu-ray soundtracks served as the basis for the new Dolby Atmos mixes on the Prequel and Classic Trilogies, supervised again by Matthew Wood with an emphasis on maintaining the original aesthetic intent while heightening the experience for today's home theater audience. As before, Wood has succeeded magnificently, with a crystalline separation that enables individual sound effects to shine through on their own rather than be buried in the mix. Phantom Menace's lightsabers, no doubt happy to be back in use after so many years, blaze with an aggressive hum, and the vast senate chamber has a credible echo. Clones maintains the same high standard, still flaunting the fluid expansion across space of the bass-y ring of energy from Jango Fett's seismic charges. The most intense of the prequels, Sith is a sensory assault of the best kind, capped by mighty lava blasts and generous surround cues in the decisive duel on Mustafar.

John Williams' score (his best?) is applied big and loud, particularly in A New Hope, becoming an indispensable element of the adventure. Characters often look upwards and spaceships famously fly over the camera, so the overhead effects work well to create an all-encompassing bubble that carries you to that distant corner of the universe. Panning for all three classics is appreciably seamless, Empire displaying even more of the forever-wicked TIE fighters whizzing and whining all around the speakers, along with some resonant explosions. Obi-Wan's voice is ghostlier than ever in Jedi, while the speeder bike chase—unlike other famous saga setpieces—plays without music, instead relying upon the unbridled artistry of the singular Ben Burtt to jolt us from all sides. By its end we are as exhausted as Luke and Leia.

Although Awakens arrived in the age of Dolby Atmos, previous releases topped out at DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1, and the new immersive remix offers a noticeable improvement in spaciousness and detail, as heard in Han's mighty, sustained "Ben!" on Starkiller base. Last Jedi was the first Star Wars movie on disc with an Atmos mix, and it's ostensibly the same here, building upon all of the engineered bombast we've come to expect. Room-shaking boom is rare, although feathery Force whispers waft all around, and the silence that precedes the chaos unleashed by "The Holdo Manuever" comprises Episode VIII's best moment. Rise is a BIG sendoff and a worthy showoff disc, its complex three-dimensional soundscape packed with active surrounds, layered environmental audio, and plenty of LFE, especially during action scenes.

My enjoyment of all films benefitted greatly from bumping up the volume from typical disc-reviewing levels, sometimes more than a little. Some might call this an inconvenience, but soundtrack levels vary so widely on recent releases that it's become par for the course for me.

The 4K platters carry no bonus content whatsoever, while the accompanying 1080p Blu-rays for Episodes I-VI (re-authored to include the new video masters) contain two audio commentaries per, one each from their 2004 DVD and 2011 Blu-ray releases. Awakens and Last Jedi each have a director commentary on Blu-ray, the latter adding an isolated music track as well. There's no bonus content on the Rise Blu-ray, but a second 1080p disc complements every movie with an assortment of title-specific featurettes, interviews, deleted scenes and such, none of it new but some of it previously digital-only. Rise was day-and-date both individually and as a part of this box, and its two-hour-plus "Skywalker Legacy" documentary takes an affectionately broad view of the whole series, from the perspective of the final installment. If you're U.P.F. (an "ultra-passionate fan," as the O.G. Skywalker himself Mr. Hamill calls us in the letter he penned for this set), you might want to hang onto your past editions, as the bonuses here are far from comprehensive. And that's indicative of perhaps Lucas' greatest discovery on his long intergalactic journey: finding a way to satisfy audiences yet leaving us always wanting more.

All Discs
Ultra HD Blu-ray
STUDIO: Disney
ASPECT RATIO: 2.39:1
HDR FORMAT: HDR10
AUDIO FORMAT: Dolby Atmos with Dolby TrueHD 7.1 core

The Phantom Menace (1999)
LENGTH: 119 mins.
DIRECTOR: George Lucas
STARRING: Natalie Portman, Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Jake Lloyd

Attack of the Clones (2002)
LENGTH: 142 mins.
DIRECTOR: George Lucas
STARRING: Hayden Christensen, Natalie Portman, Ewan McGregor, Christopher Lee

Revenge of the Sith (2005)
LENGTH: 140 mins.
DIRECTOR: George Lucas
STARRING: Hayden Christensen, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Ian McDiarmid

A New Hope (1977/1997)
LENGTH: 125 mins.
DIRECTOR: George Lucas
STARRING: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Alec Guinness

The Empire Strikes Back (1980/1997)
LENGTH: 127 mins.
DIRECTOR: Irvin Kershner
STARRING: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Frank Oz

Return of the Jedi (1983/1997)
LENGTH: 135 mins.
DIRECTOR: Richard Marquand
STARRING: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams

The Force Awakens (2015)
LENGTH: 138 mins.
DIRECTOR: J.J. Abrams
STARRING: Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver

The Last Jedi (2017)
LENGTH: 152 mins.
DIRECTOR: Rian Johnson
STARRING: Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver

The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
LENGTH: 142 mins.
DIRECTOR: J.J. Abrams
STARRING: Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver