Star Wars: The Last Jedi 4K Blu-ray Review
By Chris Heinonen on
Audio Quality
Video Quality
Overall
Summary
In Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the Skywalker saga continues as the heroes of The Force Awakens join the galactic legends in an epic adventure that unlocks age-old mysteries of the Force and shocking revelations of the past.
Movie Review
Surprisingly I managed to avoid spoilers about The Last Jedi, despite not being able to see it in theaters. Any controversy about the plot I stayed away from, and still haven’t read it. Overall I felt the film was good, but not as good as The Force Awakens or Rogue One. The story goes off in a few directions that I didn’t see happening, and even at 2.5 hours it never felt like it dragged.
It does have some spots that aren’t perfect. It tries too hard with BB-8 and should cut back on how much it is used. The porgs are fine as they’re used sparingly and to good effect, not going to the extremes that Jedi did with Ewoks. There is less Chewbacca than in the last film as there is no Han, but overall the film is good. It’s not as good as the other recent installments, but I’ll certainly watch it again.
Technical Review
The Last Jedi was shot mostly on 35mm, but also digitally and has a 4K digital intermediate. It is the first Disney film to have Dolby Vision on 4K Blu-ray and it looks fantastic. Detail is incredible and it is usually easy to tell 35mm and digital sources apart. They do a better job controlling HDR with film, so clouds look normal with only a touch of film grain instead of sparkling as they did in Wonder Woman.
HDR effects look spectacular, with lightsabers and blasters standing out against the backgrounds. Since I didn’t see this in the theater I’m not certain how it was graded, but it looks very natural and clean on 4K Blu-ray. It only pops off the screen when it wants to, but is so packed with detail. Gradients are smooth and free of banding, and shadows never crush details. Little details come across better, like how C-3PO is a more natural gold than ever before, with bright glints off it when he’s in the light. This is as good as a movie can look today on disc. The one downside is that when they are using green screen effects, you can easily tell because of the detail of the transfer. It’s almost better to have scenes that are entirely CGI than to have live action in front of CGI because the difference is less noticeable.
The soundtrack is equally fantastic. It continually puts you in the middle of the action and uses ambiance well. When there is a rainstorm, that surrounds you, but even walking through a hallway there is noise that reverberates and makes you feel as if you are there. The subwoofer is used well and made me wish I had a second in my system to really feel the impacts of certain scenes. Overall, The Last Jedi is a true reference quality disc and one that I recommend picking up.
Special Features
- The Director and the Jedi – Go deep behind the scenes with writer-director Rian Johnson on an intimate and personal journey through the production of the movie—and experience what it’s like to helm a global franchise and cultural phenomenon.
- Balance of the Force – Explore the mythology of the Force and why Rian Johnson chose to interpret its role in such a unique way.
- Scene Breakdowns
- Lighting the Spark: Creating the Space Battle – Get a close-up look at the epic space battle, from the sounds that help propel the action, through the practical and visual effects, to the characters who bring it all to life.
- Snoke and Mirrors – Motion capture and Star Wars collide as the filmmakers take us through the detailed process of creating the movie’s malevolent master villain.
- Showdown on Crait – Break down everything that went into creating the stunning world seen in the movie’s final confrontation, including the interplay between real-world locations and visual effects, reimagining the walkers, designing the crystal foxes, and much more.
- Andy Serkis Live! (One Night Only) – Writer-director Rian Johnson presents two exclusive sequences from the movie featuring Andy Serkis’ riveting, raw on-set performance before his digital makeover into Snoke.
- Deleted Scenes – With an introduction and optional commentary by writer-director Rian Johnson.
- Audio Commentary – View the movie with in-depth feature audio commentary by writer-director Rian Johnson.
Pros
Reference class audio and video, very good film.
Cons
Not quite as good as the recent two Star Wars films.
Summary
The Last Jedi looks and sounds as good as any disc on 4K Blu-ray and is completely worth picking up to watch again at home.
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