Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga (4K UHD Review)
- Review Date: Mar 30, 2020
- Format: Blu-ray Disc
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Director
George Lucas, JJ Abrams, Rian JohnsonRelease Date(s)
1977-2020 (March 31, 2020)Studio(s)
Lucasfilm (Walt Disney Studios)- Film/Program Grade: B+
- Video Grade: See Below
- Audio Grade: See Below
- Extras Grade: B
- Overall Grade: B
Review
The Highlights:
- This review is for the Best Buy-exclusive Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga box set.
- Links to reviews of the individual films in the set are found below.
- There is no content that’s exclusive to the box set.
- However, The Last Jedi 4K/BD here are newly authored with new content.
- The new version of Last Jedi isn’t yet available separately (but will be).
- Rogue One and Solo are not included in this set and must be purchased separately.
- All the other films (save Last Jedi and Solo) are available in 4K in matching packaging.
It’s here! Tuesday, March 31st, 2020 will be a day long remembered, as it marks the arrival of Disney and Lucasfilm’s complete Star Wars Saga on the new 4K Ultra HD format—all 9 Skywalker films and the two Star Wars Story anthology films as well.
As many of you will no doubt be aware, The Rise of Skywalker is arriving on all home video formats on 3/31 for the very first time. The Last Jedi and Solo have been released on 4K Ultra HD previously. But The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith, Rogue One, A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, and The Force Awakens are all arriving for the first time on 4K Ultra HD on 3/31 as well.
You can purchase these films on 4K in one of two ways. Here in the States, the 9-film Skywalker Saga box set is a Best Buy exclusive (it’s wide release in the UK on Amazon.co.uk), but it doesn’t include Rogue One or Solo. The good news is that all 11 films will be available tomorrow individually on 4K Ultra HD in new matching packaging. The only exception is The Last Jedi, Solo, and The Rise of Skywalker—those do not have the new packaging. Instead, they’re the same discs original released. However, Disney tells me that The Last Jedi and Solo 4K will be coming in the new packaging at a later date (one that’s still TBA). I also suspect that The Rise of Skywalker will be rebranded in the new packaging as well, sometime later this year.
You’ll find in-depth reviews of every disc in this set at these links here at The Bits—I’ve looked at every film, every disc, and every extra and provide you all the details:
Star Wars: The Phantom Menace
Star Wars: Attack of the Clones
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith
Star Wars: A New Hope
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
Star Wars: Return of the Jedi
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
Note that each film includes 3 discs: A movie 4K disc, a movie Blu-ray, and a Blu-ray Bonus disc. The 4K discs are all-region. The Blu-ray Discs are coded for Regions A, B, and C.
The 4K disc of The Last Jedi is newly authored—it no longer includes Dolby Vision HDR (per Disney’s new norm). All of the Blu-rays in the set are newly-authored discs—they are not the same as those released previously. The Last Jedi movie Blu-ray now includes the Score-only version of the film and its Bonus Blu-ray now includes the Meet the Porgs retail exclusive featurette. Most (but not quite all) of the previous Blu-ray special features are included in this set. Most of the previous DVD special features are not included—and of course, the original unaltered theatrical cuts of Star Wars, Empire, and Jedi are not included.
Refer to each of the linked reviews above for more in-depth details on each.
In the meantime, here’s a better look at the packaging for the Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. The box is shaped like a monolith with Death Star imagery on the front, with the Star Wars logo and the title stamped in foil on the front. The two halves slide open to each side, revealing a tray in which you’ll find a hardcover book (there’s also a pamphlet with Movies Anywhere Digital codes for each individual film, as well as a letter from Mark Hamill). This book opens up to reveal pre-production artwork for each film in order—each page holds the 4K and Blu-ray movie discs for that film. You flip through the book a film at a time. Once you get to The Rise of Skywalker, there are a few more pages with behind-the-scenes images and those pages hold 9 Blu-ray bonus discs, one for each film.
Here’s a few pictures...
Here’s a look at the letter from Mark Hamill...
And here’s a look at the fully expanded packaging (showing all 27 discs)...
So there you go! Once again, you have to purchase Solo and Rogue One on 4K separately, but here are like to reviews of those discs. The Last Jedi is the new repackaged version. Solo is the original release, but we’ll replace it to a review of the new version when it’s eventually released...
Solo: A Star Wars Story
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
And that’s it. I hope you’ve enjoyed the reviews! If you have any questions about this set, please follow me on Twitter @BillHuntBits and I’ll be happy to try and answer them as I can.
May the Force Be with You... always!
- Bill Hunt
(You can follow Bill on social media at these links: Twitter and Facebook)