Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker 4K Blu-ray Review & Comments

Looking forward to revisiting this. During the theatrical run came away rather disappointed as it felt overstuffed and with some of the worst of J.J.'s sci-fi traits that drive me up the wall (a decision to ignore trivial things like 'time' and 'distance' chief amongst them). On the other hand I'm hoping some distance will let me shift away from my general exhaustion with the franchise or, more specifically, with the fandom. Never known any other group who profess to love a product so determined to tear down anything new and different, even Doctor Who isn't this bad!

Personally I'm not sure I'd agree with the previous movies differing tones "preventing this sequel trilogy from ever feeling like it had a cohesive, unified voice ". I mean, A New Hope and Empire are pretty damn different from each other and yet Return of the Jedi managed well enough. For me the problem was they set up that wonderful thread with Rey not being a known name and went to great lengths to crowbar open the possible horizon of the star wars universe... then ran right back to what they knew. Frustrating as hell, especially when the animated side has shown what can happen if you step away from the expected path. Again, hoping it sits a bit better on home viewing, fingers crossed!

Difference is that nobody decided to try and retcon the events in Empire and 'put Star Wars back on track'. Otherwise Return would have likely been (even more) messy. You're right, since the original film was never written as anything more than a standalone feature, everything after that had to build and expand the lore, but doing so in a cohesive, unified way is key.

You're not my father after all, wouldn't have really gone down very well.

Agree on the animated front, Clone Wars review is coming soon.
 
I actually quite enjoyed this at the cinema. The light sabre choreography was probably the best in the 9 film series. The powers stepped up to the sort of thing we see in the computer games which I enjoyed. If you remove the acting, and the script, then there's fun to be had. 7/10 for me too.
 
Has AV Forums retconned The Last Jedi out of all existence?

Interesting that the reviews jump from The Force Awakens to The Rise of Skywalker, unless I'm missing something.
Just about to ask the same thing :rotfl:
Isn’t it a new disc?
Was about to say the same thing, it’s a new encode with a lower bitrate in the Skywalker Saga set so would have been interesting to hear how it compares to the 2018 disc.

Boom, here you go, edited for completion - Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi 4K Blu-ray Review
 
Thanks for the review Cas,

it would be interesting to see a comparison between the two last jedi's the DV one and the boxset one...why they didn't just leave the existing disc in there is beyond me, although im assuming its to promote the disney + streaming service..although just because it is DV most reviewers have said the vanilla physical disk trumps most DV incarnations on the disney + stream.

I really enjoyed ROS ... the last jedi i thought was awful just because so many ideas raised in the force awakens were not explained or thrown away (like season 8 of GOT) nd the narrative just was too far removed from what had gone previous..you actually just have force awakens and skip LJ and go straight to ROS.
 
Thanks for the review Cas,

it would be interesting to see a comparison between the two last jedi's the DV one and the boxset one...why they didn't just leave the existing disc in there is beyond me, although im assuming its to promote the disney + streaming service..although just because it is DV most reviewers have said the vanilla physical disk trumps most DV incarnations on the disney + stream.

I really enjoyed ROS ... the last jedi i thought was awful just because so many ideas raised in the force awakens were not explained or thrown away (like season 8 of GOT) nd the narrative just was too far removed from what had gone previous..you actually just have force awakens and skip LJ and go straight to ROS.

Your wish came true - revisited Last Jedi 4K review is now live
 
I actually quite enjoyed this at the cinema. The light sabre choreography was probably the best in the 9 film series. The powers stepped up to the sort of thing we see in the computer games which I enjoyed. If you remove the acting, and the script, then there's fun to be had. 7/10 for me too.
The acting? How is this any worse than the other movies?
 
As a standalone film, it's not bad. However when trying to join it together with Last Jedi and Force Awakena, it does not work. If Colin Treverrow's script was shot and directed by him though, who knows how people would have reacted.

JJ clearly wanted to please fans. But what Star Wars needed was a singular leader knowing the direction and the story they wanted the films to say.

Saying that the picture looks good. The colours do not pop as much but the blacks are deep and its detailed. Its unnerving seeing bubbling in clothing.

The sound does test all your speakers. Whether that be ships flying behind and over you or the hum of the lightsabers, they will get a good workout.
 
So Rise of gets a 7 for movie like Return of the Jedi ? Come on.
None of the movies outside the original trilogy comes even close to it in quality/script/acting.

Different trilogies, different movies, different reviewers, and mostly, very limiting scores. Nine movies, 10 possible scores, there's likely to be some overlap, particularly if (for most franchise fans) you're only really looking at half of those numbers as rational awards.

And, you know, most importantly, ignore the score and read the review.

If you think that the quality (they didn't have the right tech to realise the ideas), the script (they made a lot up as they went along, when not robbing Kurosawa, and also changed their minds almost as much, mostly when they could escape Lucas) and acting (Mark Hamill's young Luke?? The idiot Stormtroopers?) were really a cut above, I think you've got your rose-tinted glasses turned up to Dolby Vision levels of tint.

I still roll my eyes every time Luke appears to have a Eureka! moment over the connection between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Old Ben Kenobi, or every time he kisses Leia, and then, you know, they just don't talk about it again, despite the fact she's suddenly with Han and she's suddenly his sister.

The Bushes of Love spoof Bad Lip Readings song perfectly ends with the script nonsense that went into these kinds of ideas (there's NO rational explanation for Kenobi not mentioning he has a sister, it's only slightly more ridiculous than him not mentioning that Darth Vader is his DAD!).



Nostalgia, the magic of the era, and the game-changing nature of this space opera blockbuster, as well as just that feeling that, despite all the flaws, it all pooled into a wonderful, unique experience, are likely what made/makes them so memorable. None of the elements you've mentioned are particularly standout, they're all much of a muchness in this messy but beloved saga.
 
I watched the BD of this last night. I only saw it at the cinema the once and I was distracted (new 'Odeon Luxe' screen).

I don't have an Atmos set-up but I found it difficult to get a sweet spot with the volume. True, most Disney releases - to me - sound like I've left earplugs in by accident. But I found this quiet, loud, flat and dynamic all rolled into one :)

Some dialogue was great, some other seemed muted and coming from a distance. Overall it was pretty good sonically, but I was constantly buggering around with the volume.
 
Difference is that nobody decided to try and retcon the events in Empire and 'put Star Wars back on track'. Otherwise Return would have likely been (even more) messy. You're right, since the original film was never written as anything more than a standalone feature, everything after that had to build and expand the lore, but doing so in a cohesive, unified way is key.

You're not my father after all, wouldn't have really gone down very well.

Agree on the animated front, Clone Wars review is coming soon.
Maybe I'm just getting old but I'm okay with retcons so long as they're done well and in a way that adds to the story. Example 1 through 999,999: Ahsoka Tano. Technically a retcon but developed so well (and with the advantage of hour upon hour of screen time) she's now not just a fan favourite but possibly *the* Star Wars character, especially for the younger generation. Making Rey a Papa-papa-Palpetine (damn you Robot Chicken!) would have been fine... if it had any real impact on the plot.

Again, I may change my mind after a quiet re-watch but it felt like a quick and dirty answer to tie the mystery of Rey into the return of Palps in a movie that desperately needed the Deathly Hallows treatment. Actually that's something that hit me re watching Revenge of the Sith. The big reveals come MUCH earlier in the film than you might expect so there's time for the consequences to play out. Here it's "what's up granddaughter, you don't mind me stealing your body, right?" then massive action scene and done. It feels like you could put a whole movie in between the celebrations and Rey burying the lightsabres where she's trying to figure out who and what she is now that every other trained force user is gone and she's got a very strong connection to the hammy side of the force.
 
Maybe I'm just getting old but I'm okay with retcons so long as they're done well and in a way that adds to the story. Example 1 through 999,999: Ahsoka Tano. Technically a retcon but developed so well (and with the advantage of hour upon hour of screen time) she's now not just a fan favourite but possibly *the* Star Wars character, especially for the younger generation. Making Rey a Papa-papa-Palpetine (damn you Robot Chicken!) would have been fine... if it had any real impact on the plot.

Again, I may change my mind after a quiet re-watch but it felt like a quick and dirty answer to tie the mystery of Rey into the return of Palps in a movie that desperately needed the Deathly Hallows treatment. Actually that's something that hit me re watching Revenge of the Sith. The big reveals come MUCH earlier in the film than you might expect so there's time for the consequences to play out. Here it's "what's up granddaughter, you don't mind me stealing your body, right?" then massive action scene and done. It feels like you could put a whole movie in between the celebrations and Rey burying the lightsabres where she's trying to figure out who and what she is now that every other trained force user is gone and she's got a very strong connection to the hammy side of the force.

Agree, Empire was a retcon done pretty well considering how ridiculous some of the ideas were (Leia's suddenly a sister, Vader's suddenly a dad), but my point is more about consistency.

If they wanted to go the Last Jedi route, they have to stick with it, not change tracks back.

Maybe retconning a retcon was more my point. Too much retconning is more retconning than one retconned franchise can handle.

Ahsoka is great, but I'm not entirely sure the ending of season 5(?) would have been as satisfactory without more from her now both in the final CW season and Rebels. And it does require that we don't think too hard about the fact she's *never* mentioned in Revenge (that's a bit of a sister/dad moment, but again, just about swallowable).

I can't wait for the hopefully true rumour about her coming to Mandalorian. And Rosario Dawson is an inspired choice.
 
Well it's on D+ 4th May , and I do not feel the need to own this one :smashin: .
 
Cheers Cas.

Only watched this once at the cinema, and not been fussed at all since then. I have BIG problems with the whole Sith play in it.

But now it's hitting Disney+ next week, I've got a bit of excitement growing.

With regards to the discs I'll bag em all in the future when they're eventually cheap. Even if it's years. I'm all Star Wars'd out now to be honest, I can happily wait a long time to watch em again.
 
Cas said:

I couldn't stand it at the cinema and left pretty fed up with Star Wars and willing to deny the existence of the recent trilogy.

I bought it (stand alone) for the Mrs to see as she'd missed it at the cinema and on rewatching it I have to admit that after seeing a string of blurays/dvds (so many I initially forgot to set the projector to the calibrated 4k setting, oops) I was really impressed with the experience in regards of picture quality/audio.

The Mrs laughed all the way through, she thought it was embarrassingly bad. Having seen Droid Tales for the first time on the Disney+ trial she also thought that gentle parody did a better job in places (that medal). Some of the stock film tricks (the "echo" about droids) had her asking what kid had written the script and what should have been the epic twist at the end had her writhing with how utterly contrived it was. She was spitting blood about Rose though, specifically the lack of her and that there was no chemistry with Finn anymore. Why give old characters screen time when you can have a new droid to feature the director's voice eh?

In the meantime I solved the problem of her moaning/laughing with upward volume adjustments and though there wasn't much of it the light sabre fights sounded good enough I could practically feel and smell the crackling of the sabres! That did make me want to go back over my blurays (and couple of 4ks) to compare the audio of the lightsabre fights to see if they really did sound better in Rise of Skywalker. I haven't however seen/heard all the films on my "new" sound system.

So having read Cas/Simon's reviews I've still not yet bought the 4k box set but I suspect it's a matter of time. It's 1-6 that I want on 4k (having 8,9 already) but assuming they come out at £25/pop in the future I'm assuming I'll save some money. The few special box sets I have (Bond films, Battlestar Galatica re imagining) are not something I ever look at and just make storage tricky. Ok, I do have a special edition Evil Dead 2 in a plastic Necronomicon, I do love that dearly even if it's Army of Darkness I love in that series ;-)
 
Nice review and I don't have much more to add.

It's a great looking and sounding (with the usual TURN IT UP TO 11 caveat) and pretty decent as a film. I liked Daisy Ridley's slightly lower key acting... I watched the "last trilogy" back to back and she was hyperactive in the first one (as was John Boyega).
 
Cheers Cas.

Only watched this once at the cinema, and not been fussed at all since then. I have BIG problems with the whole Sith play in it.

But now it's hitting Disney+ next week, I've got a bit of excitement growing.

With regards to the discs I'll bag em all in the future when they're eventually cheap. Even if it's years. I'm all Star Wars'd out now to be honest, I can happily wait a long time to watch em again.

May the 4th be with you...sorry Just getting me coat :D .
 
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If you think that the quality (they didn't have the right tech to realise the ideas), the script (they made a lot up as they went along, when not robbing Kurosawa, and also changed their minds almost as much, mostly when they could escape Lucas) and acting (Mark Hamill's young Luke?? The idiot Stormtroopers?) were really a cut above, I think you've got your rose-tinted glasses turned up to Dolby Vision levels of tint.

I still roll my eyes every time Luke appears to have a Eureka! moment over the connection between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Old Ben Kenobi, or every time he kisses Leia, and then, you know, they just don't talk about it again, despite the fact she's suddenly with Han and she's suddenly his sister.

True, but to be fair, when they made ANH, they had no idea that it would be so successful and start a franchise, so a bit of retcon to expand the story later was justified.

Disney had no such excuse for the sequel trilogy - they knew all along that at least three movies were planned and going into it without at least broad outline of the overall arc was madness, and in the event transparently obvious with three disjointed and disappointing movies. (I‘d say they are actually worse than that, three cr@p movies, but Star Wars fans are as blind to their faults as a Trump supporter swigging Domestos).

Disney wanted to try to capture some of the Marvel lightning again by bringing in a new director for each installment to stamp their own mark on it, but when Rian Johnson did exactly that, and tried to give the middle episode that same shock value that we got the first time we saw Empire, they just bottled it and caved in to noisy man-baby fans. I’m not excusing Johnson - Last Jedi was rubbish too, but it at least tried to break the mould a bit. They then panicked, sacked Colin Trevorrow and went running back to the “safety” of JJ Abrams. The result of this indecisiveness and lack of overall direction is the shambolic nonsense we see in Skywalker.
 
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On the Disney + channel May 4th, so not long to wait and compare.
 
Thank you for your balanced review Cas. Particularly your sober view of so-called SW fans who just want to tear-down and criticise.

Yes the story arc took some severe turns in the last trilogy, but personally I thoroughly enjoyed them for what they are: entertaining sci-fi flicks. I feel the spirit of the original trilogy remained in tact. A good bit of fun and escapism, some excellent characters and stunning SFX for the time.

I have to admit that the remaining shreds of 14 year old kid that lie dormant inside me come back to life for each SW iteration and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the final trilogy, especially when compared to the comparatively sterile feeling prequels.

And for me, apart from the visuals and sound which is why many of us on this forum enjoy this franchise, it’s the excellent casting of Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver that was spot-on. Precisely the thing that didn’t work for me in the prequels.

On balance the SW trilogy is like a flawed but very fond old school friend who I still keep in touch with and enjoy visiting regularly. I don’t mind the flaws because the essential elements of what drew me to him as a childhood friend remain.

Chapeau JJ for taking on such a mammoth task and doing far better than any of us could!
 
I preordered The Rise of Skywalker 4K on zoom and they sent me the entire Skywalker Saga boxset instead by mistake. o_O

I wonder are these all the remastered versions or the same as the blurays I have already for years. Just deciding whether to keep it and order the 4K again on its own.
 
9 ??? Is this review just for picture and sound quality because the actual film was garbage....2/10 at best 😭😭😭
I watched rogue one again the other night and I actually think it's my favourite star wars film.... After empire strikes back or maybe even equal to.
 

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