Monday, March 26, 2018

'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' VOD/ DVD/Blu-ray/4K: Historic Step Toward Star Wars: The Next Generation


Several elements warrant lauding "Star Wars: The Last Jedi," which Disney is releasing on DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K in various combinations on March 27 2018 a week after a VOD release. This praise includes the 95-minute "making-of" documentary "The Director and the Jedi" on the bonus disc.

The bigger picture (no pun intended) is that "Star Wars" arguably is the coolest franchise out there that also does the best job spanning generations. Setting the films in a far far away galaxy at a time that is long ago prevents any of them from looking old. Further, reuniting the band each time avoids debates regarding which Luke or Han is the best.

It is equally cool that being adequately ancient to have seen "New Hope" in the theaters is a badge of honor, rather than a basis for thinking that Grandpa is telling his boring stories again. Personally seeing it as a lad of tender years was particularly special for reasons that include it being one of three films to which my father ever took me (the other two are "The Goodbye Girl" and "Private Benjamin"), and he kept his promise to take me despite his friends pressuring him to see "Annie Hall" in the next theater.

The final note regarding this is that the kids of today cannot imagine the thrill of the introduction to this saga being in a theater with a full-size screen and hearing the classic Williams soundtrack as the innovative scrolling intertitles that become a "Star Wars" staple begin rolling.

Grandpa is limiting other "Star Wars" memories to two more. The first is arriving at a mid-morning opening weekend screening of "Phantom Menace" just in case a ticket might be available, inadvertently buying a (discounted) forged ticket from a tween scalper, having another scalper literally pushing me into the usher on my warning his customer, and the usher accepting that ticket.

The final memory is attending (with validly issued tickets) opening day midnight showings of Chapters II and III. The amazing acrobatic pre-show fan lightsaber duels and other senses of community were fantastic.

The most general notable element regarding the home-video releases of "Jedi" is that this is the first "Star Wars" film that receives a 4K release. The superb advance 2-disc BD release that Disney is providing press outlets looks wonderful using a 4K player and set, but watching this visually stunning film with a perfect John Williams soundtrack and equally good sound effects on 4K seems very worthwhile.

Fully giving this release its deserved kudos is impossible without this review being a novella. A reasonable effort requires confessing leaving the theater in January with mixed feelings that include liking "Jedi" but also dubbing it "Deathstar Galactica" and "Star Wars: Voyager." The good news is that the standard experiment of watching a film on Blu-ray or 4K after seeing it in the theater paid off as if often does.

The following YouTube clip of the official "Jedi" trailer awesomely expresses both the observations provided above and the recap that comprises the rest of this post. It further highlights the stunning visual elements and the exceptional soundtrack of the film.


As the scrolling intertitles in "Jedi" state, the big bad New Order has almost complete control over the galaxy; only a small band of Resistance (rebel scum to the Order) fighters remain. Fan favorite (and righteous dudette on-and off-screen General Leia Organa (the sadly late Carrie Fisher)) leads the troops.

The opening scenes perfectly illustrate the benefit of seeing "Jedi" a second time. The Order is closing in on a Resistance base as Leia and her followers are scrambling to escape into space ahead of an attack. The Han Soloish rogue (in a few senses) fighter pilot Poe Dameron is using a prank as old as the innovation of the telephone to torment the commander of the attacking ship.

The first impression of this exchange (no pun intended) is that a tired childish prank has no place in a "Star Wars" film; the second impression, which the deleted original opening sequence enhances, is that Poe is cleverly using a ploy to buy the ground troops more time to take to the skies.

This sequence give Poe his Leia moment that the other two members of "The New Class" also get. This one is particularly special in that it has very personal elements for Leia. Only a bitter reference to this General being a a princess would have enhanced it.

Meanwhile on Skywalker Ranch, strong-willed Force-laden Leiaish Rey is trying to convince Jedi Master Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) to end his self-imposed Elba-style exile on what he considers the most isolated spot in the galaxy. He truly wants to be left alone.

The angst of Luke includes the outcome when faced with the "Star Wars" equivalent of the decision of whether to take advantage of a chance to kill Hitler before his rise to power. Further, a battle-weary Luke realizes the truth of his world and ours that ending one war does not prevent another one.

The thoroughly awesome Leia moment that Luke gets involves the best humor in the film that relates to one of the most iconic elements of the franchise. It provides one of the more special last memories of Fisher before her death.

Rey ultimately gets arguably the best (and most Leia-like) confrontation in a two-fer scene. She is the defiant prisoner of evil overlord Snoke (voice and action motion-capture god Andy Serkis) while Darth Vader grandson/Han and Leia son/Luke nephew Kylo Ren looks on. One spoiler is that Rey is not wearing a harem girl style bikini.

This scene provides several climaxes that include the moderately awaited reveal regarding the parentage of Rey. It also involves a a chance for her to follow the lead of Luke in letting the Order and the Resistance work things out without her.

Meanwhile, boy-next-door next generation Luke/former stormtrooper Finn is on his own mission that is very true to the objective in "New Hope." This ventures partners him up with the smooth operator who fills the void left by roguish Lando Calrissian.

All of this leads to a siege in which things seem helpless; this seemingly hopeless (pun intended) situation involves the Ayn Rand Libertarian philosophy that runs throughout "Jedi." The Resistance leaders that fairly literally are facing the wolf at the door come to realize that help is not on the way and that they must fend for themselves. The resolution involves a nice mix of self-reliance and support being available when you exhaust your resources.

These final moments also include what has become the "Star Wars" staple of the death of a major character. In this case, this better paves the way for the new kids to take over.

The aforementioned liking "Jedi" much more on the second showing strongly relates to the final scenes. The first impression is having wasted substantial time and money on theatrical and home-video viewings (and lots of "collectibles") of "Star Wars" films. The second showing reveals that writer-director Rian Johnson is leaving things on a more ambiguous note than borrowing a narrative technique from the '80s primetime soap "Dallas."

Speaking of borrowing, as the personal alternative titles to "Jedi" indicate, Johnson brings in several elements of "Star Trek: Voyager" and the 2000s "Battlestar Galactica" to the extent of prompting a "please state the nature of the medical emergency" joke. However, additional consideration results in cutting him slack and finding it cool that the film incorporates other favorites.

Johnson does equally well leaving the audience with a good starting point for Rey and her boys to wrap up the intended nine chapter saga of Leia and her boys. It is fully expected that this will lead to another nine chapters of the adventures of these space cadets.

Regarding the "Director" documentary, very recent Hollywood Star of Fame honoree Hamill Himself steals the show with his candidness, charm, and graciousness. He really gets in the spirit of "Jedi" and has a great scene in which he is very gracious to a extra who also is an adoring fan who inadvertently jostles his idol. He shows equally good humor when the crew literally leaves him hanging.

We additionally see that the budget for "Jedi" is not unlimited, that filming on Luke's Island presents even more logistical nightmares than the audience believes, and that Johnson seems to genuinely be nice.

Another great extra shows Serkis performing the aforementioned climatic scene in his elaborate motion-capture suit.

The deleted scenes makes one ache for a director's cut that restores them.

Your not-so-humble reviewer thanks readers who have reached this point of this epic review. Anyone with questions or comments regarding "Jedi" is strongly encouraged to email me; you also can connect on Twitter via @tvdvdguy.




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