“Star Wars: The Mandalorian: The Complete First Season” 4K, Blu-Ray Review

 

When the original Star Wars came out in 1977, some people really hated C-3PO. That is, until Return Of The Jedi was released, and then they hated the Ewoks. Which, of course, lasted until The Phantom Menace, at which point people hated Jar-Jar Binks.

So you can imagine that the people behind The Mandalorian were bracing for the worst when The Mandalorian — a live action show in which one of the main characters is cuteness incarnate — premiered on Disney+ at the end of 2019.

But a funny thing happened: that scamp — called “Baby Yoda” by everyone who saw him unless they worked for LucasFilm, Disney, or their subsidiaries — didn’t become the next big thing in Star Wars to hate. People loved the little guy, no matter how cynical or dead inside they may be.

Now, thankfully, people can enjoy the joy of Baby Yoda, and the rest of the gang, even when their Internet goes out, courtesy of Star Wars: The Mandalorian: The Complete First Season (4K, Blu-Ray).

For those who didn’t see it on Disney+,

The Mandalorian is set five years after the collapse of the Empire at the end of Return Of The Jedi. Working as a bounty hunter in the outer rim, Din Djarin [The Last Of Us‘ Pedro Pascal] is tasked with collecting an asset for a former Imperial, only to learn said asset is a little kid. A little green kid. With big, pointy ears. And an anime eyes.

And you can see where this is going, right? The kid melts Din’s heart, prompting the bounty hunter to renege on his deal, which leads to other people trying to get the kid, and, well, the rest of it you’ll just have to see for yourself.

It’s all very Lone Wolf And Cub meets The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly.

Though, as with any show, mixing two cool things only works if you do it well — with smartly written scripts and solid acting — and with interesting characters.

And no, I don’t just mean the kid.

Din also has an engaging back story,

one made that much more interesting by how The Mandalorian explores the culture of Mandalore.

Then there’s Amy Sedaris, who plays a snarky mechanic on Tatooine; Carl Weathers, who shows off his leadership skills as the leader of a bounty hunter guild; Ming-Na Wen, who’s captivating as the assassin Fennec Shand; and Giancarlo Esposito, who’s chilling as a former (and if he has his way, future) Imperial, Moff Gideon.

It also helps that The Mandalorian ties in so well to the rest of the Star Wars saga (especially the animated shows The Clone Wars and Rebels), while also exploring a part of it we haven’t seen much on screen. Or really, anywhere; most of the books set during this time frame — such as Chuck Wendig’s Aftermath Trilogy, Alexander Freed’s Alphabet Squadron Trilogy, and Claudia Gray’s Bloodline — aren’t set in the outer rims.

The result is an effortlessly watchable…

— and, thanks to the kid and his interactions with Din — occasionally funny Star Wars show.

As for watching Star Wars: The Mandalorian: The Complete First Season on 4K or Blu-Ray, well, this depends on the quality of your Internet access. It looks even better than it does streaming, and without any of the glitching you can get if your Internet access isn’t top notch.

The same is also true for the sound, assuming you have a good stereo or home theater set-up.

It’s also much easier to rewind when you want to see Baby Yoda do something funny again.

Along with the show’s eight episodes,

the 4K and Blu-ray versions of Star Wars: The Mandalorian: The Complete First Season also have a couple interesting extras.

First, Star Wars: The Mandalorian: The Complete First Season presents “Remnants Of The Future,” a nearly six-minute featurette on the designs of the ships, worlds, and other items, especially in light of this being five years after the fall of the Empire. It is, as you can probably guess, a fairly typical making-of featurette, complete with cast and crew interviews, and behind-the-scenes footage.

Also included on the Star Wars: The Mandalorian: The Complete First Season 4K and Blu-ray discs is “Forging The Covert: Part One,” which delves into how this show came together. Again, it’s fairly typical, though it is odd that no one mentions Kazuo Koike or his classic (and, in this case, influential) manga, Lone Wolf And Cub.

(Oh, and for the record, “Forging The Covert: Part Two,” which appears on Star Wars: The Mandalorian: The Complete Second Season, is not the second half; you don’t need to watch both back-to-back to, I don’t know, get the full story. “Part One” is specific to season one. Oh, and you can read my review of Second here.)

As interesting as those extras may be, though, it’s hard not to think they could’ve included more. For instance, interviews with Werner Herzog, Esposito, and the other notable cast members about why they wanted to do a Star Wars TV show.

It also would’ve been cool…

if this had episode commentaries (though only if co-creators Dave Filoni and John Favreau were joined by some combination of Pascal, Weathers, Sedaris, Wen, and Herzog).

Similarly, this could’ve benefitted by including something that explains how this show connects to specific episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Rebels.

Or something on the new technology they used to film large outdoor and indoor location scenes in a studio with a giant digital wall.

Or the original trailers for the show (something I always feel is required when you have the word “complete” in the title).

Oh, and a gag reel; you know there’s hours of footage of Baby Yoda falling over…

And that video of George Lucas meeting the kid; how do you leave that out?

But the most egregious absence is Disney Gallery: Star Wars: The Mandalorian, an eight episode making-of special that’s on Disney+, but not on this supposedly “complete” season set.

As is, though,

Star Wars: The Mandalorian: The Complete First Season is a great way to watch this fantastic show. The episodes look and sound great, and while some extras are M.I.A., the ones they did include are good. In other words, there’s nothing here to hate.

SCORE: 8.5/10