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DVDs/Blu-rays TV

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

 

While it will forever be known as “that show with Baby Yoda,” The Mandalorian has become much, much more. And that became especially clear in the show’s second season, which went even deeper into Star Wars lore, Mandalorian culture, and the aftermath of the Empire’s fall.

Well, now you can enjoy all of it, and without the fear of it being delisted or glitching out, thanks to Star Wars: The Mandalorian: The Complete Second Season (4K, Blu-Ray).

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DVDs/Blu-rays TV

“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).

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Exclusive Interview: “Star Wars: The Mandalorian And Child” Writer / Artist Jeffrey Brown

 

As someone who’s been watching cartoonist Jeffrey Brown’s career with great interest since he released such indie comics as Clumsy and Unlikely in the early aughts, it’s been fun to watch him take on Star Wars in such fun books as Darth Vader And Son and Vader’s Little Princess.

But he’s apparently now gotten himself a subscription to Disney+ because he’s taking on a certain rambunctious child, and his minder, in Star Wars: The Mandalorian And Child (hardcover). In the following email interview, Brown talks about how tough it was to work with Din Djarin and Grogu on this new book of comics.

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PC PlayStation 5 Reviews Video Games Xbox Series S Xbox Series X

“Star Wars Jedi: Survivor” Review

 

In the third-person hack & slash action game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, former Padawan Cal Kestis had to relearn all the Jedi skills he’d forgotten while trying to survive in a post-Order 66 universe. But as Jedi Master Albert Einstein said, “The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don’t know.” Which is why, despite now being a Jedi, Cal still has a lot to learn in his new adventure, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC). Good thing Jedi’s learn by doing…

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Books Movies TV

Exclusive Interview: Secrets Of The Force Co-Writer Mark A. Altman

 

While there’s been tons of behind-the-scenes books about Star Wars, writers Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman are trying to do something different with Secrets Of The Force (hardcover, Kindle, audiobook) by not only presenting it as an oral history, but having that oral history be, as the subtitle explains, “Uncensored” and “Unauthorized.” In the following email interview, Altman (who was my boss at Geek Monthly) explains how this book came together, what it does and does not cover, and why they feel oral histories work for these kinds of making-of books.

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PlayStation 4 Reviews Switch Video Games

“Star Wars: Republic Commando” (2021 Remake) Review

 

As the recent Resident Evil remakes have shown so clearly, bringing an old game to new systems really only works when you update them as well. One has only to play the excellent revamps of Resident Evil 2 or Resident Evil 3, and then the faithful failure that is Resident Evil (HD Remaster) to see what to do, and what not to do, when bringing back an old favorite. Which makes the new version of 2005’s Star Wars: Republic Commando (PlayStation 4, Switch) such an odd duck, as this sci-fi first-person shooter has gotten an upgrade…just not enough of one.

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Movies Reviews

Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker Review

 

Forty-two years after the image of a Star Destroyer flying overhead blew my nine-year-old mind, the Star Wars saga is finally coming to an end. Again. But not really. But while Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker may not feel like the end of a space fantasy saga four decades in the making, and it’s surely not the last time we’ll visit that galaxy far, far away, it is an epic and exceptionally exciting sci-fi space opera.

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DVDs/Blu-rays Movies Reviews

Solo: A Star Wars Story Blu-ray, 4K Review

While Han Solo has long been one of the most iconic characters in the Star Wars saga, he’s also been one of the more mysterious, with his backstory left largely untold. But that all changed with Solo: A Star Wars Story, a biopic that showed what Han was up to a few years before he agreed to give a ride to some old guy and a cocky teenager. And while this epic sci-fi space opera works well on the new Blu-ray and 4K editions, they are missing some key extras that would’ve made them even better. (There is also a DVD version, but it seems to have no extras, and since I wasn’t sent a copy of it to review…)

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PC PlayStation 4 Reviews Video Games Xbox One

Star Wars Pinball: Solo For Pinball FX3 Review

While it’s silly to speculate about what Han Solo would eat if he was in our galaxy, or what TV shows he would binge, it’s a safe bet that he’d probably enjoy pinball. Maybe not obsessively, but when Chewie’s not around to play darts and Lando is off flirting with some waitress, it’s easy to image Han dropping a couple quarters into a pinball machine. But what makes me think he’d like the three tables included in the Star Wars Pinball: Solo pack for Zen Pinball 3 (Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC) — well, two out of three of them, anyway — is that they honor him and his recent biopic, Solo: A Star Wars Story, as well as his friends, in a way that’s fun for fans of pinball, the Star Wars saga, and smooth criminals alike.