The Mandalorian: The Complete Third Season 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		0.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

The Mandalorian: The Complete Third Season 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 2, 2024

Note: Disney / Buena Vista is releasing a slate of Disney+ offerings all in SteelBook packaging and all available beginning on December 3. For the first time in my personal experience of reviewing Disney product, they are only releasing these series on 4K disc, with no 1080 disc releases available as of the writing of this review.

Just how cute and appealing is a so-called "baby Yoda"? Well, judging by the fact that The Mandalorian is one of the few Disney+ Star Wars properties to make it to a third season, the answer might be "pretty darned cute". That said, cuteness can only go so far in sustaining a series, and while there's already rampant talk of a feature film spin off of The Mandalorian (something that may in fact eclipse a fourth season of the series), there's a certain feeling of lethargy that pervades this set of episodes. I mentioned sometimes glacial pacing issues that affected a somewhat related "sibling" to this series in my Ahsoka: The Complete First Season 4K Blu-ray review, and something at least a bit similar is on hand throughout the eight episodes of this third year, something that may be even further complicated by the fact that some salient if tangential plot points refer back to yet another Disney+ Star Wars property, namely The Book of Boba Fett, which as of the writing of this review has yet to appear on either 1080 or 4K UHD discs.

For my thoughts on the two previous seasons of the series, please click on the following review links:

The Mandalorian: The Complete First Season 4K Blu-ray review

The Mandalorian: The Complete Second Season 4K Blu-ray review

If I visit the planet and can bring you proof that I have bathed in the living waters, then by creed, I would be redeemed.

If the above salient piece of dialogue springing from the helmeted lips of this series' title character (Pedro Pascal) strikes you as sheer poetry and beautifully evocative, you may be able to weather some of the florid writing of this season better than more jaded types (ahem), who may hear such lines and either simply burst out laughing or at least bask in momentary nostalgia for similarly written pieces from the veritable days of yore like Flash Gordon. That very line actually is one central piece of where this season "goes", since Din Djarin finds out simply saying something like, "Hey, it's stifling wearing this damn helmet all the time" evidently doesn't suffice for a perceived "sin" in the ethos of the Mandalorian culture. Joking aside, that at least gives Din Djarin a quest in addition to toting around a baby yoda.

Of course, the toting continues apace, but Din Djarin's attempts to "bathe in the living waters" actually ends up (no water pun intended) cascading into a whole new thrust in the narrative, as the Mandalorians, including what might be called previously infighting internecine "tribes", band together to reclaim their home world of Mandalore. Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff) ends up playing into this particular scenario in a powerful way, with Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) and other nemeses darting around the margins of the story in order to provide repeated obstacles.

Maybe it's just that aforementioned "cuteness factor" diminishing over time, but this season just never quite seemed to be able to deliver some of the emotion of the previous two seasons. Still, there is some especially fine creature work on display throughout this season, and there's a somewhat more whimsical tone at times that the main making of featurette mentions may actually be closer to George Lucas' own vision for his Star Wars universe(s).

The Mandalorian: The Complete Third Season 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: This release does not include a 1080 Blu-ray, so these screenshots are taken directly from the 4K UHD disc and downscaled to 1080 and SDR. Color space in particular is therefore not accurate. Because there are no 1080 discs in this package, the 2K video score above has been intentionally left blank.

The Mandalorian: The Complete Third Season is presented in 4K UHD courtesy of Disney / Buena Vista with an HEVC / H.265 encoded 2160p transfer in 2.39:1. This season continues the really outstanding visual presentation of the prior two seasons, with all three having been captured by various Arri Alexa cameras and finished at 4K. Detail levels are excellent throughout each and every episode this season, and as I've mentioned in the reviews of the two prior years, the really artful blending of CGI and practical elements perhaps surprisingly offers secure fine detail levels in virtually all of the "artificially" created elements (I might make one slight exception in terms of some of the depictions of flame or explosions). The supplement focusing on Legacy Effects and some of the superb creature creations of this season also provide some really excellent examples of how at times practical and CGI effects for these particular creatures were woven together, and the result is some really great and wonderfully whimsical beasts, droids "and the rest" populating the frame. As I've mentioned in the glut of other Disney+ 4K UHD releases coming out in tandem, the absence of any 1080 presentations makes comparisons to these disc's HDR / Dolby Vision versions challenging, but this is another season filled with a rather widely variant palette. Perhaps just a bit like the "cinematography arc" I mentioned in terms of the overall look of Ahsoka: The Complete First Season 4K, there is a slow but steady march from darkness to light as this season progresses, and the last two episodes in particular offer some really nice highlights in brightly lit outdoor scenes.

The Mandalorian: The Complete Third Season 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Mandalorian: The Complete Third Season offers yet another extremely well rendered Dolby Atmos track, though this season tends to have everything "turned up to 11" a lot of the time, so much so that I personally kind of got exhausted in my binge watching/listening escapade in preparation for writing this review. There's a tendency toward amped up whirlwinds of sound in both some of the thrilling flying sequences, but also in more "down to earth" (and/or other planet) moments like the weird and basically irrelevant fight with the giant sea beast early in this season's opening episode. Aerial scenes in particular offer some clear engagement of the Atmos speakers, but there is noticeable side and rear channel activity throughout each and every episode. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English, French and Spanish subtitles are available.

The Mandalorian: The Complete Third Season 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Note: In a minor departure from all of the other two disc 4K UHD SteelBook sets being released by Disney / Buena Vista on December 3, this offers supplements only on Disc One:

• Forging the Covert: Part 3 (HD; 12:01) addresses things like location scouting and production design, and includes some interesting crew interviews.


• Honoring the Magistrate: Honoring Carl Weathers (HD; 3:54) is a brief homage to the actor.


• Galactic Legacy: The Creatures and Droids of The Mandalorian (HD; 11:48) is another punning use of "legacy", a la a supplement on Ahsoka: The Complete First Season 4K, with some fantastic looks at creature creation courtesy of the Legacy Effects team.

SteelBook packaging collectors should find this another handsome addition to their shelves, with views of the Mandalorian and Grogu with who I'm assuming is supposed to be Bo-Katan Kryze (courtesy of the black sword being held) on the front panel, and several other helmeted characters on the back. While this SteelBook emphasizes green tones, they're somewhat cooler and less vivid than those seen on Loki: The Complete Second Season 4K. The interior panels feature a photograph of several characters on a beach. Collector cards are also enclosed.

The Mandalorian: The Complete Third Season 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Maybe it's for the best that this series is taking at least a bit of break, before what may actually be a feature film adaptation rather than more episodic television. There's a lot to enjoy in this season, but it sure feels uneven and less emotionally powerful than the first season of the show in particular. Technical merits continue to be excellent, and the supplements and SteelBook packaging may make this even more alluring to some prospective consumers. Recommended.