Ahsoka: The Complete First Season 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		0.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Ahsoka: The Complete First Season 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 27, 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.

There's one thing you could pretty much count on with regard to old television series dealing with some form of castaways, whether those poor, unfortunate souls found themselves in locations as disparate as Gilligan's Island and/or Lost in Space , and that's that those poor, unfortunate souls would never be found (hey, how else are you going to continue with a series?). Ahsoka spends much of its first season dealing with a certain fear of one nefarious character and simultaneous hope for one heroic character being able to find their way back from being, well, lost in space, with the upshot being that two other characters find themselves in that very predicament as the season comes to its ostensibly cliffhanging finale. Rather interestingly in that regard, though, there are already press reports abounding as this review is being written that the second season of this series will be its last and that, yes, actual resolutions of various plot strands are already being discussed, perhaps including various folks getting to that all important "found" status. Ahsoka ends its first season with what might be called both a figurative and literal cliffhanger, with the figurative side of that metaphor involving titular character Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) and her recently estranged acolyte Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) being more or less stranded on an isolated planet, if "overseen" by the spectral presence of one Annakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen). Maybe both hilariously and a little on the bittersweet side, the literal presentation of standing at the edge of a cliff goes to a scene toward the end of the final episode involving another of the many characters suffusing this first season, erstwhile Jedi Baylan Skoll (Ray Stevenson), who is in fact seen walking up to the edge of a dangerous precipice in his final appearance in the season, one which now has the added elegiac context of Stevenson's sad demise just a few weeks before this show premiered in 2023.

Some of the supplements included in this release get into the history of the character, who in live action terms has had relatively brief but memorable appearances in episodes of The Mandalorian: The Complete Second Season 4K and The Book of Boba Fett, but whose genesis was actually in animated form way back in 2008 in Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Feature Film. Her story continued in two subsequent animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels , and at least tangentially in Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker and Tales of the Jedi . For purposes of this series, and especially with regard to the focal relationship between Ahsoka and Sabine, the two animated series are probably going to be the closest referents, and as is discussed in detail in some of the supplementary material, those series certainly played a major role in the design aesthetic of this series.

The "McGuffin" of this enterprise might arguably be either a "star map" that reveals where both dastardly Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelson) and nascent Jedi Ezra Bridger (Eman Esfandi) might be, or in fact it might just as arguably be those very disappearances, irrespective of any potential "technology" assisting Ahsoka and Sabine in their quest to find the missing men. One way or the other, the discovery of the star map then catapults both Ahsoka and Sabine in to a wary partnership, while all sorts of subterfuge and scheming play out on the sidelines, typically involving some of the huge supporting cast. Perhaps this tendency to dart off on probably unnecessary detours contributes to a surprisingly lethargic pace, but there are even problems with padding surrounding both of the main female characters. Pay attention, to cite just two early examples, to the scenes where Ahsoka discovers how to get the star map (in what amounts to a cut scene from a video game), or even Sabine's first entrance into her little shack. Both of these vignettes could have been accomplished in literally seconds, but they're drawn out for what seems like forever.

Pacing issues aside (which may be a formidable hurdle to overcome for some viewers, even diehard fans), the series has some fun characters, perhaps especially on the "robotic" side, and as mentioned above its design aesthetic, intentionally modeled on the old animated series, is often quite inviting. The death of Ray Stevenson may require some deft handling or at least a suitably similar looking replacement, but the series may have other issues to confront, as evidenced by those pesky reports about its impending demise.

Ahsoka: The Complete First 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.

Ahsoka: The Complete First Season is presented in 4K UHD courtesy of Disney / Buena Vista with an HEVC / H.265 encoded 2160p transfer in 2.39:1. Captured with the Arri Alexa LF and finished at 4K, this is a rather interesting looking series from a grading perspective in particular, with a gradual and rather subtle transformation from near monochrome moments in some early episodes to later, more fulsomely hued, sequences later on. In fact the early scene where Ahsoka discovers the star map is almost in black and white (see screenshot 5), with just little hints of turquoise on the character's sleeve inserts. Now admittedly the opening vignette documenting the attack by Baylan and Shin Hati (Ivanna Sakhno) to break Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto) out of "Republic stir" does have some teal-ish backgrounds and tan costuming for the "good guys", but comparing some of the earlier episodes to later ones seems to indicate there were design choices made in terms of slowly but surely introducing more color into the proceedings. If the palette is rather striking from the get go, despite being on the neutral side at times, detail levels are consistently impressive across the board. Practical elements like the so- called lekku (head tails) on Ahsoka and Hera (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) offer some really appealing fine detail levels (notably Ahsoka's in particular, where texturing is quite observable). Integration of CGI is typically excellent, and as is discussed in some of the supplements, the series utilized some of the "LED background" techniques that The Mandalorian did, meaning there's probably less of a green or blue screen look to those backgrounds at times. Since there is no 1080 release of this series, it's somewhat hard to offer any comparisons of how HDR / Dolby Vision affect the palette.

Ahsoka: The Complete First Season 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Ahsoka: The Complete First Season features another winningly immersive Dolby Atmos track. The recurrent use of light sabers offers some fantastic placement of effects swirling around the side and rear channels during some of the more calamitous battles, and the repeated scenes involving flying or even some of Sabine's early treks on a quasi- motorcycle provide excellent panning effects and clear engagement of the Atmos speakers. Even seemingly "minor" moments like spacecraft touching down provide some clear overhead activity, if only for a moment or two. Dialogue, including David Tennant's really enjoyable voice work as droid Huyang, is always presented cleanly and clearly. Optional English, French and Spanish subtitles are available.

Ahsoka: The Complete First Season 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Disc One

• Ahsoka: Legacy (HD; 10:30) is a bit of a punning title, since this featurette looks at the history of the character but also some of the work special effects house Legacy did on the production.


• Path of the Apprentice (HD; 10:13) focuses on the many master - student relationships in the series.


• Ghosts of the Past (HD; 12:27) addresses the influence of the animated series.


• Darkness Rising (HD; 11:54) profiles some of the villains, with an homage to the late Ray Stevenson.

Disc Two

• Audio Commentary on Part Five: Shadow Warrior by Dave Filoni


• Audio Commentary on Part Eight: The Jedi, the Witch and the Warlord by Dave Filoni

The SteelBook design is very handsome, with an emphasis on grays on the front and rear panels which may be an intentional "echo" of some of the monochromatic approaches of the early episodes in particular. Ahsoka is seen on the front panel, and Sabine and several supporting characters are on the back panel. The interior features a close-up photo of Ahsoka battling Baylan. Collector cards are also enclosed.

Ahsoka: The Complete First Season 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There's a lot to like about Ahsoka, including some involving performances and an interesting production design. But I personally just kept wishing things would hurry along a little bit more consistently, with too much time spent on needless "business" and some kind of fruitless detours involving supporting characters. Technical merits are first rate and the supplements enjoyable. With caveats noted, Recommended.