Hawkeye: The Complete First Season 4K Blu-ray Movie 
4K Ultra HD + Blu-rayDisney / Buena Vista | 2021 | 279 min | Rated TV-14 | Dec 03, 2024

Movie rating
| 7.2 | / 10 |
Blu-ray rating
Users | ![]() | 4.0 |
Reviewer | ![]() | 3.5 |
Overall | ![]() | 3.5 |
Overview click to collapse contents
Hawkeye: The Complete First Season 4K (2021)
Former Avenger Clint Barton aka Hawkeye has a seemingly simple mission: get back to his family for Christmas. But when a threat from his past shows up, Hawkeye reluctantly teams up with Kate Bishop, a 22-year-old skilled archer and his biggest fan, to unravel a criminal conspiracy.
Starring: Jeremy Renner, Hailee Steinfeld, Vera Farmiga, Tony Dalton, Florence PughDirector: Rhys Thomas (III), Bertie Ellwood, Amber Templemore
Comic book | Uncertain |
Adventure | Uncertain |
Action | Uncertain |
Holiday | Uncertain |
Specifications click to expand contents
Video
Video codec: HEVC / H.265
Video resolution: 4K (2160p)
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Audio
English: Dolby Atmos
English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 16-bit)
French: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
Subtitles
English SDH, French, Spanish
Discs
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
4K Ultra HD
Playback
Region A (B, C untested)
Review click to expand contents
Rating summary
Movie | ![]() | 3.5 |
Video | ![]() | 0.0 |
Audio | ![]() | 5.0 |
Extras | ![]() | 2.5 |
Overall | ![]() | 3.5 |
Hawkeye: The Complete First Season 4K Blu-ray Movie Review
Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 30, 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 are a surprisingly large number of characters sporting the name or nickname of Hawkeye throughout various media stretching back for a
perhaps surprising amount of time (e.g., The Last of the
Mohicans), and for those more attuned to, say, legendary films made into long running television series and who see the
title of this television series and can't help but think of
M*A*S*H, Marvel's character actually predates both the film and television versions of Richard Hooker's source novel, and in fact
even that novel itself. So with claims of character name theft perhaps shunted aside for at least a little while, this Hawkeye (Jeremy
Renner) is simply this latest on screen incarnation of a character Marvel first introduced way back in the veritable Dark Ages of 1964, and who,
once again pre-dating M*A*S*H, first showed up on television in animated form in a frankly probably little remembered effort called
Marvel Super Heroes, which was evidently the first maybe little bang of an incipient Marvel Cinematic Universe, broadcast for a few
months in 1966 and historically the premiere appearance of Marvel characters on the small screen, just a bit before the probably better
remembered Spider-Man (initially animated by the same company that did
Marvel Super Heroes.

Though it may not be the same celebration exactly, there's almost a kind of Planes, Trains & Automobiles aspect to Hawkeye, as Clint Barton attempts to get his family together for Christmas, encountering any number of obstacles along the journey. One of those obstacles might in fact be the other focal character of this miniseries, Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld), a character whose story is actually presented in more detail earlier in the show than Clint himself. In 2012, a young Kate (Clara Stack) witnesses the so-called Battle of New York, and, while traumatized by the damage to her parents' luxe domicile and apparent death of her father, still has time to check out a Hawkeye backflip off of a skyscraper, something that encourages Kate to want a bow and arrow. Segue forward a decade or so, and the now more or less grown up Kate is a bow and arrow sharpshooter, though her decision to aim for a college bell tower ends up having disastrous results, which then reunites her with her mother, Eleanor (Vera Farmiga). If this "actual" family of Kate ends up providing some (maybe just slightly silly) drama later in the series, it's Kate's "found family" of Hawkeye / Clint Barton that provides the bulk of this narrative.
In what might be thought of as a kind of recurring motif in some of the now multitudinous Disney+ offerings of Marvel stories, there's the familiar mentor - acolyte relationship at the center of this story, with Kate seemingly uncovering a "vast right wing conspiracy" that of course gets her into trouble, which is when Clint conveniently gets involved. Playing out simultaneously with this kind of "forced" partnership is a whole almost Douglas Sirk-ian melodramatic subplot of Kate's mother and an apparently nefarious new man in her life, Jack Duquesne (Tony Dalton), though those acquainted with the actual comic book version of the character may end up being at least a bit surprised with how he's treated in this property. Things with Eleanor may devolve even further as things progress, which leads to the perhaps slightly comical appearance of Wilson Fisk, AKA Kingpin, with Vincent D'Onofrio perhaps unwittingly looking like a bus and truck version of Daddy Warbucks in Annie.
If the action side of Hawkeye is fundamentally secure, it may actually be the cheeky comedy element more than any perceived dramatic side of things that actually ends up propelling this miniseries forward. A perfect example is the repeated use of a supposed musical called Rogers (hey, where's the exclamation point?), which shows up early in the tale as Clint attends a Broadway performance, but which recurs at least tangentially throughout the story, leading to a bit post-credits coda featuring a kind of hilarious song by Marc Shaiman. The comedy also shows up at various points throughout, including frequently with the gonzo so-called Tracksuit Mafia.
Hawkeye: 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.
Hawkeye: 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 Arri Alexa cameras and finished at 4K (both data points courtesy of the IMDb), this is another great looking presentation of a
Marvel property from Disney, though the "everyday" aspect of the setting, including the fact that Clint and Kate have no exceptional superpowers, may
keep some of that traditional "whiz bang" special effects wonderment so prevalent in other Disney+ offerings at least a bit more sporadic here. And in
fact I'd probably argue that the CGI in this series can be less consistently convincing than in some other Disney+ productions, though that said, it can
still be quite impressive at times, as in the opening salvo documenting the Battle of New York. The emphasis on practical sets and costumes in this
production offers some nice renderings of fine detail. While the absence of a 1080 presentation makes any comparisons with regard to HDR / Dolby
Vision challenging, the palette here, while again kind of arguably bland when compared to showier Marvel properties, can still pop quite appealingly, as
in the bright red costumes the Tracksuit Mafia wears. There are a number of rather dimly lit or outright nighttime scenes where shadow detail can be
slightly murky looking.
Hawkeye: The Complete First Season 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Hawkeye: The Complete First Season featueres a nicely immersive Dolby Atmos track. There is regular, consistent engagement of all of the surround channels, something that is probably understandably most noticeable in some of the big action set pieces, as in the opening Battle of New York, but which is discernable throughout the six episodes in any number of the crowded urban environments, where ambient environmental sounds can envelop the listener. There are any number of really fun panning effects when arrows are show, and there are also some kind of fun (and funny) sound effects accompanying such moments as when Kate unwisely chooses to target a college bell tower. LFE is also rather boisterous in a number of literally explosive moments. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English, French and Spanish subtitles are available.
Hawkeye: The Complete First Season 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Disc One
- Assembled: The Making of Hawkeye (HD; 58:27) is a good overview of both the two main characters as well as the narrative of this miniseries and how it plays into the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe. There's some especially good material surrounding Alaqua Cox's involvement.
- A Tale of Two Hawkeyes (HD; 8:28) focuses on Clint and Kate.
- Gag Reel (HD; 2:02)
- Deleted Scenes (HD; 29:58)
Hawkeye: The Complete First Season 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

That "The Complete First Season" included in this release's branding may be a bit of misdirection, since this show originally aired way back in 2021, and in the meantime Jeremy Renner has had his well publicized and horrifying accident. The mantle had probably already been taken up by the characters of Kate Bishop and Echo, in any case. This is an enjoyable if probably fairly slight entry in the MCU / Disney+ cohort, though it's received the same general care in terms of excellent technical merits and enjoyable supplements other Disney+ MCU releases have had. Recommended.