Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		2.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		5.0
Overall		3.5

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Disney has released 1999's 'Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace' to the UHD format. New specifications include 2160p/HDR video and Dolby Atmos audio. A number of supplements are included on a dedicated Blu-ray disc.

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The included screenshots are sourced from the 1080p Blu-ray disc included with this set, which appears slightly altered form the Fox presentation: the aspect ratio is slightly different, as is the color timing.

It's clear that Disney took no effort or pleasure in bringing The Phantom Menace to the UHD format. The UHD appears to have been sourced from the existing master used for the Blu-ray disc with an HDR application slapped onto it. The image suffers from a number of problems, including some smeary textures, flat details, and little evidence of the original film source. Grain has been removed from the image, resulting in an inorganic façade that robs many of the movie's locations of their textural grace, whether worn-down dwellings on Tatooine or the rich and resplendent surfaces around Naboo, both within the palace and out in the open country. Faces are often far waxier than they should be, with close-ups showing only cursory detail within the smoothed-over imagery. There are also some trace examples of leftover edge enhancement, generally seen in high contrast juxtapositions (see Captain Panaka's hat at the 30:52 mark for a good example, and a few jaggies that appear around the edge, too). The visual effects don't hold up as well either on this format or as well as they did a couple of decades ago, and obviously the DNR doesn't help, either. There are, at least, some scattered moments when the original clarity and definition from the film source almost remain, such as when Anakin walks away from his mother, and everything he has ever known, in chapter 24. It's a simple shot but the terrain and the screen-filling structures are quite nicely defined. The raw increase in resolution certainly helps to alleviate the issues in some ways but also amplify them in others. Like the movie or not, it deserves better.

The HDR color spectrum is left as the primary point of improvement, and it does help to solidify the presentation, more or less. The picture is pleasantly bright, notably on Tatoonie and Naboo where sunlight helps bring life to beige deserts and healthy greens on each planet, respectively. HDR brings improvements to bright light sources, including lightsabers, laser blasts, and electrical fields that power pod racers. Colors overall fare a good bit better here over the Blu-ray, offering improved saturation and depth, though they appear a bit stymied by the textural dumbing-down, never quite able to really leap off the screen with commanding detail in support. Skin tones take on a pasty appearance and black crush is evident in a few scenes, such as when Qui-Gon takes Anakin's blood sample in chapter 17. The image is not a total loss. It's watchable, but watching it only leaves the viewer wishing Disney had taken some time to bring the movie to the format with the care and source faithfulness it deserves.

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Phantom Menace's Dolby Atmos track requires a fairly substantial volume adjustment; it's rather low and sounds flat at calibrated reference, but once the knob has been adjusted the track fares very well. Listeners will enjoy impressive instrumental definition and separation, as well as full stage engagement, accompanying the opening crawl. The Jedi ambassador ship powers through the stage in the shot to follow with authoritative depth and stage stretch. The ship explodes in a hangar a few minutes later; the laser blasts and subsequent boom present with well defined depth and stage spacing. These early scenes set the tone for the whole, and almost nothing disappoints. Music throughout is rich and balanced, offering impressive separation and full-stage saturation, including some modest but enjoyable overhead compliments that blend rather than stand apart. The top end isn't really used for anything obviously discrete, but the added fullness to music, battles, and general atmosphere come most welcome. Action scenes are a delight, notably the four that take turns taking center stage in the final minutes: the Qui-Gon/Obi-Wan vs. Darth Maul lightsaber battle, the space battle, the fight within the palace, and the clash out in the fields between the Gungans and the battle droids. All of them deliver quite a bit of sonic excitement by way of movement and bass, surround integration and healthy separation as necessary. Ditto the pod race, which is probably the sonic highlight in the entire film. For all the chaos in action, there's never a feel for jumbled elements. Dialogue is consistently clear, well prioritized, and firmly grounded in the front-center location. If only the accompanying video were so carefully put together and reproduced and downright enjoyable as this track.

Note that the bundled Blu-ray features a DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 lossless soundtrack; Fox's 2011 release included a 6.1 track.

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Phantom Menace's UHD disc contains no supplements, but numerous extras may be found on the paired Blu-ray discs: two carryover commentaries on the feature film disc and a number of video-based extras on the dedicated extras disc. New supplements, be they new to Blu-ray or entirely new, are marked as such and reviewed. Note that the previous Fox release is fairly clumsy to navigate; I've tried to ensure comparative listings are correct. Coverage of carryover content from the original 20th Century Fox boxed set can be found here. Note that some of the extras that were separated out into three different sections on the previous release ("Naboo," "Tatooine," "Coruscant") have been combined here. A Movies Anywhere digital copy code is included with purchase. This release ships with an embossed slipcover.

Blu-ray Disc One (Feature Film):

• Audio Commentary: George Lucas, Rick McCallum, Ben Burtt, Rob Coleman, John Knoll, Dennis Muren, and Scott Squires.
• Audio Commentary: Cast and Crew (Archival).

• NEW! Conversations: Doug Chiang Looks Back (1080p, 5:23): The importance of recognizable Star Wars designs and five key elements he learned working for George Lucas: the importance of silhouettes, the importance of audience connection with a design, character and object visual personalities, believability, and design flair, a.k.a. "the geek factor."
• NEW! Discoveries from Inside: Models & Miniatures (1080p, 4:17): J.W. Rinzler, Steve Gawley, and Lorne Peterson talk up some of the key models and miniatures from The Phantom Menace as well as the other films: pod racers, the escape pod used by the droids in A New Hope, the blockade runner and The Millennium Falcon, asteroids from The Empire Strikes Back, and the "de-made" C-3PO.
• NEW! George Lucas on the Digital Revolution (1080p, 7:51): Lucas and several others discuss the history of the franchise within the prism of technology, moving from, primarily, analogue with the first film to introducing more digital editing and special effects technology for Empire and Jedi and an explosion of digital workmanship and work flow for the prequel trilogy and its influence on future filmmaking and theatrical exhibition alike.
• Legacy Content
  
  
  • NEW! "The Beginning" Feature-Length Documentary (480i, 1:06:21): A highly detailed documentary that offers intimate entry into production meetings, prop design construction, auditions, video tests, fight choreography, script read-throughs, filming, effects work, sound recording, score, editing, and even on-set challenges. This is a true all-access feature that will delight Star Wars fans.
  • NEW! The Podrace: Theatrical Edit (1080p, 12:28): A version with several different edits compared to the version currently found on home video.
  • Archive Fly-Through
  • Interviews: Naboo Overview, Liam Neeson Interview, Tatooine Overview, Rick McCallum Interview - Podracers, Rick McCallum Interview - Filming in Tunisia, Coruscant Overview, and George Lucas on Preparing to Write Episode I - 1994.
  • Deleted/Extended Scenes: Trash-Talking Droids, The Waterfall Sequence, Extended Podrace Wager, Complete Podrace Grid Sequence, Extended Podrace Lap Two, Anakin's Scuffle with Greedo, Battle on the Boarding Ramp, Bail Organa of Alderaan, The Battle Is Over, and Anakin's Return. Note that the bolded scenes appear to be new to Blu-ray for this release.
  • The Collection: Jar Jar Maquette, Trade Federation Battleship Concept Model, Republic Cruiser Concept Model, Queen Amidala Throne Room Costume, Full Sized Battle Droid, Naboo Starfighter Concept Model, Sando Aqua Monster Maquette, Darth Maul Costume, Palpatine's Shuttle Model, Queens Royal Starship Concept Model, Eopie with Anakin Maquette, Watto Maquette, Sebulba Maquette, Dud Bolt Puppet, Anakin's Podracer "Tabletop" Model, Sith Speeder Model, Coruscant Air Taxi Model, Queen Amidala Senate Costume, Pre-Senate Address Costume, and Senate Guard Costume.

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This reviewer has had a soft spot for The Phantom Menace since eagerly taking it in on opening night 1999. The film is admittedly flawed: a few mediocre performances bog the movie down, untimely humor interferes when it need not, and dialogue is sometimes clumsier than Jar-Jar Binks, who is, of course, the film's, and the arguably the franchise's, biggest boo-boo. But McGregor is special as Obi-Wan, Neeson and Park shine as seasoned opponents, and the movie delivers some spectacular set pieces, robust action (including the best lightsaber fight in the franchise), and a rousing score. Flawed? Yes. Fun? Absolutely. Unfortunately, the UHD is not particularly good, at least visually. The 2160p/HDR presentation is suboptimal, to say the least. The Atmos track is surprisingly strong with the volume cranked up. A robust assortment of supplements are also included on a supplement-specific bonus disc. Naysayers would be wise to skip given the video presentation, but this is still the best the film has ever looked for home consumption, even if it has plenty of room for improvement.