Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		0.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Disney has released 1983's 'Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi' 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 VI - Return of the Jedi 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Return of the Jedi's 2160p/HDR UHD presentation suffers from the same core issues that plague The Empire Strikes Back. More on those below, but first a bit of good news from film's start. When Vader arrives on the Death Star in the opening moments, the sense of overall clarity and definition is revealed to be just about the best from the original trilogy. The crisp lines on the Imperial officer's uniform look great and the skin definition is strong as well. Vader's costume is shiny and bold and overhead long shots show the Death Star and the shuttle in fine detail. Still, it's immediately apparent that grain is frozen in place. Indeed, parts of the film looks rather good: sharp, precise, and capable. Noise reduction has not destroyed the whole image, but it has wreaked havoc on most of it. It's easy to spot and will undoubtedly leave videophiles lamenting Disney's poor choices with the original trilogy (and The Phantom Menace as well). One of the most obvious locations to take in the frozen grain comes in chapter 16 when the Rebels are planning the attack on the Death Star and the assault on Endor. Processing is certainly in evidence here, and elsewhere. Look at Han at the 1:02:23 mark. It's a fuzzy, poorly defined shot, just about the worst the movie has to offer, forgivable as a one-off but it's emblematic of the whole. On Endor, there are signs of scrubbing throughout, robbing the foliage and trees of their natural stout definition. When Leia meets Wicket in chapter 22, bits and pieces of terrain are sharp but her outfit and face look smeary and backgrounds are plainly robbed of the natural grain structure. The battle on Endor at film's end looks constantly poor: filtered, flat, smudgy. Some of the shots when the rebels meet the Ewoks in chapter 24 are quite sharp. Some are not. That's the story with this one. Good-not-great in places, poor in too many others.

HDR colors are at least well balanced. Nothing really stands apart or as radically transformed but there is at least a sense of tonal boost and solidification, of little tweaks and increases to depth and nuance that give the movie a more expressive appearance. As with the other films, the opening crawl has been deepened a good bit to the point that it doesn't really look like the same color everyone's used to seeing for the past few decades. The movie takes place, predominately, in three main locations: Tatooine in the first act and Endor and the Death Star in the second and third. There's a sprinkling of Dagobah and Rebel command centers in the middle act, too, but it's mostly desert beiges, natural greens, and slick black and gray Death Star interiors. HDR is kind to all of them, bringing an added dimension of exterior brightness to Tatooine, contrasted with the relatively dark and dank palace interiors where black level depth is improved and little odds and ends colors on light panels and the like enjoy more bountiful intensity. Natural greens on Endor are pleasantly bold across a variety of green tones but the smoothed-over details do the colors no real favors. Those slick Death Star interiors shine and the lightsabers enjoy robust pop during Vader's clash with Luke. Skin tones are tonally fine but do have a sometimes pasty appearance in conjunction with some of the noise reduction that's taken place. Return of the Jedi has some of the best looking shots of the original trilogy but greatly disappoints in total.

The included screenshots are sourced from the included 1080p Blu-ray disc, which has itself received a fairly drastic makeover compared to the 2011 20th Century Fox release. Also note that the "video" score for 1080p above is left blank; I have not yet conducted a full review of the new 1080p Blu-ray video quality.

Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Return of the Jedi's Dolby Atmos soundtrack sounds just fine with the volume turned up a bit from calibrated reference norms. Musical output is agreeable, presenting with wide spacing, immersive surround extension, and heathy low end. Clarity is excellent across occurrences of John Williams' iconic score. The track offers plenty of opportunity for big, wide engagement. Certainly the space battle in the final act is the absolute highlight for zipping ships and blasting lasers, but a number of other scenes enjoy fruitful, surround intensive moments, from the deserts of Tatooine to the forests of Endor. The speeder bike chase sequence in chapter 21 is of particular interest; the fast movement is matched only by the depth and clarity of the finely tuned effects. The battle on Endor delivers impressive stage fullness, with laser blasts and clanking AT-STs blending with screeching and squealing Ewoks heard in abundance. The Atmos channels mostly support rather than dominate or deliver discrete effects, which is fine; the sound design is already packed and the added channels simply help create more immersive Star Wars atmosphere. Dialogue is firm and clear from its front-center location.

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 VI - Return of the Jedi 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Return of the Jedi'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 supplements 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 different sections on the previous release ("Tatooine," "Endor," and "Death Star II Space Battle") 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, Carrie Fisher, Ben Burtt, and Dennis Muren.
• Audio Commentary: Cast and Crew (Archival).

• NEW! Conversations: The Effects (1080p, 9:33): Dennis Muren, Phil Tippett, Roger Guyett, and John Knoll gather to discuss their work on the franchise. The supplement is excellent but most fans would probably prefer to spend an afternoon with these men, not 10 minutes.
• NEW! Discoveries from Inside: The Sounds of Ben Burtt (1080p, 5:21): One of the great things about Star Wars -- part of what makes it work so well -- is its familiar and iconic sound design. J.W. Rinzler joins Ben Burtt to look at the making of some of the franchise's iconic sounds, including Vader's breathing, R2's "language," and lightsabers.
• Legacy Content
  
  
  • Classic Creatures: Return of the Jedi
  • NEW! Revenge of the Jedi Teaser Trailer (480i, 1:27): A trailer featuring the film's original title, focused on favorite characters.
  • NEW! Return of the Jedi Launch Trailer (480i, 1:30): Join favorite characters as the battle rages.
  • NEW! It Began TV Spot (480i, 0:17): Voiceover and text only promising the saga's continuation.
  • NEW! Climactic Character TV Spot (1080p, 0:32): A brief ad that introduces a few of the film's key locations.
  • Interviews: Tatooine Overview, Endor Overview, Harrison Ford Interview, and Death Star II Space Battle Overview.
  • Deleted/Extended Scenes: Vader's Arrival and Reaching Out to Luke, Tatooine Sandstorm, Rebel Raid on the Bunker, Jerjerrod's Conflict, and Battle of Endor: The Lost Rebels.
  • The Collection: Rancor Maquette; EV-9D9; Salacious B. Crumb; C-3PO's Head with Eye Poked Out; Jabba's Palace, Road Creature Matte Painting; Sarlacc Pit Matte Painting; Leia's Boushh Costume; Lando Skiff Guard Costume; Jabba's Radio Controlled Eyes; AT-ST Walker Model; Speeder Bike; Imperial Shuttle Model; Ewok Hang Glider Maquette; Imperial Shuttle Landing Matte Painting; Endor Landing Platform Matte Painting; Ewok Costume; Biker Scout Costume; B-Wing Fighter Model; TIE Interceptor Model; Death Star Under Construction Model; Imperial Shuttle Bay Matte Painting; Admiral Ackbar Costume; Death Star Equator Docking Bay Matte Painting; and 'Millennium Falcon' in Hangar Matte Painting.

Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

More like Return of the Noise Reduction. Disney's original trilogy UHDs don't aspire to greatness. These are suboptimal to say the least, Empire and Jedi in particular. This one has the best one-off moments in the original trilogy but most of the transfer is a mess of processing, robbing it of its natural film state. What a shame. The Atmos track is at least good and the supplements are fine. Like Empire, it's difficult to find reason to recommend this disc considering the video quality. As Vader says towards film's end, "No. NO!" (which, for this reviewer's money, is the single most egregious alteration Lucas made in the entire trilogy. It completely robs the scene of its dramatic impact, sucking the life out of the cinematography and Prowse's performance, which together found the conflict underneath the mask just fine on their own).