7.6 | / 10 |
Users | 4.6 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.9 |
Season One features 15 episodes and 4 animated shorts.
Starring: Freddie Prinze Jr., David Oyelowo, Taylor Gray, Tiya Sircar, Steve BlumAdventure | 100% |
Sci-Fi | 86% |
Action | 75% |
Animation | 50% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
French (Canada): Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
German: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
English, English SDH, French, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Sigh. Star Wars: The Clone Wars. You were taken from us too soon. You will be missed. The often excellent animated series -- which ran for six strong seasons -- was a rare victim of the Disney-Lucasfilm buyout, unceremoniously cancelled when a rights agreement with Warner Bros. couldn't be reached. However, rather than toss aside showrunner Dave Filoni and his team, the powers that be at the newly formed Disney/Lucasfilm co-brand decided to allow Filoni to develop and launch a Clone Wars follow-up: Star Wars: Rebels, a cleverly convceived adventure set between the events of Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005) and Episode IV: A New Hope (1977). Inspired by the look of the Original Trilogy and the early artwork of legendary Star Wars concept artist Ralph McQuarrie, Rebels promised to be something special; a lifelong fanboy's daydream brought to vibrantly animated life. The question, though, was if Filoni's new series could expand, enrich and invigorate the Original Trilogy as much as Clone Wars did the Prequel Trilogy. The answer to that question, though... isn't so simple.
Star Wars: Rebels features a striking 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentation with very few issues. A hint of banding here, a touch of aliasing there, but nothing significant. Colors are bold and beautiful, contrast is strong and consistent, primaries ignite, and black levels are deep and satisfying. Detail impresses too, with a surprising amount of fine texture on faces, clothing, ship walls and lightsaber hilts, and a touch of digital grain that adds an extra filmic, Original Trilogy touch. Edges are clean and refined too, though poring over screenshots reveals slight hints of softness that isn't visible when an episode is in motion. There also isn't any macroblocking, ringing or other anomalies of note, making for a faithful presentation of the series' animation.
Even though Star Wars: The Clone Wars first arrived with lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 surround, Warner eventually changed course, granting the series' third, fourth and fifth seasons lossless DTS-HD Master Audio tracks. Disney's release of the Netflix- born sixth season took a step back, though, with a return to lossy audio. Rebels unfortunately continues that trend, with a solid 640kbps Dolby Digital 5.1 surround track. Is it a big loss? Probably not. I suspect most listeners wouldn't know the difference. That doesn't make the development any less disappointing, of course, so set your expectations accordingly. The good news? Voices are intelligible and thoughtfully prioritized with an assortment of OT-era sound effects. LFE output is decidedly decent. Rear speaker activity is engaging, with enveloping directionality. And the John Williams-inspired score is full and effective. All told, it isn't exceedingly remarkable, but it more than gets the job done.
Star Wars: Rebels' first season isn't as strong with the force as we all hope Episode VII will be, but it's a decent start to what promises to be a series as impressive, most impressive, as The Clone Wars. Growing pains aside, there's a lot of fun to be had, particularly in the last three episodes, where Rebels really sinks its teeth in. Disney's Blu-ray release is quite good, with striking video, solid Dolby Digital audio, and a welcome complement of special features.
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