Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		0.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.5

Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman April 10, 2020

Disney and Best Buy have collaborated on a massive 27-disc UHD/Blu-ray boxed set for the 'Skywalker Saga,' the nine 'mainline' films in the 'Star Wars' series. Find below links to the individual reviews with full UHD video and audio coverage and which point to each film's dedicated supplemental content. Also find a description of the box itself as well as packaging photographs.

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

For full UHD video reviews, please click through the links below:

• Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
• Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones
• Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
• Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope
• Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back
• Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi
• Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens
• Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi
• Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker

Note: Because the new Blu-ray video presentations for the original trilogy have not yet been assessed in detail, the "video" score above remains blank.

Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

For full UHD audio reviews, please click through the links below:

• Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
• Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones
• Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
• Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope
• Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back
• Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi
• Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens
• Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi
• Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker

Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Skywalker Saga boxed set ships in a hefty, well made elongated slip box. It measures approximately 13.5 inches in length, 7.25 inches in height, and 2 inches in depth. The surface, predominantly black on all sides, has a slight rubbery feel to it. The front depicts the completed Death Star from the 1977 film. It covers the entirety of the left half, fading to shadow further towards that edge. Its primary weapon appears on the top right of the left half, but the sphere extends beyond the midline and covers much of the right panel's left-hand side. "Star Wars" is written in familiar script bottom left. The letters are darker than the surrounding content and they are outlined in a silvery gray color. "The Skywalker Saga" is opposite on the right side bottom. The first and last words are dark gray; "Skywalker" appears in white. The box is obviously meant to be displayed in a forward facing position; there is absolutely no text on any of the four sides and the rear is blank, too, save for a copyright notice and a model number in small white print bottom left.

The box slides open from the middle with each panel stretching left and right. The total elongated length is a whopping 25 inches. Inside is the large book-style package that holds all 27 discs. There's a fabric tab, adhered to the outer box's left side, that runs underneath the set to facilitate pulling it out. The book measures close to the outer shell; it fits in there snuggly so dimensions are just a mite less on all sides. Its open, extended length measures almost 22.5 inches. The exterior sports a silvery metal-looking surface. Where it's held together on the left towards the spine is the appearance of four flathead screws holding it together which feature minor embossing. The design patterns holds on the rear panel as well. A debossed black line runs vertically between them, though it's for decoration only rather than any sort of pivot point for the book. "Star Wars" appears center, a hair above the X-axis, in debossed lettering. Inside the letters is a broken up image of the Millennium Falcon. It's flying above something but it's difficult to make out. It looks like a derelict ship so it could be from the scene when Rey and Finn first fly it in The Force Awakens. "The Skywalker Saga" text appears below in dark gray debossed lettering. The rear panel features "Lucasfilm" center in light gray letters. There is no embossing or debossing work on that side. The spine is flat black and textless.

Opening it up to the first page reveals a black outer space field. On the left is the familiar blue "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away..." text while the right is home to "Star Wars" in the classic yellow outline lettering seen at the start of each of these nine films. The next 18 pages represent each of the nine films, chronologically in order of when they take place, not when they were released to theaters. Each film's two-panel spread depicts a key image reflective of that film in beautiful hand-drawn artwork. The film's title is seen bottom left, out of the way of the art. It also lists the title or subject of the artwork ("The Naboo Starfighter" for The Phantom Menace, for example), and the artist's name (Doug Chiang for, again, Phantom). The art is colorful and the pages are semi-glossy. The right-hand panel for each film houses both the UHD and Blu-ray movie discs, each in their own slot at the top. This is the set's weak link. They fit snug and there's very little real estate with which to get a good purchase on the disc. It's impossible to remove them without fingerprinting the edge. The following images are associated with each film: "The Naboo Starfighter" by Doug Chiang for The Phantom Menace, "Clone Army Assault" by Ryan Church for Attack of the Clones, "Duel of the Jedi" by Erik Tiemens for Revenge of the Sith, "The Millennium Falcon" by Ralph McQuarrie for A New Hope, "The Cloud City of Bespin" by Ralph McQuarrie for The Empire Strikes Back, "Darth Vader's Arrival" by Ralph McQuarrie for Return of the Jedi, "The Falcon Revealed" by Andrée Wallin for The Force Awakens, "Luke Skywalker's Sunset" by Seth Engstrom for The Last Jedi, and "The Final Confrontation" by Andrée Wallin and Stephen Tappin for The Rise of Skywalker.

Beyond those are the nine bonus discs, which are again situated two per page on the right side page. But rather than custom artwork, each individual page depicts a black-and-white production still photograph from each film, again with text bottom left (and bottom right for the photos on the right side pages) that briefly describe what the viewer is seeing. Because there is an odd number of discs, the final disc in the set, The Rise of Skywalker's bonus disc, enjoys its own panel, and there are two stills from that film on the final two disc pages. Flipping past that features a bookend black, textless star field save for a small Doug Chiang front art credit and legalese on the bottom left panel.

Also included is a letter written by Mark Hamill on sturdy, almost plastic-y, semitransparent paper, thanking the fans for their support over the decades and promising more films to come.

Supplemental coverage is a bit scattered; below are links to each individual 4K release. Links to the first eight films offer a listed breakdown of what's been included but carryover extras from the 2011 Fox releases, as well as for The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, require additional click-throughs. The Rise of Skywalker's listing is complete. A Movies Anywhere digital code for all nine films is also included; rather than a single code users will have to enter nine separate.

• Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
• Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones
• Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
• Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope
• Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back
• Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi
• Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens
• Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi
• Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker

Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This is a very nice boxed set. It's streamlined and there's not a lot of extra fluff in the way of gimmicks and odds and ends. The discs are a bit difficult to remove and impossible to do so without fingerprinting them. The 4K presentations vary wildly, with the newest trilogy and Revenge of the Sith looking pretty much perfect. Attack of the Clones and A New Hope fare well enough, but The Phantom Menace, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi are in dire need of reconsideration. Audio is excellent across the set and there are enough extras in here to keep Star Wars fans busy for days on end. It's not perfect, but it is Star Wars, and even the worst offending picture quality films have something to offer that stands them apart from any past home video version. Very highly recommended.