The Mandalorian: The Complete Third Season 4K Blu-ray Movie
Collector's Edition / 4K Ultra HD + Blu-rayDisney / Buena Vista | 2023 | 339 min | Rated TV-14 | Dec 03, 2024
Movie rating
| 8.1 | / 10 |
Blu-ray rating
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Overview click to collapse contents
The Mandalorian: The Complete Third Season 4K (2023)
The journeys of the Mandalorian through the Star Wars galaxy continue. Once a lone bounty hunter, Din Djarin has reunited with Grogu. Meanwhile, the New Republic struggles to lead the galaxy away from its dark history. The Mandalorian will cross paths with old allies and make new enemies as he and Grogu continue their journey together.
Starring: Pedro Pascal, Katee Sackhoff, Carl Weathers, Werner Herzog, Gina CaranoDirector: Dave Filoni, Deborah Chow, Rick Famuyiwa, Bryce Dallas Howard, Taika Waititi
Adventure | 100% |
Sci-Fi | 87% |
Fantasy | 86% |
Action | 68% |
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, 24-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 | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
The Mandalorian: The Complete Third Season 4K Blu-ray Movie Review
Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 2, 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.
Just how cute and appealing is a so-called "baby Yoda"? Well, judging by the fact that The Mandalorian is one of the few
Disney+
Star Wars properties to make it to a third season, the answer might be "pretty darned cute". That said, cuteness can only go so far in
sustaining a series, and while there's already rampant talk of a feature film spin off of The Mandalorian (something that may in fact
eclipse a
fourth season of the series), there's a certain feeling of lethargy that pervades this set of episodes. I mentioned sometimes glacial pacing issues
that affected a somewhat related "sibling" to this series in my Ahsoka: The Complete First Season 4K Blu-ray review, and something at least a bit similar is on hand throughout
the eight episodes of this third year, something that may be even further complicated by the fact that some salient if tangential plot points refer
back to yet another Disney+ Star Wars property, namely The Book of Boba Fett, which
as of the writing of this review has yet to appear on either 1080 or 4K UHD discs.
For my thoughts on the two previous seasons of the series, please click on the following review links:
The Mandalorian: The
Complete First Season 4K Blu-ray review
The Mandalorian: The
Complete Second Season 4K Blu-ray review
If I visit the planet and can bring you proof that I have bathed in the living waters, then by creed, I would be redeemed.If the above salient piece of dialogue springing from the helmeted lips of this series' title character (Pedro Pascal) strikes you as sheer poetry and beautifully evocative, you may be able to weather some of the florid writing of this season better than more jaded types (ahem), who may hear such lines and either simply burst out laughing or at least bask in momentary nostalgia for similarly written pieces from the veritable days of yore like Flash Gordon. That very line actually is one central piece of where this season "goes", since Din Djarin finds out simply saying something like, "Hey, it's stifling wearing this damn helmet all the time" evidently doesn't suffice for a perceived "sin" in the ethos of the Mandalorian culture. Joking aside, that at least gives Din Djarin a quest in addition to toting around a baby yoda.
Of course, the toting continues apace, but Din Djarin's attempts to "bathe in the living waters" actually ends up (no water pun intended) cascading into a whole new thrust in the narrative, as the Mandalorians, including what might be called previously infighting internecine "tribes", band together to reclaim their home world of Mandalore. Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff) ends up playing into this particular scenario in a powerful way, with Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) and other nemeses darting around the margins of the story in order to provide repeated obstacles.
Maybe it's just that aforementioned "cuteness factor" diminishing over time, but this season just never quite seemed to be able to deliver some of the emotion of the previous two seasons. Still, there is some especially fine creature work on display throughout this season, and there's a somewhat more whimsical tone at times that the main making of featurette mentions may actually be closer to George Lucas' own vision for his Star Wars universe(s).
The Mandalorian: The Complete Third 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.
The Mandalorian: The Complete Third Season is presented in 4K UHD courtesy of Disney / Buena Vista with an HEVC / H.265 encoded
2160p
transfer in 2.39:1. This season continues the really outstanding visual presentation of the prior two seasons, with all three having been captured by
various Arri Alexa cameras and finished at 4K. Detail levels are excellent throughout each and every episode this season, and as I've mentioned in
the
reviews of the two prior years, the really artful blending of CGI and practical elements perhaps surprisingly offers secure fine detail levels in virtually
all
of the "artificially" created elements (I might make one slight exception in terms of some of the depictions of flame or explosions). The supplement
focusing on Legacy Effects and some of the superb creature creations of this season also provide some really excellent examples of how at times
practical and CGI effects for these particular creatures were woven together, and the result is some really great and wonderfully whimsical beasts,
droids "and the rest" populating the frame. As I've mentioned in the glut of other Disney+ 4K UHD releases coming out in tandem, the absence of
any 1080 presentations makes comparisons to these disc's HDR / Dolby Vision versions challenging, but this is another season filled with a rather
widely variant palette. Perhaps just a bit like the "cinematography arc" I mentioned in terms of the overall look of Ahsoka: The Complete First Season 4K, there is a slow but
steady march from darkness to light as this season progresses, and the last two episodes in particular offer some really nice highlights in brightly lit
outdoor scenes.
The Mandalorian: The Complete Third Season 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality
The Mandalorian: The Complete Third Season offers yet another extremely well rendered Dolby Atmos track, though this season tends to have everything "turned up to 11" a lot of the time, so much so that I personally kind of got exhausted in my binge watching/listening escapade in preparation for writing this review. There's a tendency toward amped up whirlwinds of sound in both some of the thrilling flying sequences, but also in more "down to earth" (and/or other planet) moments like the weird and basically irrelevant fight with the giant sea beast early in this season's opening episode. Aerial scenes in particular offer some clear engagement of the Atmos speakers, but there is noticeable side and rear channel activity throughout each and every episode. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English, French and Spanish subtitles are available.
The Mandalorian: The Complete Third Season 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras
Note: In a minor departure from all of the other two disc 4K UHD SteelBook sets being released by Disney / Buena Vista on December 3,
this offers supplements only on Disc One:
- Forging the Covert: Part 3 (HD; 12:01) addresses things like location scouting and production design, and includes some interesting crew interviews.
- Honoring the Magistrate: Honoring Carl Weathers (HD; 3:54) is a brief homage to the actor.
- Galactic Legacy: The Creatures and Droids of The Mandalorian (HD; 11:48) is another punning use of "legacy", a la a supplement on Ahsoka: The Complete First Season 4K, with some fantastic looks at creature creation courtesy of the Legacy Effects team.
The Mandalorian: The Complete Third Season 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation
Maybe it's for the best that this series is taking at least a bit of break, before what may actually be a feature film adaptation rather than more episodic television. There's a lot to enjoy in this season, but it sure feels uneven and less emotionally powerful than the first season of the show in particular. Technical merits continue to be excellent, and the supplements and SteelBook packaging may make this even more alluring to some prospective consumers. Recommended.