Andor: The Complete First Season (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)
Disney+ has spent a great amount of time and funds making content for the kid in all of us. As a mild Star Wars geek, I was excited to see so many live-action shows coming to the service. In a wild turn of events, I never got to watching any of them, save for the first season of The Mandalorian. Thankfully, the folks at Disney heard our collector’s plea and we are getting some of these shows to own at home! These are aimed right at the collector with Steelbook packaging with beautiful artwork, art cards and disc exclusive special features. Andor is the 4th Star Wars show to see a disc release and you can read more on my thoughts below. Be sure to click the cover artwork below to order your own copy! Rebellion for life!!
Series 
Explore a new perspective from the Star Wars galaxy, focusing on Cassian Andor’s journey to discover the difference he can make. The series brings forward the tale of the burgeoning rebellion against the Empire and how people and planets became involved. It’s an era filled with danger, deception, and intrigue where Cassian will embark on the path that is destined to turn him into a rebel hero.
I didn’t want to delve too deeply into the story of Andor. I just wanted to give some serious praise to the show. What I enjoyed taking the whole show in on the first viewing was that there was something so fascinating and smart about the show. The heroes are written with brains and integrity. They are also brave and sharp on their feet.
Knowing what I knew about Cassian Andor from Rogue One made him an ideal character and story to explore. Here we meet him as a grungy thief. He has no real hope. But somewhere along the way his whole feeling for others changes and then he becomes an ideal candidate for the rebellion. His allies are similarly scuzzy at first, but they too develop and blossom when they choose to change their tunes.
Further, the Pre-Mor authority… What a great way to switch up the Empire for us longtime fans. I can honestly say I hated Syril Karn, and his exacting way with literally everything. I kept hoping he’d get his just desserts! And even more fantastic, the environments, planets and systems within the show are a great example of world building. This is how TV should be. Is Star Wars a super original property anymore? Not very, admittedly, but Andor is a strong candidate for the continuing Star Wars saga, and I can’t wait for season 2!
Video
Stills are for promotional use only and not from the 4K UHD Blu-ray
Encoding: HEVC/H.265
Resolution: 4K
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
HDR: HDR10
Layers: BD-66 (3 Discs in set)
Clarity/Detail: Andor makes the leap to 4K UHD Blu-ray with an astonishingly crisp and detailed transfer. Gone are the banding and artifacts that come with streaming and in its place are wonderful sharp images to immerse yourself in. Even the CGI looks really nice considering it’s a TV show.
Depth: Unless it’s meant to be out of focus, all aspects of depth in Andor are spot on. Things look incredible in all shots, small, medium, wide or otherwise.
Color Reproduction: Colors on Andor tend to be muted artistically, but it’s a mistake to think this is a bad thing. Colors lean towards the cool side a lot, but warm tones creep in and make themselves at home too. Costuming and interiors all look great as well.
Black Levels: Black levels can be imperfect at times, but only in a few fleeting moments, and it seems to depend on the lighting and not the actual color balance.
Flesh Tones: All human actors look natural throughout the show.
Noise/Artifacts: Clean
Audio
Audio Format(s): English Dolby Atmos and 2.0 Dolby Digital Descriptive Audio, Spanish and French 5.1 Dolby Digital
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French
Dynamics: Andor’s audio is another stunner. Filled with surround and height detail, thundering bass, and a lovingly clean score, Andor sounds great on 4K Blu-ray. Nice and loud and very full!
Height: From ambience to flyovers to crowds and everything else, you can hear things all around the room, with even quiet moments at times benefitting from the head space above the normal listening level.
Low-Frequency Extension: Bass response is in keeping with other shows and films in the series. Flying ships and machinery add heft to the proceedings and music often benefits from LFE activity too!
Surround Sound Presentation: Surround sounds keep things busy around the listener, with each environment having its own ambience. Echoes, outdoor noise, indoor noise, music and off-screen action appear here.
Dialogue Reproduction: Dialogue sounds perfect throughout.
Extras 
Extras for Andor: The Complete First Season are interesting and of note for Star Wars fans! The steelbook has gorgeous artwork and art cards too. There is no digital code with this or any other Disney+ Steelbook.
Featurettes:
- Ferrix Part 1: Imperial Occupation – Tony Gilroy, Kathleen Kennedy and Diego Luna discuss the series’ origins.
- Aldhani: Rebel Heist – Join the shoot in Scotland with character spotlights, rebel training, stunts, a VFX breakdown and more.
- Coruscant: Whispers of Rebellion – Explore the stories of ISB agent Dedra, Senator Mon Mothma and spymaster Luthen Rael.
- Narkina 5: One Way Out – Uncover the Empire’s penal system and the prison’s stark look, get to know Kino Loy, and view VFX breakdowns.
- Ferrix Part 2: Fight the Empire – Tony Gilroy, Diego Luna, cast and crew reveal the making of the season finale.
Summary
Andor completely exceeded my expectations. Performances are first-rate with production value and direction verging on exceptional. This steelbook variation is perfect for fans of the shows and film and TV collectors and is more than worth the price tag it’s carrying. This is a very easy recommend! More Andor please!
