Why So Blu?

The Mandalorian: The Complete Third Season (4K UHD Blu-ray Steelbook Review)

I am ecstatic thinking of how this is the 3^rd round of Disney+ Series to be released on UHD Blu-ray.  What was once thought of as an impossible feat now gives us not one but all three seasons of The Mandalorian with gorgeous Steelbook packaging and full bodied Atmos sound and HDR picture quality.  Cash grab you say. Take my money, house of Mouse I say. As we follow Din Djarin and Grogu on their next journey, how does The Mandalorian: The Complete Third Season hold up on disc? Find out inside the review. This is the way.

Season:

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.

Season 3 of The Mandalorian brings Din Djarin back together with Grogu as he looks to redeem himself and reclaim his status as Mandalorian.  Din must find the water in the Mines of Mandalore and redeem himself.  Din also meets with Bo-Katan Kryze who has all but abandoned her plans to reclaim Mandalore. Along the way there are adventures and misadventures and an inside look at how the New Republic is trying to rid itself of the dark pasts it wants to forget.

As is the case with other Mandalorian seasons, the focus and the task at hand are simple ones.  This season has some issues that weren’t present in the previous two. Watching it for my first time, I was expecting more of what I’ve seen previously and visually I was pleased with the way the show continues to show us new worlds while keeping us grounded in the locations and lore we have been used to since we were children.  Din Djarin as played by our favorite daddy Pedro Pascal is still a fantastic lead character. Grogu with his baby coos and badass warrior ways is as charming as ever.  The issue instead lies with the storytelling.

There is a flatness to season 3 of The Mandalorian. The writing takes us from set piece to set piece.  It gives us things we expect: Cute droids and little creatures – Check. Peli Motto comedy moment – check. Action/chase season just as the episode begins to feel slow – check… and on and on…. I don’t think that fans of the show or the franchise would gripe if they didn’t spend more time in Tattooine or if they didn’t see Jawas at least once in the season.  I also don’t think that we can ignore the fact that there are some insane cameos on this season that do take you out of the show.  Jack Black, Christopher Lloyd and Lizzo cannot lose themselves in The Mandalorian. 

It’s easy to tell that Jon Favreau has his heart in the right place.  As the creator and much of the time writer of the show he must feel a connection to the material.  On the other hand, it’s a little frustrating to literally feel the fan service coming off the screen.  Worse still the celebrity fan service with all those out of place cameos.  With not much to work with story wise also, the visuals have to work overtime to entertain us.  There are episodes that feel empty and pointless and others that drag for stretches of time when they could easily have been improved upon by some tightening and maybe less episodes.  We want quality not quantity when it comes to good storytelling, so make it happen!

When we get right down to it, you can’t deny that The Mandalorian is a fan favorite.  The show is one that parents can share with their children, and one that is a good “in” to the franchise for the uninitiated.  The next season may be its final one, and I just hope they don’t jump any more sharks, pivot to some crazy storyline or drag out thin storytelling with visuals and episode length.  To do so would only sully the series’ reputation and piss off the loyal fans of Star Wars by not delivering the goods.

 

Read Brandon Peters’ reviews of the first two seasons of

The Mandalorian HERE and HERE

Video:

Encoding: HEVC / H.265

Resolution: 4K (2160p)

Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1

Layers: BD-100 (4 Episodes per disc)

HDR: Dolby Vision

Clarity/Detail: The Mandalorian Season 3 comes to 4K UHD Blu-ray with a triple-layered 4K disc that boosts the clarity of the digital stream and makes the show sparkle! Even the Dolby Vision is better on disc. The special effects on the show can sometimes overtake the aesthetic of the scenes, but the efforts to make things look almost staged is a good thing.  The set pieces are full of detail, and you can see the care the crew took in this tack-sharp presentation.

Depth: Dense sets and detailed clothing textures are rendered beautifully in the depth department.  Background shots can be out of focus but do not look blurry or incoherent, with close ups looking expertly rendered too.

Color Reproduction: Colors are striking right off the bat, continuing with the same palette as the previous seasons.  Colors on clothing and on sets as well as exteriors all look excellent with no let-up in quality through the 8-episodes.

Black Levels: Inky blacks look perfect throughout the episodes

Flesh Tones: Skin tones look just as expected, save of course for the heavily made-up characters.  The Mandalorian helmets shine too!

Noise/Artifacts: Clean.

Audio:

Audio Format(s): English Dolby Atmos, English Descriptive Audio 2.0 Dolby Digital, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital, French 5.1 Dolby Digital

Subtitles:  English SDH, Spanish, French

Dynamics: Disney+ series are available with Dolby Atmos, but those mixes always feel hobbled and not up to snuff.  Toggling between my 4K set and the Disney+ stream, I noticed better surround activity and bass response and an overall better listening experience on disc.  Compression will never be a good thing for video and audio quality and this mix is proof of that.

Height: From above, ships fly, fights happen, caves echo, and creatures roar!

Low-Frequency Extension: Music, battle moments, creature fights, rumbling space craft and vehicles all keep the subwoofer active!

Surround Sound Presentation: Lower surrounds keep you in the series with ambience, city noise, desert winds, creature sounds and all the other lovely sounds of Star Wars that you can imagine surrounding you.

Dialogue Reproduction: Dialogue is reproduced perfectly.

Extras:

As with the last two waves of Disney+ 4K titles, The Mandalorian Season 3 is a 4K only title.  No Blu-rays or codes are included with the release.  The steelbook is gorgeous much like the other two sets and includes art cards inside. Bonuses on disc are on Disc 1 and are slight, but that’s to be expected with Disney wanting to keep some of the series extras on their streaming platform.

 

BONUS FEATURES

• Honoring the Magistrate: A Tribute to Carl Weathers — Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni pay tribute to Carl Weathers, the unforgettable talent behind Greef Karga.
• Galactic Legacy: The Creatures and Droids of The Mandalorian — Discover the secrets of Season Three’s memorable creatures and droids with the artists who bring them to life.
• Forging the Covert: Part Three — Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni and the filmmakers explore the expanding world of Season Three’s Mandalorian warriors.

Summary:

The Mandalorian continues its journey in Season 3, but that’s about it. The storyline overall is hollow and too much fan service plagues the show more than it does to help it move along. This Steelbook set is still wonderful giving fans a more thoroughly complete audio and video presentation.  Artwork on the Steelbook is beautiful and a perfect match to the other two Mandalorian seasons.  This is a perfect gift for the Star Wars fan in your family, or for yourself if this is the way. Grogu would approve.

Buy your copy of The Mandalorian Season 3 HERE