4K UHD Blu-ray Set Review: 'Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi' SteelBook' (Best Buy Exclusive) Review

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© 2018 Buena Vista Home Entertaiment (BVHE) and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL)


On March 27, 2018, Buena Vista Home Entertainment (BVHE, the home media distribution arm of Walt Disney Motion Pictures Studios) released Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi in various formats: Blu-ray, Ultra High Definition (UHD) Blu-ray, DVD, and digital download. And following the trend set by many of Disney's competitors, including the then-still independent 20th Century Fox Film Corporation and Viacom-owned Paramount Pictures, BVHE issued Rian Johnson's 2017 entry in the Star Wars Skywalker Saga in different editions, including exclusive releases for Disney retailing partners, including Best Buy. 

As was the case with 2016's home media release of Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens, Best Buy's exclusive edition of The Last Jedi does not concern itself with the content, which is the first 4K UHD edition of a Star Wars film. Other retailers, including Amazon, Target, and the Disney Store, offer 4K UHD Blu-rays in standard three-disc sets that present the movie in both of the current (2019) Blu-ray formats: the newer 2160p ultra-high definition BDs (or BD-66) and high definition 1080p high definition BDs (or BD-50). 

The Best Buy sets, though, offer Star Wars fans something that other retailers do not: a collectible "SteelBook" container similar to BVHE's 2016 SteelBook edition of The Force Awakens, which is also a Best Buy exclusive. 


Buena Vista, of course, is not the first home media distributor to create collectible SteelBook packaging for Star Wars Blu-rays; 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment reissued the Original and Prequel Trilogies in this type of container four years ago in what would be the company's final re-release after Lucasfilm's 2012 sale to BVHE's corporate parent, The Walt Disney Company. 

The 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment Limited Edition Steelbook Blu-ray sets from November 2015. © 2015 20th CFHE and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL)
Although BVHE's SteelBook packaging is similar in size to Fox's sextet from 2015, there are striking differences as well. 

For example, Fox decided to go with depictions of single characters (five villains and one Jedi) on the front covers and partial depictions of classic A-style posters by Drew Struzan and other illustrators on the reverse side. 

For the 2016 and 2018 SteelBooks, BVHE has tried two different styles of cover art. The Force Awakens' set seems to take its cues from Fox's earlier Steelbook releases and features a masked Kylo Ren against a black backdrop on the front cover and a menacing rendition of Captain Phasma on the back. 

And in The Last Jedi SteelBook, BVHE decided to go with a heroes-and-villains theme based on one of the film's promotional posters, with the film's Jedi and Resistance characters (including Luke Skywalker, Rey, Finn, Leia, Poe Dameron, Rose Tico, Chewie, Artoo-Detoo and See-Threepio on the front cover, while the back cover is dominated by First Order villains Kylo Ren (bare-faced this time), Phasma, Hux, and the red-armored Praetorian Guards.

The Last Jedi SteelBook edition also differs from its Fox '15 forebears in its content, not just the snazzy metal container's artwork.

As impressive as the Fox steelbooks look on the outside, they only contain the BD with the feature film and its various subtitle/audio commentary supplements. 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment contented itself with creating new packaging for the reissued 2011 Star Wars Blu-rays of the first six Skywalker Saga films without even updating the labels on the discs.

Buena Vista, on the other hand, gives customers three discs in its SteelBook releases. In the 2016 set for The Force Awakens, we get the feature film in two formats (Blu-ray and the older DVD), plus the bonus features on another BD. For The Last Jedi, we not only get the cool SteelBook packaging and the 4K UHD edition of the penultimate film in the Skywalker Saga, but we get the feature film in a "regular" Blu-ray and the bonus features BD, as well. 

I reviewed the high-definition Blu-ray last year, so if you want to see my take on that edition, you can read it here: Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi Blu-ray Review. 

And for now, at least, you're going have to wait a while for my review of the UHD 4K version of The Last Jedi. I own a 4K UHD TV and a Samsung UHD Blu-ray player, but it will be some time until we get it up and running. 

But if you have a UHD set and a compatible 4K Blu-ray player, here are the technical specs of The Last Jedi SteelBook's discs for your consideration:


Video
  • Codec: HEVC / H.265
  • Resolution: Native 4K (2160p)
  • HDR: Dolby Vision + HDR10
  • Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
  • Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1

Audio
  • English: Dolby Atmos
  • English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
  • English: Dolby Digital Plus 7.1
  • Spanish: Dolby Digital Plus 7.1

Subtitles

  • English SDH, Spanish

Discs

  • 4K Ultra HD
  • Blu-ray Disc
  • Three-disc set (1 BD-66, 2 BD-50)

Digital

  • Movies Anywhere, iTunes

Packaging

  • SteelBook, Inner print

Playback
  • 4K Blu-ray: Region free
  • 2K Blu-ray: Region free

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