UHD Review Star Wars: The Last Jedi UHD Review (1 Viewer)

[Todd Erwin]

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is the third film in the franchise under Disney ownership, and, like most Star Wars movies these days, caused a decisive split among fans. Regardless, this latest installment was a box office juggernaut, earning over $1.3 billion worldwide, and becomes the first in the franchise to be released on 4K UHD Blu-ray.



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[Adam Lenhardt]

Thanks for the review. It's nice to have a studio release with the kind of substantive special features we used to get in the DVD era.

 

[Jason_V]

Thanks for the review. It's nice to have a studio release with the kind of substantive special features we used to get in the DVD era.

I really, really miss those days. I hang on to some discs just for the supplements.

Thank you Todd!

 

[Sam Posten]

the DD+ 7.1 track fared slightly better with dialogue prioritization

We've been talking about this over in the Harris thread. It seems the Atmos track is like 5DB lower than other Atmos releases. Try cranking it up a bit and see if that helps?

 

[Josh Steinberg]

If the sound track appears low, it is possible that this is a sign that they've put the original theatrical audio mix on the disc, rather than a home video remix. That was the case for The Force Awakens as well. The theatrical mixes generally have a very wide dynamic range, and home video remixes often remix to remove some of those dynamics since home viewers aren't always equipped to go from whisper quiet to thundering loud and then back again.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

FWIW, I thought the "standard" 7.1 mix on the BD was low in volume, too.

Not radically so, but I needed to bump the volume about 10% over its normal level on my system...

 

[Josh Steinberg]

That seems to be a telltale indication that it's an original theatrical soundtrack rather than a near field home video remix. If only AndySu was still posting on this forum - his passion was for original soundtracks with all of their dynamics preserved rather than home video remixes that normalized some of the volume swings - he'd appreciate this release.

 

[Patrick Hannon]

Hi guys, I just checked out my copy UHD of The Last Jedi and found the dialogue norm value to be set at +2 as shown on a Yamaha 1030. This means it is recorded 2 dB lower than the "normal" +4 for all other Atmos UHD discs I have checked.......with the exception of Thor: Ragnarok which shows a dial norm value of 0....4 dB low. This is like the old days of THD and DD when the dial norm value was used on pretty much all discs. Over the past few years nearly all discs with THD or DD had not used dial norm. I have no idea why it is starting up again on some of the newer discs.

Unfortunately, my Marantz 7704 does not show this......to me important......information about the audio, so I have to route it to my old Yamaha 1030 to see these values on the info screen........ With the dial norm applied, it is lower in volume to start by up to 4dB, then if it is recorded lower as well, it will be even less loud than other movies........

Cheers,
phannon

 

[douglas-b]

I am extremely disappointed in the audio. I had it at reference level and it is anemic in comparison to say, Tron Legacy which shakes my whole house at -10 below reference. I expected so much more.

 

[Brian L]

We've been talking about this over in the Harris thread. It seems the Atmos track is like 5DB lower than other Atmos releases. Try cranking it up a bit and see if that helps?

Interesting comments on overall level and dialog.

I played the Atmos track (5.1.4) last night and it is indeed lower in over all level to what I have become accustom to with action films.

As for dialog, I find that for me many modern soundtracks have poor dialog intelligibility, but TLJ did not have that issue. In fact I was very pleasantly surprised how well presented the dialog was in my room.

I am not a slave to a dB number on my display, so I simply raised the volume to a point that seemed appropriate. I don’t expect to watch TLJ again in the short term, but I will definetly try the non-Atmos sound track.

 

[Dave Moritz]

I hope to pick up TLJ this coming Wednesday and hopefully my local Target still has it for $27.99 4K Blu-ray

 

[TonyD]

I am not a slave to a dB number on my display, so I simply raised the volume to a point that seemed appropriate. I don’t expect to watch TLJ again in the short term, but I will definetly try the non-Atmos sound track.

Yeah what is this all about?

Do people not use the volume control and just set it and forget it?

I change the volume for everything I watch.

 

[Todd Erwin]

There seems to be some confusion over what I stated regarding the audio on this disc. I've watched the film in 4K on both of my home theater setups. One room has 5.1.2 Atmos, the second has 7.1.

The Atmos track is outstanding, with excellent prioritization of dialogue when played back in an Atmos configuration. However, when I viewed it again in my 7.1 room with the Atmos track selected, dialogue sounded a bit lower in volume. When I switched to the 7.1 DD+ track, the dialogue level improved slightly.

 

[KeithDA]

Disappointed that with a week to go for our UK release the 4K is still £27 ($38). Thor Ragnorak is still on sale at £25 ($35) - so no, I don't think it is going to come down in price.... Disney are pricing 4K out of the market. I know I could import from the US, but the accompanying Blu with all the extras is likely to be region locked..

 

[zoetmb]

FWIW, I thought the "standard" 7.1 mix on the BD was low in volume, too.

Not radically so, but I needed to bump the volume about 10% over its normal level on my system...

I don’t know why people care so much about this. If the perceived level is lower, it probably means that they haven’t over level compressed the audio and it also enables more dynamic range without distortion, although as others have pointed out, sometimes you want less dynamic range in a mix intended for near-field listening in the home. (Although theaters are getting so small, some aren’t much larger than some home theaters).

 

[FoxyMulder]

Once again a Disney title that lacks the low bass that a good subwoofer can produce, compared to the audio on The Force Awakens it feels very lacking in bass and the dynamic range is neutered.

We have been spoiled for years by excellent audio on a number of titles which have bass you can feel, bass that you now expect on blockbuster titles, this did not deliver in that respect.

I do not need low deeply felt bass to enjoy a film, but i do expect it on modern films like this one, especially when there is a precedent set and all the previous films contain deep low bass notes.

Disney are not delivering great audio at the moment.

( just needed to add, you cannot simply increase the volume to try and recover something which is not there in the first place, the low end frequencies are simply not there )

There is a petition which i signed asking Disney to fix their audio.

https://www.change.org/p/walt-disne...lfe-bass-levels-in-disney-home-video-releases

 

[FoxyMulder]

I have been searching for some answers to the poor audio on Disney releases, this site seems to have an idea, that site is describing the audio exactly as i feel about a lot of Disney mixes.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnar...-your-star-wars-and-marvel-soundtracks-wrong/

From that site, it,contains more info, thats a snippet.

even if you crank the sound up high, Disney’s digital sound mixes still more often than not sound weirdly compressed. Bass extensions are limited, the mid-range sounds cramped and muffled, and the rear and (in the case of Atmos) height channels that are such a key part of the latest audio experiences seem muted and low on detail.

To be absolutely clear here, I and other AV fans aren’t saying that Disney just isn’t very good at doing sound mixes. In fact, the mixes for many of the films that sound strange on home video formats sounded great in movie theaters. It’s just that there seems to be some actual technical problem with Disney’s sound mixes when they arrive on home video.

I can only speculate on what this problem might be. The best suggestion I’ve heard from someone who works on the production side of the film industry is that Disney is using ‘multimedia’ mixes (designed with limited dynamics that suit audio-challenged devices such as mobile phones, tablets and PCs) for all of its home video formats - even premium home cinema ones such as Blu-rays and 4K Blu-rays.

Some have also suggested that Disney is using some sort of ‘pre-rendered’ Dolby Atmos track mixed for a 7.1.4 speaker configuration, rather than using a typical ‘dynamic’ Atmos track that automatically optimizes itself to whatever audio set up it is faced with.

 

[Osato]

Interesting discussion. Hopefully Disney comments at some point.
I noticed that I had to crank the audio too.
Blu ray and 5.1 setup for me.

 

[benbess]

With my daughter I finally started watching the bonus features for The Last Jedi 4k. How many of you have seen the movie-length making of documentary? Good and insightful material about the making of this massive and emotional epic. Rian Johnson for me was a great director for this. I so hope he gets to make his new trilogy! We also watched the deleted scenes, and felt that although they were interesting that all of them were better out of the movie. Still a few special features we need to experience. From the review....

"All of the Special Features can be found on the two Blu-ray discs that are included in the set (except where noted), as well as on most Movies Anywhere providers. There are no special features whatsoever on the UHD disc.

Audio Commentary with Writer-Director Rian Johnson: This informative and engaging track can be found in the Blu-ray feature film disc. Johnson discusses at great length various aspects of the production, as well as pointing out cameos by crew members and other actors.

The Director and the Jedi (1080p; 95:23): This is a fascinating and detailed feature-length documentary as we follow director Rian Johnson from the announcement of his hiring through to the completion of the film.

Balance of the Force (1080p; 10:17): Much of this is discussed at great length in the audio commentary, but Johnson discusses the Force, how it relates to the Jedi, etc.

Scene Breakdowns (1080p; 33:01): A detailed look at the making of three important sequences from the film, playable as one feature or each scene individually; Lighting the Spark: Creating the Space Battle, Snoke and Mirrors, and Showdown on Crait.

Andy Serkis Live! (One Night Only) (1080p; 5:49): Johnson introduces this segment, as the throne room scenes between Snoke, Rey, and Kylo Ren are presented with Andy Serkis in his capture rig before the CG Snoke was completed. This is fascinating.

Deleted Scenes (1080p; 23:51): Johnson introduces 14 deleted, extended, or alternate scenes from the film, playable as on long feature or each scene individually and with optional commentary; Alternate Opening, Paige’s Gun Jams, Luke Has a Moment, Poe: Not Much of a Sewer, It’s Kind of Weird That You Recorded That, The Caretaker Sizes Up Rey, Care taker Village Sequence, Extended Fathier Chase, Mega Destroyer – Extended Version, Rose Bites the Hand That Taunts Her, Phasma Squealed Like a Whoop Hog, Rose & Fin Go To Where They Belong, Rey & Chewie in the Falcon, and The Costumes and Creatures of Canto Bight."

 

[TravisR]

With my daughter I finally started watching the bonus features for The Last Jedi 4k. How many of you have seen the movie-length making of documentary? Good and insightful material about the making of this massive and emotional epic.

Yeah, the documentary is the best making-of on a disc in a good number of years.