Andor: The Complete First Season (Steelbook) [4K Ultra HD]

Cast: Diego Luna, Genevieve O’Reilly, Stellan Skarsgård

Release Date: April 30, 2024

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Disc Rating: 7.5/10

Synopsis:

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.

The debut season of ‘Andor’ joins the heroic Cassian Andor years before his appearance in ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’ and introduces us to a very different man than the one we all know as an unfortunate encounter that ends in the death of two men at his hands quickly causes him to be hunted on the planet he currently lives with his mother and calls home. As the Imperial forces begin to show increased interest in Andor and the threat builds, he finds himself being thrown from one planet to another as he tries to find a purpose (and make some money) embarking on everything from Rebel plays, a daring heist and even imprisonment. But it’s all only the beginning of Andor’s story as he starts to evolve into the character we were initially introduced to.

‘Andor’ was created by Tony Gilroy who also serves as showrunner for the series. The debut season stars Diego Luna reprising his role of Cassian Andor in addition to Genevieve O’Reilly, Stellan Skarsgård, Adria Arjona, Denise Gough and Kyle Soller along with more who each contribute solid and rewarding performances that help this series to quickly evolve into something quite special.

The debut season of ‘Andor’ delivers a thrilling, emotionally riveting and quite different ‘Star Wars’ series that focuses on the efforts of ordinary citizens as the Empire’s grip tightens across the Galaxy and follows the evolution of the eventual rebel spy and hero Cassian Andor. It stays faithful to the overall tone and approach of ‘Rogue One’ and emphasizes the struggle, loss and at times hopelessness of the world as things become increasingly worse and those who stand up to fight against the tyranny lose or suffer as often (or perhaps even more) than they succeed. The character of Cassian Andor is also a very different individual where the series picks up and is more of a simple thief looking out for himself and his mother with little concern for the suffering of the galaxy as a whole, but as one troubling and unfortunate turn follows another, the eventual hero we know begins to appear around the edges.

The series focuses primarily on the life and struggles of the characters, but still finds plenty of opportunities to deliver thrilling action and chase sequences, along with showcasing various planets and different locales along the way and the end result is a powerful, moving and just plain enthralling ‘Star Wars’ series that dares to offer a different and far more bleak look at the world during a truly dark time. If you haven’t yet had the pleasure of ‘Andor: Season 1’ then I would strongly encourage giving it a shot because this is one magnificent and passionately crafted series that fans definitely won’t want to miss out on.

Lucasfilm brings ‘Andor: The Complete First Season’ home on physical 4K Ultra HD (and Blu-ray available separately) in a 3-disc 4K UHD set that features all twelve episodes from the debut season of the ‘Star Wars’ series that fans can add to their collection, and arriving in conjunction with their 4K UHD release of ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi: The Complete Series (you can also read my 4K UHD review of that release HERE). The release features truly gorgeous Ultra High Definition video presentations on all twelve included episodes that are perfectly paired with wildly aggressive and immersive Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 compatible) soundtracks that impress at every turn, all spread between three discs for optimum quality. The release arrives home in Collectible Steelbook packaging with original artwork by artist Attila Szarka and additionally includes 3 Collectible Concept Art cards within. If you’re a dedicated ‘Star Wars’ fan or even just a fan of ‘Andor’ itself and are already considering a purchase, then this 4K UHD collection is highly recommended and fans shouldn’t have any complaints whatsoever about what it has to offer.

VIDEO:

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release of ‘Andor: The Complete First Season’ features a full 2160p Ultra High Definition presentation with HDR-10, with the show’s original 2.39:1 Aspect Ratio on all of the debut season’s episodes. The video presentations look magnificent as a whole and offer beautifully sharp, clean and immaculately detailed presentations on every episode with no faults or concerns arising along the way. Detail is outstanding throughout and character faces, stubble and clothing/uniforms look sharp and spectacular, as do the various planets and locations showcased throughout the season, while even the darkly lit and fast moving action sequences hold up splendidly at all times. The HDR-10 addition nicely boosts much of the presentation by contributing sharp, vivid colors that are more accurate and rich, while the black levels stay deep, clean and problem free throughout and do wonders to enhance shadows and space-centric sequences along with plenty more. Overall, these are fantastic Ultra High Definition video presentations that shine at every turn and should absolutely thrill fans.

AUDIO:

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release features a Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 channel compatible) soundtrack on all twelve season one episodes. Please note that this review pertains solely to the Dolby TrueHD 7.1 audio presentations. These multichannel soundtracks deliver crisp, clean and hard hitting audio presentations on every episode. They repeatedly utilize all seven available channels in order to send music, action, spacecraft and weather effects whipping throughout the various speakers at every appropriate opportunity, along with crowd chatter, water lapping and a great deal more, while always making certain that any dialogue or other audio elements that might occur simultaneously with one another remain clean, sharp and fully audible. Overall, these are wonderful Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 compatible) soundtracks that only exceed expectations and sound consistently marvelous throughout.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release of ‘Andor: The Complete First Season’ features a collection of ‘Andor: Declassified’ Behind the Scenes Featurettes that can be found on the first disc, exploring key locations and sections of the season and featuring interviews/comments with the cast and crew, plus behind the scenes footage and more. The included Featurettes are ‘Ferrix Part 1: Imperial Occupation’ (running approximately 8 minutes in length), ‘Aldhani: Rebel Heist’ (running approximately 8 minutes), ‘Coruscant: Whispers of Rebellion’ (approximately 9 minutes), ‘Narkina 5: One Way Out’ (7 minutes) and ‘Ferrix Part 2: Fight the Empire’ (7 minutes).

*Please note: The above images are taken from the series Trailer and are not reflective of the actual 4K Ultra HD release or its quality. A standard Blu-ray copy was not included in the release that could be used for screenshots therefore the above images were utilized. All content and images from the series are the property of their respective owners.

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Disc Rating: 7.5/10

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‘Andor: The Complete First Season’ is Now Available to Own on 4K Ultra HD Steelbook & Blu-ray Steelbook from Lucasfilm

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You can purchase your copy of ‘Andor: Season 1’ 4K UHD on Amazon HERE!

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