STAR WARS REBELS: THE COMPLETE FOURTH SEASON – A Blu-Ray Review by John Strange
I love the Star Wars films but until I received this blu-ray to review I had never really thought of the animated series as "legitimate". I was wrong. The filmmakers behind the live action movies have been behind the animated ones as well. From the episodes of Star Wars Rebels: The Complete Fourth Season I learned that the characters and the writers have given us an amazing story that is deep and worthy of binge-watching.
The half-hour episodes of the season are so well written that watching them felt more like watching a 353 minute film (15 episodes at about 23 minutes each) than just watching a TV show. Add to this offering six audio commentaries, eight episodes of Rebels Recon (a show that followed each STR episode, discussing about what happened in the episode and talking to the actors voicing the characters as well as the filmmakers about important story points), plus several other bonus featurettes. If you are a fan of Star Wars music, be sure to check out the featurette "Kevin Kiner: The Rebel Symphony".
But first, to the story, the real reason we watch these episodes. Season four of Star Wars Rebels follows the group of freedom fighters in the early days of the rebellion against Emperor Palpatine. We have all of the aspects of the Star Wars universe that we love. All of the assorted races, clones, Jedi, interesting characters and locations, and all of the storm troopers you can ask for.
The base storyline for the last season of the show has the intrepid team of the Ghost, ship's Captain Hera Syndulla (Vanessa Marshall), Jedi Kanan Jarrus (Freddie Prinze, Jr.), Sabine Wren (Tiya Sircar), Zeb Orrelios (Zeb Orrelios), and Ezra Bridger (Taylor Gray) with their trusty droid C1-10P a.k.a. 'Chopper' (Dave Filoni) fighting the Empire as Ezra comes into his own as a leader and a Jedi. Like the other groups we have watched in the movies, they all of their collective abilities to the fight.
The action is well-scripted and flows as well as any film I have ever watched. The crew have episodes on multiple ships and planets. The weekly storylines see them battling the Empire in all its deadliest forms. We also get to see characters from some of the live action movies make appearances like Grand Admiral Thrawn, Emperor Palpatine, and Darth Vader from the Empire's side plus Bail Organa, Mon Motha, and Saw Gerrera (Star Wars: Rogue One, voiced by Forest Whitaker) from the Rebellion's side of the conflict.
I have not seen the first three seasons of this series or the other animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars. At first I was afraid that this would lessen my enjoyment of this 2-disk blu-ray offering but I quickly found the story to be one I could drop right into and enjoy. In fact, now I have to go out and get the previous seasons to see what I missed!
Created By:
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Dave Filoni (Star Wars: The Clone Wars), Simon Kinberg (“X-Men: Days of Future Past”), and Carrie Beck (“LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures”)
Executive Produced By:
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Dave Filoni and Simon Kinberg
Cast:
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Taylor Gray as Ezra, Vanessa Marshall as Hera, Freddie Prinze, Jr. as Kanan, Tiya Sircar as Sabine, Zeb Orrelios as Zeb, Dee Bradley Baker as Rex, Mary Elizabeth McGlynn as Pryce, David Oyelowo as Kallus, Lars Mikkelsen as Thrawn, Warwick Davis as Ruhk, Forest Whitaker as Saw Gerrera
Extras:
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Blu-ray:
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Six Audio Commentaries Featuring Dave Filoni (Executive Producer)
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Ghosts of Legend As paths come together, we explore the journey of the Ghost crew with some of the talented people who brought them to life.
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Force of Rebellion Executive Producer Dave Filoni shares insights into the Force and its importance across the Star Wars saga.
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Kevin Kiner: The Rebel Symphony Go behind the scenes with composer Kevin Kiner to discover what inspired some of the most iconic music in the series.
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Rebels Recon Go behind the scenes with the cast and crew in 8 entertaining and information-packed episode recaps!
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DVD:
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Rebels Recon Go behind the scenes with the cast and crew in 8 entertaining and information-packed episode recaps!
Specifications:
Runtime:
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353 Minutes
Studio:
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Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc.
Release Date:
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07/31/2018
Region:
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1 (U.S. and Canada only)
Website:
MPAA Rating:
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TVY7-FV (Bonus Material Not Rated)
Selig Rating:
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BRAND NEW
Selig Rating Scale:
BRAND NEW: Should add to your DVD collection at any cost
SALE ITEM: Worth owning, but try to catch it a sale
SECOND HAND: Plan to get it, but wait to buy it used
RENTAL: Worth taking a look at, but not owning
COASTER: Pick it up at a garage sale and use it for drinks
PULL!: Makes a great Trap Shooting target
