Obi-Wan Kenobi - The Complete Series Collector's Edition SteelBook - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray

Ever since Disney paid George Lucas a few billion dollars for Star Wars, the gargantuan studio has pumped out numerous films and TV shows. With new tales and unfamiliar characters shedding new light in the Star Wars universe and nostalgic faces coming back for another adventure, fans, and creatives rejoiced that the Star Wars universe is producing more content. With the biggest fan base in the world, and arguably the most boisterous, it was only a matter of time before fan-favorite characters would return for their own series, which is why Obi-Wan Kenobi entered the Jedi hall once again with his own miniseries.

Everyone loves that original Star Wars trilogy, but when Lucas took it upon himself to write and direct the prequel trilogy, it was all met with vicious fan reactions and severe critiques from professionals. Over time, many people have come back to realize that the story is very much intact and tells a wonderful and nuanced tale that gave big consequences that resulted in the original trilogy. But it was Lucas' script and inability to direct actors that caused these comical, angry reactions over the years. One thing fans and critics agreed on, besides Jar-Jar being a secret Sith Lord, was that Ewan McGregor's performance as Obi-Wan was amazing and that everyone wanted to see him return to the character.

Disney listened and was going to make a spinoff feature film, however, that idea got canned and after the somewhat failure of Solo: A Star Wars Story, the idea was put in motion to turn that unproduced Obi-Wan feature film into a miniseries. Turning a two-hour movie idea into a 261-minute series didn't exactly fare well for numerous reasons - mainly its pacing. Obi-Wan takes place ten years after the events of Episode III: Revenge of the Sith where Order 66 was carried out, numerous Jedi were murdered, and the few survivors went into hiding. Obi-Wan was one of the lucky ones, however, he lost more than most that day - his best friend and protege Anakin, who turned into the Sith Lord, Darth Vader.

Obi-Wan (McGregor) was tasked with keeping a secret eye out for Anakin's son Luke on Tatooine, but at some point a decade later, a young ten-year-old Leia is kidnapped to lure Obi-Wan out of hiding. Thus the show is set in motion with Obi-Wan rescuing Leia and being forced to confront his once good friend Anakin, who is now at the height of the dark side. With new characters and a ton of recognizable faces showing up here, the nostalgia ramps up in heavy ways. But the fact remains that Obi-Wan as a show has some big pacing problems that mix very slow moments with some exciting action beats between looks at iconic characters. A lot of these Star Wars and MCU shows suffer from the pacing problem, but in the end, the good points outweigh the gripes.

McGregor's return as Obi-Wan is exquisite. It's as if he's never left the role and performs his struggles to deal with his failure as a teacher and friend perfectly. It's a joy to watch him as this iconic character again. And watching Hayden Christensen come back to play Vader and the evil Anakin is unbelievably great. Not a lot of people gave Hayden the praise back in the early 2000s, but he just owns the screen with his commanding presence in every scene and he truly understands the role. Vivian Lyra Blair who plays little Leia is serviceable, but in this instance, this character doesn't really mean a thing to the miniseries story arc and actually muddles the series continuity. 

As the series draws to a close, the adventure is a great one, but the only thing people really want to watch are those battles between beloved characters and to see what Obi-Wan, the Emperor, and Vader were up to. That could have been settled within a two-hour movie or a three-episode arc - not a 261-minute slog. But again, it's Star Wars content that has a ton of great and satisfying moments and that's the end goal, even in a galaxy far, far away.

Vital Disc Stats: The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray
Obi-Wan Kenobi uses the force to conjure up a two-disc 4K set of the series, where the episodes are split over both discs that are housed inside a Steelbook. There are three lobby art cards from the show wrapped in plastic inside. There is no insert for a digital code, which is a shame and should be changed on Disney's part. Plus, the art cards have to go. Is anyone really opening these art cards or looking at them? Do what the great physical media companies do, release booklets about the film so that we can all read it on the toilet.

The artwork on the steelbook has a glorious image of Obi-Wan and Darth Vader facing off with their lightsabers. It looks excellent. However, in between them is another image of Obi-Wan and the Leia child looking around, which is so silly and comical that it ruins the entire artwork. The backside features Obi-Wan on top of the camel-like creature in Tatoonie contemplating his life choices.

Obi-Wan Kenobi comes with a 2160p UHD 4K transfer with HDR10 that looks great. There is a visible uptick from the Disney+ streaming service, which will always be the case. But is a physical release worth the money in addition to having it on a streaming service?

The color palette looks incredible and even more nuanced on these physical discs. The sandy locales of Tatooine have excellent orange and amber landscapes that mix with the blue and grey skies above. The wardrobe and droids look excellent with more of their primary and rust colors as well. Once on other planets, the greens, blues, and earthier tones really shine. The HDR10 accentuates each of these colors, especially during the darker sequences where either lava or lightsabers glow with their intense colors. Black levels are very inky and rich while the skin tones are natural.

The detail is very sharp and vivid in each episode, particularly during those lower-lit scenes. Closeups reveal makeup applications, scars, facial hair, sweat, and other textures in robes and clothing. This show was mostly filmed on a green-screen wall, but nobody would know it, because the attention to detail in the technology here is fantastic. There is not one moment of pixelation or softness in the background or landscapes. The action sequences are fluid and look wonderfully detailed where there is never an idea that everything is digital. This video presentation isn't leaps and bounds better than the Disney+ stream, but it is noticeable and looks excellent with the HDR10 revving its engines during the action beats.

This release comes with an impressive Dolby Atmos track and like all of Star Wars experiences, this one comes with that impeccable sound. The sound effects are robust and bring all of the elements of each planet and setting to life throughout each speaker. Alien noises, droid sounds, and vehicles traveling all provide a hefty bit of nuanced sound effects with a wonderful low-end of the bass. The fight sequences implore those iconic lightsaber noises, Darth Vader's breathing, and amazing rumble when the force is used. The score from John Williams and Natalie Holt always brings that sense of adventure, thrills, and drama to each scene. The dialogue is clean, clear, and easy to follow. The height speakers bring in inclement weather, and other sound effects from above, especially when someone is using the force to fight.  This is a stunning audio track.

There are only about 35 minutes of extras here spread across three featurettes, all of which have vague EPK styles to them. Sure, it's great to see Ewan and Hayden talking about the characters again, but it's for a very short time. There should have been more focus and interview times for these extras.

• Audio Commentary - Director Deborah Chow, who directed each episode comes to talk on the finale episode only to discuss what the goal of the series was and what she wanted to do in finishing this story. It's pretty informative, yet pretty dry. Also, this would have been better if anyone else from the production delivered commentaries on each episode and not just the final one, or another good option would be to have mini commentary tracks on each episode.
• Duels of Fate (UHD, 12 Mins.) - These two characters are examined with their spots in this particular series. The weapons, their character arcs, tone, and actors are all discussed.
• The Dark Times (UHD, 12 Mins.) - All of the villains in the series are touched upon here.
• Designing the Galaxy (UHD, 11 Mins.) - A lot of the set design, vehicles, alien life forms, and more are explored in this featurette.

Obi-Wan Kenobi gives the fans 261 more minutes of time spent with Darth Vader and Obi-Wan, which will always be something great. However, the creative team behind this couldn't figure out its pacing issues or script. still, the 4K image with HDR10 looks amazing and is a great upgrade from the streaming service option, and the Dolby Atmos audio track is fantastic. The few extras are worth watching but are quite short. Is this physical copy in Steelbook form worthy? Yes, it is.  Recommended! 

Order Your Copy of Obi-Wan Kenobi on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray SteelBook