Star Wars: The Last Jedi (aka Episode VIII) starts off very strong, with a very familiar scenario, shifting with one major difference, the focal tone does not get replaced with a different shade of atmospheric distraction, but instead it snowballs in momentum, building into an adrenalin fueled, frustrating and thrilling rodeo of futuristic proportions that without a doubt, will strike several nerves with the blurred lines between current day affairs and science-fiction application. However, this review is not about the movie, to see our full review on the epic movie, you can click on this link, Star Wars: The Last Jedi Review.

Double Disc BlueRay Goodness

Director Rian Johnson takes fans on an intimate journey into the creation of Star Wars: The Last Jedi in a feature-length documentary, explaining his unique interpretation of the Force, detailing the painstaking process of creating Snoke, and deconstructing action-packed scenes from the film such as the epic space battle and the final confrontation. Johnson also reveals two exclusive scenes, featuring Andy Serkis as Snoke prior to his digital makeover, as well as 14 never-before-seen deleted scenes, in addition to his audio commentary.

Bonus features include:

• The Director and the Jedi: Go deep behind the scenes with writer-director Rian Johnson on an intimate and personal journey through the production of the movie—and experience what it’s like to helm a global franchise and cultural phenomenon.
• Balance of the Force: Explore the mythology of the Force and why Rian Johnson chose to interpret its role in such a unique way.
• Scene Breakdowns
• Lighting the Spark: Creating the Space Battle – Get a close-up look at the epic space battle, from the sounds that help propel the action, through the practical and visual effects, to the characters who bring it all to life.
• Snoke and Mirrors: Motion capture and Star Wars collide as the filmmakers take us through the detailed process of creating the movie’s malevolent master villain.
• Showdown on Crait: Break down everything that went into creating the stunning world seen in the movie’s final confrontation, including the interplay between real-word locations and visual effects, reimagining the walkers, designing the crystal foxes, and much more.
• Andy Serkis Live! (One Night Only): Writer-director Rian Johnson presents two exclusive sequences from the movie featuring Andy Serkis’ riveting, raw on-set performance before his digital makeover into Snoke.
• Deleted Scenes: With an introduction and optional commentary by writer-director Rian Johnson.
• Audio Commentary: View the movie with in-depth feature audio commentary by writer-director Rian Johnson.

Timeless Jewels

The bonus features had me entertained for quite some time, and that is without even going into the commentary sessions, which I am desperate to get into, soon! However, what stood out the most for me, and what I headed for first were the Deleted Scenes, which would have added roughly another 20 odd minutes to the movie, which is what Rian Johnson says is why it was cut from the main feature, because it would have overwhelmed us even more! My favorite “Deleted Scene” is one with Luke after learning about Han’s Death… it is so powerful and puts the scene we see in the movie with Leia into perspective so beautifully.

Next on my list of “need to mention” is the Andy Serkis Live! feature, which at first, I must admit, I thought was a stand-up comedy special… but I was not disappointed to learn when I pressed play, to see the entire Snoke scene, where Rey and Kylo team up, with Andy in the entire scene wearing his animation gear… seeing how he embodies Snoke, how he channels the emotion, and even sheds tears. It is truly special!

Last thing to make a personal comment on, is, as a Star Wars nut, I honestly thought I knew a lot (notice I did not say I thought I knew it all), but after watching the Balance of the Force feature, I quite honestly have a fresh and reworked outlook on how The Force influenced all the previous movies, which fueled a desire to rewatch all the Star Wars movies again, from scratch, applying what was discussed in the mythos featurette. You can just imagine how much info and content you get through the Scene Breakdown feature, so I will not even touch that, but all I can honestly say is that for the retail price, grabbing a BluRay copy, is worth every cent and worth every second of your time.

Conclusion

As mentioned before, even though Rian Johnson (Known for Directing Breaking Bad) took over from J.J. Abrams, who Directed Star Wars: The Force Awakens, who took over from George Lucas, who Directed Star Wars Episodes I, II and III, it still looks, feels and plays out like Star Wars does, but in a very unique, yet gloriously heroic way. This is particularly evident through watching the features and content on the bonus material disc. As a reminder, the movie has been rated PG-13, as it does contain a lot of violence and simulated violence (lightsaber fights), but is not more than we have seen before in Star Wars. My children love Star Wars. I love Star Wars. At the time of this review, Raru has the BlueRay on promotion for R199! This part of the Star Wars Saga is timeless and needs to be owned by all true Star Wars fans.