Star Wars Rebels Season 3 hits Blu-ray on August 29 and we’ve been given a chance to check it out early.
You can read all of our original reviews of each individual episode here, and we rated the season as a whole an 8.5 out of 10, averaging each episode.
The Blu-ray brings an unparalleled picture and sound quality to the show that actually makes me wish we didn’t have to watch the show on Disney XD to start with, with all of its advertisements for other shows, ratings, and commercials. This is a show designed to be viewed at the highest possible quality and that’s the easiest reason why this Blu-ray set is going to be a must buy for Star Wars fans.
The other, more important reason, is the wealth of bonus features. There are commentary tracks that are so good that they should be on every episode of the series (and The Clone Wars besides). Particularly excellent was the commentary for Twin Suns, the episode that saw a conclusion to the story of Darth Maul. It featured Dave Filoni talking about the origins of the episode and all of the intentions behind the story and cinema choices. It’s a brilliant look into the making of animation and the heart of telling a Star Wars story. Another particularly funny commentary was on the episode Double Agent Droid. Dave Filoni is joined by Joel Aron, Henry Gilroy, and Killian Plunkett and they have a great chat about one of the funniest episodes of the season. There’s a spirited conversation about toilets on starships that made me laugh.
Another great addition to this set is the behind the scenes featurettes. We get inside looks into the formation of the Rebel Alliance, the creation of Thrawn (with cameos of Timothy Zahn), an in-depth look at the fight between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Maul, and others. One that I loved specifically was the piece about Saw Gerrera, which featured Forest Whitaker. Hearing him say things like “Anakin Skywalker” and “Padawan Tano” gave me chills, even though it wasn’t even in the voice of the character.
The set also includes every episode of Rebels Recon that was released online, starring Andi Gutierrez. It’s nice to have them all in one place.
Star Wars Rebels Season 3 comes out on August 29, 2017. You can order it here on Amazon. Because of the quality of the picture and sound as well as the bonus features (and the fact that it’s Star Wars) this belongs in your collection without question.