Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Black Sails: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie Review

Sink or sail into history?

Reviewed by Martin Liebman December 27, 2014

Starz doesn't have the market cornered on the recent trend of historically based television sagas, but the studio is certainly making a name for itself with what can now be dubbed an "onslaught" of adult-oriented dramatic television set in a time and place before the advent of cable TV. The epic success of the sword-and-sandal, sex-and-slaughter Spartacus spearheaded the charge. It was followed by the uneven and largely formulaic Da Vinci's Demons. The studio has now turned its eyes to another histo-drama, this one a little closer to its 21st century home in Black Sails, a show that rewinds the clock on a couple of centuries for a look into the nitty-gritty, nuts-and-bolts world of high seas piracy and the land-loving sex, politics, secrets, and generally dark dealings of cutthroat rogues who, here, will do whatever it takes to make the next big score, whether that means plundering treasure, ravaging women, or killing all who stand in their way. Like Da Vinci, Black Sails doesn't dig too deeply into the complex stories and boundary-pushing sex and violence that defined Spartacus. It's a bit tame in comparison, a serviceable entertainer that's not much more than skin-deep fun but that should nevertheless satisfy the craving for something adventurous and risqué after the children have been put to bed.

Who has my page?

A doomed pirate ship holds a key to great wealth. When a critical page of the captain's log is torn from the book in the chaos of battle by an unscrupulous cook, it becomes a hot item. The cook is murdered for the prize by an unassuming man named John Silver (Luke Arnold) who convinces the boarding party that it is he who is ship's cook and finagles his way into the crew. His new mates are led by Captain Flint (Toby Stephens), a man who promises his men an equal cut of their plunders. However, small scores and relative failure have turned many away from him and closer to his rival, the devious Singleton (Anthony Bishop) who has the votes to oust the skipper. Flint's right-hand man, Quartermaster Gates (Mark Ryan), works to re-secure the captain's stature with his men and peg Singleton as the traitor who stole the page from the log book. He does so with the support of a key crew member, Billy Bones (Tom Hopper). The crew lands at Nassau where they must deal with Eleanor Guthrie (Hannah New) who has followed in her father's footsteps as Nassau's go-to businessperson intermediary. Meanwhile, Silver, who still holds the page, strikes up an unorthodox and unwanted alliance with a local prostitute named Max (Jessica Parker Kennedy) who knows his secret. At the same time, a rival captain named Charles Vane (Zach McGowan) hopes to secure the log book page for his own needs, chiefly to discover the whereabouts of the legendary treasure ship Urca de Lima.

Black Sails opens by setting its bar so high that it never quite manages to again top it. A stellar ship-versus-ship attack serves to not only introduce some key characters and story dynamics but to also demonstrate the show's technical marvels in one of the most explosive, immersive, and detailed high seas battles ever to grace the screen, small or large. It's an epic open that will certainly draw its viewers closer but threatens to alienate them at the same time when it becomes apparent that the show is, mostly, landlocked rather than sprawling out on the high seas. That said, the show is a carefully constructed character study that, while detailed, still feels a bit empty and hollow. It embraces the same sort of conniving and complicated plot matters that are the hallmark of all of these historically inspired modern drama television epics, going full-bore for the seedy underside of an already dangerous world. The characters are mostly type with a few surprises thrown in here and there. Most viewers with a general knowledge of the pirate genre (and a reading of Treasure Island under their belts; the show is a prequel to Robert Louis Stevenson's literary classic) and the way modern television works won't find very much new here beyond the impressive outward dressing.

As alluded to above, what's really missing is a sense of adventure. Black Sails isn't so much about pilfering and plundering or exploring strange new worlds along the high seas but instead about the politics, the backstabbing, the manipulation, the real grit and dirt that takes place on land rather than on the sea. In that sense, it's less a pure adventure show and more a stationary drama, a strange choice for a program built around a concept that, in popular culture, generally involves more seafaring adventure and less land-loving wheeling and dealing. It's more interested in being a deeper, more complex character drama and less about floating along the ocean and both seeking out treasure and encountering unwanted dangers. Much of that, likely, stems from cost; were every episode crammed with big, wide open adventure to new places and big vessel-on-vessel action to match, the program would likely buckle under the weight of its pricy demands. Setting it primarily on land and centering it fully on characters rather than mixing in sweeping adventure allows the show to stretch further while standing relatively still. It may not be for all audiences, then -- it's not Pirates of the Caribbean stretched to eight hours and littered with blood and nudity -- but it should satisfy audiences looking for a new character-centered drama with a unique timeframe and setting.

Black Sails: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Black Sails: Season One features a rich, boldly colored, and intricately detailed 1080p, 1.78:1-framed transfer. The image offers striking clarity. It's a little flat and a touch glossy, but the level of precision detail evident on faces, attire, wooden ship decks, furnishings, grasses, and other objects is commendable. Viewers will be consistently privy to the world's richness and the characters' most intimate skin details in every shot. Colors are lively and bold. Brightly colored exterior scenes are gorgeous; the sun-drenched Bahamas exterior reveals every shade with a natural precision that instantly transports the viewer to the tropical paradise. Aqua colored waters are particularly vibrant and healthy. Skin tones appear even and influenced only by surrounding lighting conditions. Black levels are a little uneven, favoring light crush in spots but also drifting to a noticeable dark purple on some occasions. Likewise, darker backdrops are frequently littered with excess noise. Otherwise, this is an excellent presentation from Anchor Bay.

Black Sails: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Black Sails: Season One plunders sound systems with a Dolby TrueHD 7.1 lossless soundtrack. It's beautifully aggressive and immersive, with every environment springing to incredible life with pinpoint detail and placement. The opening battle literally shakes the soundstage to its core. Canon fire and impacts hit ridiculously hard. They whoosh through speakers with a precision that may very well leave listeners ducking for cover. Shrapnel in the form of splinters and other broken materials likewise zip around and fall onto other surfaces. The general sounds of chaos -- yells, creaks, and even some gunshots and sword clanks -- only better serve the moment. In calmer scenes, listeners will enjoy gently rolling waves and various light creaks around the listening area that effectively transform the home theater into ship's deck. At Nassau, the din of a busy port springs to life in any number of scenes, filing the stage with the sounds of commerce and idle chatter. Dialogue is presented evenly and robustly through the center, rounding out a track that's amongst the best of its kind.

Black Sails: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Black Sails: Season One contains all of its extras on disc three. A UV digital copy code is included in the Blu-ray case.

• Black Sails: An Inside Look (1080p, 9:03): A look at the real life history that influences the show, character basics, shooting locales, sets, props, costumes, and makeup.
• Dressed to Kill (1080p, 1:44): A look at making the show appear more contemporary and global through wardrobe and makeup and how these elements enhance the program.
• Pirate Camp (1080p, 2:23): The cast and crew look back at the physical training requirements for the lead roles. The piece also looks at stunt work and weapons.
• Folklore is Finished (1080p, 3:26): This piece looks at the show's depictions of pirates versus the traditional imagery associated with them with some emphasis on how the show in some ways reflects contemporary society, i.e. the small man's struggles in an unjust system.
• A Place in History (1080p, 1:32): A short look at the Mr. Scott character.
• Building the Behemoth (1080p, 3:05): Ship and set construction, details, and building them with photographing the show in mind are the focus of this brief supplement.

Black Sails: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Despite loads of promise and a terrific setting -- even if it's more land-loving than many might like -- Black Sails proves a quality entertainer in the modern adult television realm where scheming, sex, and violence are the order of the day. It follows not big, open-seas adventure but rather the minutia of a pirate's life, the scheme and scandal necessary to plunder the big score, working in a world where X doesn't mark a darn thing except, probably, the grave of an unknown pirate who died for a morsel of information or for turning his back at an inopportune time. The show is populated by scruffy and worn but otherwise attractive figures who probably auditioned for Spartacus but found a home here and who could grace the cover of any muscle magazine in the country. They play mostly one dimensional figures who are shaped by plot conveniences and molded for dramatic purpose more so than strict believable realism, but all-in-all they populate a satisfyingly entertaining program that opens a door for an entire ocean's worth of possibilities in the upcoming second season. Anchor Bay's Blu-ray release of Black Sails: Season One contains excellent video, reference audio, and a disappointing hodgepodge of short featurettes on disc three. Recommended.