Black Sails: The Complete Fourth Season Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

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

Reviewed by Martin Liebman August 18, 2017

Black Sails' fourth and, sadly, final season sees the show give that one last big push towards Treasure Island, bringing everything full-circle en route to serving as, essentially, a four-season spectacle prequel to Robert Louis Stevenson's timeless tale. For the past few years, it's been one of the best shows on television (and one of the best available on Blu-ray, for that matter, particularly when one adds in the top-end video and audio presentations and even its first-rate packaging): narratively engaging and complex, dramatically rich and textured, superbly crafted and executed, wonderfully acted, large, gripping, often awe-inspiring...there were never many reasons to diss the show and none to dismiss it, lest the naysayers be ready to walk the plank in shame.

Before proceeding, readers should circle back to previous seasons:

• Season One
• Season Two
• Season Three

Official Synopsis: It's war in the West Indies, and the shores of New Providence Island have never been bloodier. While Eleanor Guthrie and Woodes Rogers hold Nassau, Captain Flint sails to strike the final blow...and from the interior, an insurgency builds, fueled by the legend of Long John Silver. But the closer civilization comes to defeat, the more desperately, and destructively, it will fight back.

Even as Black Sails navigates towards its endpoint, which is essentially the starting point for the revered story of Treasure Island, it doesn't take its foot off the gas or, perhaps more metaphorically apropos, allow the wind out of its sails. It pushes harder than any season before it, expanding its scope and building its characters well beyond their established three-season run. Fans will enjoy the introduction of Israel Hands. Long John Silver comes more into focus. Billy evolves. Eleanor's journey reaches its zenith. The Spanish finally play a large on-screen role. Characters travel to snowy Philadelphia. And, of course, Treasure Island itself plays prominent to the series' endpoint. Black Sails has never rested on its laurels, and even with the end in sight, cast and crew alike have actually stepped up to make the show bigger, more enjoyable, more richly textured, more dramatically nuanced than ever before. Engaging plot developments, exciting battles, expertly honed characters...the show not only maintains its excellence, it ensures fans leave satisfied and wanting more.

As always, Black Sails looks and sounds magnificent. Season four is no departure, and if anything it ups the ante with even more complex on-land set pieces in addition to the always fantastic costumes, complex and seamless nautical set pieces, and of course amazing battle sequences on sea and on land alike that, beyond looking and sounding amazingly authentic and gripping, are inherently critical to the story's flow, continuation, and here, approach to its endpoint. New locations are seamlessly added and prove substantive and enriching. But beyond the external qualities lies the show's most important quality, its cast's full-on dedication to not simply performing the parts, but expending all the physical and emotional capital they have to offer. Performances are rich, lived-in, and complex inside and out. The actors to a character are unafraid to push themselves for the show's benefit, and it shows. The actors are engaged and their characters deeply engrained into their psyches. Add it all together and it's near impossible to stop watching; it's a shame to see it go, but it's a joy to see it go at the top of its game and finish at its long promised endgame.

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

Black Sails: The Complete Fourth Season's 1080p transfer falls right in line with its trio of Blu-ray predecessors. The show remains one of the best looking on Blu-ray. Details are exemplary. The image is not only clean, but the digital source is a treasure trove of incredibly precise textures. Whether basic facial hair and pores -- even through caked-on blood and grime, at times -- or rough or regal clothing, characters are always a visual highlight. Support details are just as magnificent. Woods, whether natural or shaped into furniture or planks on ship's deck, are astoundingly complex. Environments are perfectly sharp, too, though some of the digitally created support pieces are a little soft. Colors are excellent, well saturated and appropriate for every situation, whether cheerful natural greens or worn-down earthy terrain or woods. The same goes for the diverse collection of costumes found throughout the show. Black levels are inky-deep and flesh tones appear accurate. Light noise is visible throughout, a small price to pay for an otherwise top-end presentation. It's true; Blu-ray can still wow in 2017.

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

Black Sails: The Complete Fourth Season may be launching under the Lionsgate banner, but this release offers the same sort of dynamic listening experience featured in previous seasons handled by Anchor Bay. The Dolby TrueHD 7.1 lossless soundtrack comes with intensity but with intimate clarity and effortless delivery. Music is finely detailed and very spacious. The opening titles are particularly impressive with the instrumental diversity on display, a diversity that leads to an impactful presentation of richly clear highs, a detailed midrange, and superior low end support. Width and depth are well balanced, too. Action scenes are superb. Bullets tear through the stage with impressive authority, zipping about with gunfire pops exploding all around the soundstage. The final episode's post-title sequence is amongst the best the season has to offer in that regard. Thumping canon fire is prodigious as well, as are explosions and shattering, flying debris. Atmospheric effects are the unsung heroes. Whether creaks and moans and gentle waves heard on ship's deck, seagulls on shore, woodland support in various sylvan scenes, or the din of a bustling town, the listener will always feel immersed in the track's finest precision details. Dialogue is well defined and naturally positioned. Prioritization never stumbles.

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

Black Sails: The Complete Fourth Season contains all of its supplemental content on disc three. A UV digital copy code is included with purchase.

• Inside the World of Black Sails (1080p, 18:10): Brief episode-by-episode story recaps. The piece additionally explores some of the more interesting making-of elements by episode.
• Creating the World (1080p, 2:58): A quick discussion of the series' complex production design, shooting structure, challenges, and making season four bigger than ever.
• Roundtable: Women in Piracy (1080p, 1:53): It's a roundtable in that several people sit around a round table, but the discussion is really too brief to be considered as anything more than a few soundbites about the show's female characters.
• Roundtable: The Legends of Treasure Island (1080p, 2:03): Like the previous piece and around the same table, this extra offers a few soundbites from the series' top male actors.
• Roundtable: Fearless Fans (1080p, 1:18): The same cast members who appeared in the piece above share a few stories about the fans.

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

Few shows go out as strongly as Black Sails. Season four is bigger than ever and more satisfying than ever on every level. Questions are answered, characters meet their proper fates, and the scale of action and the intensity of drama have never been better. Even as it ends perfectly and right where it needed to go, it's still a shame to see it wrap up. It was arguably one of the most unheralded shows on TV over the past few years for its full spectrum excellence: story, history, production design, performances. There are better shows, but few were as well-rounded as this. Black Sails: The Complete Fourth Season looks and sounds spectacular, just as fans have come to expect. Supplements are a bit brief, but they always have been. This season, and the entire series, comes highly recommended.