Last Seen Alive Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.0

Last Seen Alive Blu-ray Movie Review

Small town, big trouble.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III August 21, 2022

Brian Goodman's Last Seen Alive tells a tale we've seen many times before in films like George Sluizer's The Vanishing (both the French-language original and his own inferior American remake) and especially Breakdown, where a married couple is broken apart by a kidnapping while on the road. Content with following a standard connect-the-dots formula and padding things out with dumb decisions made by its lead and supporting characters, Last Seen Alive nonetheless entertains as passable genre fare for those just looking for an easy, uncomplicated 95-minute ride.

Real estate developer Will Spann (Gerard Butler), along with his wife Lisa (Jaimie Alexander), is on the road to her parents' house in New England when low fuel prompts a quick pit stop just 15 minutes from their destination. While Lisa runs inside for a drink, Will takes a phone call from his colleague and, after several minutes, is surprised when his wife doesn't return. He checks pretty much everywhere, but Lisa's only remnants are her purse and computer still in the car. Oblivious gas station attendant Oscar (Michael Irby) is of no help, nor are his busted security cameras, so it's not long before Will calls the local police and speaks with Detective Paterson (Russell Hornsby), who is short-staffed and ends up coming to the potential crime scene himself. The resulting investigation isn't moving fast enough for the short-tempered Will, who unsurprisingly takes matters into his own hands with the help of Lisa's parents Anna (Cindy Hogan) and Barry Adams (Bruce Altman), and it's not long before he starts to make some headway.

Last Seen Alive decorates its almost painfully straightforward narrative with vague personal details, detours, and other distractions. A somewhat misleading cold open promises the worst before it's all but painted over much later. Marriage troubles are also teased very early in the film -- in fact, that's the reason for their trip -- and this likewise factors into the potential reality of Will's own guilt. Then of course we get a few red herrings, but for the most part Last Seen Alive gets down to business after is first act simmers, sending Will on the hunt for a former friend of Lisa which eventually leads to the discovery of a backwoods drug network that somehow was never discovered by local authorities. It's all only halfway believable at best, but the film's real speed bumps are the conveniently flexible decisions and behavior of certain characters, from Will himself (who leaves a few important scenes at bad times and bends over backwards to keep the police away, making him look more guilty in the process) and Lisa's parents, who apparently don't care that Lisa is nowhere to be found in their own backyard. Geez, drive around town a couple times, at least.

Add in a few decently orchestrated moments of suspense and an easily infiltrated meth lab and you've got a lukewarm but fitfully decent slice of low-budget filmmaking that would likely fall flat if not for Butler's capable presence. But Last Seen Alive tightly rides the coattails of those that came before it, not to mention the glut of Liam Neeson-esque thrillers that have all but opened the floodgates for the "action hero over age 50" crowd, so there's almost no way it would've scored any higher than a 3/5 in most circles. For some that'll be just enough, even if Vertical Entertainment's recent Blu-ray edition offers nothing more than a capable A/V presentation and a reasonably low price point.

Last Seen Alive Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Likely shot entirely on digital video, Last Seen Alive offers a largely pleasing 1080p picture with no real signs of trouble along the way. Textures are readily visible under bright lights and other favorable conditions, from clothing details to stubble and scars. Depth is easily achieved in outdoor locations, either through varying color palettes or compositions, with occasionally robust black levels also offering some bunch. Dark and dimly-lit moments are where Last Seen Alive hits a few very small snags, likely due to potential limitations of both its source format and modest budget. Yet as a whole there's really not much to worry about here, mainly just stray compression artifacts, light banding, and signs of very mind posterization when darker values haven't obviously been been softened in post-production. Overall, it's a quality effort that likely runs a circle or two around any available streaming options.

Last Seen Alive Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Likewise, Last Seen Alive's default DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix (also available as a 2.0 option, if you're limited to stereo) gets the job done without incident, sporadically serving up its fair share of sonic thrills during moments of intense action and heightened emotional drama. Composer Sam Ewing's straightforward but solid original score also gets a few moments to shine, often lightly reaching into the rear channels which are otherwise reserves for explosions, bullet fly-bys, and occasional ambient effects. No sync issues were detected along the way, save for a few moments of slightly dodgy ADR, which again contributes to the overall strength of this respectable 5.1 mix.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are offering during the main feature.

Last Seen Alive Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a standard keepcase with plain-wrap cover artwork; no inserts or slipcover are included, nor are any bonus features. Hey, at least it's cheap, right?

Last Seen Alive Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Brian Goodman's Last Seen Alive is a standard-issue thriller that would've earned higher marks if it came out 30 years ago. It takes no real chances with a story clearly influenced by at least a half-dozen better films, although its fitfully well-staged action scenes and the core presence of Gerard Butler at least contribute a base-level rawness that genre fans should enjoy. But there's not much replay value here, and the lack of extras on Vertical Entertainment's Blu-ray don't make it an exceptionally strong "bang for your buck" release. Genre fans may want to indulge, though.