The Last Days Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

The Last Days Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman May 31, 2021

The unimaginably dark days of the holocaust are brought to life through five first-hand accounts in The Last Days, a spellbinding documentary from Director James Moll, Steven Spielberg, and the Shoah Foundation. Vividly accounted, vastly compelling, and outright horrifying in personal recounts of what may be history's most appalling chapter, the film, which won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature at the 1999 Academy Awards, tells the sobering story while offering hope as the survivors reflect on their time in the camp and review their lives in the decades since their internment.

Through the eyes and personal experiences of five Hungarian Jewish Holocaust survivors -- Irene Zisblatt, Renée Firestone, Alice Lock Cahana, Bill Basch, and Tom Lantos -- comes a richly detailed yet incredibly challenging revelation of the true scope of death, suffering, and senseless imprisonment for millions of Jews during World War II. As the film's title suggests, this is the story of the Nazi pursuit of Hungarian Jews even as the war was all but lost in the mid-1940s, focusing on the singular Nazi pursuit of eliminating the Jewish people, even at the cost of the larger war effort. These first-hand accounts explore the entire process, including departure to the camp, life in it, liberation, and these survivors' lives in the decades following the war and their return to the camps in search of closure.

The film tells the story of the other war waged by the Nazis in World War II, that which the S.S. waged against the Jewish people. Fought not with tanks and airplanes but rather through inhumane treatment, starvation, forced, labor, and mass murder, the war was gruesomely efficient and impersonal as told in the history books and, here, recounted by the survivors. One of the survivors returns to the camp in search of answers, decades after her release. She finds information on some of her closest relatives but nothing on her mother; she was gassed upon arrival and no records were kept of the Jews who did not survive even an afternoon. It's a sobering testament to the barbarism and senselessness of it all, ideas which permeate the film through the prism of personal story reflection that build the larger narrative of life, death, depravity, and hopelessness that permeated every inch of existence inside the hellacious interment camps.

In addition to the five survivors, the film features interviews with several American servicemen who liberated camps and Auschwitz doctor Hans Munch who was involved in human experimentations and, in perhaps the film's best scene, sits down with survivor Renée Firestone whose sister died at the camp under Munch's watch. It's a key scene that punctuates the survivors' search for closure, reconnecting with the darkest chapter of their lives and seeking answers as to what happened to loved ones, and why. Some find answers. Some do not. But the journey itself is a cathartic one for these individuals, each of whom respond uniquely, but similarly, as they relive that part of their lives. The film is extraordinarily well put together; editing is seamless and the full-line narrative that is constructed from individual perspectives and ultimately point to the same story and conclusions is remarkable. This is a well-deserving Oscar winner.

The Last Days Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Last Days intermixes vintage film clips from the horrors of the holocaust and new shot-on-film footage depicting the survivors' interviews and as they retrace their steps through camp. There is a stark contrast in the footage, both from a technical perspective and, it could be stated, from an emotional perspective. The worn and weary black and white imagery certainly seems an appropriate delivery system for the authentic camp imagery while the finer, more firm, more colorful new footage offers a sense of life and hope not present in the camp or in the footage therefrom. The older material is unsurprisingly presented in various states of wear but it is certainly clear enough to convey the message. This video transfer is judged solely on the new film footage and never does it disappoint. It's holds to its natural grain structure. Details are sure and firm within the pleasantly filmic frame. Facial and clothing details are expressively sharp while the footage from the camps, which are now essentially museums, enjoy superb definition across structures, grasses, and wire fencing. Colors are bold and vivid, well balanced, and never appear even slightly faded or, conversely, oversaturated. Skin tones are healthy and black levels are not at all problematic. There are few, if any, source blemishes or encode artifacts. This looks terrific.

The Last Days Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Last Days arrives on Blu-ray with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack. This is a track of minimal specifications but it's well suited in delivering the film's meager sonic needs. While a lossless track would have assuredly tightened the specifics there's no urgent sense of aural loss on account of the lossy presentation. The film's sonic needs are extremely simple. Very light music occasionally enters the stage with some width and very mild natural atmospherics, like chirping birds, are sometimes, if only barely, audible. The track is almost entirely comprised of dialogue, whether in controlled interview locations or as the survivors retrace their steps in the camps and their hometowns. Here, the spoken word images well to the center with no detectable loss of clarity at any point. This is one of the most straightforward tracks one will ever encounter and the two-channel lossy configuration handles it just fine.

The Last Days Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of The Last Days include additional scenes, photo galleries, film discussions, and more. No DVD or digital copies are included with purchase. This release does not ship with a slipcover.

• Additional Scenes (480i, 4x3, 7:17): A few scenes that were not included in the final film.
• Behind the Scenes (480i, 4x3, 4:08): Some raw footage from the making of the film, both on location and at the studio.
• Survivors' Photo Gallery (1080p): There appears to be only one still image in this set depicting three survivors from the Basch family as they are seen in 1939.
• Production Photo Gallery (1080p): Again there appears to be only one image depicting Alice Lok Cahana in her art studio.
• USC Shoah Foundation Story with Steven Spielberg (1080p, 4:55): The same supplement which can be found on the Schindler's List Blu-ray and UHD.
• Let Their Testimonies Speak - Stronger than Hate (1080p, 3:50): The same supplement which can be found on the Schindler's List UHD.
• Steven Spielberg Introduction (1998) (480i, 1:23): The filmmaker briefly introduces "the most important work of his life:" preserving the history of the Holocaust.
• Theatrical Trailer (480i, 4x3, 2:23).

The Last Days Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Last Days stands as triumph of documentary filmmaking and a sobering remembrance of the Holocaust. It's a simple film in technical construction but one of enormous social value; it's a must-have for every serious film library. Universal's Blu-ray is excellent. Some fans may bemoan the absence of a lossless audio encode but fear not; the presentation as-is suits the material just fine. The picture quality rates as excellent and several bonus features are included, though two are carryovers from Schindler's List. Very highly recommended.