The Last Ship: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

The Last Ship: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie Review

"We're supposed to be saving the world. Shouldn't it be worth saving?"

The Last Ship is high-concept, low-payoff silliness made that much sillier by its world; one ravaged not by nuclear war, as was the case in William Brinkley's 1988 novel of the same name, but by a merciless pandemic that wipes out more than 80% of the global population. Co-creators Hank Steinberg and Steve Kane made the change in an effort to update the material, but with Russia and the United States circling a second Cold War, the series' super-flu feels decidedly outdated. (Particularly when everything from the Russian navy to Al Qaeda extremists, South American drug lords and rogue government agencies -- military threats ideal to the landscape of a nuclear holocaust -- fall in line as villains of the week.) There's a larger issue at play, though. The show's end-of-the-world melodrama covers very little ground that others haven't covered a dozen times over, struggling to gain momentum as it dredges up familiar tropes en masse... with one exception. Unlike other post-apocalyptic series, hope courses through each episode, with the crew of the USS Nathan James closing in on a viable cure rather than simply fighting to survive. It's not quite a saving grace, but it establishes a different tone that, if nothing else, helps separate The Last Ship from The Walking Dead and its bleak genre ilk.

The real saving grace is the series' cast. Eric Dane, Rhona Mitra and Firefly alum Adam Baldwin (long may he reign) deliver mouthful after mouthful of exposition, jargon and expositional jargon with the ease and passion of professionals committed to the cause, eager to upsell whatever nonsense they're tasked with saying. Under their command, The Last Ship finds a nice, entirely watchable rhythm. It's still a heap of overly serious Big Dumb Fun from start to finish, but it finishes stronger than it begins, with a solid stretch of end-of-the-season episodes that show some promise. Will Season Two -- currently airing on Sundays at 9pm EST on TNT -- make saving humanity worth all the trouble? If things continue to improve, perhaps. However, if they're not careful, Steinberg and Kane could just as easily cause viewers to throw up their hands and root for the Red Flu. It all depends on how probable, convoluted or silly the show becomes in its crucial sophomore season. Sink or swim, gentlemen. Sink or swim.

• Phase Six: Captain Tom Chandler and the crew of the USS Nathan James set out for the Arctic with two civilian virologists, Dr. Rachel Scott and Dr. Quincy Tophet, who claim to be studying birds. When they come under attack by a renegade team of Russian forces, Chandler learns these virologists are actually collecting samples of the source of a deadly virus that has wiped out over half the human population while they've been at sea. As they head home on the orders of the remaining U.S. government, Chandler and his crew realize that home is a shadow of what they left, and the safest place to develop a vaccine for this deadly disease is out at sea.
• Welcome to Gitmo: Chandler and his crew head to the U.S. Military base at Guantanamo Bay in hopes of collecting food, medical supplies and fuel replenishments. Three teams are dispatched to carry out these varied tasks. While there, they come under attack by escaped Gitmo prisoners and enlist the help of a grizzled private contractor who's been surviving for weeks and living off the land.
• Dead Reckoning: The James faces off against a new foe who demands Chandler hand over Rachel and her research. When Chandler refuses, he and his crew are put to the test as Chandler engages in a series of risky strategic moves. But it turns out their new enemy has his own horse in the race to find a cure for the virus.
• We'll Get There: Days after a trying series of events at Gitmo, Chandler and his crew are put under extreme duress when the ship's propulsion system suffers a catastrophic event. With Dr. Scott in danger of losing all her research on the virus and a crew overworked, overtired and desperately low on drinking water, Chandler's leadership and ingenuity are put to the test.
• El Toro: With Rachel close to a breakthrough on her vaccine, she, Chandler and XO Slattery lead a small team into the jungles of Nicaragua on a mission to find monkeys for her vaccine trials. While there, they find much more than they bargained for when they run across a former drug kingpin who will stop at nothing to maintain his stranglehold on his oppressed society. Chandler and his men find themselves in a huge moral dilemma over whether to eliminate this menace or take what they need and continue on with their mission.
• Lockdown: After returning from the horrors of Nicaragua, panic begins to spread throughout the ship when Lt. Danny Green comes down with a mysterious illness that could be the virus. Losing faith in Rachel and her failing vaccine trials, Chandler now has to deal with a restive crew. If he fails to keep the crew together, the whole mission is in jeopardy.
• SOS: After picking up a distress call near Jamaica, Chandler and a small team stage a rescue attempt. But a surprise attack leaves Chandler and Tex stranded at sea. Slattery and the crew search desperately to find their lost at sea Captain and his comrade, hoping to do so before their enemies beat them to it.
• Two Sailors Walk Into a Bar: With Chandler and Tex caught in a dangerous situation, Slattery has to step into the role as commanding officer. Torn between a mission with the fate of the world at stake and a Captain (and friend) in danger, Slattery has to find a way to get his people back without losing the most important asset: the vaccine prototype.
• Trials: Rachel and Chandler ask for six volunteers to participate in human trials of her vaccine, but the tests could be a living hell as the virus and the vaccine do battle inside their bodies. Meanwhile back in the States, Chandler's wife and father are doing everything they can to keep their family alive.
• No Place Like Home: Chandler and his crew finally return home, where a former D.C. power player is fending off a dangerous warlord who threatens everyone's hopes of restoring law and order in society. Now with a location and a means to finalize their mission, Chandler sets out to find his family, only to discover something absolutely terrifying about this brave new world.

The Last Ship: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Last Ship offers a vibrant 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentation that's faithful to series cinematographer Lukas Ettlin's intentions. Colors are bold and aggressive, with striking blues, reds and greens flooding the James' command and communication centers. It almost comes on too strong, but the only casualty are the shadows, which tend to crush a bit. Otherwise, all is as it's meant to be. Contrast is consistent (even when it's consistently overheated), primaries pop, black levels are rich and inky, and detail is crisp and revealing. Edges are refined, without any significant ringing or aliasing. Textures are well-resolved, and aren't impeded by noise, artifacting or banding. And delineation is as forgiving as it can be all things considered, though don't try to peer into the darkness. You won't find much detail there. All told, the series' visual aesthetic certainly makes an impression and Warner's encode doesn't disappoint.

The Last Ship: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Also featured is a commanding DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track, with nothing in the way of major issues or mishaps. Dialogue is clean, intelligible and carefully prioritized, as are the effects that bring the USS Nathan James to convincing, fully operational 360-degree life. The rear speaker activity is quite assertive, using ambient and acoustic touches to create immersive environments, ship interiors and raging oceans. Directionality delivers, pans are smooth, and the soundfield is enveloping, even when a scene boils down to two officers talking to one another. The LFE channel pulls its weight as well, throwing its weight behind a wide variety of gunfire (big and small), ship engines and weaponry, and numerous low-end elements that benefit from the added oomph. The result? A lossless mix that completes a terrific AV presentation. Fans of the show will be more than pleased.

The Last Ship: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentaries: Four audio commentaries are available: "Phase Six" with co-creators Hank Steinberg and Steven Kane, "Dead Reckoning" with Kane, "Lockdown" with Steinberg, and "No Place Like Home" with Steinberg and Kane.
• Inside the Episode Featurettes (HD, 26 minutes): Each episode is accompanied by a brief behind-the-scenes featurette that touches on various aspects of the production, character and story points, and challenges faced by the cast and crew along the way.
• Comic Con Panel (HD, 50 minutes): The Last Ship docks at the 2014 San Diego Comic Con for a panel with Steinberg, Kane, executive producer/director Jack Bender, and actors Eric Dane, Adam Baldwin, Rhona Mitra, Charles Parnell and Travis Van Winkle.
• The Last Ship Details (HD, 6 minutes): Shooting the show's pilot episode.
• The Navy and the USS Halsey (HD, 5 minutes): Working with the Navy and filming on the USS Halsey, which with a bit of good old fashioned TV magic, was transformed into the USS Nathan James.
• The Making of The Last Ship (HD, 2 minutes): An extended "making of" television promo.
• The Last Ship Overview (HD, 3 minutes): A second quick-hit EPK.
• Character Profiles (HD, 7 minutes): Rapid-fire introductions to the characters courtesy of the cast.
• Origin of the Virus (HD, 11 minutes): A series of prequel shorts.

The Last Ship: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Much of The Last Ship induced a shoulder shrug, but its cast kept it afloat, its last few episodes drew me in more than I expected, and the bulk of the season managed to serve as decently big, forgivably dumb, reasonably fun Big Dumb Fun. Warner's Blu-ray release is even better, thanks to a strong AV presentation and solid selection of special features, including four commentaries, a 50-minute Comic Con panel, and several featurettes. I'd still recommend watching an episode or two before settling on a purchase, but fans of the show are in for a treat.