Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		0.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.0

Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan: The Final Season 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman May 3, 2024

While Tom Clancy's signature hero, Jack Ryan, has graced countless pages spanning a number of novels over the decades, film fans are more familiar with the character for his various permutations on the screen, played by a veritable who's who of Hollywood over the past few decades. Played by the likes of Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, Ben Affleck, and Chris Pine, the character's silver screen adaptations have been given an appropriate weightiness and star power that author Tom Clancy's character deserved. Now on the smaller screen the character has arguably found his firmest footing with John Krasinski filling the shoes and seeming to really hit home the fundamental character beats that Clancy designed decades ago. Krasinski's work supported some great writing, storytelling, and production values in Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan's first, second, and third seasons, and now the show comes to a close with a fourth and final season that offers a satisfying, albeit shortened, final run that doesn't necessarily close the book on the character but at least brings the series to an end with a quality six-episode effort.

Jack Ryan is the CIA's new Acting Deputy Director, but despite the new title he still finds himself pulled into some of the most dangerous hotspots in the world and a key cog in the middle of geopolitical upheaval. In season four, Ryan finds himself working from the inside to snuff out corruption in the agency, and eventually finds himself in the middle of terror plots and drug cartel violence that test his mettle and his very confidence in the government for which he works in the explosive and emotionally charged final season.

The real rousing success for the show has been the opportunity to allow Jack Ryan to breathe. While the film-based portrayals adequately described and defined the character, the TV format by its nature allows for additional breathing room that even a full slate or series of motion pictures cannot quite achieve. And John Krasinski has run with the opportunity to build and explore and evolve the character with a fullness of insight that was heretofore restricted to the page alone. Certainly, even four seasons is nowhere near so much real estate as Tom Clancy devoted to the character on the written page, and fans really wanting to know Jack Ryan will want to read (or re-read) the lengthy series of novels, but suffice it to say that this is the fullest the character has been portrayed, and certainly the most authentic. While Ryan was never a "superhero" sort in any of the movies, he always seemed to be elevated slightly above the "everyman." Here, that sense of character fullness and more core humanity is in evidence to a degree better than the films could portray, whether Red October's toying with Ryan's relationship with his daughter or even in Patriot Games which was clearly the most personal of the various Ryan films.

Season four builds on the plotline of season three and depicts Ryan in an unenviable, and seemingly inescapable, predicament as the season reaches its zenith, offering some of the most intensely dramatic, legitimately dangerous, overtly graphic, well written, and superbly acted content the series has seen in its entire run. It definitely ends on a high note, ending for better or for worse: for better because the show ends by controlling its own destiny and for worse because there are obviously many more stories to tell. The show never feels like it has run its course, and this might not be the worst opportunity for Krasinski's Jack Ryan to make that transition to the silver screen and star in a handful of standalone films that might better forward the progress not only for the character but hit some of the high points that take place in Clancy's novels while the character is still fresh on Krasinski's mind and on audience's eyes. Here's hoping that's at least being considered, because I would be all over that.

Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan: The Final Season 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The included screenshots are sourced from the UHD disc output at 1080p. They are not representative of the 2160p/Dolby Vision image.

Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan: The Final Season arrives on the UHD format with a 2160p/Dolby Vision presentation. The digital photography translates well to the UHD format, offering sharp, crisp, tangible textures to skin, both healthy and clear skin and severely beaten, battered, and bloodied skin. The resolution allows for some serious close-up exploration opportunities and first-rate crispness and clarity in medium length shots. Clarity abounds in various locales, from plush Washington offices to dank and drab torture chambers. The digital sheen is plainly evident, but the good news is that noise is very minimal, even in lower light, and there are precious few examples of banding that push beyond extremely mild cases lingering in the most challenging background elements. The Dolby Vision grading is firm and offers a nicely expressive color palette, though to be sure the show is very pervasively dark. Depth and accuracy are spot-on. Black levels are very deep indeed and white balance is very strong. Skin tones appear very natural. This is a satisfying UHD presentation from Paramount.

Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan: The Final Season 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Paramount releases Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan: The Final Season to the UHD format with a fairly effective, if not also fairly straightforward, Dolby Atmos soundtrack. Rarely is the track really hitting on all cylinders, offering the sort of intensive power and rigorous output one might expect of a program in this genre. Music is never so powerful as to truly command the stage, offering instead a somewhat low key score with good fidelity and spacing, just not a real sense of authority even in the most complex and involved musical elements. Action scenes are likewise sufficient but not memorable. Spacing is good, but the track never quite hits that last gear where surround immersion, low end depth, and overall engagement and prominent volume merge to create a sonic spectacle. The track always seems content to simply linger in a middle gear. Ambient effects are many and nicely integrated, standing as probably the best element the track has to offer for fullness, immersion, and engagement. Dialogue is clear, centered, and well prioritized, though it, too, could stand a slight up in prominence at reference level.

Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan: The Final Season 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

As with previous seasons, supplements are scare across both Blu-ray discs for this release of Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan: The Final Season. All that's included are a few deleted scenes. No DVD or digital copies are included with purchase.

Disc One:

• Deleted Scene (1080p): Included is a scene from "Convergence" (0:35).

Disc Two:

• Deleted Scenes (1080p): Included are scenes from "Wukong" (2:02) and "Proof of Concept" (1:32).

Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan: The Final Season 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan closes out with a final season that is well versed in the world of its title character, both his internal world and the external world around him. The season doesn't really hit concepts that will revolutionize the political action/thriller genre, but it's a good and solid six episode outing that will leave audiences hoping for more from Krasinski's Ryan on any visual medium. This two-disc Blu-ray set is fairly basic, offering excellent video and decent Atmos audio and just a handful of deleted scenes. Recommended.