A fantastic, riveting action-packed television drama, “The Last Ship: The Complete First Season” is a series that I have no problems recommending.
TITLE: The Last Ship: The Complete First Season
TV SERIES YEAR: 2014
DURATION: 22 Episodes (440 Minutes)
BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition, 16:9, English, Espanol and French. Subtitles: English, Espanol, French, Dansk, Finnish, Norsk, Suomi, Svenska
COMPANY: TNT
RATED: TV14 LSV
Release Date: June 9, 2015
Directed by Jack Bender, Sergio Mimica-Gezzan, Michael Katleman, Paul Holahan, Jonathan Mostow, Brad Turner, Greg Beeman, Mario Van Peebles, Olatunde Osunsanmi
Written by Steven Kane, Hank Steinberg, William Brinkley, Onalee Hunter, Jill Blankenship, Jessica Butler, Richard Arthur, Josh Schaer, Cameron Welsh, Nic Van Zeebroeck, Quinton Peeples, Mark Malone
Producer: Tony Mark, Quinton Peeples, Todd Arnow, Mark Malone
Co-Producer: Christian Clarke, Josh Schaer, Richard eter Schroer, Chip Vucelich, Mark Kolbe, Skip Beaudine
Executive Producer: Michael Bay, Andrew Form, Bradley Fuller, Jack Bender, Steven Kane, Hank Steinberg
Associate Producer: Ellen Stafford, Lindsay Owens
Consulting Producer: Anne Cofell Saunders
Music by Jim Dooley, Nathan Whitehead, James S. Levine, Steve Jablonsky
Cinematography by Cort Fey, David Gddes, Christopher Faloona, Lukas Ettlin
Edited by John David Buxton, Michael R. Fox, Marta Evry, Randy Jon Morgan, Edward A. Warschilka, Andrew Cohen, Ken Blackwell
Casting by Beth Day, Denise Chamian
Production Design by Marek Dobrowolski, Alicia Maccarone, Tomas Voth
Art Direction by Alicia Maccarone, Karl J. Martin, Lisa Vasconcellos
Set Decoration: Jeffrey Kushon, Alexander Carie
Costume Deisgn by Carlos rosario, Ileane Meltzer, Linda M. Bass, Mari-an Ceo
Starring:
Eric Dane as CO CDR Tom Chandler
Rhona Mitra as Dr. Rachel Scott
Adam Baldwin as XO Mike Slattery
Marissa Neitling as Lt. Kara Foster
Christina Elmore as Lt. Alisha Granderson
Charles Parnell as CMC Jeter
Jocko Sims as Lt. Carlton Burk
Travis Van Winkle as Lt. Danny Green
John Pyper-Ferguson as Tex
Michael Curran-Dorsano as Gator
Kevin Michael Martin as Miller
Chris Sheffield as Comms Officer Wil Mason
Hope Olaide Wilson as Bertrise
Ness Bautista as Cruz
Andy T. Tran as Lt. Andy Chung
Paul James as O’Connor
Ben Cho as Carl Nishioka
Maximiliano Hernandez as Doc Rios
Amen Igbinosun as Bernie “Bacon” Cowley
Bruce Nozick as Dr. Milowsky
Sam Spruell as Quincy
Jamison Haase as TAO Barker
Chris Marrs as Engineer Lynn
Bren Foster as SCPO Wolf Taylor
Aidan Sussman as Sam Chandler
Grace Kaufman as Ashley chandler
Alice Coulthard as Kelly Tophet
Tommy Savas as Cossetti
The Last Ship opens with a global catastrophe that nearly decimates the world’s population. Because of its positioning, the Navy destroyer U.S.S. Nathan James avoids falling victim to the tragedy. Now the crew and captain must confront the reality of their new existence in a world where they may be among the few remaining survivors.
From series creator Hank Steinberg (“The Nine”, “Without a Trace”, “61”) and Steve Kane comes the TNT American post-apocalyptic drama TV series “The Last Ship”.
A loose adaptation of the 1988 novel by William Brinkley, the first ten episodes of the first season aired on TNT in 2014. And now, “The Last Ship: The Complete First Season” will be available on Blu-ray in June 2015.
The series stars Eric Dane (“Grey’s Anatomy”, “Marley & Me”, “X-Men: The Last Stand”), Rhona Mitra (“Shooter”, “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans”, “The Number 23”), Adam Baldwin (“Full Metal Jacket”, “Serenity”, “Independence Day”), Marissa Neitling (“San Andreas”, “Leverage”), Christina Elmore, Charles Parnell (“Transformers: Age of Extinction”, “Pariah”), Jocko Sims (“Dawn of the Planet of the Apes”, “Dreamgirls”, “Jarhead”), Travis Van Winkle (“Transformers”, “Friday the 13th”, “Accepted”), John Pyper-Ferguson (“Drive”, “Unforgiven”, “X-Men: The Last Stand”) and many more.
The series revolves around the 218-person crew of the fictional U.S. Navy guided missile destroyer, the USS Nathan James (DDG-151). The crew led by CDR Tom Chandler (portrayed by Eric Dane).
The crew have been out on a top secret mission out in sea for many months and the mission is about to end and everyone can go home. But immediately, the mission is canceled and the crew is responsible to bring Dr. Rachel Scott, a paleomicrobiologist and her partner Quincy Tophet (portrayed by Sam Spruell) to the Arctic, who claim they are studying birds.
But as Scott and Tophet are working, they are under attack by the Russians. The Americans quickly neutralize the enemy and Chandler immediately learns from the new US President that all over the world and back at home and around the world, a pandemic has decimated the population.
Because the crew was out on sea, they were not infected by the virus and Chandler learns about who Dr. Scott really is. And because Dr. Scott is leading the research on an anti-virus, their mission is to protect her and do whatever is necessary to give her what she needs to develop an anti-virus.
Unfortunately, things are dire on the ship. The crew are low on gas, fresh water and food and the crew must do all they can to survive.
But existing problems include another ship ran by Russians who are after Dr. Scott, a crew that are kept underwraps of what is happening on the ship and who Dr. Hunter really is and a world that has now changed due to a collapse in governments and a virus quickly spreading throughout the world.
The following is a spoiler-less summary of Season One of “The Last Ship”:
- EPISODE 1 – Two virologists claim they are studying birds and during their research in the Arctic, they are attack by Russians. Why do the Russians want these scientists?
- EPISODE 2 – Low on food, medical supplies and fuel replenishments, Chandler and his crew head to Guantanamo Bay Naval Base.
- EPISODE 3 – The USS Nathan James face off against a Russian cruiser determined on getting Dr. Scott.
- EPISODE 4 – The crew are in danger when their propulsion system encounters serious mechanical problems.
- EPISODE 5 – Chandler leads an expedition team to find monkey samples for Dr. Scott.
- EPISODE 6 – When Green contracts an illness, the crew is scared that he may have the virus.
- EPISODE 7 – With no cure, a sole survivor of a 50 people on a Jamaican fishing vessel becomes an interest for both the Americans and the Russians.
- EPISODE 8 – Crew members are captured by the Russians.
- EPISODE 9 – With the vaccine in development, Dr. Scott needs human test subjects.
- EPISODE 10 – What happens when the crew returns to the United States.
VIDEO:
“The Last Ship: The Complete First Season” is presented in 1080p High Definition (1:78:1 aspect ratio). Picture quality is vibrant as outdoor scenes are colorful, closeups showcase great detail on the skin of characters. But the cinematography for this television series is fantastic! No low noise fluctuations, no major artifacts or major use of DNR.
If anything, “The Last Ship” looks great on Blu-ray!
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
“The Last Ship” is presented in English, Spanish and French DTS-HD Master Audio. Dialogue and musical score is crystal clear through the front and center channels. While action scenes (gunfire and explosions) utilize the surround channels. The series has many action sequences but primarily it is a dialogue-driven soundtrack.
Subtitles are presented in English, Espanol, Francais, Dansk, Finnish, Norsk, Suomi and Svenska.
SPECIAL FEATURES
“The Last Ship: The Complete First Season” comes with the following special features:
- Inside the Episode – (10:34) A behind-the-scenes look of five episodes.
- The Last Ship Details – (6:21) Show creators discussing the details of the pilot episode.
- The Navy and the USS Halsey – (5:28) A featurette about bringing the realism of the Navy and shooting on the USS Halsey.
- 2014 Comic-Con Panel – (52:01) “The Last Ship” Q&A panel at the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con International.
- Audio Commentary – Featuring audio commentary with series creator Hank Steinberg for episode 6 “Lockdown” and audio commentary with series creators Hank Steinberg and Steven Kane for the final episode “No Place Like Home”.
EXTRAS:
“The Last Ship: The Complete First Season” comes with a slipcover and an UltraViolet code.
A fantastic, riveting action-packed television drama, “The Last Ship: The Complete First Season” is a series that I have no problems recommending.
Often, there are many series that delve into the banal apocalyptic storyline and each episode is a rehash of storylines slightly modified and it tends to grow old on the viewer ever week.
Fortunately, that is not the case with “The Last Ship”, as each episode is relevant, what happens to each character and how it affects them in a future episode is relevant and every decision that is made by its main characters are relevant.
Far too often, other dramas get into a banal situation and episodes become filler and that is what I’m enjoying about this series is that although the series has a crew of 218 men and women, the show manages to find a way to take characters and use them, may it be to showcase a weakness and then later a strength but its reminiscent to another favorite series a decade ago, “Lost”, which also had a large audience and complex storyline but writers were effective in making each episode relevant, each character important and viewers were captivated.
Of course, “The Last Ship” focused on the basics. Doing what they can to let the doctor do her job of coming up with an anti-virus or cure, dealing with realistic problems of lack of fuel, clean water and food. USA vs. Russia in apocalyptic times and with the domination of the open seas and no government infrastructure, the problems that exist in the world.
And of course, writers can’t keep doing the “will she create an anti-virus or cure” and string people along for far too long, so once you start watching the season finale, you realize that big things are in store for season two and “The Last Ship” is going to get exciting but on another level. I can’t wait!
As for the Blu-ray release, picture quality is fantastic as close ups show excellent detail, a lot of outdoor scenes are shot, so colors are vibrant with natural color and if anything, the series doesn’t suffer from artifacts or low light noise. The lossless soundtrack features crystal clear dialogue and music, while its action scenes also use the surround channels effectively. You also get a good number of special features including the 2014 San Diego Comic Con Q&A panel, audio commentaries and more.
Overall, a fantastic, riveting action-packed television drama, “The Last Ship: The Complete First Season” is a series that I have no problems recommending.
