The Last of Us: The Complete First Season - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

The Last of Us: The Complete First Season



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:


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Movie
The world of video game to screen adaptations have been met with mixed success over the decades. Sure there have been some “fun” stuff like the Resident Evil movies or the 90s Mortal Kombat flick (guilty pleasures as they are), but most of them have been absolute train wrecks ala the 90s Mario Brothers movie, or DTV stuff like The Division. That being said, it’s been a long time coming, but studio heads are finally grasping that a big sprawling narrative that thrives in video games would be best served in the longer time slots that modern day TV series enjoy. Long gone are the days of 26-30+ episode TV shows, and in their place is a much leaner and more agile 8-12 episode seasons that are the right length to fit a video game into.

After the horror and sheer PAIN that was Netflix’s Resident Evil show (as much as I loved Lance Reddick, even he couldn’t save that out of control train), I was VEEEERRRRY leery about HBO tackling one of the biggest and most popular survival games of the last decade. The Last of Us is a legendary game that first started out back in my PS3 days (oh the joys of the format war era where we got a killer Blu-ray player in a console), and has been updated to PS4 and finally remade for the PS5, so I was not prepared for just how GOOD it was going to be.

For those who haven’t played the game, mankind has suffered from a fungal infection plague that basically has turned large portions of humanity into feral monsters, similar to zombies. Joel (Pedro Pascal) is a tough as nails survivalist (of course) who is escorting a young girl named Ellie (Bella Ramsey), who just so happens to be immune to the infection, on a road trip across the wasteland of the United States in hopes of a cure. Simple right? We’ve seen this sort of scenario before in shows like Sweet Tooth, or movies like The Road and countless other post apocalyptic stories from now till the early 90s. HOWEVER, what makes The Last of Us so special is how it gives us unique and nuanced looks at different character arcs throughout the show.

These varied stories are the heart and soul of the show, with sometimes devastating conclusions. Ellie and Joel reveal their backstory and past, and there’s an episode with Ron Swanson (errr. Nick Offerman) that seemed like a useless side story on paper, only to turn into one of the most touching episodes of the series. You see, The Last of Us is not just a zombie (ish) show. It’s a character drama that utilizes the backdrop of a post apocalyptic world to weave a tapestry of interconnected tales together about humanity and life itself.

While the show is really good, and the game even better, I’m surprised that it blew up as much as it has. Which alone worries me as I saw this same sort of shock and awe reception to HBO’s Westworld. A show which nearly immediately tanked itself in the subsequent seasons (not to mention that the 2nd The Last of Us game was controversially received by players) and I’m fearful of that happening again. That being said, this first season is phenomenal. Great acting by Bella and Pedro, as well as an all star supporting cast that make this character drama one of the best I’ve watched all year (now I’m sad I waited this long to watch it).




Rating:

Rated TV-MA by the MPAA




Video:

Taken from a native 4K master, The Last of Us: The Complete First Season looks absolutely superb on 4K UHD. From what I can gather the show was filmed using Arri Alexa Mini cameras and finished off at 4K for the home video release, with a sort of woodsy green/blue tinge to the picture. Many outdoor shots are absolutely jaw dropping (such as the Ron Swanson...eerrr. Nick Offerman episode), but darker shots are much more syrupy and deep, with rich black levels complimented by forest green and flame lit ambers. Some inside shots tend to look a bit softer than I expected, but overall the show is absolutely impeccable, with razor sharp details and a wonderful boost to said black levels and primary colors thanks to the HDR application. My one complaint is that the 4K UHD (assumably, considering I don’t have the Blu-ray to compare it to) makes the CGI stand out as a little fake, but it’s not horribly obvious unless you’re looking for it.







Audio:

The Atmos track is every bit as good as the video score is, giving us a sweeping and highly active mix that uses all channels pretty copiously. Dialog is quick and responsive in the front of the room, and the whole “road trip” aspect of the show lends itself towards a lot of ambient sounds coming through in the overheads and the surrounds. There is a sense of delicate clarity and directional movement in the surrounds that really makes this a delight to listen to. I actually swore that I was hearing sounds in areas that I didn’t have speakers it was that good. LFE is mild mannered when it needs to be, but really tears things up when a monster attacks, or an attack in the woods happens. Dynamic range is simply off the charts, with soft quiet moments punctuated with explosive action at a moment’s notice. Absolutely superb.







Extras:

• NEW The Last of Us: Stranger Than Fiction – Series cast and filmmakers are joined by experts in survival, microbiology, and parasitology for a chilling discussion on the realities of the invasive fungus and subsequent apocalypse in The Last of Us.
• NEW Controllers Down: Adapting The Last of Us – Follow the journey of The Last of Us from console to screen as cast and filmmakers take us inside the process of expanding the world and breathing new life into the game's beloved characters.
• NEW From Levels to Live Action – Discover how The Last of Us incorporated and expanded fan-favorite game moments in the series
• Getting to Know Me (4 Featurettes)
• The Last Debrief with Troy Baker (2 Featurettes)
• Inside the Episode (9 Featurettes)
• Is This A The Last of Us Line? (2 Featurettes)

Final Score: ​

The Last of Us: The Complete First Season is all you could hope for in a first year show. It hits the ground running at full steam, and has garnered a ton of awards for performances all the cast over. I personally hope that this continues in later seasons, as this could easily become one of the best TV shows of the last 20 years if the quality continues. The 4K UHD from Warner is absolutely superb, with picture perfect video, amazing audio and a solid array of extras. Highly recommended.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey, Anna Torv, Lamar Johnson, Kathleen Coghlan, Nico Parker
Created by: Neil Druckmann, Craig Mazin
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 AVC
Audio: English: Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Core), French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish DD 5.1, Spanish, Czech DD 2.0
Subtitles: English SDH, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Korean, Mandarin (Traditional), Norwegian, Swedish
Studio: Warner Brothers
Rated: TV-MA
Runtime: 474 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: July 18th, 2023

Recommendation: Great Watch

 

[JStewart]

Fantastic series and is was a must have for me. Have a copy on the way to tide me over a couple of years until season 2.

 

[Michael Scott]

Fantastic series and is was a must have for me. Have a copy on the way to tide me over a couple of years until season 2.

yup, I'm glad that they're not going ahead during the writer's strike ala the "Heroes" days. Man that was an amazing series that tanked during the strike sooooooooo badly

 

[Aburguy]

I have been waiting for a review on this to decide to make a purchase. Thanks for the solid review, Im going to pick this up!