The Last Of Us: The Complete First Season [4K Ultra HD]

Cast: Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey

Release Date: July 18, 2023

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Disc Rating: 9.5/10

Synopsis:

The Last of Us takes place 20 years after modern civilization has been destroyed. Joel, a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie, a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal and heartbreaking journey as they both must traverse the U.S. and depend on each other for survival.

Please Note: Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray I reviewed in this Post. The opinions I share are my own.

The debut season of ‘The Last of Us’ takes place primarily twenty years after the human population and the world itself were largely destroyed and overtaken by a deadly fungus with the power to transform those it infects. The series follows hardened fighter Joel who is tasked with accompanying a 14-year old girl named Ellie who might just be able to help finally find a cure to the disease and smuggle her out of a heavily guarded quarantine zone and through miles upon miles of dangerous, uncertain terrain. As the two strangers begin their quest they want as little to do with each other as possible, but as things become increasingly more dangerous and heartbreaking along the way, they soon discover that they’ll need to rely on each other far more than they expected if they’re to stand any chance of surviving long enough to complete their journey.

‘The Last of Us’ is a stunning, unsettling and beautiful tale of survival and hope, as well as love and loss. The series is brimming with both heartbreak and beauty around nearly every turn and the struggle to do the right thing, regardless of what it might cost, while also questioning what one might be unwilling to give up after having lost so much and how many would you allow to suffer in order to save it. While the violence and gore isn’t the primary focus here (a choice which works surprisingly well), that doesn’t mean that the series doesn’t have plenty of nasty moments and some unforgettable creatures sprinkled in throughout the debut season. It may not deliver nonstop carnage-drenched chaos, yet there is definitely no shortage of brutal and graphic moments that will make many genre fans cringe at times and for the most part it’s all done quite well, as are the “clickers” who look sufficiently eerie.

The most visually stellar aspect on display in the debut season of ‘The Last of Us’ is undoubtedly the scenery onscreen that we witness as our heroes travel from one area to the next amid a crumbled world. We’re treated to various cities and areas complete with fungus/moss overtaking it, not to mention crooked buildings and plenty more and nearly all of it is an absolute pleasure to behold and rarely fails to impress. It’s clear that this series was approached with the utmost care to details and specifics and it consistently shows throughout its first season. If you haven’t yet had the opportunity to check out the debut season but are even mildly intrigued or tempted, I can’t possibly encourage you strongly enough to do so; it’s a remarkable series that dazzles and shocks on multiple fronts and shouldn’t be missed.

On top of everything else that it already has going for it, season one of ‘The Last of Us’ also benefits immensely from a well-selected cast of stars including Pedro Pascal, and Bella Ramsey, along with Gabriel Luna, Anna Torv, Nico Parker, Murray Bartlett, Nick Offerman, Melanie Lynskey, Storm Reid, Merle Dandridge, Jeffrey Pierce, Lamar Johnson, Keivonn Woodard, Graham Greene, and Elaine Miles. Also featured are Ashley Johnson and Troy Baker and nearly the entire cast do a marvelous job in each of their respective roles that help contribute to the beauty and emotion that this series delivers in spades.

Warner Bros. Discovery’s 4-disc 4K Ultra HD release of ‘The Last of Us: The Complete First Season’ brings home all nine episodes form the show’s debut season featuring utterly gorgeous Ultra High Definition video presentations with Dolby Vision and HDR-10 that look flawless and impress around every turn. The stellar video presentations are only perfectly complemented by expansive and immersive Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 compatible) soundtracks on each episode that are equally outstanding in their own right. Just in case the tremendous quality wasn’t quite enough already, the 4K UHD release also features hours of behind the scenes extras that fans should thoroughly appreciate including a few brand new Featurettes that are exclusive to the release. Following the more recent trend of many Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment 4K UHD releases, the Season 1 release of ‘The Last of Us’ does not include Blu-ray copies of the season or a digital code but for those that are fully 4K capable and able to play the discs without any trouble, that probably won’t be too much of an issue. For those of you that are already considering a purchase this release is definitely highly recommended.

VIDEO:

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release of ‘The Last of Us: The Complete First Season’ features a full 2160p Ultra High Definition presentation with Dolby Vision and HDR-10, with the show’s original 1.78:1 Aspect Ratio on all of the debut season’s episodes. The video presentations look outstanding across the board and deliver clean, sharp and marvelously detailed presentations on every episode of the season. They show great detail and clarity in nearly every aspect within from the breathtaking and beautifully crafted surroundings and cities, along with character faces and clothing, in addition to nearly everything else appearing onscreen at one point or another. The Dolby Vision addition also contributes a gorgeous color palette that benefits various backgrounds and nature aspects including snow or the sharp contrast between drops of blood on the bright white snow, along with building colors, creatures and various other elements along the way; all splendidly boosted by dark, deep and problem-free black levels. Overall, these are magnificent Ultra High Definition video presentations that look consistently remarkable and they should easily thrill fans of the series as well as newcomers.

AUDIO:

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release features a Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 channel compatible) soundtrack on all 9 Season One episodes. Please note that this review pertains solely to the Dolby TrueHD 7.1 audio presentations. These multichannel soundtracks are quite magnificent as well and offer crisp, clean and immersive audio presentations on every episode of the season. They constantly utilize all seven available channels in order to send music, along with gunshots, explosions and debris, plus nature content including pounding rain, some creepy effects and a whole lot more regularly whipping throughout the various speakers; all while making certain that any dialogue or other audio elements that might be occurring simultaneously never become negatively affected or distorted in the process. Overall, these are wonderful Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 compatible) soundtracks that impress at nearly every turn and should fully satisfy viewers.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release of ‘The Last of Us: The Complete First Season’ features a solid collection of bonus content in the way of numerous Behind the Scenes Featurettes both previously released and new to this release; exploring the separate episodes, and other aspects of bringing the series to life and featuring interviews/comments with the cast and crew, plus behind the scenes footage and more. Included on the release are ‘Inside the Episode’ Featurettes for all nine episodes (running approximately 49 minutes in length altogether) along with ‘Controllers Down: Adapting The Last of Us’ (running approximately 12 minutes), ‘From Levels to Live Action’ (approximately 12 minutes), ‘The Last of Us: Stranger Than Fiction’ (24 minutes), and ‘Ashley Johnson Spotlight’ (2 minutes). Also included are 4 ‘Get to Know Me’ Featurettes for the cast including ‘Gabriel Luna’ (4 minutes), ‘Merle Dandridge’ (2 minutes), ‘Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett’ (5 minutes) and ‘Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey’ (5 minutes), in addition to cast Trivia in ‘Is This A The Last of Us Line’ (approximately 8 minutes altogether). 5 episodes of the podcast series ‘The Last Debrief with Troy Baker’ (approximately 32 minutes overall) are also included.

*Please note: The above images were provided by Warner Bros/HBO and are not reflective of the actual 4K Ultra HD release or its quality. Blu-ray copies of the season are not included in the release that could be used for screenshots therefore the above publicity stills were utilized. They are all the property of Warner Bros. Discovery, HBO and any other respective owners.

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Disc Rating: 9.5/10

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‘The Last Of Us: The Complete First Season’ is Now Available to Own on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD & Digital from HBO – Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment

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