The Best Video Game Adaptation Ever Just Got A 4K Release
Time to add The Last of Us to your Blu-ray collection.
Adapting beloved material is often a thankless task. Creating another version of something fans hold so dear involves great detail and care, something the creators of the HBO series The Last of Us, based on the 2013 PS3 game, took seriously. It probably helped that writer and creative director of the game Neil Druckmann helmed the series alongside writer Craig Mazin (who created the HBO miniseries Chernobyl). With the first season now available on a limited edition 4K UHD Steelbook edition, it’s the perfect time to watch (or re-watch) the greatest video game adaptation to date.
The show, like the game, takes place 20 years into an infection caused by a mutated fungus that’s ravaged America. Joel (Pedro Pascal) works as a smuggler in a safe zone, regularly risking his life to get essential supplies to keep the few remaining humans alive. Joel is hired to smuggle a young girl named Ellie (Bella Ramsey) into the hands of the rebel Fireflies. But Ellie isn’t just some kid; she has a natural immunity to the fungus and could be the only source of hope humanity has to turn the tide and ensure its survival.
Despite video game adaptations' generally negative reception over the years (think Bloodrayne, Warcraft, and Assassin’s Creed), The Last of Us leans into its electronic origins. This is a series proud of being born from a video game, and that helps make some of its best scenes come to reality. In Episode 2, “Infected,” the show recreates one of the best and most terrifying scenes from the 2013 video game: the museum. Going through the dilapidating museum is Joel and Ellie’s only way to get where they need to go. But something particularly horrifying awaits the duo and Joel’s partner Tess (Anna Torv): Clickers, a visually revolting and brutally tough form of infected. They’re stronger than what they’ve faced before, but their faces, full of exploded fungus, have rendered them blind.
The camera lingers behind Joel, recreating the game’s third-person shooter mechanics. You can feel the weight of each step as the group tries to avoid the clicker's heightened hearing. One wrong step will all but assure their demises. The phenomenal effects team on The Last of Us brings the Clickers to petrifying life, and they look every bit as spine-chilling as they did in the games, if not more so. It’s a spectacular scene that blends stealth with sharp bursts of bloodshed, always keeping the elements of the game in mind to deliver heartstopping moments.
The Last of Us also expands on elements that were introduced in the game, turning a side character into one of the most emotionally ravaging episodes of recent television. Bill (played by Nick Offerman in the series) has a brief sub-plot in the video game as a cantankerous survivalist, but in the series, his romance with his partner Frank (Murray Bartlett) is given an entire episode — the longest one in the season. It may seem like a surprising move for a series about a post-apocalyptic hellscape to devote 75 minutes to a single couple's efforts to survive in an unforgiving world, but those familiar with the game know it shines brightest in quiet moments. But Episode 3, “Long, Long Time” showcases a series willing to take risks, giving audiences heart-shattering insight about how it feels to navigate a life that’s changed beyond recognition, and how you might fare in a similar situation with your own loved ones. It’s both immersive world-building and hard-hitting drama, two things The Last of Us does brilliantly.
The Last of Us Steelbook.
This is a show that thrives in darkness, and the 4K release of The Last of Us looks and sounds exquisite. The blacks are stark rare moments of brightness are bold and vivid — this is a show that really comes to life with high dynamic range. The Dolby Atmos mix makes Joel and Ellie’s enemies sound especially menacing, balanced well with clear, crisp dialogue. This is a fantastic-looking show, and the UHD release brings it all together. There are a couple of hours of bonus features, including the “Inside the Episode” clips that aired alongside the episodes of HBO, and featurettes exploring how the show worked to adapt the video game and grounding the series in a familiar sense of reality. And the Steelbook is an especially creepy addition to any collection.
