The Last Survivors may not be perfect as it could be repetitive at times while the plot was a bit thin but the acting is well done especially by lead actress Haley Lu Richardson and for an independent production it’s an impressive flick. The Blu-ray release offers good video/audio transfers while there’s a fine selection of bonus material headlined by a pair of commentary tracks.
The Last Survivor
(2015)
REVIEW NAVIGATION
The Movie | Special Features | Video Quality | Audio Quality | Overall
Genre(s): Drama, Suspense
MPI Media Group | NR – 95 min. – $29.98 | August 4, 2015
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MOVIE INFO: Directed by: Tom Hammock Writer(s): Jacob Forman & Tom Hammock (written by) Cast: Haley Lu Richardson, Booboo Stewart, Max Charles, Barbara Crampton, Jon Gries DISC INFO: Audio: English (DTS-HD MA 5.1) |
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THE MOVIE – 3.0/5
Plot Synopsis: At the edge of an expansive barren valley, all that remains of The Wallace Farm for Wayward Youth is a few hollowed-out husks of buildings. 17-year-old Kendal (HALEY LU RICHARDSON) can barely recall when the Oregon valley was still lush. It’s been a decade since the last rainfall, and society at large has dried up and blown away. Kendal and the few others that remain barely scraps by while dreaming of escape. When a greedy water baron, Carson (JON GRIES) lays claim to what little of the precious resource remains underground, Kendal must decide whether to run and hide or bravely fight for the few cherished people and things she has left.
Quick Hit Review: The Last Survivors (a.k.a. The Well) is what I would describe as a “not bad” little movie. Independently funded and shot on what I assume was a shoe-string budget, there’s really not much to the plot and frankly the character development is also on the limited side, but I can’t say the film bored me and the performances were mostly engaging beginning with Haley Ly Richardson. All that said, there are times it gets repetitive (bad/suspicious people come around, girl hides, barely escapes; girl and desert baddie tussle, girl gets upperhand and kills the other; etc), so what is a 90 some-odd minute movie could’ve been cut down by a good 10 minutes no problem.
SPECIAL FEATURES – 3.0/5
Audio Commentaries – There are two tracks: 1) Cast Commentary with Writer/Director Tom Hammock and Actors Haley Lu Robinson, Booboo Stewart, Michael McCartney and Max Charles; and a Filmmaker’s Commentary with Hammock and Writer/Producer Jacob Forman. Both are fine and offer different perspectives one obviously from the acting aspects while the other is far more technical.
Deleted Scenes (9:35; HD) – Two scenes are included, “Kendal on the Run” and “Kendal Trapped in a Well” and both have optional commentary with Hammock.
Behind the Scenes (4:43; HD) – This shows some B-roll footage and despite being short, kind of nice with the fly-on-the-wall vibe rather than the usual canned interviews.
Haley Lu Richardson Audition/Offer (3:44; HD) is some fun footage of the young actress auditioning for the role and eventually getting the part.
Last up is a Slide Show (3:23; HD) of some production pics and the Trailer (1:59; HD).
Previews – From the Dark, Late Phases, Let Us Prey, Redeemer
VIDEO – 4.0/5
The Last Survivors is presented with a 2.39 widescreen aspect ratio and given a 1080p high-definition transfer and actually doesn’t look too bad with good detail levels. Outside of some banding issues, it appears to be a well done transfer. However, and done on purpose, colors are almost absent giving way to more natural tones to the point of appearing washed out, so don’t expect a pretty picture.
AUDIO – 4.0/5
The movie includes both a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and a 2.0 PCM track. The former is decent enough providing for great dialogue levels and although this may not be the loudest nor most in-depth loss track, it’s still more than effective. The post-apocalyptic score makes use of the rear channels especially with deep basses and even the LFE channel kicks in for extra measure.
OVERALL – 3.0/5
Overall, The Last Survivors may not be perfect as it could be repetitive at times while the plot was a bit thin but the acting is well done especially by lead actress Haley Lu Richardson and for an independent production it’s an impressive flick. The Blu-ray release offers good video/audio transfers while there’s a fine selection of bonus material headlined by a pair of commentary tracks.
Published: 08/01/2015
Check out some more screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.