I wouldn’t say The Last Man was the worst film I ever saw, but that’s only because I did see Battlefield Earth and Event Horizon. If there’s a category below B film this is a great example. The whole film has the feel of community theatre at its worst. Dan Montgomery delivers such a bad performance that it would be funny if it didn’t hurt so much to watch. The story rambles on for 93 minutes that will feel more like 3 hours.
Synopsis
Alan (Amott) has survived an event that appears to have wiped out all of mankind. He meets a lone woman in Sarah (Ryan). Together they try to get along until a third survivor (Montgomery) spoils their ideal little world.
Audio
There is absolutely no dynamic range in this Dolby 2.0 mix. Most of the film is so soft I found myself constantly cranking up the volume to hear what was being said, only to find it wasn’t worth the trouble. Forget about your sub, it’s asleep the entire film. Some of the scenes feature evident distortion.
Video
The Last Man is presented in its theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1. This is not an easy film to watch. Colors are drab and the video is often over or underexposed. There is plenty of grain to go around. One positive note: there don’t seem to be any film artifacts or scorelines. Any trouble with this image is strictly limitations in the source material. Blacks are almost always washed out.
Special Features
There are a few extras. There are two making-of featurettes, both of which are filmed on your basic handheld camcorder. There is a 9 minute audition tape of Jeri Ryan and a Behind the Scenes short that makes no sense at all. Basically someone on set ran around with a camcorder and shot stuff during production. The disc also includes the trailer and a collection of storyboards. Menus are at their most basic.
Final Thoughts
As Warren Zevon would say, “Ain’t that pretty. Ain’t that pretty at all.”Avoid this one. If you’re a Star Trek or a Boston Public fan, trust me, it’s not even worth it for Jeri Ryan. The disc can be best summed up as a “slight miscalculation.”
