The Last of Us appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.78:1 on these 4K UHD Discs. A native 4K production, the Dolby Vision episodes provided excellent picture quality.
Sharpness consistently looked tight and well-defined. Any softness seemed intentional, and the end product maintained a solid level of delineation.
No issues with jagged edges or moiré effects occurred, and I saw no edge haloes. Source flaws remained absent.
Colors leaned toward a modern mix of amber/orange and teal, with a push toward green in forest settings and few other hues tossed out occasionally. The 4K reproduced the tones as intended, and HDR gave them a nice boost in intensity.
Blacks looked deep and dark, while shadows demonstrated appealing clarity. HDR added range and impact to whites and contrast. This wound up as a great-looking package of shows.
Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, the series’ Dolby Atmos audio also satisfied. Unsurprisingly, the occasional Big Action Moments fared the best.
These climaxed early in the series, as the first episode offered the most evocative soundscape. In that one, the world quickly deteriorated, and with plane crashes and other expansive moments, it used the speakers to become vivid and engaging.
After that, soundfields tended toward a more environmental side of the street, though occasional Big Action Moments nonetheless arose. These used the spectrum in a positive way, with music that also spread across the spectrum in an appealing manner.
Audio quality worked nicely, with speech that consistently appeared concise and natural. Music seemed warm and full.
Effects displayed excellent reproduction, with accurate, dynamic tones that brought deep bass as necessary. I felt pleased with the series’ audio.
Across all three discs, we find The Making of The Last of Us Season 2 featurettes. With one per episode, these span a total of one hour, 13 minutes, 23 seconds.
Across these, we find notes from series creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, directors of photography Catherine Goldschmidt and Ksenia Sereda, VFX supervisor Alex Wang, directors Mark Mylod, Kate Herron, Stephen Williams, Nina Lopez-Corrado and Peter Hoar, SPFX supervisor Joel Whist, prosthetics designer Barrie Gower, production designer Don Macaulay, stunt coordinator Marny Eng, supervising location manager Nicole Chartrand, writer Halley Gross, and actors Bella Ramsey, Catherine O’Hara, Pedro Pascal, Kaitlyn Dever, Isabela Merced, Gabriel Luna, Young Mazino, Rutina Wesley, and Jeffrey Wright.
The segments discuss story/characters, cast and performances, creature design, digital and practical effects, photography, sets and locations, stunts and action. Though the segments can lean superficial at times, they still deliver generally positive insights related to the various episodes.
On Disc One, Growing the World of The Last of Us occupies two minutes, three seconds. It brings info from Ramsey, Mazin, Mazino, Wesley, Luna, Merced, Pascal, Dever, Druckmann, O'Hara and Wright.
The reel looks at the expanding universe of Last of Us. It exists as promo fodder and not much more.
Welcome to Jackson spans three minutes, 24 seconds and features Druckmann, Wesley, Mazino, Mylod, Macaulay, Ramsey, Luna and art director Callum Webster as they talk about the S2 Jackson set. Expect a few insights and a lot of fluff.
Disc One concludes with Battle of Jackson, Deconstructed. This 11-minute, 13-second show brings info from Mazin, Luna, Mylod, Druckmann, Wesley, Wang, and Gower.
As implied, this one digs into aspects of the major fight featured in S2's second episode. Though it brings some of the usual happy talk, it comes with enough substance to deserve a look.
On Disc Two, we find a pair of reels under the banner Journey to Season Two, with one that focuses on Joel (3:39) and another that concentrates on Ellie (2:58). Across these, we get montages of Season One clips.
These allow viewers a reminder of what happened with the roles prior to S2. It acts as a useful update for those who’ve not seen S1 in a while.
Four Character Featurettes occupy a total of three minutes, 36 seconds. These involve Pascal, Ramsey, Dever and Merced.
We get basics about Joel, Ellie, Abby and Dina and also thoughts about coming back for S2. All four seem pretty fluffy and promotional.
We conclude Disc Two with Mushroom Taste Test, a four-minute, 33-second clip in which Ramsey, Dever, Mazino and Merced sample mushrooms in a variety of forms. It seems as puffy as that description implies.
Finally, Disc Three comes with a few more elements. Pedro and Bella Q&A spans six minutes, 34 seconds.
As implied, we get a chat between Pascal and Ramsey as they ask each other questions like "do you sing in the shower?" and "would we have been friends in school?" It comes with some charms but doesn't offer any real insights.
Open Book lasts five minutes, seven seconds and brings notes from Merced and Mazino as they go through a Q&A not dissimilar to "Pedro and Bella", though the questions lean less goofy. Though fairly fluffy, it comes with a few decent remarks.
With Stalker Showdown, Deconstructed, we find a three-minute, 21-second reel. It involves Mazin, Druckmann, Gower, Williams, Ramsey, Wang, Whist, and stunt double Cassandra Ebner.
As anticipated, "Stalker" resembles Disc One's "Battle of Jackson" exploration. It comes with some good beats but seems too brief to offer much depth.
Camera Roll occupies three minutes, 13 seconds and brings info from Ramsey, Merced and Mazino.
Shot in the same session as “Mushroom Taste Test” - though mysteriously minus Dever - they look at photos from the shoot and offer their memories. We get a smattering of decent notes.
Next comes In Action. Via this four-minute, 34-second reel, we get thoughts from Dever, Ramsey, Eng, Mylod, Pascal, Whist, Merced, Ebner, Lopez-Corrado, and horse wrangler Danny Virtue.
We get info about stunts across S2. It turns into another erratic mix of fluff and facts.
Ellie’s Path goes for 16 minutes, 39 seconds. We get material from Ramsey, Druckmann, Mazin, Gross, Pascal, Dever, Merced, Hoar, Williams, Lopez-Corrado, Luna, and Mazino.
The program looks at character and story beats across the season, with an obvious emphasis on Ellie. It doesn't offer much of real interest.
Disc Three concludes with Beneath the Surface. It runs 16 minutes, 41 seconds and provides remarks from Druckmann, Mazin, Wang, Mylod, Dever, Gower, Merced, Herron, Goldschmidt, Ramsey, Whist, Lopez-Corrado, Sereda, Eng, costume set supervisor Steve Holloway, costume set assistant Steve Oben, costume designer Ann Foley, key breakdown artist Samantha Stroman, and prosthetics supervisor Paul Spateri.
"Surface" digs deeper into the series' various effects as well as costumes, sets and locations. It becomes a generally informative affair.
This collection of discs comes packaged in a snazzy steelbook case. Everything else remains identical to the standard 4K UHD edition, though the steelbook adds $5 to the MSRP.
Season One of The Last Of Us fared well and Season Two continues that high level of quality. The series mixes action and character depth in a satisfying manner. The 4K UHD discs boast excellent visuals, solid audio and a generally positive array of bonus features. Bring on Season Three!