Last Breath - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Last Breath



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:



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Movie
Not to be confused with The Last Breath shark attack movie, Last Breath is a feature film adaptation of the 2019 documentary, both directed by Alex Parkinson. The film is a true-life drama/thriller about a young deep-sea diver who gets trapped underwater for 40 minutes…...all while on 10 minutes of reserve oxygen.

In 2012, three deep saturation divers were repairing the manifold of an oil pipeline in the North Sea when the unthinkable happened. Chris Lemons (Finn Cole) finds out that his umbilical cable has snagged on a piece of the manifold, severing his suit from oxygen, as well as the ability for his partners Dave (Simu Liu) and Duncan (Woody Harrelson) to get him back before they’re forced to take shelter in their dive module. On the surface, a storm has been brewing, and now it’s in full swing while the crew of the ship desperately tries to regain their previous location after drifting, and hopefully get Chris back before he runs out of oxygen.

Honestly, I can’t really write anything more about the plot of the film as it is THAT simple. Chris is underwater with only 10 minutes' reserve on his tank, and yet we have a 93-minute (including credits) film ahead of us. As you can guess from that little tidbit, the movie is less about the chronological events that happen to get Chris back, but rather a multi-perspective tale of the 40 minutes that it takes for Duncan, Dave, and the crew above to actually get back to him in time. At times, it’s tense, but at other times, the movie really feels over-padded and a bit too long for what we’re seeing here. I’m not deadly certain about the 2019 documentary and what it covered, but the feature film in front of us simply takes the different perspectives of the people involved in the rescue and spreads it out a bit.

On the technical side, Last Breath is very well done. It’s the sort of film that we really don’t see that much of anymore, focusing on practical effects, underwater shooting, and a tense “close-up” feel that is devoid of the big blockbuster CGI we’re used to in modern filmmaking. Watching the documentary reveals that Alex Parkinson really wanted this to feel authentic, so primary shooting was done in large saltwater tanks to emulate the reality of the ocean, and the visual effects of the underwater shoot are marvelous. Honestly, if I were judging this flick solely based on the intensity of the visuals and the techniques used, I would give it a 5/5.

But sadly, there are some problems with the film that must be addressed. The main one being that Alex Parkinson’s attempts to make this as close to the documentary as possible leave the audience feeling like the whole thing is cold and clinical. Even with Woody Harrelson sobbing into the camera, the entire picture is devoid of emotional investment. You’re never scared of what’s going to happen because the film pretty obviously telegraphs how the film is going to end from the opening title scroll. And even though we have a fairly decent ensemble cast with Simu, Woody, Cliff Curtis, and Finn Cole, the audience simply can’t connect with them. The characters feel like characters straight out of a documentary in that there is not a whole lot of development, and we don’t honestly find anything about them besides superficial banter in the dive pod.

Don’t get me wrong. Last Breath is not a bad movie by any stretch of the imagination. It’s sometimes a very good movie with a wonderfully refreshing miracle story. But it falls short of being really, really good, mainly due to a lack of character development and the inability of Alex Parkinson to emotionally connect the audience with the men on screen. But at its core, Last Breath is a tense, sometimes thrilling, and rather fascinating true story of heroism and miraculous events.




Rating:

Not Rated by the MPAA




Video:

Last Breath is given a Blu-ray only release (this sucker would have looked great in 4K UHD) that looks great considering the filming techniques, and utilizes a bit of a “rough around the edges” feel that is very natural and filmic. There are moments in the dark where grain or noise crops up, and there is this murky shadowy feeling under water that is both really natural, and obscures detail at times too. That being said, most of the film is still sharp and clear, with great detail levels, and this blue/green tinge to the color grading. There’s some mild banding under water, but not NEARLY as much as I was expecting, leaving me to give this a solid 4/5.









Audio:

Nerd moment here, but part of me REALLY would have loved to have seen a Dolby Atmos track for Last Breath. The 5.1 Dolby TrueHD track is superb, but the claustrophobic intensity of the mix just screams object-oriented Atmos mixing to me. Ah, well, but as I said, the 5.1 track found on the disc is superb. Parkinson captures the claustrophobia and muffled sounds of being stuck underwater, but counterpoints that with the raw power and intensity of the storm raging above on the top side. Waves and engine sounds throb all around the listener, and the LFE channel basically never turns off throughout the entire movie. Vocals are crisp and cleanly located up front, and while the track is definitely intense, it never feels imbalanced or drowns out any of the dialogue.











Extras:

• Audio commentary with the filmmakers
• Filmmaker Commentary
• Gag Reel

Final Score:

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While I wasn’t wild about the narrative itself, the technical aspects behind the scenes are amazing. Last Breath is made in a manner that was the norm 30 years ago, but not so much anymore. That being said, the film can be a tense thrill ride, but also feel rather cold and clinical at the same time. The Blu-ray release from Universal looks good, sounds great, and even has a few decent extras on board as well. Something to check out, but I might hesitate on a blind buy.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Woody Harrelson, Simu Liu, Cliff Curtis, Mark Bonnar, Finn Cole
Directed by: Alex Parkinson
Written by: Mitchell LaFortune, Alex Parkinson, David Brooks
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 AVC
Audio: English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
Studio: Universal
Rated: NR
Runtime: 93 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: April 29th, 2025

Recommendation: Solid Watch