The Last Chapter – The Complete Series
Picture: C+
Sound: B- Extras: C+ Episodes: B-
Still to this day, there is the thought of Canada that is
a romantic one about Mounties on horses.
As a subversion of that, the Gangster series The Last Chapter
(2002) has criminals on motorcycles.
Michael Ironside is the head of The Triple Sixers, a powerful bike gang
who he feels is in the position to totally take over the illegal drug traffic
and trade in his homeland, but doing this becomes more complicated than he
expected. With all that money and
power, there will be challenges, some of which he does not see coming.
The result is a growing gang war that shakes things up
more than expected. Roy Dupuis plays
his opposite number in the organization most interested in cutting in and
though this is not as groundbreaking as The Sopranos, it is a far more
interesting show than you would expect.
Just by coming from Canada, it is compelling to see a dark side of the
country U.S. media is always trying to write off as secondary, poor and
defenseless against international military attacks. Of course, this gets personal between the characters and much of
the Canadian production we see in this genre or anything action-oriented is
made with outside money.
Ironside, one of the best character actors in the
business, proves he can hold a lead role with as much ease. To the series credit, it does not do any
generic emulation of Gangster production in the U.S. or U.K.; the latter
Canadian viewers are more likes to recognize than in The States. Inevitably, some of the conventions and
archetypes come through, but The Last Chapter is a good change of pace
for a genre that has frankly become glutted with lame production in recent
years. It is definitely worth a look.
The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 x 1 image is not bad,
though it is slightly degraded in look for the genre, which results in color
and detail limits. Otherwise, it looks
good. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo has
healthy Pro Logic surrounds and playback is pretty good. Extras include a still s gallery, deleted
scenes, cast/crew text profiles, trailers, alternate ending for the First
Season (this 4 DVD set has two) and a behind-the-scenes featurette.
- Nicholas Sheffo
