BLACK SAILS was created by Jonathan Steinberg and Robert Levine and executive produced by Michael Bay and his Platinum Dunes partners Brad Fuller and Andrew Form. The series stars Toby Stephens as Captain Flint, Hannah New as Eleanor Guthrie, Luke Arnold as John Silver, Zach McGowan as Captain Charles Vane, Jessica Parker Kennedy as Max, Tom Hopper as Billy Bones, Clara Paget and Mark Ryan. Joining the cast are Ray Stevenson as the iconic pirate Blackbeard and Luke Roberts as Woodes Rogers. The music is by Bear McCreary.
Welcome back to the early 1700’s, about twenty years prior to Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic “Treasure Island” when The Golden Age of Piracy in the Caribbean was at its apex. The series centers around the former British colony of New Providence Island, a lawless territory controlled by a few dozen of the most notorious pirate captains in history. The third season begins in the wake of the burning of Charles Town. All the New World lives in fear of Captain Flint. When his campaign of terror crosses over into madness, and new threats emerge to challenge his supremacy, it falls to John Silver to locate the man within the monster, before Flint’s war against the world consumes them all. Meanwhile, on the pirate island of Nassau, it’s a new day. With Eleanor Guthrie facing judgment in London, Jack Rackham sits atop a fortune in Spanish gold, hoping to secure his legacy as a king among thieves. To do so, he’ll have to compete with the return of one of history’s most notorious captains, who holds a different vision for their home, as well as a complicated past with Rackham’s chief ally, Captain Charles Vane. All will be tested when a new opponent arrives to claim Nassau, one the pirates could never have anticipated. It knows them. It understands them. And in the blink of an eye, it will do the one thing they never thought possible…turn them against each other.
The third season of Black Sails continues to tell these exciting stories that are well written and character driven. This season still keeps the focus on the treasure that holds the key to power for who ever does find it in the end, and who ever ends up possessing this treasure will also hold claim to Nassau. Old threats have been eliminated but new ones are introduced. Captain Flint and John Silver finally form an uneasy friendship plus they meet some new allies that come in extremely handy by the end of the season. Woodes Rogers arrives in Nassau and wins the heart of Eleanor who is trying to leave her past behind her which also means she has to finally let go of Charles Vane. Blackbeard also makes his debut this season and he also ends up becoming an interesting new player in the mix as well as a powerful new ally for Captain Flint in his fight to keep Nassau free.
Black Sails features these interesting characters, their relationships with each other and the love and betrayal they experience. Where new characters are introduced, others give their tragic fairwell. There’s also this exotic location where Black Sails is filmed that is absolutely amazing. The sets and locations are absolutely impressive. The ships in this series are amazing and are a mixture of practical effects and green screen and it’s also so well done. The authentic look of these pirate ships are really impressive. This is a gritty and brutal era that these fascinating characters live in and with that comes a lot of action and violence. There’s plenty of blood to go along with these fight scenes and battles that are all very well orchestrated and choreographed. This series is extremely adult oriented so just keep that in mind.
The packaging comes with a nice slipcase. The outside front of the case features a lenticular cover with the artwork you see up top. The back includes series details, some images and list of special features. Inside the case is a thick fold out that features a main character on each page – ten in all. The pages also feature the episodes included on each disc. Each Blu-ray disc also features its own individual artwork.The 3-discs slide in tightly in their own individual sleeves. Inserting each disc, the menu screens were simple and easy to navigate. The picture and sound quality for this high-definition release were crisp and clear. I didn’t have any issues with the video and audio. This a really nice set!
Bottom line is, Black Sails: The Complete Third Season continued this swashbuckling journey that serves as a fictional back story to “Treasure Island”. The series continues to focus on these legendary pirates who will do anything to protect their safe haven of Nassau. The game plan has to change once this new opponent arrives and takes charge of Nassau. This is where old alliances are fractured and new ones are forged. This is also where hearts are broken. Blackbeard was a great addition to the story plus we finally get to see John Silver show some real leadership. There is a reference to Silver in the final moments of this season that will give the hardcore fans goosebumps, and I’ll just leave it at that. Captain Flint is still haunted by his past but he slowly recovers and gets his wits about him, just in time for when the real battle begins. Black Sails continues to be one of the best series on television and I’m looking forward to seeing how this epic story concludes in the fourth and final season. This 3-disc Blu-ray set releases on November 8th and is definitely worth checking out.
Distributor: Anchor Bay Entertainment
Run Time: 3 Discs / 10 Episodes / 549 Minutes Minutes
Rated: Not Rated
Blu-ray Video: 1080p High-Definition Widescreen Presentation (1.78:1)
Blu-ray Audio: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 / French and Spanish Dolby Surround 2.0
Subtitles: English SDH and Spanish
Special Features: Good Stuff! This 3-disc set includes over 40 minutes of bonus material that includes a total of six featurettes. All of the extras are located on the third disc.
- “Black Sails” Season Two Recap (04:30)
- Blackbeard: An 18th Century Pirate (10:03)
- The Storm (03:43)
- A Pirate’s Last Words (04:03)
- Woodes Rogers (05:33)
- Inside the World of Black Sails (24:03)