Brandy Pettigrew talks about the Biggest Blockbuster not in theaters this summer.
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Is your summer short on action? If so, check out The Last Ship on TNT. This new series premiered Sunday, June 22nd at 9:00pm EST and is being touted as the biggest summer blockbuster not in theaters.
Producer, Michael Bay, who brought us Armageddon, Pearl Harbor, and Transformers, brings together an outstanding cast with special effects to thrill and excite us. Eric Dane plays Commander Tom Chandler and Rhona Mitra is Dr. Rachel Scott (paleomicrobiologist) who head up The Last Ship cast. These two must work together with the 217 crew members of the USS Nathan James, to find a cure for the pandemic that has killed 50 percent of the world’s population. This lone unaffected U.S. Navy ship must fight against those who would try to take the cure from them for their own purposes, while trying to find a way to help their family and friends and stay alive.
Dane’s character name and the name of the boat are the only real similarities in the story between the novel and the TV adaptation. This was a smart decision by the writers to separate a mostly narrative action novel from this high action series. Expect big movie-sized action sequences, like the epic helicopter/snowmobile chase and gunfight with Russians across the Arctic throughout this series.
A surprising twist in the plot at the very last moment of the pilot opens up the possibility for more action and conflict beyond the disease. The biggest question people will have about this show is whether it should be a TV show or a movie. The Last Ship feels to me like it will definitely end with someone saving the world at the final moment of the 10th episode, just like any great Michael Bay movie would.
—photo: TNT/TheLastShip