Sabotage Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.5

Sabotage Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov April 15, 2017

Harold Young's "Sabotage" (1939) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of independent distributors Olive Films. There are no supplemental features on the disc. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

"I will stay, I will stay"

This film is yet another very good reminder that the mainstream media’s primary goal isn’t to report facts, but to create stories that keep it relevant. So while the delivery options have certainly changed during the years, the nature of the news business most definitely has not.

After years of working hard and saving as much as he can, aircraft engineer Tommy Grayson (Gordon Oliver, Alcatraz Island) finally asks his beautiful girlfriend Gail (Arleen Whelan, Ramrod) to marry him. But shortly after they agree on the wedding date, Tommy is arrested and thrown in jail because the local authorities are convinced that he is responsible for a series of failed government tests. The young man does his best to defend his reputation, but the media quickly legitimizes its version of the truth and he is promptly silenced. The local aircraft plant then shuts down and the entire town turns against his family.

But Tommy’s father, Major Matt Grayson (Charley Grapewin, The Wizard of Oz), refuses to accept the official story about his son and decides to prove that he is innocent. Assisted by some of his old army buddies, the Major begins asking questions and quickly discovers that some of the top people in the plant may actually know a lot more about the ‘sabotage’ that they have been willing to reveal to the authorities. As the Major’s findings reshape the official story, new players with dangerous agendas emerge from the shadows.

The attitudes on display throughout the film are a lot more interesting to observe than the rocky investigation. Indeed, during much of the first half the Major seems like the kind old-timer that could be nice to have around from time to time, but not exactly someone that one would need to see on a daily basis. He just seems a bit odd. But almost immediately after Tommy is arrested he becomes the voice of reason -- he openly questions the ‘facts’ that are coming out of the factory and the ‘logical’ developments that the investigators and the media are focusing on. Then the only people that choose to believe and help him turn out to be his ‘eccentric’ buddies, while all the ‘regular’ folks begin blaming them for the closure of the plant. So after a while only the Major and his buddies actually understand that the big picture is quite different. It does sound familiar, doesn’t it?

The crucial resolution comes rather abruptly, after one of the bad guys changes his mind, but at this point the film has already delivered its message. Long before the double game is exposed it is made clearr that the truth can come in a lot of different variations so long as there is enough paranoia to allow the truth-makers to shape it according to their liking. This also sounds familiar, doesn’t it?

The principal actors are good but the script does not provide them with any decent opportunities to impress. Grapewin is clearly the most experienced amongst them, though Whelan also looks good while trying to decide whether she should stay with Tommy.

Director Harold Young worked with cinematographer Reggie Lanning, who is probably best known for lensing the classic war drama Sands of Iwo Jima.

Sabotage Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.37:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Harold Young's Sabotage arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films.

The release is sourced from a very solid remaster which must have been prepared fairly recently. There are a couple of transitions with momentary density fluctuations, but the rest of the film looks remarkably healthy. In fact, plenty of the well-lit footage actually boasts the type of fluidity that some prominent restorations produce, though I can tell this film hasn't really received that type of attention; the elements that were used to produce the current master were almost certainly in very good condition. There are no traces of problematic degraining or sharpening corrections. Some very light touch-up work was likely done to help balance, but the end result is lovely. I noticed a few tiny flecks, but there are no large distracting cuts, debris, stains, or torn frames to report. My score is 4.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Sabotage Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Masrter Audio 2.0 (Mono). Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The lossless track has excellent depth and clarity, while overall balance is as good as one can expect it to be for a film from the late 1930s. More importantly, there are no traces of the age-related imperfections that typically plague older transfers. The mid/high registers, in particular, are quite impressive. The dialog is clean, stable, and very easy to follow.

Sabotage Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Most unfortunately, there are no supplemental features to be found on this Blu-ray release.

Sabotage Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I had not seen Sabotage before and quite liked it. Its story is about an innocent aircraft engineer whose life is nearly destroyed after a series of suspicious crashes, but its message targets the people and the institutions they represent that actually determine what ultimately gets served to the public as the truth. Olive Films' Blu-ray release is sourced from a very solid and healthy master, but there are no supplemental features on it. RECOMMENDED.