Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Sabotage Blu-ray Movie Review

Atypical Arnold.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman July 11, 2014

Outside of, perhaps, Raw Deal, Arnold Schwarzenegger has never been known to star in truly gritty, edgy films. Bloody, yes, but there was always a mass audience appeal to them, some underlying humor, and nothing too serious or brooding. Even in those film in which he portrayed a down-and-out sort of character, as was the case in End of Days, there was still that classic Arnold flow and feel. All of that changes with Sabotage, easily the darkest, most difficult film of his career. On the surface, it's little more than a "whodunit" procedural with more blood and guts than Predator, but deeper down is the story of a haunted man surrounded by hardened, downtrodden people all carrying heavy baggage and burdened with difficult emotional turmoil. The film may not be a rousing success and a classic Arnold crowd pleaser, but it's arguably the most complexly deep film of his career but one that still entertains as a run-and-gun Action flick on its grisly surface.

"Hasta la vista, baby."

A DEA team, led by John 'Breacher' Wharton (Schwarzenegger) and including James 'Monster' Murray (Sam Worthington), Lizzy Murray (Mireille Enos), Joe "Grinder" Philips (Joe Manganiello), Eddie "Neck" Jordan (Josh Holloway), Bryce "Tripod" McNeely (Kevin Vance), Julius "Sugar" Edmonds (Terrence Howard), Tom "Pyro" Roberts (Max Martini), and "Smoke" Jennings (Mark Schlegel), raids a drug-bought house and finds an incredible fortune in neatly stacked cash. Before blowing the money, the team steals around $10,000,000 from the top and sends it to a sewer for later retrieval. When the group gets there, the money is nowhere to be found. All are investigated and placed off duty but ultimately reinstated. They are slowly picked off, one by one, obviously in some connection to the money. As they hurry to uncover the truth, Breacher joins forces with a government agent named Caroline Brentwood (Olivia Williams) in a last-ditch effort to find answers before they all turn up dead.

Sabotage is a rare character-driven Action movie that's much more about motivation, personal history, and camaraderie than it is the usual Action movie mantra of "see bad guy, shoot bad guy, save the day." Action films have been inching in this direction for awhile now, particularly the DTV field that tends to overcomplicate the plot and the characters, tone down the action, and find itself in a murky middle ground where nothing works. Sabotage finds that middle ground, embraces it, and walks that line with confidence. The characters are well-developed, real, and relatable, even as they put on a hard, impenetrable exterior of muscle, tattoo, and precision operator skill. Where the movie goes -- who's behind what, the motivations that drive the characters -- really doesn't come as much of a surprise once all is revealed, but the film does well to hide its intentions and allow the mystery and action to play out side-by-side while simultaneously digging deeper into the lives of all the key players.

Director David Ayer, whose End of Watch was met with some acclaim -- and from Arnold Schwarzenegger himself -- perfectly paces Sabotage and intermixes all of those key elements together with a gritty grace that serves the movie very well. His pacing is deliberate, but not slow, allowing characters and the larger complexities of their lives to seep into the audience at a fast trickle, fast enough to keep the movie flowing and slow enough not to spoil the ride too early. His cast is equally strong. Arnold, though looking his years now (but who pumps a little iron in the movie, anyway) and sporting a weird haircut, impresses in the lead as a man driven and haunted by his past, not in a generic way but in a very tangible way, a way that allows him to wear his pain on his sleeve but still work with a strong arm and lead his men with mind as much as muscle. His supporting cast is excellent, including solid performances from Sam Worthington, Mireille Enos, and Joe Manganiello as key team members. Sabotage amounts to a very basic human story by its end, even through all of the rough-and-tumble tough guy stuff that forms its deliberately hardened shell inside of which is a very soft, emotionally grounded middle.

Sabotage Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Sabotage features a solid 1080p transfer that's largely typical of a modern, digitally photographed motion picture. As expected, there is plenty of crisp, razor-sharp details around the frame. Skin textures are particularly well defined in the many close-up shots, but military style gear, clothing, and surfaces -- including some beautiful woodwork seen outside Arnold's character's home -- are magnificently displayed on Blu-ray. Colors are even and bold, never garish and never dull but enjoying a natural middle ground that satisfies in every scene, bright or dark. Blacks are balanced and accurate, and flesh tones never push too hot. The image is largely free of unsightly compression issues, banding, noise or other unwanted elements. In short, this is a rather standard -- in a good way -- modern high end, new movie HD image.

Sabotage Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Sabotage features a well-rounded, but not quite perfectly immersive and realistic, DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. The presentation never struggles, but it never quite gets over that hump to sonic perfection. Music is well spaced and clearly delivered, enjoying light surround and a solid low end, evident particularly early in the film during a house party sequence. There's good power to explosions, the concussion practically swarming through the speakers and into the listening area. Gunfire erupts neatly and aggressively, perhaps not quite so loud and potent as it should but with good, zipping speed and sharpness as the projectiles fly around the stage and impact surfaces in every speaker. Dialogue delivery is accurate and focused in the front-center portion of the stage.

Sabotage Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Sabotage contains two alternate ending clips, a handful of deleted scenes, and a short making-of featurette. DVD and UV digital copies are included in the Blu-ray case.

• Alternate Endings (1080p): Alternate Ending #1 -- Caroline (8:58) and Alternate Ending #2 -- Breacher (2:03).
• Deleted Scenes (1080p): Caroline Questions Joe John (2:18), Search for Dakota (0:38), Joe John Threatens Caroline (1:09), Condom Flush (0:56), Lizzy and Sugar Kidnap Civilian (1:52), Caroline Dives for Bodies (0:39), Dakota Case Solved (2:38), and Caroline and Jackson Find the Money (7:04).
• Making Sabotage (1080p, 8:32): A basic piece that looks at the Schwarzenegger/Ayer collaboration, story basics and deeper themes, the cast, the departure from the norm for Arnold Schwarzenegger, cast training, David Ayer's direction, filming in Georgia, and cast and crew's newfound respect for law enforcement.
• Previews (1080p): Additional Universal titles.

Sabotage Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Of all the Arnold movies out there, Sabotage probably features one of the lowest replay values in terms of sheer entertainment content. There aren't really any good one-liners, the action is crisply delivered but ultimately rather routine, and it's one of those movies that, once the secret's out of the bag, there's not much reason to go back to it multiple times, save for a second watch to look for any clues that may have been missed the first time around. In short, it's definitely worth checking out but it probably won't rocket to the top of all that many people's "best of Arnold" list, if only for the sheer volume of great films on his resumé. Universal's Blu-ray release of Sabotage delivers strong video and quality audio. The supplements are a little on the thin side but get the job done. Worth a rental for sure and perhaps a purchase at a sale price for Arnold movie collectors. Either way, be sure to check it out. This is a high quality film all around.