Skyscraper Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Skyscraper Blu-ray Movie Review

Where there's a Will, there's a way.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 14, 2018

When press reports about Skyscraper first started populating my email and newsfeed some time ago, because I am an inveterate nerd and many of my friends are unashamedly nerds as well, I posted to one of my social media accounts asking if Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was playing the Julie Harris part. For those of you scratching your heads over this obscure reference, there was an old, now not very well remembered, musical in the 1965-66 Broadway season called Skyscraper which was the venerable Ms. Harris’ sole entry in that idiom. (Let's just say that there's a reason that particular Skyscraper is not very well remembered.) This particular Skyscraper has very little singing and dancing, but it may still strike even non Broadway geeks as more than a bit reminiscent of other properties, since it deals with what might be called a Die Hard hero attempting to deal with The Towering Inferno. Skyscraper is one of those action adventure entries that simply requires complete surrender to its increasingly preposterous plot conceits, though those who do give in to some of the film’s more ludicrous elements will probably find enough of an adrenaline jolt to make the viewing experience worthwhile. Much as with The Towering Inferno, Skyscraper deals with an impossibly tall building which may not have the structural issues that the monolith in the earlier film did, but which is still vulnerable to attacks by nefarious villains, resulting in a conflagration that consumes the upper floors and which former FBI agent Will Sawyer (Julie Harris, er, Dwayne Johnson) more or less single handedly deals with as he attempts to rescue folks trapped inside, folks which of course (of course) include his wife and adorable children.

Note: A couple of salient plot points are unavoidable in discussing Skyscraper, some of which those unacquainted with either the film or the character Johnson plays may consider spoiler material. Those folks are encouraged to skip the following summary if they fear any unwanted revelations.

Though my hunch is relatively few have seen it, a Chinese film I reviewed a little over a year ago, Sky on Fire, has several curious similarities to Skyscraper, aside and apart from their shared reference to the heavens overhead, which may at least help to indicate that a lot of Skyscraper is going to seem pretty cliché ridden to anyone who has seen any given disaster movie or other film where a hero has to battle impossible odds to save his family. That said, Skyscraper packs an undeniable wallop in several expertly staged set pieces, even if the overall feel of the story is definitely “been there, seen that”. The film begins by establishing Sawyer’s bona fides as a hostage negotiator in a scene which takes place “ten years ago”. While Sawyer seems to be on the verge of settling a crisis involving an out of control man holding his family under siege, things go horribly wrong, leading to one of the stranger “meet cute” moments in the annals of film, when a badly wounded Sawyer, barely conscious in an emergency room, looks up to see a lovely surgeon, who, once the film ports forward a decade, is now shown to be his wife, Sarah (Neve Campbell).

Not only is Sawyer happily married, he’s the loving father to two adorable twins (one boy, one girl), with his whole family “camped out” in the luxurious abode of The Pearl, the world’s tallest building which graces the Hong Kong skyline but which has yet to officially open. Sawyer, missing half of one of his legs as a result of the horror depicted in the film’s opening flashback, has left the FBI and now works as a private consultant, and his former FBI buddy Ben (Pablo Schreiber) has helped get Sawyer employed by The Pearl’s mastermind Zhao Long Ji (Chin Han). Sawyer has been tasked with assessing the building’s safety so that Zhao can attain insurance, and, perhaps because screenwriter and director Rawson Marshall Thurber knew going into this enterprise a lot of folks would be thinking of The Towering Inferno, the very first thing Sawyer addresses is the building’s ability to contain fire. (Yeah, right — guess how that one turns out.) Sawyer also gives an “A+” rating to the building’s entire security apparatus, with the caveat that he needs to personally check an offsite location that actually monitors and controls the building’s safety. Zhao gives Sawyer a tablet that has a “biometric” interface that will only allow Sawyer to access administrative levels of the software controlling the building’s many safety features. (Yeah, right — guess how that one works out.)

Without getting too much into the weeds of a film that kind of ticks off the “action adventure” boxes in order to get to the next big set piece, suffice it to say there’s a traitor in Sawyer’s midst (three guesses as to whom, with the first two not counting), and soon enough a whole horde of nasty villains has invaded The Pearl (something that seems to defy Sawyer’s own assessment of how safe the structure is, especially considering the silly method the first interlopers gain access with). It doesn’t take long before a deliberately set conflagration consumes the 96th floor, with Sarah and kids trapped, but kind of interestingly with Zhao and his fussy insurance guy, along with Zhao’s security detail, supposedly safe scores of floors above the fire.

There are all sorts of silly shenanigans that ensue, and some may feel the underlying “McGuffin” of why all of this is happening doesn’t just defy logic, it kind of taunts it. Again without getting into plot dynamics that may not hold up too well to any serious examination, Zhao has a bit of a secret involving a shakedown artist named Botha (Roland Møller), and Botha is on the hunt for a data drive (why is it always a data drive?) that Zhao has in his possession. That all kind of flies by the wayside late in the film, however, when (again, predictably) Botha takes one of the Sawyer kids hostage.

What really works in Skyscraper is the amazing stunt work and at least some of the special effects, along with some spectacularly staged fights (a knock down, drag out fight early in the film involving Sawyer and his first nemesis is a real highlight). The various ways Thurber manages to get Sawyer hanging off the side of a building dangerously in flames is actually kind of amusing after a while, and Thurber seems to know he’s playing with his audience’s anxiety levels, offering a surrogate group of witnesses who gather below the carnage and gasp in shock or break out in applause as Sawyer either comes close to dying (repeatedly) or manages to persevere against impossible odds (even more repeatedly).

There’s nothing new or innovative about Skyscraper, but the film doesn’t really have any pretensions about what it is or what kind of entertainment it wants to deliver. It’s a good popcorn munching affair that will certainly get pulse rates pounding, and my hunch is we may soon be seeing Will Sawyer tackle some other pesky disaster like rescuing survivors from an upside down cruise ship.

Skyscraper Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Skyscraper is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Universal Studios with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.40:1. The film's closing credits include a "captured with Alexa" byline, with the IMDb listing several source capture resolutions, but failing to delineate whether this was finished at a 2K or a 4K DI. (Several sites, including our own, suggest a 2K DI, but I couldn't find any authoritative source for the info. If anyone has any, message me and I'll include an update note in the review.) Considering how dark so much of the latter part of the film is, this is a remarkably well detailed offering, though some of the CGI can look fairly soft. Some of the softest moments actually come early in the film, in relatively brightly lit moments, as when Zhao gives Sawyer a little tour of a high tech "ultra high definition" kinda sorta home theater housed inside the globe ("The Pearl") at the top of the building. Detail levels remain quite convincing throughout the presentation, with fine detail on things like the scarring on Ben's face or some of the grit and grime that accrues on the Sawyer family's faces as they battle flames looking precise and realistic. Some of the fire effects look a little hokey, and I was a little underwhelmed with black levels starting at around 1:22:00 during an extended nighttime sequence. The palette is nicely suffused throughout, and aside from an understandably repeated use of orange tones in the many scenes depicting fires, there's not a lot of artificial lighting and/or grading going on, something that help to elevate fine detail levels even in somewhat dark surroundings.

Skyscraper Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Even before the film proper begins, Skyscraper's Dolby Atmos track delivers fantastic effects work as various production mastheads unspool and the soundtrack is filled with a whistling wind which clearly hovers overhead. The film's first scene, as mentioned above, is a flashback, and while I didn't actually see helicopters, it sure sounds like rotors panning overhead in addition to the wind as Sawyer and his team attempt to rescue a mother and children from a deranged father. That opening sequence also has at least one little "pop" of an explosion which presages some much more forceful uses of LFE later in the film when the actual fire breaks out in The Pearl. There are a number of immersive moments in the film, with some of the most impressive being the many shots where Sawyer is either hanging off the side of the building, or at least trying to get into position to hang off the side of the building, where once again whistling winds clearly surround the listener, and even the dull thuds of fire consuming the building dot various channels. The knock down, drag out fight mentioned above in the main body of the review also offers some nice discrete placement of sound effects as Sawyer and his nemesis maraud through an apartment, smashing and crashing into various items, and, later, when there are helicopters a plenty outside (and in one case, inside) The Pearl, the panning effects and engagement of the Atmos channels are very impressive. Dialogue and score are also rendered cleanly and clearly, and while perhaps a bit on the hyperbolic side at times, this track is continually immersive, with superb fidelity and extremely wide dynamic range.

Skyscraper Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Deleted Scenes (1080p; 12:07) feature an optional commentary by director Rawson Marshall Thurber.


• Extended Scenes (1080p; 10:17) feature an optional commentary by director Rawson Marshall Thurber.


• Dwayne Johnson: Embodying a Hero (1080p; 4:04) has some fun behind the scenes footage.


• Inspiration (1080p; 4:12) offers Johnson again discussing the rigors of the shoot and what playing an amputee was like.


• Opposing Forces (1080; 2:35) focuses on Neve Campbell.


• Friends No More (1080p; 3:19) focuses on Pablo Schreiber.


• Kids in Action (1080p; 2:40) focuses on the kids in the film.


• Pineapple Pitch (1080p; 1:38) has Johnson and Thurber discussing the pitch for the project.


• Feature Commentary by Director Rawson Marshall Thurber

Skyscraper Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Skyscraper has some terrifically exciting set pieces, and Johnson gives it his all as a man on a mission to save his family. The plot is littered with a number of absolutely ridiculous conceits, and so a certain amount of tolerance may be needed by more jaded viewers. As an undemanding, message free example of how to get the adrenaline flowing, though, Skyscraper delivers. Technical merits are first rate and the supplemental package is also appealing. Recommended.