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[tab title="Movie Review"]

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Yes, it’s true that Sabotage is profane, gory, mean-spirited, and violent as hell. In fact, it may very well be one of the most violent mainstream films in decades. Like the love child of a grind house slasher and a Sam Peckinpah western, it's very deserving of its hard R rating. And it’s also true that Arnold Schwarzenegger still can’t act. But the Governator’s pics have always been more about spectacle than substance. And his latest is certainly big on spectacle.

Speaking of spectacle, those stepping in to Sabotage expecting a nostalgic visit to the “Ahnuld” throwback days of pumped up muscles, quippy one-liners, and non-stop action sequences will be quite surprised by the excessive grit, blood, and shocking savagery that splatter nearly every frame of David Ayer’s film. In fact, it’s so “not Arnold” that it can be better enjoyed by forgetting that Schwarzenegger is even in it. Sylvester Stallone or even an 80+ year-old Clint Eastwood might have been a better fit. But, alas, Schwarzenegger is in it, so the aging lunkhead gets plenty of screen time and way too many speaking parts. It’s a better film when he’s not on screen. Sabotage is a David Ayer pic through and through with his signature shaky cam, non-linear narration, and first person point-of-view he used so effectively in his much underrated End of Watch.

Schwarzenegger is Breacher, a 60-something DEA special operations agent in charge of a unit that appears to have gone bad. As the film opens during a raid on the home of a dangerous drug lord, we see Breacher and his men (who go by names such as Pyro, Tripod, Grinder, and such) skimming a $10 million chunk of cash from the pile of confiscated drug money.

When Breacher and his crew return to the scene to recover the stolen money, they discover it has gone missing. But who took it? When members of the crew begin to also turn up missing (in increasingly horrific and grisly ways), speculation abounds that perhaps it is the cartel returning for revenge. Or maybe it is one of their own who revisited early to grab the cash and is now making sure no one comes wanting their share.

Ayers has the germ of a brilliant idea here in the script he co-writes with Skip Woods (A Good Day to Die Hard). They’ve effectively concocted a gangland-style stew seasoned with the mystery of a whodunnit, and the clock-ticking intensity of Ten Little Indians. But it’s the cast of wild-assed characters and palpably filthy atmosphere that provide the film’s greatest pleasure while also countering the oaken presence of Schwarzenegger. A few, brief scenes of Schwarzenegger’s Breacher contemplating his scarred past – his wife and child were tortured to death by a drug cartel years ago – come off as hammy exposition rather than creative introspection. Better to just keep the camera away from him.

Surprisingly, it’s the dynamic performance of Mireille Enos, as fellow DEA agent Lizzie, that floats to the top of the testosterone-charged heap of he-men special agents. She, along with Olivia Williams as an Atlanta investigator, are essentially the only female cast members, but both provide just the right amount of “sexy” while never compromising their “tough.” Williams, though, is at times over her head with the sympathetic role and her comical “Southern” accent frequently waivers between that of Eliza Doolittle and Hattie McDaniels’s Mammy. The presence of both women is greatly appreciated however, and it’s admirable that Woods and Ayer provide strong female roles.

Sabotage is pure spectacle and exploitation, nothing more. But what fun spectacle it is. While the violence is often over-the-top and and at times feels humorously gratuitous, it’s also quite satisfying to see that outrageous ferocity accompanied by a stylistic visual panache and a somewhat complex plot that keeps viewers guessing. No, Sabotage will never be compared to Inception. But it will be forever difficult to think of Kindergarten Cop in the same way.

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[tab title="Film Details"]

 MPAA Rating: R for strong bloody violence, pervasive language, some sexuality/nudity and drug use.
Runtime: 109 mins
Director: David Ayer
Writer: David Ayer, Skip Woods
Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sam Worthington, Terrence Howard
Genre: Crime | Drama | Action
Tagline: Sabotage
Memorable Movie Quote: "Some of us are getting paid, the rest of us are just getting dead"
Distributor: Open Road Films
Official Site: http://www.sabotagethefilm.com/
Release Date: March 28, 2014
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: July 22, 2014
Synopsis: An elite DEA task force deals with the world's deadliest drug cartels. Specializing in complex mobile operations, the team executes a tactical raid on a cartel safe house. What looks to be a typical raid turns out to be an elaborate theft operation, pre-planned by the DEA squad. After hiding millions in stolen cash, the team believes their secret is safe - until someone begins assassinating them one by one. Less

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[tab title="Blu-ray Review"]

Blu-ray Details:

Available on Blu-ray - July 22, 2014
Screen Formats: 1.85:1
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Discs: 50GB Blu-ray Disc; Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD); UV digital copy; iTunes digital copy; DVD copy; BD-Live
Region Encoding: Region-free

Presented by Universal Studios Home Entertainment, the 1080p AVC picture exhibits a "digitally rough" appearance.  Textures are finely resolved, including facial features, hair, and clothing, and is especially well defined in close-ups.  The color palette is strongly saturated with bold hues and generally natural fleshtones.  Contrast is well balanced with deep blacks and revealing shadow delineation.  The imagery is crisp and pristine throughout.  While the picture is characteristically digital, the imagery is decent and at times engaging.  The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1-channel soundtrack is wanting in soundfield envelopment, with aggressive surround limited to the action segments.

Supplements:

Commentary:

• None

Special Features:

This is pretty standard supplemental stuff for a poorly received release.  While we liked it, not many others did.  Maybe it will have a new life on blu-ray.  Included is a making-of featurette, two alternate endings exploring the different themes in the picture, six deleted scenes, and an UltraViolet digital copy.

• Making of Sabotage (9 min)
• Alternate Endings (11 min)
• Deleted Scenes (17 min)

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[tab title="Trailer"]

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