Hey Arnold: Body Fat Guys & Sabotage Blu-Ray

*HARSH YET HILARIOUS LANGUAGE AHEAD*

"Don't fucking scream at me!  You dumb fuck, you.  Look at you, with your fucking 48% body fat!  And you, scrawny little bastard.  Fuck you guys!"
     - Arnold Schwarzenegger as John "Breacher" Wharton in Sabotage

Oh man Sabotage hits digital download this week and disk on the 22nd of July.  Dammaged Goods brought in July 4th in true Dammaged Goods style and sat down to view the flick on home video after seeing it twice in theaters on two consecutive nights with different factions of friends.  While the story was a bit confusing upon the first viewing, I think I got it the 2nd time around and definitely the 3rd, maybe...Basically Arnold is a drug war god for the DEA who has found and brought down the man(s) who couldn't be found or brought down.  When his team starts to get killed off after skimming $10 million from a cartel bust, Breacher and local Atlanta detective Caroline investigate who is coming after his guys and gal.  Bro-down, talking all raw, gunfights, betrayals, head shots, Chevy cars and trucks, Oakley visors, McClure's Whiskey and vehicular mayhem on the streets of Atlanta ensues.  The flick looks great on the small screen with the high definition, hand held style very smooth if not epically cinematic as we're more or less a fly on the wall following these characters.  The gunshots are super loud and it's a fun yet brutal flick that has a solid performance from Arnold in a role that uses his baggage as an actor and icon to push him in a more serious direction versus the simple, crowd pleasing, muscle flexing, machine gun toting, one liner tossing caricature we knew and loved from the 80's.  Headlining a terrific cast that includes Sam Worthington, Joe Manganiello, Olivia Williams, Terrence Howard, Josh Holloway, Max Martini, Mirelle Enos and Harold Perrineau, Arnold continues to show us his business and career intelligence by aligning himself with talented cast and crew.

Ably directed by Harsh Times, Training Day and End of Watch's David Ayer, Sabotage packs the same gritty yet bro-funny feeling of the above titles and paints a slice of life insight into the dark dealings and thin line our protectors and criminals tread.  Co-written by blunt action guy Skip Woods of Wolverine: Origins, A Good Day to Die Hard and The A-Team fame, Sabotage seems like a simple story but feels a little too complicated for it's own good as I still couldn't tell you EXACTLY who kills who or is responsible for what.  In the end it's a very enjoyable flick with a nice mix of action, thrills, laughs and mystery.  I'm sure Sabotage will find it's audience on home video after being sadly left high and dry at the box office.  Like the under performing Harsh Times, people are just missing out.

The Blu-Ray comes with some decent special features like deleted scenes, 2 alternate endings and a short making of.  *SPOILERS*  Deleted scenes give us a subplot of Atlanta PD working a missing child case that Breacher helps crack, the aftermath of Caroline and Breacher's one night stand complete with Arnold side butt shot, quick glimpses of Sugar (Terrence Howard) and Lizzie (Mirelle Enos) partaking in some debauchery, etc.  None of the scenes are overly interesting and if included, would have made the film even darker and made you feel grimier.  Alternate endings really turn Arnold evil with a surprisingly brutal fight scene between Breacher and Caroline then Breacher shooting it out with local cops to escape.  *END SPOILERS*  The under 10-minute making of is packed with info as we learn Arnold wanted to work with Ayer after seeing End of Watch 4 times.  Ayer wanted to make Arnold a complex character and step away from the heroic roles audiences knew him for and do something different.  The Oak liked the fact that it was an ensemble piece and not just an action picture.  Given Ayer's military background, all on screen tactics and maneuvers were by the book with the actors participating in two months of training that taught them law enforcement basics as well as bonding them.  I think the flick could have used a commentary from Woods, Ayer and some of the cast but ah well.  I'm definitely happy to have the flick as is.