Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Universal Studios. The opinions are completely the author’s based on his own experience and review of the product.

Everyone loves a good throwback nowadays. What could be viewed as dated and tired, is now revered through a positive lens of hip nostalgia. What’s old is new again folks and that is definitely true when it comes to the entertainment industry. We live in an age of revivals and reboots and there is no sign that any of this will slow down.

Skyscraper, which arrived on Blu-ray this Tuesday, isn’t really a reboot or a revival but it definitely feels like it comes from a time long gone. The action and setup feel like it comes from some of the greats of the 80’s and early 90s and with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as its star, it has our modern day equivalent of an Arnold Schwarzenegger at the heart of all the action. Skyscraper promoted itself as a sort of throwback to Die Hard or The Towering Inferno and while that may not be especially enticing to today’s action seekers, there is a charm in Skyscraper’s sense of nostalgia that works. The film definitely feels like it doesn’t come from this time but it’s a highly entertaining throwback that doesn’t take itself too seriously and once again shows that Johnson can somehow play an “everyman” yet still remain an imposing physical presence as well.

The story finds that security expert Will Sawyer (Johnson) has traveled with his family – wife, Sarah (Neve Campbell), daughter, Georgia (McKenna Roberts), and asthmatic son Henry (Noah Cottrell) – to Hong Kong to certify the 4000-foot high Pearl as meeting all the requirements necessary to obtain an insurance policy. However, Will has been set up as a dupe by his “good buddy” Ben (Pablo Schreiber), so when the bad guys stage an attack on the high-rise, it appears that Will might have been complicit. Once a fire breaks out on the 96th floor, Will becomes obsessed with getting into the building because his family is trapped above the inferno – an especially dangerous situation because the fire suppression controls have been disabled. What makes this especially challenging for Will is that, as the result of an injury suffered in a past career, he has only one leg. An advanced prosthetic allows him to walk and run and makes him capable of not being held back in regards to saving his family.

With a movie like Skyscraper, you come for the action and not much else. The backstory is sufficient enough to hold our interest and, much like the film itself, the bad guys’ motives feels like it was ripped from action movies past but surrounding all that is the disaster film backdrop that never really disappoints. There’s no shortage of action and a lot of it involves The Rock hanging out of windows near the top of the highest building in the world (described as three times the height of The Empire State Building, which would make it around three-quarters of a mile tall). To add some variation, there are shoot-outs, the most original of which occurs in a high-tech version of a funhouse hall of mirrors. I have a severe fear of heights so a lot of the tension that simply surrounds the height of the structure is well executed and provides the necessary thrills to elevate the heart rate. Much of the action is a bit more grounded as director Rawson Marshall Thurber isn’t going too over the top in the same way the Fast & Furious would in terms of displaying the action sequences. As action films go, it was refreshing to see one that dialed it back a bit.

Dwayne Johnson showcases once again why he’s one of the most likable actors working today. When I reviewed Rampage, I wondered if we were growing tired of roles and movies he has been choosing but even if it feels like he could be doing more, there is no denying that he’s good at what he does. Skyscraper allows him to play someone a bit more normal since he’s a family fan and despite the gravity-defying things he does in the film, he’s not really a superhero come to life on screen. It’s interesting how he’s able to portray a regular person without losing much of the physical gravitas that has made him a star. In that regard, he may be better than some of the 80’s action stars he’s so often compared to.

Another notable performer is Neve Campbell playing Johnson’s wife. This is no shrinking violet. Her character is tough and gets several opportunities to show what a mama bear will do to protect her kids. All these years later, after Campbell made it big in the 90’s playing one of the best examples of a scream queen and final girl in the Scream franchise. She’s still got it and one can only hope that she gets to continue to kick some ass on screen.

The Hong Kong setting speaks volumes of how this film was likely intended to play. The Rock is huge internationally, especially in China, and the visual pizazz of this kind of film is pretty huge in that market. Despite the film feeling like a throwback to the 80’s, it feels like this is where films of this nature are likely headed. Look at how Skyscraper underperformed domestically ($67.8 million) but made a killing overseas ($235.7 million with $86 million of that coming from China).

I’ve now seen Skyscraper twice, first theatrically and once again for this Blu-ray review, and I came out of it feeling the same each time. The film is fun and never dull and it pays a bit of an homage to the action films from the past. They don’t really make them like this anymore and while it may have felt small during a summer when bigger action efforts were getting all of the attention, its smaller approach doesn’t make it pack less of a punch.

Blu-Ray Packaging

Skyscraper makes its way onto Blu-ray courtesy of Universal Studios in a two-disc Blu-ray + DVD + Digital set. Pressed onto a BD-50 disc, the disc is housed in a standard Blu-ray case with identical slipcover artwork. The disc loads to trailers for upcoming Universal releases before arriving at a static image main menu featuring traditional navigation options.

Blu-Ray Video

Skyscraper jumps onto Blu-ray with a pleasing 2.40:1 1080p transfer. Shot digitally, the image is clean and clear with solid detail levels. From scruffy beard stubble to clothing details, there is a lot to see and examine. Colors are bright and robust with nice primaries throughout; blues get a lot of play and have a nice icy look to them. Much of the first half of the film – that isn’t dependent upon CGI effects – looks great. The image has nice deep inky blacks with some great shadow separation giving the image a nice sense of depth. When the film becomes more of a CGI spectacle, the image comes down a notch mostly because the image is so good that you can tell there was heavy use of green screen for various sequences. It becomes distracting on occasion but overall this is a visually appealing action film and the transfer does it justice despite tiny flaws.

Blu-Ray Audio

Any good action movie needs a great audio mix and Skyscraper gets a lot of mileage out of its Dolby Atmos track. Dialogue is crystal clear throughout and never at odds with the other elements. Sound effects have a nice natural quality to them with many featuring some spot-on moments. When the terrorists first set fire to the building using the sprinkler system, the ensuing pops and sparks are a perfect example of what this mix can do giving terrific surround movement as well as some articulate overhead action. The sequence where Johnson moves the crane while a helicopter circles overhead is another great moment. Fistfights also get a lot of movement and activity, with some noticeable vertical action. And, between the roar of the blaze, explosions, the sound of the turbine rotors, there is plenty of LFE activity to keep your sub rumbling.

Blu-Ray Extras:

Most movies don’t get much in the way of a robust bonus feature selection these days, but Skyscraper has a few decent ones. The highlight is the audio commentary from director Rawson Marshall Thurber. It’s a good listen and offers up plenty of material. I’m a sucker for a good commentary and, fun fact, I usually listen to the commentary right after viewing the film because I’m genuinely interested in what the filmmakers set out to do when making the project. The deleted and extended scenes actually work pretty well, but you can see why they were cut for timing issues. The rest is the tried and true EPK talking head stuff that only briefly touches on the making of the movie but they’re slickly produced and typical for most studio releases. Here is a break down of the extras:

• Audio Commentary with Rawson Marshall Thurber
• Deleted Scenes w/ Optional Director Commentary (HD 12:10)
• Extended Scenes w Optional Director Commentary (HD 10:18)
• Dwayne Johnson: Embodying A Hero (HD 4:04) 
• Inspiration (HD 4:12)
• Opposing Forces (HD 2:35)
• Friends No More (HD 4:21)
• Kids In Action (HD 2:40)
• Pineapple Pitch (HD 1:38)