The Contractor - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

The Contractor



Movie:
4K Video:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:



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Movie
It’s been a while since we’ve seen Chris Pine back in a major motion picture. Back in the day he was one of the big Chris’s, with his role in Star Trek, Wonder Woman, Into the Woods, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit dominating the movie scape. Then around 2017-2018 he sort of faded from the big stuff, letting Chris Evans, Chris Pratt and Chris Hemsworth to keep the Chris name going forward. I was rather eager to watch The Contractor, not only because it was a return to Chris Pine as a leading man, but because it was the first time that both he and Ben Foster had been in a movie since the incredible Hell or High Water. Sadly The Contractor got thrashed by the critics theatrically and I was a bit nervous going into the home video watch. Luckily it wasn’t as bad as everyone was saying, but still, it was not exactly going to set the action world on fire either.

James Harper (Chris Pine) is an Army Ranger just a little past his prime. Due to a bum knee he resorted to taking a few illicit drugs to keep himself going for his unit, but is sadly found out by a new CO who cleans house on all drug use in his unit. Now discharged without his pension and benefits, James is out of work, racking up debt with his wife Brianne (Gillian Jacobs) and about to go under on the house. However, he’s offered a life line in the form of private contracting with his ex superior officer Mike (Ben Foster), who introduces him to HIS boss, Rusy (Keifer Sutherland, Mr. Jack Bauer himself), who sends them off on a mission to retrieve data from an overseas location. Simple, quick GOOD money, and a way out of this hell hole of debt and depression that he’s gotten himself in.

Unfortunately when they get there, the mission goes sideways in a hurry, with several team members dying, and Mike and James the only survivor. Out on the run and things getting hairy fast, James is left behind due to his leg issues, only to find out that it might have been the thing that saved him. It seems that Rusty has double crossed them all, and left the team for dead. Now it’s up to James to get home and exact vengeance on the man that left him and his team to die.

The contractor has a solid premise, but feels a bit worn out and drug out as well. The pieces are all there for a great action movie, but it’s not even till the 1 hour mark that we find out the big twist, with only ONE small action set piece during that entire hour. Even after the big twist of Rusty screwing them over things don’t pick up that much until the end. I mean, there’s plenty of action in that last 30 minutes or so, but it’s just shot with that quick cut stuff of the Bourne world, and not enough heart behind it either. The only really good action piece happens to have been the underground knife fight where James learns the truth. Otherwise, it’s just a bit laborious on the pacing and not enough good action.

I thought Chris Pine did a good job at selling us on a depressed and worn out soldier who’s been given a rough break. He was beleaguered, rough looking, and definitely had it in him to play a tough guy. Ben Foster does great in these rolls as tough guys, but he was sadly not given a whole lot to work with, and Keifer was barely a cameo in the entire movie. So as I said, a bit laborious in the pacing, moderate action, and I can definitely understand why it under performed at the box office. I still had a good time with it, but not some of Pine’s and Foster’s best work together.




Rating:

Rated R for violence and language




4K Video: Video:

I don’t have the Blu-ray to compare against, but Paramount’s 2160p encode is actually quite spectacular. It’s got that teal coating with edges of sepia for daylight shots, and is definitely digitally shot (as you can tell by some of the digital noise spikes during night time shots). But the end result is a well textured film with lots of facial details (you can see every bit of gray in Chris Pine’s beard, as well as every scare along his back). CGI blood is a bit obviously fake, but water, leaves on the ground, and vehicles and clothing all boast excellent details. The Dolby Vision adds a lot of depth and detail to the shadows as well, and I really only saw maybe ONE scene that had any banding worth noting. Overall a great looking 4K UHD encode.



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Audio:

I was actually a tad surprised with the lack of a Dolby Atmos track, but the 7.1 DTS-HD MA mix is nothing to sneeze at. It’s very spacious and wide open, with bullets popping from all corners of the room. There’s a goodly bit of quiet dialog where everything fades to the front for the first 40 or so minutes, but once the mission is underway we get some impressive bass that comes out of nowhere, and goodly surround usage. Even the mild ambient noises float around the back and sides of the room with alacrity. It’s not going blow you away every SECOND of the film, but it definitely is a well balanced crowd pleaser.











Extras:

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Final Score: ​

The Contractor under performs, but is still a moderately fun actioneer with a heart. Chris Pine is solid as the rough and tough lead, and the story (while trite) still does well enough to entertain for nearly 2 hours. The 4K UHD is a bit light in the loafers with zero extras and no Blu-ray (as Paramount is prone to do these days) but the audio and video are excellent. Worth a rental at least.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Chris Pine, Gillian Jacobs, Sander Thomas, Ben Foster, Kiefer Sutherland
Directed by: Tarik Saleh
Written by: J.P. Davis
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 HEVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 7.1
Subtitles: English, English SDH, Spanish
Studio: Paramount
Rated: R
Runtime: 143 minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: June 7th, 2022

Recommendation: Fun Watch

 

[Epoxy1]

I had the audio and video scores reversed (if memory serves) and liked this one a little more than you did. It had so much potential but fell apart in the third act Great review Michael.

 

[Michael Scott]

I had the audio and video scores reversed (if memory serves) and liked this one a little more than you did. It had so much potential but fell apart in the third act Great review Michael.

yeah, the 3rd act was a bit rushed. not horrible, just rushed