Escape Plan: The Extractors appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.40:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This became a decent but somewhat lackluster visual experience.
Sharpness could be a bit iffy at times, mainly during interiors, as those tended to feel somewhat soft and indistinct. Much of the movie took place in these dimly-lit settings, so that left a lot of semi-fuzzy shots.
Still, most of the image looked reasonably tight. At least delineation improved during brighter scenes.
No issues with jagged edges or moiré effects emerged, and I saw no edge haloes. Print flaws also failed to occur.
Extractors favored a teal palette with a somewhat grimy feel. This limited vivacity for the hues and made them somewhat ugly, but this appeared to reflect the design choices.
Blacks were decent though a bit inky, and low-light shots tended to come across as somewhat murky. While I continue to suspect the disc reproduced the source with positive fidelity, it still became a moderately unappealing image.
As for the film’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack, it provided a reasonable mix but not one that excelled. The soundscape broadened on occasion for action scenes, and those managed to use the speakers well.
However, these popped up less often than you’d expect, so much of the mix focused on general atmospheric material. While those elements seemed well-integrated, we still found a mix with less involvement and activity than I’d anticipate.
At least audio quality felt fine, with speech that remained distinctive and concise. Music was vivid and full as well.
Effects came across as accurate and dynamic, with solid low-end at appropriate times. Though the soundscape felt too restrained for a grade above a “B”, this still became a perfectly adequate track.
A few extras pop up, and we get an audio commentary from co-writer/director John Herzfeld and actors Sylvester Stallone, Devon Sawa and Daniel Bernhardt. Herzfeld and Sawa sit together for a running, screen-specific effort, but Bernhardt doesn’t join them until close to the film’s one-hour mark, and we don’t hear from Stallone until about 70 minutes into the movie. Clearly this track required a lot of editing to come together.
The commentary looks at cast and performances, story and characters, sets and locations, visual style and cinematography, music, editing, stunts and action. That’s a good assortment of topics, but the piece becomes a bore.
Sure, we get occasional insights, but mostly we just hear praise for the film and all involved. The discussion turns tedious before long and becomes a chore to endure. There’s probably 10 minutes of actual movie info in this praise-filled lovefest.
The Making of Escape Plan: The Extractors runs 10 minutes, three seconds and features Stallone, Herzfeld, Sawa, producer Randall Emmett and actors Dave Bautista and Max Zhang.
“Making” examines story and characters, cast and performances, stunts and fights, locations, and Herzfeld’s impact on the production. A few insights emerge but most of “Making” offers fluffy promo material.
The disc opens with ads for Escape Plan, Escape Plan 2: Hades, Backtrace, Bent and Future World. No trailer for Extractors appears here.
A second disc provides a DVD copy of Extractors. It includes the same extras as the Blu-ray.
Although the original Escape Plan seemed mediocre, it worked a lot better than its sequels. Escape Plan: The Extractors follows in its predecessor’s footsteps and becomes a boring excuse for an action film. The Blu-ray comes with decent picture and audio as well as superficial supplements. Extractors does nothing to enliven a weak franchise.