This is the first disc in the 15-disc Hitchcock Blu-ray box set I've gotten. I haven't seen most of the movies in the set, but I've decided I might as well watch them all in order. Not knowing anything in particular about Saboteur, I really was flying blind. I had no spoilers directing me.
It's an interesting movie, but I'd be pressed to say that it was really great. The tension isn't handled the way I would expect. In some scenes, it ramps up, in others, it seems like it just disappeared. And then there are strange script/plot issues that I found really distracting. Notably, I think a few plot points were just skipped over. Like, how is it that the police suddenly are on his side at the end? There are a few reasons I could think of, but none of them were addressed. There's a ship that he prevents the sabotage of, but we later see a ship that seems to be seriously damaged. After some research, I saw that it isn't the same ship.
This is an example of Hitchcock's work at this point. He did some good direction, and there are some great shots. But there are more instances where editing is confusing, and where poor decisions were made.
I did find the script interesting. There seems to be a quiet effort to keep the nature, or goal, of the opposing organization ill-defined. Then the movie seems to be packed with characters who want to help out, or who give the lead the benefit of doubt. (Which is peculiar, since she doesn't make much of an effort to convince anyone of his innocence.)
I found the climax to be a disappointment though. The villain climbs the Statue of Liberty, and there's some struggling on the torch. This sequence is obviously filmed on a set, and there are some nice effects shots. But the sound is conspicuously absent. Only the spoken lines are heard. There's no sounds of wind, there's no music. It's very strange, and I found this really made the ending anti-climactic.
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