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Stars: The Rock,
Seann William Scott, Christopher Walken, Rosario Dawson, and Ewen Bremner
Writers: R.J.
Stewart and James Vanderbilt
Director: Peter
Berg
Feature length:
104 minutes
Extras: Audio
Commentary Tracks and Featurettes
Languages: English
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and French and Spanish Language Dolby Surround
Sound
Subtitles: English
Captions and French and Spanish Language Subtitles
Packaging: Keep
Case
Chapter Stops: 28
Sound: Dolby
Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and Dolby Surround Sound
Year of Theatrical
Release: 2003/DVD Release: 2004
Theatrical
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Home Video
Distributor: Universal Studios Home Video
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Reviewer: Mark A.
Rivera
WWE Superstar The
Rock plays a bounty hunter looking to get out from under the thumb of hid
employer and start a new life as a restaurant owner and chef. However before he
can collect on his dream, he has to catch one last person for his employer, who
also happens to be the employer’s son. Reluctantly he agrees to South America
and bring him back and soon finds himself in the midst of a slave driver
(Christopher Walken) and a group of rebels that want him out of their country
led by the lovely Rosario Dawson. His quarry is a smart-alecky treasure hunter (Seann
William Scott) seeking a lost idol worth a fortune that everyone wants to get
his or her hands on too.
As far as pictures
go, this is the strongest I’ve seen The Rock in yet. It is much more livelier
than his previous turns as the “Scorpion King” and it takes advantage of The
Rock’s wrestling training to sell the exaggerated comic book violence. It even
features a cool passing of the action hero baton cameo by Arnold Schwarzenegger
that might as well be a political endorsement when it comes to giving the nod to
the man who just might be America’s Next Great Action Hero. (Sounds like a
reality TV show don’t it?) The film mixes in light humor with popcorn action
that only happens in the movies. The Rock manages to fall down a rugged
mountain, get the crap knocked out of him several times, and even punches
through a brick pillar in one scene and manages to walk out with only a few
scratches and some ripped and dirty clothes. Since nothing is played too
seriously here, Christopher Walken generously chews up the scenery, but in the
process makes everyone around him look better than they probably really are.
If I were to
compare this film to any of Schwarzenegger’s early action films, I’d place
it somewhere around his days in the mid 1980s when he was making films like
“Commando.” The films are not very much alike, but at the same time they are
both over the top action flicks with a bit of humor thrown into the mix. There
are many people who are not aware of The Rock’s wrestling career that would be
akin to those in the dark over Arnold’s vocation as a professional bodybuilder
before he began to appear in movies. The action in films like “The
Terminator” combined with the storyline helped make Schwarzenegger a star in
part because no one had quite seen anything like it at that time. Then movies
copied the formula for years to follow. Of course there are things done in
American cinema today that were not really explored in the early 1980s American
action picture. The wirework used in films like “The Matrix” and
“Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon” may have seemed revolutionary in the U.S.
for those unfamiliar with Hong Kong films and anime, but elsewhere the attention
to those sorts of effects would seem somewhat quaint. Now we expect that sort of
thing here too, but just ten years ago, it was not really explored in the
States. So just like music video editing changed the pacing of films in the
1980s and 1990s, Asian cinema has changed the way American views films and right
now The Rock might be the most eligible man to inherit Schwarzenegger’s crown
when one combines that his natural athletic ability, built in fan base left over
from his days in the WWE, and general screen charisma. These are assets that
Schwarzenegger had in his heyday. If The Rock gets the right scripts in the
future he may truly and deservedly become one of the highest paid action stars
ever. Of course it could all go south and we can see The Rock go the way of his
predecessors with straight to video films, but I hope that will not be the case
because I like The Rock and I enjoy how he sells and at times oversells the
action.
The widescreen
edition of “The Rundown” features a rich anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1)
presentation that preserves the manner in which the film was theatrically
exhibited as close as possible for home video users. The colors are lush and
there are no artifacts to note. In short I think this is a great transfer
complemented by a rousing English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack. French
and Spanish Language Dolby Surround Soundtracks and English Captions for the
hearing impaired as well as French and Spanish Language Subtitles are encoded
onto the DVD as options. The Rock and Director Peter Berg provide a
conversational and screen specific feature length audio commentary track and
there is an audio commentary with Producers Kevin Misher and Marc Abraham too.
The rest of the
extra value features are a mixed lot of featurettes covering the choreography of
the stunts and fight scenes in “Rumble In The Jungle” (10:33), how Hawaiian
locations were transformed to look like South America in “The Amazon, Hawaiian
Style” (5:28), which is hosted by Producer Kevin Misher, and a visual effects
featurette entitled “Appetite For Destruction” (8:21).
There is a rather
silly short about Camilla The Baboon, who terrorizes The Rock’s character in
the film entitled “The Rundown Uncensored” (6:08), as well as a featurette
with Christopher Walken (5:34). Eight deleted scenes are presented as one
letterboxed (2.35:1) reel that also contains an alternate ending (13:50) and
before the viewer has access to the interactive menus there are DVD previews for
“Beyond The Mat: Ringside Special Edition,” “The Skulls III,” and
“Honey.” Cast and Filmmaker Bios and Credits wrap up the extra value
features on this DVD.
“The Rundown:
Widescreen” is a fun popcorn film worth a look now that it is available on DVD-Video
at retailers on and offline from Universal Studios Home Video.
© Copyright 2004
By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
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