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It seems that Arnold Schwarzenegger has conceded his position as the preeminent action film star. He filmed a cameo for this movie at a time when he very likely had decided to run for governor of California but before declaring his intentions on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. As he passes The Rock’s Beck in a crowded nightclub, he murmurs, “Have fun.” Beck feigns puzzlement, but I believe the hidden message is clear. Several years ago, Dwayne Johnson might have seemed an unlikely successor, just another typically over the top pro wrestler. But he brings a surprisingly appealing persona to the screen, carefully crafted to avoid the testosterone-fueled bravado of the wrestling world. In The Rundown, he’s a man reluctant to impose his will using pain. In fact, he’d rather be in the kitchen.

We’re not quite sure how Beck managed to dig himself into a financial hole, but he’s apparently in debt to a nasty bookie and loan shark named Walker (William Lucking) who routinely sends hired muscle to collect overdue bets. Beck reluctantly does his bidding, using force only as a last resort. He always gives the client two choices, one painful and one not. He can be magnanimous; he’s a virtually unstoppable fighting machine, a talent demonstrated early in the film as he works his way through a football team’s offensive lineup to get to a cocky quarterback. Beck is looking forward to the time when he’s worked off his debt and has earned enough to open his own restaurant, busy in the kitchen as the Chef. That opportunity comes sooner than he expects. Walker offers him a job that will clear his debt and leave him with a tidy sum.

Beck is asked to travel to Brazil too track down Walker’s son, Travis (Seann William Scott), and bring him back to Walker’s home in California. Beck makes the perilous trek to Helldorado, a mining town constructed by Cornelius Hatcher (Christopher Walken). Virtually a warlord, Hatcher maintains a small army to control underpaid, local indigenous Indians he’s put to work in his vast pit of a gold mine. The street-smart Beck instantly understands that it’s necessary to seek permission from Hatcher to forcibly remove Travis Walker from the area. A ten thousand dollar bribe is all it takes.

Walker is an Stanford dropout, and he’s in Halldorado to unearth an exceptionally valuable ancient gold statuette. As he tries to con local bar owner Mariana (Rosario Dawson) into letting him borrow her brother’s boat for the hunt, Beck arrives to take him back. Unfortunately, Hatcher does a bit of digging of his own (no pun intended) and discovers that Walker may be on to a prize that, if it fell into rebel hands, could finance them well enough to outnumber and outgun his forces. Hatcher decides to keep Walker for himself. And so it begins, a duel of wits, muscle, and bullets among Hatcher’s forces, the rebels, a very quirky Walker, and a determined Beck. At stake is the recovery of the artifact, survival, and Beck’s promise to return Walker to his father. The action is brisk, loud, and cleverly choreographed.

The Rock’s Beck may be so appealing because of his lack of bravado and pretension. He carries with him a little book in which he records recipes and unusual ingredients for his dream restaurant. He always gives his foes a chance to avoid violence. And he dislikes guns. A sensitive guy who can break backs. What more could you want in an action hero? The film succeeds on another level. There is a wonderful chemistry between The Rock and Seann William Scott’s Travis. Travis is the quintessential reluctant hero, hiding behind a delightful goofiness and pathological selfishness. The film’s delicate balance between humor and violence is just right. Christopher Walken turns in another delightfully eccentric performance as a sociopath incapable of understanding why people just don’t like him very much. Director Peter Berg has had considerable acting experience, which may have contributed to his effectiveness with his players, but he’s also very good with camera moves. Berg deserves as much credit as the stars and the clever writing by R.J. Stewart and James Vanderbilt for the success of the movie. This is not a film to be taken seriously or analyzed too closely. It is a fluffy action/adventure flick punctuated with good-natured humor that neither insults your intelligence nor tries your patience.

Video: How Does The Disc Look?

The film’s theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1 is presented in anamorphic video. This is a reasonable transfer, but it’s a mixed bag. Edge halos are virtually non-existent, so small object detail is moderately good. But some low pass filtering is evident, so fine textures and the complexity of jungle foliage is subdued. And yet, in some scenes detail is rather good; the baboon’s fur is conveyed well. Color saturation is just a tad on the high side, similar to Universal’s Intolerable Cruelty, but there is no smearing or chroma noise. Shadow detail is better than average; dark nighttime scenes in the jungle could have become vast black voids. I did not notice any macroblocking or mosquito noise.

Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

The Dolby Digital 5.1 track is splendid. It sports an impressive dynamic range and great attack times during gunfire. Exceptionally deep bass becomes evident very early in the film. When Beck walks through the nightclub, the bass line could be felt as well as heard. Subsequent explosions were equally impressive. This audio track will really give your subwoofer a workout. Don’t forget to secure any loose objects in the room; they will rattle. The surround effects are numerous and effective. As is my habit, I listened to the track with EX enabled, prepared to disable the center surround decoding as soon as I detected a sonic collapse. With this particular soundtrack, I noticed that there are many discrete sounds coming from the left and right surround channels, and for the most part, when the center surround was active, it sounded appropriate. But there were times when I felt that the sound designers intended a wider surround sound effect as the audio was confined to the center surround. So you may want to try this DVD with and without EX enabled and choose your preference. Whenever the score by Harry Gregson-Williams featured an acoustic guitar, I was impressed with the transparency of the sound. Excluding the source tracks, the score is nicely conveyed. The dialog was distortion-free throughout, without a hint of compression raspiness. Very well done.

The alternate languages are in French and Spanish, both presented in Dolby Surround 2.0. Optional subtitles are available in French, Spanish, and English for the Hearing Impaired.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

The DVD is programmed to open with some previews that can only be skipped with the fast forward function. You’ll find Beyond the Mat, Honey, and The Skulls III.

There are two feature-length commentaries on this DVD; the first is by The Rock and director Peter Berg, and the second features producers Marc Abraham and Kevin Misher. While it is true that Berg and The Rock share a few germane anecdotes from the production, for the most part theirs is a disappointing dialog. They fool around and are easily distracted. For example, I’m not quite sure how valuable a discussion is concerning an appropriate fighting style if up against with Tom Arnold. Of modest interest is a description of the use of the baboons, both trained animals and puppets, and how that scene had to be modified to avoid a higher MPAA rating. And it’s here that I learned that one of the locations was Waimea Falls, but not mentioned was that it is located on the island of Oahu. I thought I recognized some geological structures that looked like Kauai, but I can’t be sure. Everyone kept referring to Hawaii as the location; perhaps they filmed on more than one island. The second feature length commentary track is a lot more informative, providing many insights into the production. The comments include the most complete description of the armed robbery in Brazil that motivated the production to move the location shooting to Hawaii. If you want to learn about the making of the film, listen to this commentary. If you want to gain insight into the personalities of The Rock and Peter Berg, listen to the first.

Rumble In The Jungle (10:32) is an entertaining featurette that hints at The Rock’s potential as a unique action film star. We’re transported to a soundstage where many of the wire gags are worked out and rehearsed. The Rock and costar Seann William Scott take turns conspiratorially talking to the camera about the other’s shortcomings; the sequences smack of a fun set and genuine mutual affection. The venue then moves to location where we’re treated to glimpses of how some of the fights and stunts were done, including a fight that was left on the cutting room floor. Each actor offers comments concerning the need to perform as many stunts as safely possible to avoid cheating the audience.

In The Amazon - Hawaii Style (5:28), director Peter Berg reveals that the original location for the film, the Brazilian Amazon Basin, became a tad less desirable when, within a hour of arriving, the director and other filmmakers were held up at gunpoint and left to hoof it out of the jungle. So the cast and crew relocated to one of the loveliest places on Earth, Hawaii. Berg, Scott, The Rock, and Dawson talk about their Hawaiian experiences; alas, it was mostly work - apparently the shooting schedule didn’t leave much time for enjoying the islands. And much to my delight, the mutual ball busting continues in this short.

Appetite for Destruction (8:21) highlights three gags, the bus explosion during the climactic firefight, the collapse of a water tower onto the four-by-fours, and the cattle stampede that kicks off the prolonged action set piece. Without narration or explanation - the captured behind-the-scenes sequences speak for themselves - we follow the rehearsal, setup, and filmed execution of each gag. Nicely done.

The Rundown Uncensored (6:08) is a cute satirical featurette, exposing the shocking affair The Rock had with one of his co-stars, Kamila the baboon. Animal trainer Kevin Keith reveals all as Peter Berg and Seann William Scott try to be more diplomatic. The Rock appears as well, possibly the injured party.

Running Down The Town (4:10) gives production designer Thomas Duffield a chance to take us on a tour of his Helldorado, a reproduction of a typical Brazilian ramshackle town. It was constructed outside of Los Angeles. Duffield highlights the details that went into the design and fabrication and explains how the town will be torn down right to the topsoil and be planted with suitable vegetation.

Walken’s World (5:34) is a love letter to Christopher Walken, an actor who’s become a film icon. We hear from filmmakers and players as they voice their admiration. Walken offers a few words about his character. These brief interview-like segments are intercut with behind-the-scenes sequences showing Walken at work.

Deleted Scenes run 13:50; there are eight sequences, which include both those that didn’t make the final cut and some that are alternate versions of existing scenes from the film. Most are quite good and could easily have been included in the theatrical cut, particularly the fight in the mud. I suspect they were cut for pace. But a few scenes are a little too cute and may have gone a too far trying to be lighthearted; those deserved to be left behind.

Cast and Filmmakers includes brief professional biographies and filmographies for: The Rock; Seann William Scott; Christopher Walken; Rosario Dawson; Ewen Bremner; director Peter Berg; screenwriters R.J. Stewart and James Vanderbilt; producers Kevin Misher, Marc Abraham, and Karen Glasser; and, executive producers Vince McMahon and Ric Kidney. The 105-minute feature film is organized into twenty-eight chapters.

And that leaves a surprisingly generous bunch of easter eggs. On the Main Menu, highlight Scenes and press up; a little yellow flame will appear. Select it and be treated to a 1:42 explanation of “Beckvision” and a glimpse at CGI effects. On the second Bonus Materials Menu, highlight DVD-ROM Features and press left to make the little yellow flame visible. Select it and Seann William Scott will talk to you for 25 seconds about getting in shape. On the Languages Menu, highlight English 5.1 and press up; select the flame and for 53 seconds, The Rock will tell you everything you wanted to know about the “pee scene.” On the DVD-ROM Features screen, press right and select the flame; The Rock will discuss (0:41) the uncredited cameo by Arnold Schwarzenegger that smacks of the torch being passed. The next three are found in the Cast and Filmmakers feature. Highlight Christopher Walken and press left; select the flame and you’ll discover how the ax throw was accomplished with a blend of camera tricks and CGI (0:35). Highlight Peter Berg and press left; select the flame and The Rock (1:29) talks about his director and describes an anecdote from the shoot that I’m sure was a lot funnier if you were there. Highlight Vince McMahon and press right; select the flame and you’ll learn that, unlike Harrison Ford’s mastery of the bullwhip for Indiana Jones, the whips in this film are CGI (1:14). Now go to the first screen of Scene selections; above and to the left of “1-4” a flame will take you to The Rock describing how he conditioned himself for this role of Beck and offering his thoughts on Beck’s fighting style (1:01).

DVD-ROM Exclusives: What do you get when you pop the disc in your PC?

The only InterActual content on this DVD is a link to the Universal Pictures home page.

Parting Thoughts

The Rock’s charismatic appeal places him at the apex of pretenders to Schwarzenegger’s action hero throne. It will be interesting to see if he chooses his roles wisely and maintains that odd blend of humble and confident menace. The transfer is quite good, even if it’s not up to the best of current releases. The audio is a blast, highly immersive and very involving. The supplements are surprisingly generous; for all I know, there may be easter eggs left to find that eluded me. Recommended.

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