Giving opinions for several years and showing like a fine vintage
Giving opinions for several years and showing like a fine vintage
Member since:11.07.2000
Reviews:625
Members who trust:55
Ah thank the lord for the wonderful world of the WWF or the WWE as it's now known after some panda lovers took offence. Over the years their wonderful stable has given us some of cinemas greatest specimens. Who can forget the tears we shed with Hulk Hogan in Suburban Commando and Mr Nanny. Then there was the abject horror of Triple H bearing fangs in the clagfest known as Blade Trinity. Macho Man beat them all but playing against type in Spiderman and actually came out with reputation intact.
The Rock made his big debut as a plot device in The Mummy Returns; he wasn't in the film much but was memorable for being the subject of some crap CGI in the finale. But since then he's moved away from wrestling to acting and slowly he's making a good stab at it. Scorpion King aside, Welcome To The Jungle AKA The Rundown is his first foray into the Arnie territory. But is it any good and can the scene vacuum known as Sean William Scott ruin the party?
-Welcome To The Movie-
Beck (The Rock) is a bounty hunter with aspirations of being in the restaurant business.
To settle a debt to a mobster, he sets off the amazon jungle to bring back said mobsters son. This would be plain sailing is the son in question wasn't Sean William Scott. Aside from having to contend with the antics of Scott, Beck find himself embroiled in the local villagers plight. A sneaky mine operator is making slaves of the workers as they mind gold for him in the pits of the jungle. This would be nothing new but the sneaky guy is Christopher Walken and he rules any film he appears in. Walken is good, Walken is god, Walken does the walking. Anyway there's also some guff about a gold statue but who cares. This film gives ample opportunity for bare chested fun for the ladies, wet shirt fun for the gents, some excited monkeys, a few bone cracking fights and a herd of cattle! Watch as Walken steals the entire film with the Tooth Fairy speech!
Generally 'Jungle' is a lot more fun than it really should be. The Rock is very good in the movie and Scott is actually bearable. Director Peter Berg keeps things tightly paced and shoots the scenery with a nice slice of style. It's amusing, doesn't suffer from MTV editing and features a brief but smart cameo from Arnie himself.
-That Tooth Fairy Speech-
I feel like a little boy who's lost his first tooth, put it under his pillow, waiting for the tooth-fairy to come. Only two evil burglars have crept in my window, and snatched it, before she could get here... Wait a second; do you understand the CONCEPT of the tooth-fairy? Explain it to them... Wait. She takes the god-damned thing, and gives you a quarter. They've got my tooth. I want it back.
(The above only works when spoken by Christopher Walken.)
-Audio & Video Stuff-
There's a lot of sun in this film, a lot of dust, a lot of hot hot heat and a lot of greenery. Thankfully the film looks pretty good on DVD. The 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer is at times a little overcranked in the colour department but the uninitiated won't find any problems. Put it on your widescreen TV and you'll enjoy the wonder of the Amazon. The other alternative is to get the film on VHS and transport yourself back to a time when movies were enjoyed with hiss and crackle.
This is an action film, guys like action films and hence the lord said that thou shalt be loud at every opportunity. The dolby digital 5.1 soundtrack is a great experience. The whizzes and bangs of the film shudder around you in a great soundscape. The monkey attack offers some good surround action. It's all good stuff.
-Extras-
The disc is graced with two audio commentaries. The first features Director Peter Berg and The Rock. It's an entertaining track full of mirth and both talk openly while obviously making things up.
The second track is from the producers and it's a waste of disc space. Not much is said and there's a lot of dead air. There is also a series of brief featurettes covering the making of the film from casting to working with animals and blowing stuff up. In all honesty a lot of it is promotional fluff and not really that interesting. Do we really need a featurette on who great Walken is? The answer is no, Walken is good and that is a given.
The deleted scenes section doesn't offer much of real value. There's a decent little mud fight and a slightly changed ending. Of course deleted stuff is deleted for a reason, there are no Final Destination style storythreads here.
Finally there are some trailers and a little easter egg if you hunt around the menus.
-And Finally-
Welcome To The Jungle is an enjoyable film that doesn't tax the brain and doesn't offend it either. It won't change your life but it will pass the time and you won't want your life back afterwards. The DVD can be picked up for around £6 online from places such as Choices Direct so if won't burn your pocket if you decide to give it a go.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Action/Adventure - Director: Peter Jackson - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring:Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Liv Tyler, Sean Astin, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Andy Serkis
Production Year: 1964 - Action/Adventure - Director: Cyril Endfield - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring:Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth, Michael Caine, Nigel Green
Production Year: 2002 - Action/Adventure - Director: Vincenzo Natali - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring:Lucy Liu, David Hewlett, Anne Marie Scheffler, Joseph Scoren, Matthew Sharp, Jeremy Northam
The Rock teams up with Seann William Scott for this wildly entertaining, pulse-pounding, ... more
action adventure.Beck (The Rock) is a bounty hunter sent into a remote town, deep within the treacherous Amazon jungle to bring the rebellious Travis (Seann Willia...
Advantages: great music videos, like 'November Rain', 'Don't Cry' and 'Paradise City'. Disadvantages: No extras. A few videos missing that I feel should have been on it.
![Welcome To The Jungle - Director's Cut [DVD] [2004]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/76771268.jpg "Welcome To The Jungle - Director's Cut [DVD] [2004]")
Jan 4th, 2006
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