The Rundown (2003)

A tough aspiring chef is hired to bring home a mobster's son from the Amazon but becomes involved in the fight against an oppressive town operator and the search for a legendary treasure.

Director:

Peter Berg

Writers:

R.J. Stewart (story), R.J. Stewart (screenplay)

Stars:

Dwayne Johnson, Seann William Scott, Christopher Walken

2 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dwayne Johnson	...	Beck (as The Rock)
Seann William Scott	...	Travis
Rosario Dawson	...	Mariana
Christopher Walken	...	Hatcher
Ewen Bremner	...	Declan
Jon Gries	...	Harvey
William Lucking	...	Walker
Ernie Reyes Jr.	...	Manito
Stuart F. Wilson	...	Swenson
Dennis Keiffer	...	Naylor
Garrett Warren	...	Henshaw
Toby Holguin	...	Head Indian Tracker
Paul S. Power	...	Martin (as Paul Power)
Stephen Bishop	...	Knappmiller
Chuck Norman	...	Mullaire

Storyline

In an attempt to earn enough money to start his own small business, the dauntless bounty hunter--or retrieval expert--and aspiring restaurateur, Beck, is talked into bringing back home his shady boss' adventure-seeking son, Travis, from the impenetrable Amazon jungle. However, there, in the dusty town of El Dorado, Beck is in for a wild ride, as the local tyrant and powerful mining baron, Cornelius Hatcher, too, is desperately trying to track down Travis: the only person who knows the exact location of a precious golden artefact. Now, the feisty barmaid with the hidden agenda, Mariana, and Hatcher's small army of whip-cracking gun-toting henchmen are after Beck and Travis, hell-bent on finding first the rare statuette. Will they get out of the jungle in one piece?

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Plot Keywords:

jungle | bounty hunter | brazil | gold mine | buddy | 

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Taglines:

cut to the chase september 26

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for adventure violence and some crude dialogue

Did You Know?

Trivia

For its international release, Sony had the opening ten minutes of reel 1 reprinted so the Columbia logo would be first, and then followed by the Universal logo (it is reversed in the US prints). This was also done to accommodate the title change for international markets ("Welcome to the Jungle") which appeared directly after Beck fights the football team in the nightclub. After the title came on, the new film that was stitched to reel 1 finished and the remains of the old reel 1 continued.

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Goofs

When Beck is talking with William Walker, the cloth on Walker's shoulder changes in position repeatedly.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Emeril Lagasse (on radio): I just love mushrooms. One of my favorites, or as I call it, "the king of mushrooms," is the porcini. Now stop right there. Don't be alarmed. There's a lot of confusion in this country between porcini, the Italian name, and cèpes, which is the French name. They're fat and they're earthy. Now the porcini is most often seen dried here in this country. And they would always be labeled "dried porcinis," not "dried cèpes." OK? They are very, very, very flavorful.

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Crazy Credits

In the U.S. version, the only opening credit (after the Universal and Columbia logos) is "The Rundown" - and that appears eight minutes into the film. All other credits (actors, director, producers, writers, et al.) appear at the end of the film.

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Alternate Versions

German theatrical version was edited for violence to secure a more commercial "Not under 12" rating. Home video version is uncut with a "Not under 16" rating.

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Connections

Referenced in Daniel Tosh: Completely Serious (2007)

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Soundtracks

La Balada De Chusy
Written by Jose Luis Pardo, Julio Briceno
Performed by Los Amigos Invisibles
Courtesy of Luaka Bop, Inc.

User Reviews

Put Your Brain On Hold & Enjoy The Stylish, Wild Ride

Yup, this is way hokey and one of the dumbest movies I own in my collection, yet it's very likable and mostly a fun film with great style and scenery.

An adventure story, played strictly for entertainment value, it mostly succeeds because Dwayne Johnson, better known as "The Rock," is a very likable hero. He's clean-cut, well-spoken, modest, etc. Supposedly this film was supposed to be The Rock grabbing the action mantle, so to speak, from the king - Arnold Schwarzenegger - who will no longer make movies. They even have Arnie make a quick cameo, wishing The Rock good luck! That was a good touch.

Meanwhile, Rock's cohort in this film, Seann William Scott, gets by with his sense of humor. It almost plays like one of these "buddy movies" except that these two guys ("Beck" and "Travis," respectively) are not on the same page about anything. In no other film can I recall two characters getting beat up and annihilated like these two guys....but they never seem the worse for wear! Unbelievable!

Rosario Dawson adds some female sex appeal and Christopher Walken adds his normal entertaining take on being the villain. His dialog was very good in here.

I didn't realize until the second time I watched it (which is where I stand now) just how stylishly this was filmed. This movie reminded me of many made by either Robert Rodriguez or Quentin Taranatino with the gimmick photography. It makes it all the more fun to watch. Add some excellent sound, tremendous Hawaiian scenery simulated to look the the Amazon jungle in Brazil......and you can put up with the stupidness of the story and have a good time.

Details

Official Sites:

Universal

Country:

USA

Language:

English Portuguese

Release Date:

26 September 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Welcome to the Jungle

Filming Locations:

Kaua'i, Hawaii, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$85,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$18,553,765, 28 September 2003

Gross USA:

$47,726,342

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$80,981,914

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, Universal Pictures, WWE Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1