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

The Rock as a bounty hunter who attempts to square a debt by heading to the Amazon jungle to capture someone. The bounty hunter discovers that his quarry isn't the bad guy he'd been warned about, and the two team up in pursuit of riches stored in a mine in the Amazon.

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Plot Keywords:

jungle | buddy | surprise ending | male objectification | amazon | 

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Taglines:

Welcome to Rock-Solid Entertainment!

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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

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:

$18,533,765, 28 September 2003, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$47,726,342

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$80,916,492

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation, Universal Pictures, WWE Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

'Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle' (2017) is Dwayne Johnson's second film including the 'Welcome To The Jungle' phrase in the title. The first was this film, 'The Rundown' as it is known in the U.S., but 'Welcome to the Jungle' in certain other territories, such as Australia.

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Goofs

When Beck is shot with the beanbag gun, he recoils from the first beanbag *before* it hits him.

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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

UK Version was cut for violence (2 minutes, ie. head-butt in the bar scene) to secure a 12A rating. DVD/VHS version is uncut with a 15 rating, however the Blu-ray features the cut version.

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Connections

Referenced in The Rundown: Appetite for Destruction (2004)

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Soundtracks

Better Days
Written by Mario Caldato, Jr.
Performed by Mario Caldato, Jr.
Courtesy of MCJ Sounds

User Reviews

My Rundown of Welcome to the Jungle...

In a blink-and-miss-it cameo during the opening scene of Welcome to the Jungle (AKA The Rundown), Arnold Schwarzenegger hands over his action hero mantle to the only star capable of filling his shoes: Duane 'The Rock' Johnson. While this movie isn't anywhere near on a par with Arnie at his best, it certainly sets Johnson on the right path, delivering just enough OTT action infused with comedy to make it a mindlessly entertaining slice of slam-bang fun.

The former WWF star plays retrieval expert Beck, who accepts one last job before becoming a restaurant owner: bring troublesome treasure hunter Travis (Seann William Scott) back from the Brazilian jungle to face his father in Los Angeles. Of course, doing so isn't as easy as it sounds, with unscrupulous gold-mine owner Hatcher (Christopher Walken) refusing to let Travis leave, believing that he knows the whereabouts of a priceless artifact.

What follows is a whole load of knockabout silliness, Scott playing comic relief to Johnson's hero, as the guys evade Hatcher's army of hired killers, come face-to-ass with some angry baboons, locate the valuable statuette (in an Indiana Jones style scene complete with booby-trapped cave), and return to the gold-mine to rescue sexy rebel Mariana (Rosario Dawson), who has been trying to free her people from Hatcher's oppression.

At 104 minutes, the film is perhaps 15 minutes or so too long, and the ballistic mayhem in the finale—where Beck finally breaks his 'no guns' rule—is of the 'A-Team' variety (i.e., lots of goons getting gunned down, but no blood), but as an introduction to Arnie's successor, Welcome to the Jungle does just fine.

6.5 out of 10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb.