The Rock - Dwayne Johnson - continues his efforts to ascend the
Hollywood hierarchy of action hero. Likeable, able to convey
sufficient emotional range for the genre, and possessing an appealing
screen presence, his biggest challenge is finding good parts. His
last outing as Beck in The Rundown hinted of better things to come,
but before progressing he took a step backward with a derivative and
predictable remake of Walking Tall.
This film may have been
loosely based on and dedicated to the memory of Buford Pusser, but it
isn't intended to be his story. This is an oversimplified and linear
tale of injustice and revenge. After an absence of eight years
serving as an Army Special Forces soldier, Chris Vaughn (The Rock)
returns to his rural hometown and finds that things have changed. The
mill where his father and most of the townsfolk worked is closed. The
town's economy now depends on a casino, owned and operated by an old
high school rival, Jay Hamilton (Neal McDonough) who shut the mill
down just as soon as he inherited it from his father. Gambling is
only one of the vices the casino has brought to town. Prostitution,
pornography, peep shows, and most disturbing of all, drugs now infect
the wholesome community Chris left behind years before. Before
Chris had fully understood the town's decay, he and his friends had
accepted an invitation to the casino. Chris discovered that the games
are rigged and he reacted somewhat, uh, physically. He did some
damage, but outnumbered, he was brutalized and left for dead. The
local sheriff's department had been corrupted - very likely in
Hamilton's pocket - so a recovered Chris got no satisfaction from the
law. But the violence done to Chris is only the first round of an
escalating war in which a 4x4 figures prominently. Circumstances
force Chris to take on the sheriff, his deputies, Hamilton's thugs,
the local judicial system, and to work his way up the food chain to a
climactic confrontation.
Screenwriters David Klass, Channing
Gibson, David Levien, and Brian Koppelman attempt to humanize the
story with subplots about ex-girlfriend Deni (Ashley Scott) forced to
strip at the casino to pay the bills, and a father (John Beasley) who
has sworn off guns (you know where that's going). In spite of these
efforts, this film is simply a straightforward construct of staged
action set pieces and general mayhem. The film may be predictable and
lack originality, but The Rock manages to project the heroic image of
a powerful and potentially lethal man who's reluctant to resort to
violence. If he's pushed far enough, if his sense of right and wrong
is offended, watch out; he's unstoppable. 
Video: How Does
The Disc Look?
The film's theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1
is presented in anamorphic video. Despite a short film length that
offered the opportunity for low compression and a consequential better
picture, the image is rather disappointing. The transfer is
noticeably soft, very much appearing to have been low pass filtered.
Moderate halos are present, clearly visible on boundaries of high
contrast. The result is below par small object detail and inadequate
delineation of fine-grained detail. Faces become unrecognizable in
moderately long shots and neither skin textures nor fabric weaves are
revealed except in extreme close-up. Color accuracy is fine, with
natural flesh tones and convincingly red blood. The casino's garish
neon and backlit gaming machines are vivid and don't suffer from
either smearing or chroma noise. Shadow detail is moderately good.
But, alas, we're left with images that appear over-processed and with
little resemblance to film.
Audio: How Does The Disc
Sound?
The Dolby Digital 5.1 track is reasonable. Surround
effects are used to good effect but not often enough. Opportunities
to pan into the surrounds the sounds of vehicles moving off-screen or
coming onscreen were ignored. Convincingly rolling thunder and an
enveloping rainstorm are among the more obvious surround effects that
you'll find. Gunshots and explosions highlight the disc's bass
extension. The dynamic range and attack times add a welcome note of
drama to the sound effects. The opening credits begin with two
instruments recorded dryly with microphones in close proximity; the
guitar is reproduced with a pleasant sense of presence, but most of
the score is too processed to judge its fidelity. The dialog remains
distortion-free throughout. 
The alternative languages are in
Spanish and French, each presented in Dolby Surround 2.0. Optional
subtitles include French, Spanish, Chinese in both the Mandarin and
Cantonese dialects, and English, for which Closed Captions are also
provided.
Supplements: What Goodies Are There?
The
disc is programmed to open with DVD trailers for Soul Plane (1:32, an
insult to the intelligence that has the distinction of being voted
number 55 in IMDB's bottom 100), and the direct to video release of
Species III (0:54). (MGM can't seem to make up its mind whether it's
Species III or Species 3.) These previews may be skipped with the
next chapter button. 
Rather than investing in a better
transfer, MGM Home Entertainment has dedicated the bit budget to a
surprising number of extras. There are two feature-length
commentaries, the first by The Rock and the second by director Kevin
Bray, editor Robert Ivison, and some time after the commentary begins,
cinematographer Glen MacPherson. The Rock hasn't done a commentary
before, but apparently he's listened to a few. He declares early that
his commentary isn't going to be typical and, indeed, he does his best
to make it different. He's partially successful; his comments sound
like an audio diary for the film. Even though he relates some
background material, he focuses more on the experience of making the
film. He seems to enjoy clowning around, but his quips can be
repetitive. When John Beasley appears onscreen as Chris Vaughn Sr.,
The Rock delights in calling him former heavyweight boxing champion
and griller extraordinaire George Foreman. There is a slight
resemblance and the joke is cute the very first time. Among other
things, we learn that there was a substantial sequence that was
omitted, a brawl after the football game. And we learn why his
character is named Chris Vaughn. Fans should be pleased.
The
second audio commentary is a bit more serious. It's full of little
interesting factoids that provide insight into the production.
Vancouver was suffering from an unusual dry spell during the shoot,
and digital processing had to be used to add green to the background
foliage and grasses to establish a lusher ambiance. The filmmakers
discuss artistic intent as the fights were choreographed and shot.
They discuss the heritage of the first films about Buford Pusser and
how they tried to honor his memory. Unfortunately, they spend too
much time discussing the actions of the characters and their
motivations.
Fight the Good Fight (8:44) is a short, full
screen featurette that concentrates on the stunt work for the three
fight sequences in the film. Alas, if you can imagine a fluff piece
on stunts, this would be it. The first five minutes are dedicated to
self-congratulatory comments about how these scenes were done the old
fashioned way with no wirework and no CGI. You'll then see The Rock
doing a stunt on wires, which necessitated digital wire removal. Less
than three minutes is devoted to a cursory dissection of one of the
fight scenes.
There are three deleted scenes, Black Jack
(0:49), He Hurts People (0:18), and It's Not Your Fault (0:35),
presented in non-anamorphic widescreen. Use the handy "Play All"
feature to view them. These are perfectly respectable scenes and I'm
not quite sure why they were cut considering that this is a very short
film.
There are a few mildly amusing bloopers (0:48), the last
of which may prove that The Rock really is campaigning to achieve The
Arnold's reputed reputation. Alternate Ending: The Porch (1:21) is a
little too cute for its own good; I prefer the theatrical ending. The
Photo Gallery offers over two-dozen stills of The Rock and pictures
taken during the filming; it's formatted for anamorphic video.
Species 3 Sneak Peek (5:20) is an interesting behind-the scenes
look at this soon to be released film. I have to admit that I'm
somewhat skeptical about a direct-to-video release, but I'll watch it
with an open mind.
Walking Tall's trailer (2:08) is here as
well, shown in respectable anamorphic video. As a separate feature,
you'll also find non-anamorphic trailers for a number of other MGM
titles: Bulletproof Monk (1:52); Dark Blue (2:00); Out of Time (1:42);
Men of Action (1:01), an MGM promo for action flicks; and, a TV Spot
for Everything or Nothing (0:32), a Bond video game with an impressive
cast of voice talent.
The 86-minute feature film is organized
into twenty-four chapters.
DVD-ROM Exclusives: What do you
get when you pop the disc in your PC?
There are no DVD-ROM
features on this DVD.
Parting Thoughts
You won't
be tempted to look at your watch during Walking Tall, not because of
it's brisk pace but because of the film's remarkable brevity. The
eighty-six minute running time includes about twelve minutes of
closing credits, so pay attention or you may miss a significant plot
point during the film's paltry seventy-four minutes. The disc offers
an unexceptional transfer with reasonable sound and a generous array
of okay supplements, but the real impediment to a buy recommendation
is the film. Next summer, The Rock will appear as Alec Sects in John
Woo's Spy Hunter; I expect more from that film. Fans of The Rock can
do better with some of his other efforts, but if your interest level
is high, consider a rental..
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