Beck (The Rock/Dwayne Johnson) is a retrieval expert. He is hired to track down people who refuse to pay the money they owe, or are in hiding for other reasons. Beck doesn’t believe in using guns or weapons, and hates to resort to violence. He always offers his targets two options: the easy way or the hard way, however, they almost unanimously select option B. Beck is tired of his job, and wants to live his dream of being a chef and open his own restaurant. His boss agrees to let him quit if he does one last job—track down his son Travis (Seann William Scott), and bring him back home to Los Angeles.

Beck heads to Brazil, where he quickly finds Travis, a wisecracking delinquent/treasure hunter. Travis believes he has found the Gato de Diablo, a priceless lost golden artifact. Travis, of course, goes with option B, and makes a run for it, and as a result, the two men soon find themselves lost in the Amazon, and forced to work together if they are going to make it out alive. In addition to rough terrain of the jungle, and the wild monkeys, the pair also find themselves pursued by ruthless warlord Hatcher (Christopher Walken), who wants to get a hold of the Gato before it falls into the hands of freedom fighters, who will use it to free his workforce of gold miners which he treats like slaves. Beck and Travis also cross paths with the freedom fighters, led by beautiful Mariana (Rosario Dawson).

It’s hard to believe this film is already 15 years old. I found it just as fresh and fun as the first time I saw it in the theater. The only thing that felt a little odd was seeing The Rock with hair. The film has both excellent action sequences as well as a lot of fun comedic moments. The Rock and “Stiffler” have such great comedic chemistry—I’m surprised these two haven’t teamed up for another buddy action comedy since this one. And The Rock really gets to showcase his action muscles with several big fight scenes—whether a bar brawl, a martial arts match with the rebels, taking out an army of men with guns, or even a trio of warriors with whips. The film moves along quite quickly providing lots of excitement and laughs. Overall, it’s a really fun ride that is highly rewatchable.

This Blu-ray release provides a solid video and audio presentation. The picture is clean and detailed, and the audio track provides clear dialogue as well as a really immersive viewing experience. This is especially noticeable when we see Beck tracking down a footballer in a club in the film’s opening sequence, as well as later when Beck and Travis are in a cave and things are creaking and collapsing around them​. While the original Blu-ray release from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment included a solid selection of bonus material, unfortunately, none of that has been included in Mill Creek’s stripped down re-release. While Mill Creek includes a DVD as well as the Blu-ray, lost from the original release are the French and Spanish audio/subtitle tracks, as well as two commentary tracks, deleted scenes, and 6 behind-the-scenes featurttes with the cast and filmmakers. The Blu-ray and DVD discs come packed in a standard HD keepcase without a slipcover, and there is no digital copy included.

What’s Included:

Film: (1:44:09)

Blu-ray:
• 1080p / Widescreen 2.35:1
• Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio,
• Subtitles: English SDH

DVD:

• 480i / Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1
• Audio: English 5.1 Dolby Digital
• Subtitles: English SDH

Extras:

There is no bonus material included on either disc

Final Thoughts:

The Rundown is one of my favorite action comedies, and it really holds up 15 years later. The film felt just as fresh and fun as ever. Mill Creek’s Blu-ray re-release provides solid sound and picture, but lacks all of the bonus material that was included on the original Universal release. If you can get a hold of the original Blu-ray, that is the release that is recommended, due to the inclusion of a substantial amount of bonus material. However, any version of this very entertaining film is worth owning.