The Rundown Blu-ray

The Rundown

 (2003)

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Thriller



In the always rough, have-to-be tough urban jungle of Los Angeles, there are men like Beck...well, not exactly like Beck--a man who uses whatever means are necessary to retrieve whatever he is paid to bring back. A marker, a late payment or a Super Bowl ring from a quarterback with gambling debts--Beck doesn't differentiate and simply relies on his wits, his "let's get this over with" attitude and his devastating physical prowess to get the job done. For him, it's a simple, multiple-choice world: (A) Beck's way, (B) Beck's way with force, or (C)... there is no "C." Beck doesn't go looking for trouble, and he doesn't like making trouble for anyone, either. Unfortunately, trouble is what he's hired to clean up, and there's one final mess he's got to get out of before he can leave it all behind. At the center of his current trouble is a wise-ass named Travis, a fast-talking double dealer whose dad has commissioned Beck to retrieve from a lingering adventure in Brazil. Travis proves to be more of a handful than Beck expected, not only because of his mouth and his heels-dug-in reluctance to leave, but because of a couple of other complications he brings with him: Mariana, a no-nonsense local who holds the answers to some of the jungle's hidden mysteries, and Hatcher, an unhinged despot who has turned the jungle and its inhabitants into his own fortune-making, gold-mining empire. The rundown: Beck is after a guy... who's after a fortune... and now everybody's after them. So he's going to have to unleash everything he's got to keep on top of his smack-talking quarry, the girl with the secret, the crazy tyrant, the horny monkeys, the hallucinogenic fruit, the backs-to-the-wall rebels, the perilous terrain, the hidden traps and every other obstacle that this jungle throws at him.

For more details about The Rundown on Blu-ray, see The Rundown Blu-ray Review

The Rundown Blu-ray, Video Quality

 


The Rundown boasts a high quality 1080p, 2.35:1-framed transfer. The picture looks a bit messy, though seemingly intentionally so, over the opening moments of the film. It's very dark and obscure, with colors that tint towards the red and orange side of the spectrum. The film retains a rather harsh and gritty look throughout, even if it brightens up considerably in the Amazon. The transfer retains a heavy grain structure that is evident in every scene. None of this obscures fine detail, however. Viewers will note sweat glistening off the faces of the characters, all the lines and pits in faces, and even, seemingly at times, the individual granules of dirt and blades of grass that make up the Amazonian terrain. Many interior shots reveal enormous amounts of detail, too. The locations in El Dorado are cheap, run down, old, and the transfer reveals every speck of dirt, hole in the wall, and chip of paint nicely. The transfer always appears sharp where it should. Blacks are marvelous, slipping to a dark shade of gray only once or twice. There is some very heavy and seemingly random blocking during a few interior shots inside a cave in chapter 17, but otherwise, there is little to complain about with this one. The Rundown is another visual winner from Universal.

The Rundown Blu-ray, Audio Quality

 


Another Tuesday, another killer soundtrack from Universal. The Rundown features a DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless mix that packs quite the wallop. Bass is the highlight of the track and features both direct (explosions, thuds) and indirect (the pounding beats heard street-side from a closed-door club) excitement. The subwoofer will be sweating and panting at the end of this one. It easily enjoys a Dwayne Johnson-caliber workout. Dialogue is also strong and bass-heavy. Several times throughout the film, gunshots ring out, ricochet, and fly all over the soundstage with pinpoint accuracy and power. Directional effects are superb in every action sequence, and ambience is excellent, particularly in the jungle environs, where it is both subtle and effective. The soundstage comes alive to place the audience in the midst of the Amazon, encircling listeners with all of the natural (and sometimes unnatural) sounds that bring each scene to vivid life. The "Monkey" sequence in chapter 13 is one of the best in the film; "dynamic" and "loud" defines the experience, with a subsequent gunshot filling the soundstage with superb authority and power. The film's music plays precisely. It is primarily front-heavy but offers excellent fidelity. The sonic highlight of the film comes in chapter 17 as a cave collapses around the characters. it's loud, scary, and rattles from every single corner of the soundstage, making for a thrilling listen. The film's climax, too, comes complete with some of the heaviest and most consistent uses of bass yet. The Rundown makes a strong case as one of the most exhilarating and action-packed listens yet on Blu-ray.

The Rundown Blu-ray, News and Updates

• The Rock Gets a Blu-ray Set - January 23, 2009


• Doom; The Rundown Announced for Blu-ray - November 25, 2008

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