Walking Tall Blu-ray features mediocre video and great audio in this enjoyable Blu-ray release
In Walking Tall, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson plays Chris Vaughn, a retired U.S. Special Forces
soldier who returns to his hometown to make a new life for himself, only to discover his
wealthy high school rival, Jay Hamilton (Neal McDonough), has closed the once-prosperous
lumber mill and turned the town's resources towards his own criminal gains. The place Chris
grew up is now overrun with crime, drugs, and violence. Enlisting the help of his old pal Ray
Templeton (Johnny Knoxville), Chris gets elected sheriff and vows to shut down Hamilton's
operations. His actions endanger his family and threaten his own life, but Chris refuses to back
down until his hometown once again feels like home.
Meat. Potatoes. Football. Nascar. Overstuffed recliners. HEMIs. Apple Pie. Guns & Ammo. ESPN. Mmm... it's good to be a man. Sunday afternoon naps, rights to the remote, and a love of cheesy '80s and '90s Schwarzenegger movies only make it that much sweeter. Or so I've been told by guys who've declared themselves gruffer and tougher than I'll ever be. No gentlemen, I'm not a traditionalist when it comes to gender: I don't lounge in a chair while someone else cooks and cleans, I don't lord over the love of my life, and I rarely make plans without consulting the powers that be (if you're unsure of who that is, you've never been married). No gentlemen, my wife issued an official memo long before we tied the knot stating any such nonsense was strictly forbidden. And, as far as I'm concerned, we're much happier for it. My only man-outlet is action movies: run-n-gun, 'splosion-soaked, testosterone-infused action movies. Maybe that's why I'm such a sucker for Walking Tall, an early entry in Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's cinematic canon that finds the former wrestler cracking skulls in a small town with, I kid you not, a four-by-four. I know, I know... its plot is flimsy, its script is as predictable as they come, and its characters are thin stereotypes leftover from a bygone age of filmmaking, but I just can't help myself.
It's far from perfect, but it would be an absolute wreck without Johnson's personable performance...
A 2004 remake of director Phil Karlson's 1973 film of the same name, Walking Tall substitutes Joe Don Baker's Sheriff Buford Pusser with Chris Vaughn, a young Special Forces veteran (played with a coy grin by Johnson) who returns to his Washington state hometown after serving his country overseas. Sadly, his stomping grounds aren't as idyllic as he left them. The community's profitable cedar mill closed, the townspeople have been struggling to find new jobs, and his old high school friend, Jay Hamilton (Neal McDonough), has opened a seedy casino responsible for flooding the streets with drugs. When the local sheriff (Michael Bowen) makes it clear he intends to look the other way, Chris storms the casino with a four-by-four and roughs up a group of security guards. The skilled soldier is arrested, but after delivering an impassioned speech at his hearing that guarantees his acquittal -- a rather contrived moment that could only emerge from the mind of a desperate screenwriter -- he runs for office, promises reform, and soon replaces the venal sheriff. After firing the existing police force, he deputizes his wise-cracking best friend (Jackass' Johnny Knoxville in a decidedly less obnoxious role) and sets about to rid his fair town of crime and corruption.
If nothing else, Walking Tall puts an entertaining, small-town spin on what essentially boils down to a revenge fantasy; the sort of slick-n-wild actioner that gives genre fans a chance to kick back, shut off their brains, and watch a grown man beat the living shenanigans out of an endless pack of hillbillies. I certainly don't mean to give director Kevin Bray (Cold Case, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and other assorted television dramas) too much credit -- after all, it's Johnson who transforms the filmmaker's over-seasoned batch of clichés and plot holes into a more palatable meal -- but, compared to the majority of drivel that passes for action these days (Crank and the Transporter sequels instantly come to mind), Bray's characters exhibit some semblance of soul and his central conflict gains momentum long before he cashes in on his star's musclebound antics. Is it all a shallow excuse to pit a wood-wielding freedom fighter against a variety of pistol-packing gunmen? Sure, but the film (and the overblown madness that ensues) is just as one-note and superficial as some of its beloved genre forefathers. Action movies have always prioritized frenetic fisticuffs and severely stacked odds over plot development and dialogue... why should anyone expect anything different from Walking Tall?
Does Walking Tall cull most of its best material from better films? Definitely. First Blood, Commando, and a slew of Clean-Up-This-Town classics have left their fingerprints all over its action and characters. Is it as amusing and exciting as The Rundown? No, but it's thankfully a far cry from The Scorpion King and Doom. Whatever your genre pleasure (or poison as it were) may be, Johnson's presence makes this one worthy of a spot on your Netflix queue. While the film has been incessantly ribbed by critics, the actor's breezy humor and affable charm win me over time and time again. Give it a shot and see if you're as big a sucker for over-the-top, Rock-on-a-mission action as I am. You just might be surprised by how much you enjoy yourself.
At first glance, Walking Tall's 1080p/MPEG-2 transfer delivers a fairly promising high definition image: cinematographer Glen MacPherson's subdued palette is somber but authentic, skintones are restrained but natural, and blacks are thoroughly absorbing. More importantly, object definition and dimensionality is impressive, often injecting a fitting sense of depth into what could have been a lifeless presentation. However, upon closer inspection, a stifling assortment of technical issues suggest MGM's uneven efforts have been sitting on the back-burner for some time. Contrast leveling is inconsistent and shadow delineation is unreliable, flattening foregrounds and obscuring background detail on a frequent basis. Fine textures have been smeared away with a somewhat overzealous application of noise reduction, and heavy-handed edge enhancement has been used in an attempt to negate the resulting reduction in clarity. Worse still, distinct artifacting (the sort that plagued early Blu-ray releases in 2006), contrast wavering, bursts of digital noise, intermittent softness, a distracting amount of print damage (particularly for a film made in 2004), minor aliasing, and even a bit of motion blur make numerous appearances.
All things considered, Walking Tall is positively average. Had it been available alongside the earliest batch of Blu-rays released on the market, I might have been more forgiving. But seeing as it's a brand-spanking-new 2009 release, I'm quite disappointed.
Walking Tall's Blu-ray debut may be burdened with a haphazard video transfer, but it lightens the load with a brisk and proficient DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track. Once you get past the earsplitting metal riffs of the film's lumbering soundtrack, you'll actually find a lot to love about the disc's sonics. Dialogue is bright and intelligible, low-end extension is refined and unflinching, and the rear speakers enhance an already immersive soundfield with a solid sampling of ambient effects and acoustic prowess. The casino sounds suitably crowded, shattering slot machines rain glass and plastic onto the floor, and a third-act cedar mill scuffle is relatively involving. Even though directionality isn't as precise as I had hoped -- the sound designers apparently ascribe to a more-is-more philosophy -- pans are smooth and dynamics are commanding. Walking Tall doesn't deliver a reference lossless track (by any stretch of the imagination), but it does handle the film's stocky mix with ease.
Like most MGM releases of late, the Blu-ray edition of Walking Tall includes a 1080p presentation of the film on a BD-25 disc, and a copy of its 2004 standard DVD counterpart. Normally, I would applaud the versatility this offers consumers. Don't have a Blu-ray player in your bedroom? No problem, the studio has included a DVD as well. However, in this case, all of the special features have been left on the DVD, meaning anyone who wants to listen to Walking Tall's commentaries will have to do so while watching the fugly 480p version of the film. Frankly, I don't mind when the video content in a title's supplemental package is relegated to a DVD disc -- especially when the studio has no intention of upgrading its behind-the-scenes material to high definition -- but I'm annoyed that MGM couldn't be bothered to drag-n-drop two additional audio tracks onto the roomy Blu-ray disc itself. Bad form, MGM... bad form.
Audio Commentaries (DVD): Two tracks are available -- an unexpectedly candid solo chat featuring Dwayne Johnson, and an unwieldy bit of back patting between director Kevin Bray, editor Robert Ivison, and director of photography Glen MacPherson (who arrives late). As it stands, the Rock's solid discussion is strong enough to warrant a run through MGM's standard definition gauntlet, but the filmmakers' track should be reserved for those sad souls who think Walking Tall is as timeless as films like The Godfather.
Fight the Good Fight (DVD, 9 minutes): This somewhat transparent EPK digs into the film's stuntwork, fight choreography, and action sequences.
Deleted Scenes (DVD, 3 minutes): A misguided alternate ending and a trio of deletions add very little to the film.
Bloopers (DVD, 1 minute): Bland and lifeless, this brisk collection of outtakes will be forgotten long before their 48-second runtime has run its course.
Species III Sneak Peek (DVD, 5 minutes): Whatever you do, don't miss this introduction to one of the finest horror films of our generation. Sigh... sarcasm tastes bitter in the morning.
Photo Gallery (DVD): More than two dozen production stills round out the standard DVD's underwhelming supplemental package.
Walking Tall isn't for everyone -- certainly not the highbrow intellectuals among you who've made it this far into my review -- but it is the sort of big-dumb-fun actioner I sometimes find myself drawn to. Unfortunately, its Blu baptism is a thoroughly hit-or-miss affair. While MGM's noteworthy DTS-HD Master Audio track adds substantial value to the release, a horribly dated video transfer, a slim set of supplements, and a cumbersome bonus DVD relegates Walking Tall to the ever-mounting Blu-ray bargain bin. If you already own the DVD, picking up this release is a no-brainer. Its AV presentation is flawed, but it still blows away the SD version of the film. That being said, newcomers and more casual fans should probably rent this one before committing to a purchase.
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