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A Couple Of WALKING TALL Reviews Kick In The Door!!
Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...
Y’know, I want to see Dwayne Johnson find the right films and really connect with some good material. I think he’s got the goods to be a decent action star, but he’s got to be careful about the films he makes. So far, I haven’t heard any reactions to his WALKING TALL remake at all, so let’s see what these two thought of it. First up...
Hey Harry just got home from a screening of Walking Tall and decided to let you know what I thought, there are some minor spoilers.
Now I'm old enough to remember the original Walking Tall movies about Sherrif Bufford Pusser and I always liked the first one it's a really good tough guy who takes no ones crap ass kicking kind of movie. Anyway I'm sure most people already know this movie has nothing to do with Bufford Pusser, instead they say it's inspired by a true story. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson(all though in this movie he's only billed as The Rock) stars as Chris Vaughn, a former special forces member returning home for the first time in 8 years. When he gets to his hometown which looks like it's located somewhere in the Pacific Northwest, he finds things aren't the same as when he left. The town's economy is now dependent on the local casino and the town is full of drugs and corruption.
After Vaughn is nearly beaten within an inch of his life and his nephew almost OD's on crystal meth he decides to take a stand. He gets himself elected sherrif and sets out to take down the owner of the casino where much of the problems seem to come from. The main villain of the movie is played by Neal McDonough(of NBC's cancelled Boomtown) anyway he is easily one of the most non threatening villains I can remember in the last few years. When he threatens The Rock it seemed to barely register, not for once did I think The Rock or his family were in any danger. Somebody forgot to tell him villains are supposed to be menacing he might as well have been ordering The Rock a pepsi.
As far as The Rock goes I think he has definetly proven that he has leading man qualities but they're wasted in this movie. This movie is such a throw away it's like The Rock had nothing better to do in between shooting The Rundown and whatever his next film is. Also this film hints at some subplots but they're either boring or cliched. Such as why Vaughn's father refuses to pick up a gun or why he disapproved of his son's decision to join the army. It's obviously supposed to make a big deal when he picks up a gun at the end of the movie to defend his family. Except we never learned why he refused to pick up a gun in the first place. Johnny Knoxville stars as The Rock's sidekick and he does add some comic relief but who cares this movie is so forgettable I'm sure by tomorrow it will be an afterthought.
This is the kind of movie that when someone asks you what you thought you just shrug your shoulders because you don't want to say what your really thinking. As I walked out of the theater I heard around 10 different people say "at least it was free" or "it was okay but I wouldnt pay to see it". Also because I guess every leading man needs a leading lady they throw in an ex-girlfriend who know works as a stripper, I mean dancer at the casino. She might as well have been played by a department store mannequin her character is so meaninless and insignificant to the story. By the way she is played by Ashley Scott who some will remember as The Huntress on the WB's travesty of a show Birds of Prey.
To anybody who reads this save your money or go see something else. This movie is not so terrible you'll run out of the theater screaming but you'll just feel like you've wasted your time. On a final note as the end credits start to role there is a dedication to the memory of Bufford Pusser which only proved to me how pointless this psuedo remake truly was.Maybe the next guy’s got more positive things to say about it...
Hello Harry , Swavill here I haven't seen any reviews of this on the site yet so I thought I'd chime in.
I just got back from a screening of the Rocks latest attempt to replace Arnie and Sly as the action hero Du Jour. Walking Tall is a reimagining of a classic movie based on a true story. Before I go any further if there is anyone reading this who has not seen the original stop reading shut off the computer and run don't walk to the video store and rent it . It truly is a classic. Joe Don Baker plays the lead of Sherriff Buford Pusser with just the right amount of border line psychotic "I'm gonna beat the piss outta you with this big Goddamn stick and love every fucking minute of it." The sequels starring Bo Svenson were also quite good.
Any way Dewayne Johnson AKA "THE ROCK" plays a Buford Pusser wannabe named Chris Vaughn. The film is directed by Kevin Bray (All About The Benjamins. ) . The longer I sit here and think about this film the more I hate it. I'm trying to decide if they actually filmed an "R" rated action movie and then left half of it on the cutting room floor or if they only had like one day to shoot the damn thing. When the film was over my reaction was like "thats It?". The movie started at 7:00 when I got to the lobby and checked my watch it was only 8:16. Making this one of the shorter feature films I have ever seen . I am more inclined to think that they cut the shit out of it to get a "PG" rating . It seemed like the film was missing a few unimportant things like plot and character development. Note to director : Frowning a lot is not character development. It reminds me of the first time I saw the original Walking Tall on network television back in the seventies. It was so badly cut that you couldn't follow the plot. This movie has that kind of feel to it . It may play well to people with a very short attention span. It has 3 action sequences and very little else.
Johnny Knoxville plays Vaughns comic relief side kick. and he actually gets a few laughs mostly from getting the shit beat out of him . In fact there were quite a few people laghing through the fight scenes even the ones not meant to be comical. The casino in the movie is supposed to be a sleazy strip joint and gambling parlor complete with peep shows that don't show anything. Thats right folks no nudity. Girls sliding up and down poles fully clothed . Its set in the present but the soundtrack is a few late sixties early seventies tunes . Since its edited like a music video the least they could have done was include some contemporary music. I'm not entirely sure who the target audience is for this thing . But I know it wasn't me. Wait for it to come to cable.
Swavill ... or maybe not. Ouch.
"Moriarty" out.
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Mar 19, 2004 8:38:59 AM CST
Of course AICN is gonna post bad reviews for WT. It's going toe
by gere's assgerbil
Personally, I think they both look like shit. But I'll take a guy kicking ass with a stick over crappy red makeup and bad CGI any day.
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Mar 19, 2004 8:53:32 AM CST
Has he started billing himself as "Dwayne Johnson" yet?
by rev_skarekroe
Because "The Rock" is technically a character he plays. It'd be like Harrison Ford going around making movies as Han Solo. "Han Solo in Raiders of the Lost Ark!" See, it's stupid. sk
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That would be foolish. He's best known as the Rock. As the Rock, he's got a built in audience (wrestling fans) and a built in publicity machine (the WWE). Did Hulk Hogan ever bill himself as Terry Bollea? No. Further, Johnny Knoxville will never bill himself as Phillip Clapp and Vin Diesel will never open a movie as Mark Vincent; stage names are much more marketable. People remember them, they associate the character traits of their roles with the actors themselves, making them real life characters. That's what producers want.
By the way, why doesn't Harry get some of his rich Hollywood friends to loan him some cash to fix this damn site? Just make it work more than half the time. 70% is fine with me, I'm a realist. -
A remake of "Mitchell"! No, really.
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Did ANYONE think this would be anything but crap? If so, turn in your Geek Card now.
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I'm glad this remake sucks; it sounds like all the stupid decisions the remakers made have resulted in a lousy movie. Nothing against Dwayne... it's not like Joe Don Baker was a master actor... but if you're gonna remake this thing, set it in the south, make it gritty and grungy, and not Brad-Pitt-in-Fight-Club glam grungy. It's a redneck ass-whooping movie... no place for xXx-style casino nightclubs... look at the Lucky Spot in the original... that's what you want. In fact, just look at the original and don't remake it at all. Oops, too late. BTW, I like Mori's intros to reviews, where he doesn't tell you ahead of time if they're negative or positive; like "let's see, shall we?" Reminds me of old network TV local monster-movie show hosts back in the day, in a good way.
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The original "Walking Tall" (1973) was a raw, almost sickening tit-for-tat revenge-fest that pitted Joe Don Baker's Buford Pusser, his big wooden club, and his family (dog included) against savage Deep South small town gangsters. Both sides spent the whole movie slaughtering members of the other in a fight to the death. Director Phil Karlson had done one like this way back in the 50's ("Phenix City Story") that was a pulp classic of its own. The low budget "Walking Tall" carved its way through the US state-by-state, picking up cheering fans as it went. This new thing sounds like what we usually get in the OO's: homogenized, PG plastic, with no heart.
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I think the dude has charisma. If he wants to replace Stallone and The Governator, he needs to make movies that have lots of blood and explosions...you know, the good shit. I also agree that he should go by his real name.
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When I saw this was being re-made I was excited. I thought that the Walking Tall story could be altered in several ways that although changing the "history" of it would make it a better watch. Looks like they fucked it up. Surprise surprise
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As someone who lives in the south & sold videos & dvds here for 7 years at a local flea market,I can tell you without question the original is the redneck Citizen Kane.I must have gotten asked for it 20 times a day,minimum. If they had remade it hard R style in the way daddylonghead mentions,it could've been a new hick classic. The hillbilly/wrestling crowd would've came no matter what the rating just to see The Rock plus they would've gotten the $'s from those of us who just enjoy a trashy beatdown flick. With this watered down bullshit,I foresee a lot of pissed off billies going home,grabbing a stick & taking their frustrations out on their cousinsistermamas. Oh,& about Pee Wee's "career path": as I was typing this,it was just announced on CNN that his deal to stay out of jail(how long would he really have lasted,little white boy pervert named Pee Wee,for God's sake) for possessing his "historical art collection" is 3 years probation & he has to register as a sex offender.Wonder if it's one of those deals where he has to go around & tell everyone in the neighborhood who he is & what he's done.Wouldn't that be some surreal shit?
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I have to echo the sentiments of the reveiwer who recommended viewing the original Walking Tall with Joe Don Baker. That film is one of my all-time cult favorites. Technically, it may not be the greatest movie (you can see either the boom mike or the shadow of the boom mike in about 5 scenes), but the great performance by Baker, fast moving plot, fantastic violence (if you're into that thing), and the whole "me against the world" revenge thing makes for a fantastic, emotionally involving hicksploitation movie.
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Mar 19, 2004 10:27:30 PM CST
Rock- Do the smart thing and use your REAL name as your acting n
by zerocorpse
Look, Dwayne; The Rock is a character that you play when you're working in the WWE. Just like Paul Levesque plays Triple H, just like Jim Ross plays "Good ol' J.R.", you know damn well that "The Rock" is a gimmick. A character. PLEASE, for the sake of your career as an actor- which by the way I think you have an AMAZING shot at- have yourself credited in movies as "Dwayne Johnson" and not as a character you play on a TV show. Sure, Roderick changed his last name to Piper and that worked in movies, but "The Rock" is not a name. It's a description. People won't take you seriously as an actor if you keep using this character name in your movies, and what happens if you ever piss off Vince? He bars you from using the name "The Rock" and you're stuck trying to rebuild your movie career with a different name. Call yourself "Rock Johnson" if you want to pay homage, or even "Dwayne Rock", but please- Stop using your wrestler name as a working name in movies! I want you to succeed, and I can't get people to go to your movies because they all have this stupid attitude (courtesy of Hulk Hogan) that wrestlers can't act. I try to tell them that acting is what wrestlers DO for a living, and they don't understand. They don't get that you're basically practicing one of the oldest forms of live theatre known to mankind, and that you all CAN act, to varying degrees (though I won't be watching a Rob Van Dam movie any time soon.) Rock, Rock, Rock... Do the right thing and separate your movie career from your wrestling career. Good luck, man. I know you have it in you... Just be smart.
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Mar 19, 2004 11:12:03 PM CST
The REAL travesty is what they did to Neal Mcdonough.....
by jimmy jazz
To go from play David Mcnorris, one of the most interesting characters in TV history in the late, lamented series Boomtown (FUCK YOU NBC!!!!!!!!) to playing the Snidley Whiplash punching bag to a talent free roid case. God, that has GOT to suck.
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The Rundown comes out on dvd this Tuesday.
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Sheriff Buford Pusser was a real person and "Walking Tall" was based on his actual life. http://www.sheriffbufordpusser.com/history1.htm So we have H'Wood remaking it with completely different settings and characters. How weird is that? It's sort of like someone remaking "the Right Stuff," only changing the names, setting it in the present and still calling it "the Right Stuff." Bizarre...
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Mar 20, 2004 1:37:00 PM CST
I won't really respect him until he becomes Dwayne Johnson. Take
by lenny nero
In SWAT, he was billed as LL Cool J and...what...James Todd Smith? James Taylor Smith? Not sure, but if he keeps it up, I'll remember it, and he'll land some good roles. Go, Dwayne, go.
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This shit looked like it was going to suck from the trailers. Unlike Hellboy
"2" 7/4/04 -
...makes my penis do funny things.
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The Rundown was actually a really cool flick. Thought the Rock was on his way. He's one of the few big athletic guys who don't look stiff as a board onscreen, like the governator or Vin Diesel.
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The Rock should have not chosen to do this film but I would have like to have seen him do another Scorpion King or something more scifi. Also keep the name "The Rock" its what got you out there in the public eye in the first place.
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I had wanted this one to be good. The Marketing dept. did a good job with the trailer so I was going to give it a shot... hmmm maybe not now.
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These reviews are so off...this movie was intense and very very good. And this is coming from someone who hates The Rock AND Johnny Knoxville....
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