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One man will stand up for what's right.

With Arnold Schwarzenegger now so cruelly distracted by politics, no longer the steroidal juggernaut of big screen vengeance we once loved so very much, the mantle of Beefy Action Superstar has passed to his one true successor, Dwayne Douglas Johnson, aka wrestling sensation The Rock. And three cheers to him for keeping the spirit of Eighties action movies alive in the Noughties. He’s got the pecs, and the personality. The world needs reminding that no matter the question, violence is always the answer, and The Rock is the man to prove it. Go Dwayne!

Walk tall and carry a large stick. That’s what this movie’s all about. The Rock walks tall and proud, no friend of small town corruption, a chip on his shoulder and great big stick in his hand. Returning home after years of Special Forces’ action, war hero Chris (Dwayne) isn’t at all happy to find the locals in the grip of dodgy casino owner, drug peddler and all-round scumbag Jay (perennial bad guy Neal McDonough). It’s like that scene out of It’s A Wonderful Life, when Jimmy Stewart sees how his idyllic hometown would have tuned out had he never lived, all rundown and seedy. The difference is, Stewart had an angel to set things right. In Walking Tall, The Rock has a four foot 2-by-4, a colossal lump of cedar he uses to teach the bad guys a lesson they’ll never forget, providing of course they survive the experience. They did start it, after all. They cut him up bad and left him for dead. But with a little help from recovering druggie pal Johnny Knoxville and pole-dancing ex-girlfriend Kristen Wilson, he’s gonna take out the trash, Arnie style.

Based on a true story, Walking Tall was filmed once before, in 1973, with Joe Don Baker in the lead. In 1981 it resurfaced as a flop TV show that lasted a pitiful nine episodes. The new version, the only one really worth watching, is similar in tone and setting to Patrick Swayze’s one great contribution to cinema, Road House, and reminds us of an earlier generation of films: pre-CG, pre-PC and gloriously unrepentant. Specifically the collected, modestly budgeted works of Chuck Norris and Cynthia Rothrock, with maybe a dash of Steven Seagal’s trademark sadism - close-ups on breaking arms, thrown in for spice. Seems Chuck and Cynth were always getting into small town scrapes, taking on the baddies because it was the right and more violent thing to do. For them, saving hick villagers was a way of life. Neither had Schwarzenegger’s charisma though, but Dwayne does. He’s the complete action package: all the best qualities of your favourite action stars rolled into one. In a couple of years he’ll be the best known star on the planet, thanks to leading roles in the likes of upcoming blockbusters Doom and Spy Hunter.

As for Walking Tall, few films come as brisk. Directed with real flair and imagination by Kevin Bray, it hurtles its way through a string of familiar action set-ups. There are brawls big and small, lots of shootings, punch ups and general chasing about, extensive property damage, heroic posturing, villainous sneering, a court case for drama and strippers for kicks. It’s also very funny, both intentionally and otherwise, which is exactly the way it should be. The cast takes it seriously – for the most part – so that we don’t have to. It’s the kind of movie that goes very well with beer, pizza and a couple of mates. Not showy in a mega-budget Matrix kind of way, but spirited and violent with lots of comic relief and a towering central performance from The Rock, so big an onscreen presence he should really be called The Mountain.

So what can viewers expect from the DVD for this film?

“ All right, let me think, let me just go through my mental list. I'll tell you what people can expect from the DVD, man, they can expect, obviously a good movie, number one. Like, a solid movie. But number two, there was so much stuff that went on prior to filming in preproduction. But then not only that. What's great is because it was inspired by a true story. I mean, you follow me down to McNary County where the real man himself, the real man who originally walked tall, sheriff Buford Pusser, where he was down there, where he lived. His house where he died, his crash site going down to the courthouse. And going down to McNary County and seeing all these people down there, the people of McNary County. And seeing their faces. Not necessarily seeing their faces because oh, you know, The Rock's in town. But just to see their faces see my face when they saw how genuine I was about the project. It wasn't a vanity project, I wasn't doing this for money. I'm doing this because I was genuinely moved 20 years ago by this story. By this real man who's a legend who has a legacy down there. And I'm moved now, and it's an honor and a privilege to have made the movie, and just to see them and see them understand that from me, man, it's awesome, awesome. ”

Now, were you recruited to do special interviews or commentary, uh, during the making of the film?

“ Sure, yeah, that's another thing, too. You're gonna get my commentary. And, you know, anybody who knows me knows that a lot of times, here's the thing. I always take a lot of pride in DVDs. I did with the Scorpion King, and I did a special with the Rundown. And for sure, I'm going to do it with Walking Tall. I'm not saying the other actors don't, or the directors don't. But what happens is, when you hear the director's cut, and you hear sometimes the actor's cut, and let me tell you something. When you hear the director or the actor typically on these talk over the entire movie, it's usually the most boring shit you have ever heard in your life. You're, like, oh. I was just thinking that the motivation for this scene was to make sure that I found myself. And then I thought I found myself yesterday, but it was actually tomorrow. And it might have been today. But you thought, oh please, it's like, shut up. So for me, it's important to, when you'll hear it, too. When you hear the actor's (LAUGH) version of that, I mean, it's just a serious tone, because it requires seriousness. But at the same time, I mean, it's comedy. ”

And there's a lot of great action in the film, and with DVD you can slow down, you can freeze, you can watch it 100 times. What would you recommend to a viewer who's just picked up the DVD? What scene, or what should they pay attention to? What should they give special importance to?

“ I'm gonna tell you right now exactly what they should give special importance to. Number one, there's going to be a lot of the deleted footage in the DVD. And when I say deleted footage, it's like a lot of times, that's a selling point. It's like, okay, this is the deleted scenes. You’re gonna get to see the deleted scenes only on this DVD. Well there's a reason why they were deleted from the movie. Because they sucked and they're not that good. There’s a reason why they're on the floor. I'm not saying we don't have sucky scenes (LAUGH) in this, we got a couple, don't get me wrong. But the cool thing about is we had to tailor this down so much, we had to tailor this down so much, the violence down so much. I mean, we were pushing X, I'm not kidding. We were pushing X, don't let anybody tell you different. With the violence, getting cut up the way he was cut up. And you wanted to be authentic with it, and keep it real. And he was cut up. He was left for dead. He was stomped in the face, he was thrown in a ditch. I mean, this really happened. So you wanna keep that rawness and that realness. Those are the things that you're not gonna see. You're not gonna see the edited down PG 13 version. You're going to see cutting up and all that. And then here's the things that you should pay close attention to as the DVD watcher. When I finally have to go back, I realize I gotta go back in, I gotta take this four by four and I gotta hand out some asswhuppins to these bad guys who tried to kill me and took my money and gave drugs to my nephew. There's one scene where the bad guy has his arm on the bar. And I take that four by four and I come down with all my might, and I break his arm. And the arm break in the movie, you see the arm break completely in half. And it freaks everybody out in the movie, everybody's, like, oh, man, I can't believe that. The guys are, like, yeah. And the girls are, like, oh. (LAUGH) And it's awesome. When you watch it back on the DVD, I mean, Chris Vaughn continues, I mean, he just, it stops there in the movie. But on the DVD, he continues, and that guy goes down with his arm broken in two. And Chris Vaughn looks at him. This is the guy, again, he tried to kill me, he tried to sell drugs to my family. Well, now you get one more, right across the face for good measure. That's fantastic. I seem like I'm a little demented 'cause I like all this stuff. And another one is, the knee. Where my knee is completely dislocated. It's subluxed out, wham, I put it back in. Another amazing scene. ”

Yeah. Last question really quickly, what about the fans who are going to freeze frame you shirtless? Are you self conscious at all about that?

“ No. I think that's great. No, freeze frame me shirtless, that's cool. Male, female, it doesn't matter. It's all good. (LAUGH) But that was a day, I gotta be honest, where I didn't know that we were going to have my shirt off scene. I was told it was going to be two weeks later. Then they hit me with it, 'cause we had to shoot out of sequence, and, like, okay, today's the day. And I got, like, a nice little three or four pack going, but all, like, up in here, all down in here? Glazed doughnuts. Up in Canada, Tim Horton's is the place. It's not a strip club, it's a doughnut shop. All down in there, glazed doughnuts. ”

The Rock Filmography

So what was it like to work with the Rock? Were you big friends?

“ No, he's a, yeah, probably my biggest friend. No, I met him on the first day we started shooting. And he couldn't have been nicer. And he's funny, you know, there's no pretense about him. If there's kids around he'd sign everyone's autographs, he's just like somebody you grew up with. And I don't know if you've interviewed him yet or not, but he's just a genuinely cool guy. And sometimes when I was interviewed, they thought I said he's generally a cool guy. No, no it's genuinely, 'cause that changes the whole tone of the statement. But no, he's a good guy. ”

Yeah, I hear, he's so gentle...

“ Oh yes he is. Boy is he. ”

Can you give an example.

“ Well, I mean, when he, they premiered this movie in Knoxville, my home town, and in the French Caribbean and I wasn't there and I said my family really wants to meet you and, I had like 25 people, 25 of my hillbilly family there. And they all were just all over The Rock, I was, like, Rock, will you go by and please say hello. He said hello to each and every one and just gave them all the time in the world. And then I called to thank him, but before I called, I checked my machine and told me what an honor it was to meet my family, I was like, you know, it's just a cool thing that he didn't have to do and went above and beyond the call of duty. ”

Were you both fans of each other's genre of television?

“ Yeah, I mean, growing up as kid, I, you know, in the South, you watch wrestling and what not. ”

And he watched Jackass?

“ Yeah, he liked Jackass, so we had a mutual respect for our odd ways of making a living. ”

Do you regret not being able to use the stick?

“ Who are you talking to? Like I didn't touch his stick... ”

Well, you have a kid, doesn't he have a kid?

“ Yeah, yeah, yeah, he can't be gay, he's got a kid. Yeah, he can't play in the American League, he's gotta be a National Leaguer, he's got a kid. ”

How old's your kid?

“ She's eight. Yeah, she's a little girl, her name's Madison. ”

So when is she old enough to see Walking Tall?

“ I don't know, there's a little too much violence in Walking Tall for her. ”

When is she old enough to see Jackass?

“ Not for a while. ”

That would scare her, wouldn't it?

“ Yeah, just turn her off men all together. But, no, we let her watch parts of the show, part where Wee Man dressed up as the Oompa Loompa and certain things like that. But where, stuff where Daddy got hurt or Steve-O was stuffing something somewhere, it's just not appropriate. I mean, we watched every show with her to make sure what she's watching is appropriate. You know, I just wish a lot more parents did that. ”

And did she do any stunts, Jackass stunts? Does she try it at home?

“ No, no, she's real feminine and girlish and she's smarter than Daddy, you know, she's real fun and she's got a good sense of humor and she's always standing behind corners and scaring me when I'm waking up in the morning, stuff like that, but as far as jumping off a ladder into a bush she, you know, she'd rather just sit and watch cartoons or color. Sometimes Daddy should have done that. I should have been just watching cartoons and coloring. ”

Do you pull any Jackass stunts now in your normal life?

“ Yeah, I mean, I kid around with her constantly, like, so much that when someone else tries to joke with her that she just looks at them and goes, do you know what I go through. No, she's a good girl. ”

Yeah, but doing dangerous things just to take Jackass a little... I mean, do you do that?

“ Well, I mean, I just went to Indonesia with Steve-O and Pontius and we went on the island of Kimoto and, you know...Yeah, we hung a goat carcass from a tree, and then, like, 10 or 12 alligators...They were just in a feeding frenzy and they don't make any noise, so you're standing there and you're, like, whoa, turn around because they, they dart at you. And right before we were getting ready to shoot, the director goes, oh, by the way, you're going to be wearing a knight's outfit in this. So I couldn't see or run away and it got a little scary. ”

Are there scenes that you did for this movie that got cut that may end up on DVD?

“ You know, aside from the Rock's and mine love scene? ”

I'll give you good money for the pictures.

“ Pictures of? ”

You and the Rock.

“ Oh yeah, no we can, can we work out a deal. (LAUGHS) Now you boys, you boys be nice to the Rock when he comes in and talk about any about what we talked about. You promise me. ”

Johnny Knoxville Filmography

Walking Tall

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