The Rock

Wow! The Rock is one of the most rewatchable films I own. I've watched it countlessly, and it seems to have the quick, energizing effect of a good song that we love to play again and again. The dialogue is at times funny, always fresh, and sometimes intelligent. This film shines as an actioner that actually has a great, plausible plot, with some characters we wouldn't mind following on a journey. (I really liked Sean Connery's character; maybe a sequel with "Mr.John Mason"?)

And then there are the heavyweights in acting, a rarity in action films. Ed Harris, Sean Connery, Nic Cage, and a few others are so talented in reading their lines in a unique way, one can see that these are truly great actors. I loved Ed Harris' character, since it was not the standard black & white type, but a complex person. Who would've thought I'd be saying "complex" in an actioner? Well, that's how The Rock surprises you, like a vicious left hook to the face. Oh yeah, the Hans Zimmer score is a knockout, as always.

In an attempt to get the US Government to pay for soldiers lost on secret missions General Hummel and a group of soldiers steal biological weapons and take control of Alcatraz, threatening to launch on San Francisco if their demands are not met. Running out of options the FBI take Mason out of prison as he has a knowledge of the island, being the only man to have escaped from there. Mason and bio-chemical expert Goodspeed join a group of Navy SEALS to enter the island and destroy the weapons before they can be used. However the death of the whole SEAL unit leaves Mason and Goodspeed to use stealth to avoid the terrorists and destroy the weapons.

This is nothing more than a big summer blockbuster that relies on plenty of big bangs to get it's audience. It relies on the usual Die Hard set-up of "one man (2 men!) take on heavily armed group in set location". However here the plot is a little iffy - Hummel isn't a terrorist, in fact his stance is almost sympathetic. This makes it all a little funny morally but the film turns it round at one point to go back into traditional good guy/bad guy roles so that the audience don't start to think too much! The action is very good - plenty of bangs for your buck! Even though it's all pretty OTT (like the car chase at the start) the mood of the film is such that it's all a great deal of fun.

Connery is really good in the lead and is funny and rather dashing! Cage's character is not as good and is too weedy at the start and some of his dialogue is grating. The support cast is deep and really good - usually big budget action movies have some well known support actors but this has tonnes! Check the names - Ed Harris, David Morse, John Spencer, William Forsythe, Michael Biehn, John C. McGinley, Bokeem Woodbine - the list goes on!

Overall, if you hate big, dumb summer movies then you'll hate this. I'm split down the middle but the sheer sense of fun that this brings combined with a great cast makes this a winner in my book!

The Rock is one of my all-time favorite suspense - thrillers. Believability - almost always a problem for this sort of film - is enhanced by a very compelling script, sets, and powerful performances by masters Sean Connery and Ed Harris. Like a good work of fiction, it's the quality of the telling that makes it believable, not the likelihood that it might happen. There are no problems with the way this story is told. The acting, editing, directing and visuals do not slip at all. Nick Cage - in a performance which approaches his best work - adds a bit of campiness and humor to this explosive mixture, and John Spencer, Tony Todd, David Morse, and Michael Biehn all contribute substantially to an exciting, fast-paced and emotionally draining film. Any avid movie-goer will be hard pressed to find a single actor in this sizable cast who has not either become a major star or a fine character actor over the last nine years.

The plot takes a number of twists and turns along the road, so to discuss almost any aspect of it in detail would require at least mild spoilers. None of the plot twists are unbelievable if you are willing to accept the basic premise. The story begins with Ed Harris - a Viet Nam war hero and field leader who is now a general and has become fed up with the abandonment of covert forces operatives by the US government. To get what he wants, he recruits some of the best officers under his command to take control of and hold Alcatraz Island, holding 70-some-odd civilians hostage and aiming four missiles loaded with deadly Sarin gas directly at the heart of San Francisco.

Biehn heads an elite Navy SEAL team assigned to infiltrate and disable Harris' capabilities. Cage joins him as the FBI biochemical specialist assigned the task of disarming the warheads, and the only man who can get them in to do their respective jobs is an aging British intelligence agent who has been incarcerated for 30 years or so by the government that now needs his help. Connery's John Mason escaped from Alcatraz during his incarceration, and for all intents and purpose - is a much rougher, more real James Bond character without the gadgets and the comic-book super-villains. All of the above is established in the first ten minutes of the film and the next two hours is a wild ride, with some very tense moments and some very intense performances.

I'm sure a lot of people will pick this film apart for the occasional unbelievable scene, etc, but it's worth while to remember - as my spouse is always telling me - "its only a movie".

If you want reality, take a walk outside or go to work!

There are no discernible powerful political messages in this film. While it must be acknowledged that the USA does sometimes treat members of its armed forces in an unappreciative and cavalier manner, this film does not really drive this point home in the way that, for example, Saving Private Ryan did. While it is also true that the US government does occasionally cover-up its own illegal activities, or soft-pedal them with propagandistic white lies, these issues are not really the subject of this film. This is made abundantly clear by the oddly out-of-place references to Roswell, New Mexico. The writers either did not want to dignify any perceived political messages by bringing up real-world transgressions and cover-ups - many of which are far more sinister than the secret development of stealth planes. This film is pure entertainment and - at that - a work of art. Treat it as such and you might just have a good time with it.

The 90s was home to a slew of great raw, uncut, action flicks that shot straight for the rated "R," despite the guarantee that it would make less money than the money-friendly PG-13 rating. While Die Hard and Lethal Weapon may have jump-started this craze, the peak of this was during the next decade, when we saw the likes of Terminator 2, Speed, Face-Off, Con Air, Die Hard: With a Vengeance, The Matrix, Bad Boys, Point Break, Under Siege, True Lies, Desperado, among others (Quite a list I accumulated, eh?). The 90s was certainly a good decade for action fans, but few movies of this genre can quite top the powerful, gripping, and edge-of-your seat action blockbuster The Rock. The name alone sounds powerful, and behind it is two hours of incredible special effects, superb acting, great action set pieces, and good dosage of writing, and Michael Bay on top of his game.

Few action movies carries as much morality and questionable circumstances as this one. In The Rock we follow a furious general (Ed Harris) leading a group of Marines to take control of Alcatraz Island (along with tourist hostages), a location that used to house criminals. Accompanying them are over a dozen missiles that can spell tens of thousands of innocent lives with every blast. However, he isn't just a trigger-happy man gone crazy, he is a man seeking justice for the dozens of lives he saw taken from warfare without compensation. A villain with a "moral" agenda, yikes. The only hope for the United States is the only man that has ever broken out of that prison (Sean Connery) and a chemical "superfreak" (Nicholas Cage). With the odds obviously against them, the Pentagon is one order away from destroying the entire location regardless of the innocent lives located in the island. Mindless this movie is not, as the stakes are high, there is always a risk of an innocent life going under, and our heroes rarely ever have the scenario under control. It's just enough to make you squeal in frustration.

With the tension remaining edgy and the solution never being oh-so-close, we can thank the writers for delivering a slam-bang storyline full of great one-liners, likable characters, and a villain that isn't as simple to figure out as the average evildoer. The writing staff ranges from the writer of the third Die Hard to even Tarantino. A major reason for the film's quality is the casting. Sean Connery and Ed Harris are excellent in their roles and Nicholas Cage albeit a few lines does a good job. The supporting staff helps as well, as we see the likes of David Morse, John Spencer, and Cage's love interest Vanessa Marcil.

Unlike Michael Bay's latest films, which run from mediocre to just plain bad, he blends plenty of drama and suspense along with action here. As a matter of fact, the first half of the movie is all suspense, as the situation is developed, and the risks are presented. Disregarding a superb car chase, there isn't much exploding in the first 80 minutes. However, once the protagonists enter the Rock, it all goes on the uphill action swing. We get brutal fights, brutal shootouts, near-misses, double-crosses, triple-crosses, chases, and enough explosions for action fans to sink their teeth into. The funny thing, the two main actors at the time weren't expected to be in such action. Connery was aging, and Nicholas Cage just didn't have the look or the attitude for it. Fortunately for us, they proved us dead wrong.

Bottom Line: If you want to see a true action classic, The Rock is a great example. Rising above the average action movie and above the decent ones as well, this is by far Michael Bay's best work and one of the signature flicks of the 90s. Combining tension you can cut with a steak knife with thrills, chills, and plenty of carnage, The Rock has aged well and continues to influence the work of modern action movies and the work of Michael Bay as well. Grab some popcorn and enjoy this ruthlessly clever movie. Recommend to the max, as long as you don't mind a bit of blood spewing onto the screen. They just don't make em' like they used to.

Renegade general Hummel (Ed Harris) has stolen 15 VX rockets, taken over Alcatraz, taken 81 hostages, and threatens to strike San Francisco unless The Pentagon pays him $100M from their slush funds. He intends to use the money to pay the families of the soldiers under his command who the government has disavowed over the years. In order to disarm the rockets, the FBI is sending their chemical weapons expert Stanley Goodspeed (Nicolas Cage). And they're digging up a mysterious British agent prisoner John Mason (Sean Connery) who once escaped from Alcatraz. When the team sent in to take on Hummel is decimated, Goodspeed and Mason must disarm the rockets on their own.

This is Michael Bay audacity to bring his heart pumping action style to bear. The action is big time bombastic joy. And for the best effect, he allows the actors to have fun in between the action. Nicolas Cage brings a lot of his manic energy and a bit of his crazy humor. And Sean Connery brings the Bond gravitas to the action. Plus the Cage Connery duo is a lot of fun, and they have great chemistry together. This is the best kind of popcorn movie-making.