Customer Reviews

The Rock [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(168)
4 star:		(57)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

This review is for the Criterion Collection DVD edition of the film.

In this director approved Criterion Collection release, we are treated to some excellent materials.

The film follows the story of Francis Hummel (Ed Harris), a retired marine who takes hostages on Alcatraz island. His demand is that the families of soldiers killed in covert operations be given compensation. He treatens to launch VX nerve gas into the city of San Francisco if his demands are not met. A navy SEAL team is sent in to neutralize the threat. Helping out is Stanley Goodspeed (Nicholas Cage), a chemical weapons expert, and John Patrick Mason (Sean Connery), the only man to have escaped from Alcatraz.

The film has great acting and there are some good laughs in the film also. There are many action packed scenes including a car chase through the streets of San Francisco and the cars are often airborne when they go on the hills.

The Criterion DVD has many special features and is on a deouble disc set.

Disc 1 contains the movie with optional audio commentary by Director Michael Bay, Producer Jerry Bruckheimer, Technical advisor Harry Humphries, and actors Nicholas Cage and Ed Harris.

Disc 2 contains a theatrical trailer and TV spots, a video interview with producer Jerry Bruckheimer, a blooper reel, a special about the film's premiere on Alcatraz, scenes from a TV special "Secrets of Alcatraz" that contains interviews with actual former inmates and a history of the island from Native American times to modern times.

There is a special "Dos and Don'ts of Hollywood Gunplay" with the film's technical advisor Harry Humpries and Marshall Teague. This specail contains depictions of errors made in action films regarding the use of guns it emphasises saftey and common mistakes including gun drawing techniques that don't "work" such as the "gangster grab" or the "wyatt earp pull".

There are also 2 features on the films special effects. One is on the dive sequence and the other is on other effects, like the cable car crash. There are also storyboards, production stills and drawings.

This is a must biy for fans of the movie as well a fans of the Criterion Collection.

The Michael Bay - Jerry Bruckheimer formula, like that for the James Bond films, is pretty well set: lots of stuff blowing up, lots of bodies flying through the air, a cast dominated by strong male leads, women are very secondary, a very dramatic music score, lots of foul language and a very right of center political outlook (the military are always the heroes and anyone who questions the heroes' judgment are pansies or some other leftwing radical type). However, the James Bond films always had a sly sense of humor about themselves. Bond might save the American Space program, Fort Knox, Miami and the planet Earth, but there was always an underlying message: This is just for fun folks. The Bay-Bruckheimer films, however, have the delusion that they're actually fighting the battles depicted on screen. There's a lot of overwrought music, emotional scenes between the characters and slow motion closups of the hero(es) walking or running towards their battle with evil. The Rock, in this way, is no different. A team of marines, led by General Frank Hummell (Ed Harris) and disgusted with the way the U.S. Government has neglected the families of those soldiers killed in illegal missions abroad, has taken 81 hostages on Alcatraz, threatening to lauch nerve gas rockets into San Francisco unless reparations are paid to those soldiers' survivors. Heavy, heavy stuff.

However, injected into this serious mix is none other than the best James Bond himself -- Sean Connery. Even in the more serious early Bonds, Connery always managed to convey to the audience that they were supposed to have fun during these films. Bruckheimer and Bay do their best to elevate what is essentially Saturday morning action serial material into Wagnerian opera. But there is Connery, putting all the action into perspective by not taking anyting too seriously and grounding the material by recognizing what it really is: sheer entertainment.

Bay, Bruckheimer and company keep trying to push the fact that Ed Harris' desperate General Hummell is a man of honor, a real hero, etc., etc. Anyone who questions his judgment, like the hapless, simpering Presidential Chief of Staff at the first briefing scene, is shot down as a liberal wimp who would never make the sacrifices that Harris' character made for America and should shut up before one of the real men in the room shoot him (I wonder what George McGovern, Daniel Inouye and other liberals who fought for and were decorated for fighting for their country think of this kind of portrayal). Never mind that the General threatens to kill thousands of San Franciscans with nerve gas. Bay-Bruckheimer have stacked the deck by having the great Ed Harris play General Hummell, giving the character an inherent integrity that can't help but make him sympathetic. Fox News isn't this slanted.

In walks Connery who, in his big confrontation scene with Harris, gets right to the heart of the matter in a few lines. He correctly says that he doesn't see how "you cherish the memory of the dead by killing another million" and sums up Hummell's actions as "an act of lunacy." In one fell swoop, Connery slaps the collective message of the film across the face and shows that terrorism is terrorism, no matter if it's done by decorated U.S. soldiers with a legitimate gripe against the government. It's fairly certain that Connery, an executive producer of the film, purposely torpedoed Bay-Bruckheimer's testosterone toned view of the world.

In The Rock, Connery proves, once again, that an actor with a strong enough presence and a large amount of talent doesn't need to scream and shout to give a great performance. Nicholas Cage, Connery's co-star, bellows and shouts like he's on fire most of the film ("How, in Zeus' BUTTHOLE did you get out of your cell?!?!?!?!?!?" -- god, give it a rest, Nick!). Cage certainly isn't alone -- the rest of the cast buys into Bay-Bruckheimer's "this film is the most important thing you'll ever watch" mentality. However, Sean Connery, with his charm, wit and grace, throws a bucket of cold water over the entire proceedings and reminds everyone that the film is what it is and nothing more: a technically superb action film that exists merely to entertain ... period.

Okay, perhaps I am being very hasty with making that proclamation, since I'll admit I haven't seen any other Michael Bay film other than this one and ARMAGEDDON. Still, I cannot imagine that this much-maligned director has made a better action movie than this one. ARMAGEDDON was an ugly, bloated, flagrantly manipulative piece of action drivel. THE ROCK, on the other hand, may be just as manipulative, but I'll pick this very good pure action flick over ARMAGEDDON any day.

What's good about this particular action movie? Unlike ARMAGEDDON, THE ROCK doesn't attempt to be something more than good action entertainment. There are no synethetic emotions and all that nauseatingly insistent patriotism that seriously marred ARAMGEDDON, despite the fact that the antagonist of this movie is a former general who is looking for restitution for families of soldiers who died in combat under his command. THE ROCK is purely what it is, an action flick. As it turns out, it is a very skillful one at that, with convincing performances from all three leads (Sean Connery, Nicholas Cage, and Ed Harris) and exciting action scenes all around.

As for the plot, no, it is not particularly fresh (with elements borrowed from DIE HARD and even PULP FICTION), but the script adds some interesting elements to the equation, particularly with Ed Harris' General Hummel, who all throughout shows significant sympathetic human dimensions that make him stand out from the usual one-dimensional snarling villain. I liked those touches, as well as the twist at the end, in which the villains of the story seem to shift. It is with that twist that THE ROCK truly does stand apart from the action-movie crowd.

I always love a good action movie, and THE ROCK is definitely one of the good (if not absolutely great) ones. Recommended.

This review has nothing to do with the quality of the movie and everything to do with the quality of the DVD.

The 'widescreen' is really a fullscreen movie with matting (horizontal black bars) added at the top and bottom. What does this mean? MISSING CONTENT. You just cannot enjoy the movie with this presentation.

Sean Connery does an excellent job in The Rock, and Nicolas Cage plays, as usual, another excellent 'eccentric' roll!
It has some good action and humor.

The Rock(released June/96) stars a younger Nicolas Cage,Sean Connery and Ed Harris.Cage can't outdo screen vet Connery nor Ed Harris,but he manages to at least keep up and the results are an intense but pleasing drama that plays itself out on the island of Alcatraz off San Francisco.
The story involves one FBI agent/chemical specialist Stanley Goodspeed(Cage).He is called to come to San Francisco because a disgruntled military general by the name of Hummel(Harris) has taken over the ex prison and is threatening to fire missiles loaded with a deadly chemical into the heart of the city if the government doesn't agree to a ransom.They also must pay off the families of past military operatives that were never compensated because of the secrecy of their missions.In order to gain a foothold onto and into the Rock,the government enlists the help of a notorious ex-SAS man John Mason(Connery).He is the only man to have successfully escaped the prison when it was opened and he supposedly knows the best way in undetected.
Once in Goodspeed is assigned directly with Mason and told to never leave his side.The clock is ticking down and a military team along with Goodspeed and Mason manage to gain entry,but not undetected.Most of the team is slaughtered in an impossible fire fight and that leaves Mason and Goodspeed to do the job on their own.
Hummel is totally flummoxed by the incident and his rancor gets worse.At one point he finally fires one of the missles but at the last minute he changes its course to fall into the water.It is here we find out that he was bluffing to make a grander point but some of the men he leads aren't of the same point of view.They take over the operation and attempt to fire a rocket into the city,but they are foiled by Mason and Goodspeed.When a jet fires on the island it sends Goodspeed flying into the water.This gives him the excuse he needs to tell the authroities that Mason was killed in the incident.The film ends with Goodspeed going to a certain church pew in a certain Kansas Church to obtain microfilm that Mason stashed there that contains many,many classified state secrets.
With a very enjoyable story line and a great cast,this film moves along very well.The only slow parts are Cages charcater set up at the beginning but once Connery and Harris hit the screen,the movie heats up right away.Harris is excellent as the intense General Hummel and Connery plays his character with his usual deft touch.Honourable mentions go out to David Morse as Major Baxter and the highly under rated Tony Todd as Captain Darrow.Todd always plays with a burning intensity I never get tired of seeing.
Techncially this release is over 13 years old now and is showing its age but the picture still looks pretty crisp and clear and it is in its 2:35:1 a/r.The only feature is the trailer.
This early Michael Bay film,done between two of his other better films Bad Boys and Armegeddon,sure has what it takes in the drama department.With two of the screens better actors Ed Harris and Sir Sean Connery on board,it's no wonder this film is a winner.You can't go wrong with those two and Cage does an admirable job trying to keep up to them.A good plot with alot of instense action,this film is solidly recommended.

i loved this movie,mainly because of the spectacular action
sequences.this is definitely an action packed pop corn flick.there is
also a list of huge names in this one.first,we have Sean Connery,who is
usual very good in any movie.then there's Nic Cage,also great as an
action hero.Ed Harris also stars,and is impressive.David Morse is also
in the cast,and as always is understated yet brilliant.rounding out the
cast,we have William Forsythe,and Michael Biehn,two fine but under.
rated and under used actors.so there's lots of star power in this
movie,which is great.and their is also a pretty good story.but what
really propels this movie is the action.yes there are some sequences
that defy reality,but in this case that didn't bother me.i think mainly
because of all the great actors and the fairly strong story(for this
genre,anyway).basically,this is a fun, thrilling movie,with a bit of
depth.i give "The Rock" a 4.5/5

This is a good movie to watch on the superstation or when you have nothing better to do. It isn't a complete letdown, but was definately not as good as Die Hard, or Entrapment. The movie had some really cool action scenes. Ed Harris, Nicholas Cage, and Sean Connery all were really good. There also was a lot of violent battle scenes that were interesting, and the finale at the end is really cool. The movie is good, but if you have high standards for action, pick something else instead.

A lot in 'The Rock' hints at James Bond. There is a British man (named John Mason) who is a master at escaping and fighting; a villain who wants to destroy an entire American city and a lot of over-the-top action scenes. What's more, Mason is played by Sean Connery. But there are some differences with Bond as well: the storyline is (even) more one-dimensional; the girls are absent and, most importantly, Mason is rather the sidekick of the movie's main character: scientist Stanley Goodspeed (Nicholas Cage).

Goodspeed is the real man-with-a-mission here: he tries to keep an evil Vietnam general (Ed Harris) from blowing up San Francisco. The general is hiding in Alcatraz, of all places. However, the only man who knows how to infiltrate Alcatraz is this prisoner John Mason, a man who was arrested years and years ago and once escaped from Alcatraz. Mason is at first reluctant to help, also because nobody tells him exactly who he is fighting against. But soon he and Goodspeed form a good team that fights the bad general till the bitter end.

The story itself is rather flat: once the team has entered Alcatraz (which happens rather early in the film), a hide-and-run-game starts that continues till the very end. The action scenes are spectacular but also somewhat predictable. Still, this isn't a bad movie, thanks to the great acting of Cage and Connery. Both play characters that are anything but one-dimensional: Mason changes from a curmudgeon scoundrel into a virtuous man, and Goodspeed slowly converts from a typically desperate scientist into a brave action hero.

It is the interplay and communication between Mason and Goodspeed that makes this film more than worthwhile, and can make you forget the rather nonsensical story. It's an enjoyable movie to watch, therefore. Oh and, don't miss the end scene!

This is one of the best action adventure movies of the past decade. Michael Bay (Armageddon) lays on the action thick and it's one heck of a ride. Without going into the plot, all I can say is it's one frantic moment after the next: an FBI scoundrel gets dangled from a high rose hotel; there is a wonderfully staged and frenzied car chase through the streets of San Francisco; a whole crew of navy seals is wiped out by the bad guys; Cage and Connery exchange barbs and save each other's lives several times; a harrowing chase in a mining car; planes ready to drop bombs on Alcatraz; mutiny by Ed Harris' underlings; it goes on and on, and it's great. This is how action movies should be made. Connery, Cage and Harris are magnificent; watch for a quick cameo by James Caviezel (Passion of Christ) as one of the pilots.
THIS IS A BIG BIG MOVIE. DON'T MISS IT@!