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ASIN : 6304711891
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Editorial Reviews
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Between his high-octane debut, Bad Boys, and 1998's wannabe blockbuster Armageddon, hotshot director Michael Bay forged his dubious reputation with this crowd-pleasing action extravaganza. In it a psychotically disgruntled war hero (Ed Harris) seizes the island prison of Alcatraz and threatens to wage chemical warfare against nearby San Francisco unless the government publicly recognizes the men who were killed under Harris's top-secret command. Nicolas Cage plays the biochemist who teams up with the only man ever to have escaped from Alcatraz (Sean Connery) in an attempt to foil Harris's terrorist scheme. As one might expect, what follows is an action-packed barrage of bullets, bodies, and climactic confrontations, replete with enough plot contrivances to give even the most jaded action fan cause for alarm. It's a load of hooey, but the cast is obviously having a grand old time, and there's enough wit to make the recycled action sequences tolerable. If you're ordering this movie on DVD, be careful with the volume knobs on your home-theater sound systems, because The Rock could cause partial hearing loss and structural damage to your home. --Jeff Shannon
Customer Reviews
fun action packed,thrill ride with some depth to the story (4.5/5) (2007-08-18)  i loved this movie,mainly because of the spectacular actionsequences.this is definitely an action packed pop corn flick.there isalso a list of huge names in this one.first,we have Sean Connery,who isusual very good in any movie.then there's Nic Cage,also great as anaction hero.Ed Harris also stars,and is impressive.David Morse is alsoin the cast,and as always is understated yet brilliant.rounding out thecast,we have William Forsythe,and Michael Biehn,two fine but under.rated and under used actors.so there's lots of star power in thismovie,which is great.and their is also a pretty good story.but whatreally propels this movie is the action.yes there are some sequencesthat defy reality,but in this case that didn't bother me.i think mainlybecause of all the great actors and the fairly strong story(for thisgenre,anyway).basically,this is a fun, thrilling movie,with a bit ofdepth.i give "The Rock" a 4.5/5
Connery Elevates the Entire Film (2004-06-15)  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.
Maybe director Michael Bay's action masterpiece (2004-06-14) 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.
A Good B Rated Action Movie (2004-05-11)  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.
Enjoyable movie with great acting (2004-05-09) 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!
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