The Rock

"Alcatraz. Only one man has ever broken out. Now five million lives depend on two men breaking in."

1996 2h 17m EN

👍

7.2

SOLID

★7.2TMDB · 5,416

ActionAdventureThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

When vengeful General Francis X. Hummel seizes control of Alcatraz Island and threatens to launch missiles loaded with deadly chemical weapons into San Francisco, only a young FBI chemical weapons expert and notorious Federal prisoner have the skills to penetrate the impregnable island fortress and take him down.

“Alcatraz. Only one man has ever broken out. Now five million lives depend on two men breaking in.”

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Cast

Sean Connery
John Patrick Mason
Nicolas Cage
Dr. Stanley Goodspeed
Ed Harris
Brigadier General Francis X. Hummel, USMC
John Spencer
FBI Director James Womack
David Morse
Major Tom Baxter
William Forsythe
Special Agent Ernest Paxton
Michael Biehn
Commander Charles Anderson
Vanessa Marcil
Carla Pestalozzi

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Michael Bay
Writers: David Weisberg, Douglas S. Cook, Mark Rosner
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Mid-budget at $75M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 4.5× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

30 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Michael Bay, shot by John Schwartzman. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Nick Glennie-Smith. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Richard Francis-Bruce shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage and Ed Harris carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Alcatraz. Only one man has ever broken out. Now five million lives depend on two men breaking in.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Michael Bay directs. John Schwartzman behind the camera. Nick Glennie-Smith scores. Richard Francis-Bruce cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Mid-budget at $75M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.
2Made its money back 4.5× over at the box office.
330 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
4Directed by Michael Bay, shot by John Schwartzman. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Nick Glennie-Smith. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Richard Francis-Bruce shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage and Ed Harris carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "Alcatraz. Only one man has ever broken out. Now five million lives depend on two men breaking in.".
9IMDB entry: tt0117500 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 27 themes, including "war veteran", "san francisco, california", "fbi", "mercenary".
11Released under 36 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: John Schwartzman
Original score: Nick Glennie-Smith
Editing: Richard Francis-Bruce
Production design: Michael White
Costume design: Bobbie Read
VFX supervisor: Hoyt Yeatman
Sound: Kevin O'Connell
Stunt coordinator: Kenny Bates
Runtime: 137 min · 2h 17m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $75,000,000
Box office: $335,062,621
Return: 447% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: The Rock (1996)

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Bryan Nguyen2018-01-13
Alcatraz. Only one man has ever broken out. Now five million lives depend on two men breaking in. Michael Bay's best picture. The sophomore effort from director Michael Bay, this $75 million dollar action film was released nationwide on June 7, 1996 - eventually earning $335 million. The particularly great R-rated premise sees a mild-mannered chemist teaming up with a resourceful ex-con who must infiltrate Alcatraz prison after a rogue group of military men, led by a renegade general, threaten a nerve-gas attack. Constantly in over his head, and never one to use profane language, Nicholas Cage is excellent as the quirky chemist - often resorting to quips and jokes in lieu of violence. In a character that feels like a sort of spiritual successor to his portrayal of James Bond, Sean Connery is the patient but skilled MI6 operative. After 30-years of false imprisonment, he's recruited from jail to help the feds sneak onto Alcatraz - as he's the only person to have successfully escaped from the prison facility decades earlier. When he's required to finally put his knowledge of the defunct prison to the test, the disbelief and amazement from his military companions is quite amusing. The unlikely pairing of these two is honestly the best part of the film. Cage's zany behavior is a perfect foil for Connery's relaxed confidence. The British ex-con chastises his younger counterpart on 'doing his best'. "Your'best'? Losers always whine about their best. Winners go home and -bang- the prom queen." After a quick beat and a sly grin, Nicholas responds, "Carla was the prom queen." This isn't just a funny encapsulation of their relationship, but one of my all-time favorite exchanges in any action movie. Ed Harris is phenomenal as the quote, "bad guy" - a disillusioned Marine General whose terrorist actions are only to secure reparations for his forgotten and fallen soldiers. It's honestly a perfectly understandable, and dare I say noble position; a man willing to commit treason and risk his life to help the families of his former troops. Which is why the government's handling, and ultimate dismissal of his ransom request is so perplexing and frustrating. Before ordering a massive aerial kill strike on the entire island, the President gives an impassioned speech (seemingly to an empty Oval Office) about his 'impossible decision' - but this only highlights the aforementioned plot hole. Harris only asked for $100 million dollars... why not just give him the money? The supporting cast is stacked with even more excellent talent; David Morse, William Forsythe, Michael Beihn, Xander Berkeley, and Phillip Baker Hall. Of particular note however is John Spencer - who does fantastic work as a conflicted FBI director who reluctantly recruits Connery, Tony Todd who has one of the best on-screen deaths ever, and John C. McGinley whose unrealistic performance as an over-eager Marine makes him seem miscast. A trio of composers, including Hans Zimmer, bring some interesting and appropriate ideas to the soundtrack, utilizing synthesized themes and electric guitars. It feels reminiscent of the excellent score from the "Rainbow Six" video game that came out two years later. While this feature never quite breaks the mold, it definitely represents the best possible version of your stereotypical mid-90s action film. For a rewatchable thrill-ride with plenty of excitement and memorable characters, look no further. "The Rock" is explosive fun that never takes itself too seriously. Perhaps Bay's best film, I thought it was AWESOME.
John Chard2019-08-25
★ 8/10
Welcome to The Rock. The Rock is directed by Michael Bay and written by David Weisberg, Douglas Cook & Mark Rosner. It stars Sean Connery, Nicolas Cage, Ed Harris, David Morse, William Forsythe & Michael Biehn. When a highly decorated army general (Harris) decides that he's had enough of his men dying and not getting the credit they deserve, he commandeers Alcatraz prison with a crack unit of Mercs. The plan is to hold the government to ransom or he will unleash from the prison biological rockets to bring Armageddon down upon America. Enter chemical weapons expert Dr. Stanley Goodspeed (Cage), who is forced to team up with the only man ever to escape Alcatraz - the mysteriously incarcerated in secret John Patrick Mason (Connery) - to break into the Rock and thwart the plans of the Mercs. So Cage as a chemistry expert who possible holds the fate of the world in his shaky hands? Connery, aged 66, as a tough prison escapee sporting a "Grunge" haircut? And Ed Harris, surely a bastion of patriotic Americana, turning bad and wanting to unleash hell on the Stars & Stripes? To expect nothing else but a berserker Michael Bayhem picture based on these facts is surely folly. He certainly has a varied CV does Bay, as do the leading actors on show here, but when on form, with writers prepared to put blood into the characters, Bay can deliver high octane entertainment if coupled with a cast clearly in tune with the material. Such is the case here. It's no award winner, naturally, but it does have some political smarts within the script. And if you want explosions, shoot outs and quips aplenty? Then this really will serve you well for a couple of hours. 7.5/10
Gimly2020-07-26
★ 6/10
The two lead characters' impact on the events of the move are pretty negligible, everyone and everything in it is laughably stupid, and you can see here begin to blossom the stereotypes that Michael Bay would go on you ruin everything he ever touched with, but I still kind of like The Rock. Maybe it's just in comparison to all of Bay's other films, or maybe it's because it's the only one of his works I saw when I was still single-digit aged, but I do enjoy it. I'm not willing to defend it, just to re-watch it once a decade or so. Final rating:★★★ - I liked it. Would personally recommend you give it a go.