The Rock

Michael Bay, USA 1996, 135 minutes

Don't be put off by the basic pitch of The Rock. Breaking into Alcatraz may seem like a fairly mundane Die Hard-esque storyline, providing nothing but an overlong stream of violent setpieces and confrontations, ending in a predictable and effects-laden climax. However, this particular action movie has a secret weapon. His name is Sean Connery and his tongue is planted firmly in his cheek.

Dr. Stanley Goodspeed (Cage): "I'm Dr. Stanley Goodspeed."

John Patrick Mason (Connery): "But of course you are."

Indeed the top notch (and predominately male) cast, including Nicholas Cage, Ed Harris and Michael Biehn do a great deal to ensure that The Rock is lifted well above the expectations that it's video sleeve could ever provide.

A group of renegade marine commandos led by war veteran General Francis Hummel (Harris) take over the prison on Alcatraz, holding 81 tourists as hostages. They then threaten to launch 15 rockets filled with deadly nerve gas onto San Francisco from the `impregnable' island prison, unless the government pays out $100 million to the families of American soldiers who died in covert operations. Dr Stanley Goodspeed, an FBI chemical warfare expert with domestic problems and John Mason, the only man to ever escape Alcatraz are called in to save the day, but things don't go quite as smoothly as expected.

The film has everything: Car chases, bomb sequences, double crosses, guns, decades old government conspiracies, blistering fight scenes and some surprisingly comic moments. The witty one-liners flow as thick as the bullets, and you know the script's onto a winner every time Connery says the f-word (in the same way you laugh whenever you hear your grandparents swearing).

This has come to be Don Simpson's last film with production partner Jerry Bruckheimer as Simpson died before the film was completed. The film is actually dedicated to him.

The producers seem to throw every cliché in the book at this film, and they all stick, making the two lead characters truly likeable. They also seem to have taken the time to give the film a more thoughtful edge. Deep inside The Rock there is a bitter anti-war film struggling to get out, contrasting strongly with the lighter aspects of the heroes' escapades.

The director's (Michael Bay of Bad Boys) style can best be described as a five-minute trailer spread over 135 minutes. The action barely pauses with the opening frentic car chase setting the tone for the entire movie. This proves incredibly successful, marking The Rock out as truly original.

The Rock was the first of the summer blockbusters of 1996 but was largely overshadowed by the likes of Mission: Impossible, Twister and Independence Day, but is by far the best of them.

Review by Gordon Johnston
Taken from EUFS Programme 1997-98