The Rock (1996)

A renegade general and his group of U.S. Marines take over Alcatraz and threaten San Francisco Bay with biological weapons. A chemical weapons specialist and the only man to have ever escaped from the Rock attempt to prevent chaos.

Director:

Michael Bay

Writers:

David Weisberg (story), Douglas Cook (story),

Stars:

Sean Connery, Nicolas Cage, Ed Harris

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 7 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sean Connery	...	John Patrick Mason
Nicolas Cage	...	Stanley Goodspeed
Ed Harris	...	General Francis X. Hummel
John Spencer	...	F.B.I. Director Womack
David Morse	...	Major Tom Baxter
William Forsythe	...	Ernest Paxton
Michael Biehn	...	Commander Anderson
Vanessa Marcil	...	Carla Pestalozzi
John C. McGinley	...	Marine Captain Hendrix (as John C. Mc Ginley)
Gregory Sporleder	...	Captain Frye
Tony Todd	...	Captain Darrow
Bokeem Woodbine	...	Sergeant Crisp
Jim Maniaci	...	Private Scarpetti
Greg Collins	...	Private Gamble
Brendan Kelly	...	Private Cox

Storyline

Stanley Goodspeed, who lives in Washington D.C., is a biochemist who works for the FBI. Soon after his fiancée Carla Pestalozzi announces that she is pregnant, Stanley gets a call from FBI director James Womack. Womack tells Stanley that San Francisco's Alcatraz Island has been taken hostage, along with 81 tourists, by marine General Francis Xavier Hummel who, for years, has been protesting the government's refusal to pay benefits to families of war veterans who died during covert military operations. The death of his wife Barbara Hummel on March 9, 1995 drove General Hummel over the edge, and now he's holding hostages in order to get his point across. Stanley is needed because General Hummel has stolen some VX gas warheads and has announced that he will launch them onto San Francisco unless his demands are met. Stanley knows how to disarm the bombs, but Stanley needs someone who knows Alcatraz well enough to get him inside. That man is former British intelligence agent John Patrick ...

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Plot Keywords:

alcatraz | general | fbi | rocket | hostage | 

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Taglines:

From Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer the producers of "Top Gun" and "Crimson Tide", and from Michael Bay, the director of "Bad Boys."

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence, language and a sex scene

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 June 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

La Roca

Filming Locations:

Alcatraz Island, San Francisco Bay, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$70,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

JPY 139,255,900 (Japan) (15 November 1996)

Gross:

JPY 115,615,300 (Japan) (29 November 1996)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hollywood Pictures, Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

136 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The trailer shows several shots of Goodspeed firing an M-4 assault rifle. While Goodspeed does acquire an M-4 during the course of the film, he never actually fires it.

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Goofs

As the F/A-18s roll out of the hanger, the markings under the canopy say U.S. Air Force, but if you look just above the wings you can still see the VFMA markings indicating this is a U.S. Marine Corps jet.

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Quotes

[first lines]
General Hummel: Congressman Weaver and esteemed members of the Special Armed Services Committee, I come before you to protest a grave injustice... It has to stop.

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Connections

Referenced in Dak ging san yan lui (1999)

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Soundtracks

"San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair)"
Written by John Phillips
Performed by Scott McKenzie
Courtesy of Epic Records
By Arrangement with Sony Music Licensing

User Reviews

Too watchable, only the music gets tiresome

Fantastically made. Undoubtedly one of the best action films in the last 20 years, Bruckheimer had a fantastic effect on this as his oh so loud impact fashioned this movie into what it is, quite possibly one of the finest in its' genre. Connery puts in a sturdy performance as does Cage but the show is stolen by the one and only Edd harris. His commanding performance carried the movie through small snippets where boredom may have set in, his emotion in the delivery of his lines left nothing to be desired and the role seemed so fitting for such a man, although his height was comic in comparison with the other marines.

All round great film with good acting with just the right amount of comic relief when it was most required. thumbs up fellas