The Rock (1996)

A mild-mannered chemist and an ex-con must lead the counterstrike when a rogue group of military men, led by a renegade general, threaten a nerve gas attack from Alcatraz against San Francisco.

Director:

Michael Bay

Writers:

David Weisberg (story), Douglas Cook (story) (as Douglas S. Cook)

Stars:

Sean Connery, Nicolas Cage, Ed Harris

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 9 wins & 8 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 F.B.I. Soon after his fiancée Carla Pestalozzi announces that she is pregnant, Stanley gets a call from F.B.I. Director James Womack. Womack tells Stanley that San Francisco's Alcatraz Island has been taken hostage, along with eighty-one 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 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 he 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:

two word title | time bomb | colored smoke | aircraft | warplane | 

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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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ed Harris (Hummel), David Morse (Baxter), and Gregory Sporleder (Frye), all appeared in movies starring Tom Hanks: Sporleder in "A League of Their Own" (1992), Harris in "Apollo 13" (1995), and Morse in "The Green Mile" (1999).

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Goofs

(at around 2h 10 mins) The final scene is located in Kansas. However, when Carla and Stanley leave the church, they drive towards mountains in the distance. There are no mountains in Kansas.

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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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Alternate Versions

Some non/USA releases (Australia, Norwegian) have been cut from the original Usa R-rated version. The shower room gunfight between Hummel and Anderson's men has a number of deleted shots. The scene involving the fight between Goodspeed and Mason and Hummel's men on the underground cable car has been edited. Also, the final shot of Captain Darrow impailed on the post has been edited out.

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Connections

Featured in Bad Movie Beatdown: Mercenary for Justice (2011)

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Soundtracks

Rocket Man
Written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin
Performed by Elton John
Courtesy of Mercury Records, Ltd.
By Arrangement with PolyGram Film & TV Licensing

User Reviews

Review

The Rock was an awesome film to see in the cinema. Over the top action, amasing driving scenes, an all round enjoyable film. Excellent casting of Sean Connery and Nicholas Cage, interesting idea, ex-military take tour hostage and threaten chemical warfare. But it's all in a days work for the FBI. Scientist risks life and limb to rescue city while pregnant girlfriend looks on. Sean Connery' character is portrayed as a hard ex SAS spy and Nicholas Cage is the mild mannered Scientist/Chemical Expert. Good film, not too taxing on the brain and overall, very enjoyable! A must see for Action Fans.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 June 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Rock

Filming Locations:

New Russian Hill Market - 1198 Pacific Avenue, San Francisco, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$75,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$25,069,525, 9 June 1996

Gross USA:

$134,069,511

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$335,062,621

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hollywood Pictures, Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

136 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1