The Rock

Nicolas Cage Director: Michael Bay Michael Bay

Overview

The sophomore film from former music video and commercial director Michael Bay, this fast-paced action yarn featured rapid-fire editing, a cutting-edge rock soundtrack and liberal use of shots awash in a haze of burnished hues, all trademarks of producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer. Nicolas Cage stars as Stanley Goodspeed, an FBI chemical weapons expert handed a unique assignment. Francis X. Hummel (Ed Harris), an insane Marine Corps general, has taken 81 tourists hostage on the abandoned island prison of Alcatraz. He and his men are threatening to bomb San Francisco with deadly gas unless $100 million is paid in war reparations to the families of servicemen killed in covert operations. Goodspeed is teamed with former British spy John Patrick Mason (Sean Connery), the only man ever to escape "The Rock," as well as a Navy SEAL team. When their military escorts are ambushed, it's up to odd couple Goodspeed and Mason to break into Alcatraz and stop Hummel. The Rock was the last film produced by Simpson, who died of a drug overdose before the film's release. Solo, his partner Bruckheimer continued making the sort of glossy, frenetic films for which the duo was famed.

Product Details

Release Date:	01/08/2008
UPC:	0786936726732
Original Release:	1996
Rating:	R
Source:	Walt Disney Video
Region Code:	ABC
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby AC-3 Surround Sound]
Time:	2:16:00
Sales rank:	4,838

Special Features

Backstage: ; Audio commentary by director Michael Bay, producer Jerry Bruckheimer, actors Nicolas Cage and Ed Harris, and technical advisor Harry Humphries; The Rock world premiere; Navy SEALs on the range; Hollywood: Humphries & Teague; Special effects for Dive; Action effects: Movie magic; Outtakes; Secrets of Alcatraz; Jerry Bruckheimer interview; Theatrical trailers; TV spots; Movie showcase: Instance access to select movie scenes that showcase the ultimate in high definition picture and sound; Seamless menus

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Nicolas Cage	Stanley Goodspeed
Sean Connery	John Patrick Mason
Ed Harris	Gen. Francis X. Hummel
Michael Biehn	Commander Anderson
William Forsythe	Eddie Paxton
David Morse	Major Tom Baxter
Bokeem Woodbine	Sgt. Crisp
John Spencer	FBI Director Womack
John C. McGinley	Marine Capt. Hendrix
Anthony Clark	Paul the Hotel Barber
Brendan Kelly	Cox
Danny Nucci	Special Agent Shepard
Tony Todd	Capt. Darrow
Todd Louiso	Marvin Isherwood
Sam Whipple	Larry Henderson
Jim Maniaci	Private Scarpetti
Greg Collins	Private Gamble
Steve Harris	Private McCoy
David Bowe	Dr. Ling
Howard Platt	Louis Lindstrom
Willie Garson	Francis Reynolds
John Nathan	FBI Radar Technician
Jack Ford	Military Official
Ralph Peduto	FBI Agent Hunt
Andy Ryan	Lab Technician
Raymond O'Connor	Park Ranger Bob
Tom Towles	Alcatraz Park Ranger
Anthony Guidera	Lead F-18 Pilot
James Caviezel	Rear F-18 Pilot
John Enos	Sea Stallion Pilot
Ken Kells	Spotter
Buck Kartalian	Reverend
Marshall Teague	Seal Reigert
Jack Yates	Hummel Marine "A"
Juan A. Riojas	Hummel Marine "B"
Gregory Sporleder	Capt. Frye
Vanessa Marcil	Carla Pestalozzi
Claire Forlani	Jade Angelou
Ray Cruz	(Uncredited)
Robert M. Anselmo	F.B.I. Radar Technician
Robert Ben Rajab	Alcatraz Park Ranger
Robert C. Besgrove	F.B.I. Agent
Dennis Chalker	Seal Boyer
Steve Decker	Navy Seal
Billy Devlin	Navy Seal
Dando Gaver	Seal Dando
Thomas J. Hageboeck	F.B.I. Agent Cord
Joseph Hawes	Navy Seal
Dwight Hicks	F.B.I. Agent Star
Harry Humphries	Navy Admiral
Joseph Patrick Kelly	Hummel Marine
Raquel Krelle	Agent Margie Wood
John W. Love	Tourist
Jane Sanguinetti Luenell	Tourist
Mike Mahrer	Navy Seal
Leonard McMahan	Cable Car Conductor
Ingo Neuhaus	Marine That Dies
Carlos Sandoval	Navy Seal
Fred Savallon	Chef
Ronald Simmons	Alcatraz Park Ranger
Sean Skelton	Kid on Motorcycle
Hans George Struhar	Valet
Ricky Toms	Navy Seal
Celeste Weaver	Stacy Richards

Technical Credits

Douglas S. Cook

Mark Rosner

David Weisberg

Michael Bay	Director
Pete Antico	Stunts
Ken Bates	Co-producer
John Berger	Set Decoration/Design
Rosemary Brandenberg	Set Decoration/Design
Jerry Bruckheimer	Producer
Sean Connery	Executive Producer
Douglas S. Cook	Original Story,Screenwriter
Cosmas Demetriou	Set Decoration/Design
Richard Francis-Bruce	Editor
Pat Gerhardt	Makeup
Nick Glennie-Smith	Score Composer,Songwriter
Jerry Grandey	Asst. Director
Harry Gregson-Williams	Score Composer
James M. Halty	Stunts
Billy Hopkins	Casting
Dream Quest Images	Special Effects
Heidi Levitt	Casting
Edward Mcavoy	Art Director
Michael White	Production Designer
George Parra	Asst. Director
Craig Pinckes	Asst. Director
Bobbie Read	Costumes/Costume Designer
Lauren Rodriguez	Special Effects
Mark Rosner	Original Story,Screenwriter
John Schwartzman	Cinematographer
Don Simpson	Producer
Louis A. Stroller	Executive Producer
William Stuart	Executive Producer
Barry H. Waldman	Associate Producer
David Weisberg	Original Story,Screenwriter
Keith A. Wester	Sound/Sound Designer
Hans Zimmer	Score Composer

Scene Index

Disc #1 -- Rock
1. Logos
2. Hummel's Promise
3. The Raid
4. October 1, 0900 Hours
5. Ranger Bob's Last Tour
6. In Harm's Way
7. Peach-Flavored Catechism
8. Ghosts of Alcatraz
9. Alcibiades of Alcatraz
10. It's All in the Wrists
11. An E-Ticket
12. 32 Stenson Ave
13. Knowing the System
14. Justice
15. Fifteen Hours to Deadline
16. Mason's Old Flame
17. The Trembler
18. The Hanged Man
19. Need to Know
20. Rodent Problem
21. The Morgue
22. Off the Rack
23. A Vicious Patriotism
24. Zeus's Butthole
25. The Hour Is Approaching
26. Glass or Plastic
27. Aborted
28. Back to the Stone Age
29. Rocket Man
30. Green Smoke
31. Forget Maui
32. Fort Walton, Kansas, End Credits

Menu

Disc #1 -- Rock
   Scene Selections

Editorial Reviews

Top-drawer actors, super-slick production values, and dynamic action sequences dress up this wildly implausible but breathlessly paced thriller. When renegade Marine general Ed Harris seizes control of the old prison on Alcatraz Island and threatens the San Francisco Bay Area with virus-carrying missiles, FBI biochemical expert Nicolas Cage is dispatched with a team of Navy SEALs to thwart the operation. His guide: rogue British agent Sean Connery, the only man ever to escape from Alcatraz. In his second collaboration with popcorn-movie producer Jerry Bruckheimer, former music-video director Michael Bay (Armageddon) employs kinetic visuals to divert audience attention from script improbabilities, and his viscerally exciting action set pieces are bolstered by fine performances from Cage, Connery, and especially Harris, who brings real depth to his villainous character. Criterion's double-disc DVD Special Edition illuminates every aspect of The Rock's production, incorporating commentaries by Bay, Bruckheimer, Cage, and Harris into a comprehensive package that also offers featurettes on the film's stunt work and special effects. Additional supplements include storyboards, production-design sketches, on-set stills, outtakes, trailers, TV spots, excerpts from a documentary on "The Rock" and its prison, and even footage taken at the film's world premiere on Alcatraz. Add to that Criterion's newly remastered digital transfer, and you've got one of the best looking DVDs released to date.

Barnes & Noble - Ed Hulse

Frenetically edited and paced like a bulldozer descending a mountain, The Rock felt like an upping of the ante for Hollywood action films the summer of its release, and time has only confirmed that notion. While its ability to induce headaches is just one of the film's flaws, it also points to what sets The Rock and successive Jerry Bruckheimer action films apart: it may not have substance, but it does have a philosophy. Dispensing with the standard setup/payoff formula of action filmmaking, Bruckheimer's stable of video-trained directors make every shot look like a payoff, as if they're all taken from the climax of the film. Of course, this also means that after a while -- for all but the most attention span-deprived viewers -- no shot works as a payoff. The film is thrilling for the few minutes it takes to become numbing. Of course, the general vapidity of Bruckheimer's films doesn't help and, in this, The Rock proves no exception. Sean Connery seems bored in most scenes, while Nicolas Cage's familiar histrionics do little to ground the already out-of-control proceedings. Only Ed Harris, as a reluctant villain, lends any gravity. Historically significant without being all that interesting in itself, The Rock's financial success insured that its dubious influence would be felt for years to come.

All Movie Guide

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