The Rock | |
---|---|
![]() Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Michael Bay |
Screenplay by |
|
Story by |
|
Produced by | |
Starring | |
Cinematography | John Schwartzman |
Edited by | Richard Francis-Bruce Steven Weisberg |
Music by | |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | Buena Vista Pictures Distribution |
Release date |
|
Running time | 136 minutes [1] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $75 million [2] |
Box office | $335.6 million [2] |
The Rock is a 1996 American action thriller film directed by Michael Bay, produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, and written by David Weisberg, Douglas S. Cook and Mark Rosner. It stars Sean Connery, Nicolas Cage and Ed Harris, with supporting roles played by Michael Biehn, William Forsythe, David Morse, and John Spencer.
In the film, the Pentagon assigns a team comprising an FBI chemist and a former SAS captain with a team of SEALs to break into Alcatraz, where a rogue general and a rogue group of Force Recon Marines have seized all the tourists on the island and have threatened to launch rockets filled with nerve gas upon San Francisco unless the U.S. government pays $100 million to the next-of-kin of 83 men who were killed on missions that the general led and that the Pentagon denied.
The Rock was dedicated to the memory of Simpson, [3] who died five months before its release. The film was released by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution on June 7, 1996. It received positive reviews from critics, and was nominated for Best Sound at the 69th Academy Awards. It was also a financial success, earning box-office receipts of over $335 million against a production budget of $75 million, and became the fourth highest-grossing film of 1996. It was remade in India as Qayamat: City Under Threat . [4] [5]
Disillusioned U.S. Brigadier General Francis Hummel and his second-in-command Major Tom Baxter lead a group of rogue Force Recon Marines in stealing fifteen M55 rockets filled with VX poison gas, a potent chemical weapon capable of killing any living organism in seconds. The next day, Hummel and his men seize control of Alcatraz Island, taking the tourists and guards hostage. He threatens to launch the rockets at San Francisco unless the U.S. government pays him $100 million from a covert slush fund, which he will distribute to his men and the families of the Marines who died on covert missions under his command, but whose sacrifices were not compensated, honored, or acknowledged.
The Department of Defense and the FBI plot to retake the island using a U.S. Navy SEAL team led by Commander Anderson, FBI chemical weapons specialist Dr. Stanley Goodspeed, and elderly British former SAS captain John Mason. The only man to escape Alcatraz, Mason has been imprisoned for three decades, disavowed by the British government, and his existence concealed by the FBI. FBI Director James Womack deceives Mason with the offer of a pardon and acquiesces to his request to move to a hotel, from which Mason escapes. After Mason leads the FBI on a destructive car chase through San Francisco, Goodspeed finds him meeting with his estranged daughter Jade. As the FBI arrives, Mason expresses his regret to her for not being in her life. At the mission command center, Mason negotiates to join the team on Alcatraz, while Goodspeed fails to convince his pregnant girlfriend Carla not to travel to San Francisco.
The team infiltrates Alcatraz, but Hummel's men are alerted to their presence and ambush them in a shower room. Hummel tries to convince Anderson to surrender, but his new allies, Captains Darrow and Frye, deliberately cause a shootout which kills Anderson's team, except for Mason and Goodspeed who remain undetected. Believing the mission a failure, Mason prepares to leave until Goodspeed reveals the truth about the VX, which also threatens Jade.
Mason and Goodspeed work together to disable twelve rockets and kill several Marines. After Hummel threatens to execute a hostage, Mason surrenders to stall him while Goodspeed disables another rocket before also being captured. After Mason frees himself and Goodspeed, he reveals that he was an MI6 operative tasked with stealing a microfilm created by J. Edgar Hoover containing secrets of high profile global figures and classified U.S. information, including the Roswell incident. Mason refused to reveal the microfilm's location after being captured, knowing he would be killed, and was imprisoned without trial. Having assessed Hummel as an honorable soldier who will not kill innocents, Mason leaves, but returns to save a captured Goodspeed, not wanting his child to grow up without a father.
The ransom deadline passes, leading Darrow and Frye to pressure Hummel into firing a rocket, but he redirects it to detonate harmlessly in the sea. Hummel explains the rockets were a bluff and he never intended to kill anyone, declaring the mission over. Realizing they will not be paid, Darrow and Frye kill Baxter and mortally wound Hummel, who tells Goodspeed the location of the last rocket before dying. Meanwhile, an airstrike is initiated to blanket Alcatraz with experimental thermite plasma bombs, which will neutralize the gas and incinerate everyone on the island. Goodspeed and Mason kill the remaining Marines, including Darrow and Frye, before signaling to abort the attack, but not before one plane drops its bombs. The blast throws Goodspeed into the bay, but Mason saves him.
Goodspeed remotely confirms the mission's success, but claims that Mason was vaporized in the blast. The pair part ways amicably after Mason recommends Goodspeed visit a church in Fort Walton, Kansas. Sometime later, the now-married Goodspeed and Carla hastily drive away from the church after recovering the microfilm. Goodspeed asks Carla if she wants to know who really killed JFK.
Uncredited members of the cast include Stuart Wilson as General Al Kramer; Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, [6] [7] David Marshall Grant as White House Chief of Staff Hayden Sinclair, [8] [7] Philip Baker Hall as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, [6] [7] Xander Berkeley as FBI technician Lonner, [7] and Stanley Anderson as the President of the United States. [7] [9]
Other actors in smaller roles include Todd Louiso as FBI agent Marvin Isherwood, David Bowe as Dr. Ling, Howard Platt as Louis Lindstrom, John Laughlin as General Peterson, Harry Humphries as Admiral Johansson, Willie Garson as Francis Reynolds, Anthony Clark as Paul the hairdresser, Tom Towles as an Alcatraz park ranger, and Anthony Guidera and Jim Caviezel as F-18 pilots.
Members of Hummel's USMC unit are played by Raymond Cruz (uncredited) as Sergeant Rojas, [7] [10] Jim Maniaci as Private Scarpetti, Greg Collins as Private Gamble, Brendan Kelly as Private Cox, and Steve Harris as Private McCoy. Dennis Chalker (Dando) and Marshall R. Teague (Reigert) play members of Anderson’s SEAL team.
Jonathan Hensleigh participated in writing the script, which became the subject of a dispute with the Writers Guild of America. The spec script (by David Weisberg and Douglas Cook) was reworked by several writers, but other than the original team, Mark Rosner was the only one granted official credit by guild arbitration. The rule is that the credited writing team must contribute 50% of the final script (effectively limiting credits to the screenplay's initial authors, plus one re-write team). Despite his work on the script, Hensleigh was not credited in the film. Michael Bay wrote an open letter of protest, in which he criticized the arbitration procedure as a "sham" and a "travesty". He said Hensleigh had worked closely with him on the movie and should have received screen credit. [11]
Quentin Tarantino and Aaron Sorkin were also uncredited script doctors. [12]
British screenwriting team Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais were brought in at Connery's request to rewrite his lines, but ended up altering much of the film's dialogue. [13]
At one point, Arnold Schwarzenegger was to have played the role of Goodspeed. Schwarzenegger turned the role down because he did not like the script. [14]
Most of the film was shot on location in the Alcatraz Prison on Alcatraz Island. As it is governed by the National Park Service, it was not possible to close down Alcatraz, and much of the filming had to accommodate tour parties milling around. [15] The scene in which FBI Director Womack is thrown off the balcony was filmed on location at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco. The filming led to numerous calls to the hotel by people who saw a man dangling from the balcony. [16] The film's closing scene was shot outside the historic Sacred Heart Mission Church in Saticoy, California. [17]
This was Bay's first movie to be shot in a widescreen 2.39:1 aspect ratio, via Super 35. On the commentary track for the Criterion Collection DVD of Armageddon , Bay recalls not liking the format, due to the quality of the release prints, and did not touch the format again until Bad Boys II , at which point the digital intermediate process was available. [18]
There were tensions during shooting between director Bay and Walt Disney Studios executives who were supervising the production. On the commentary track for the Criterion Collection DVD, Bay recalls a time when he was preparing to leave the set for a meeting with the executives when he was approached by Sean Connery in golfing attire. [19] Connery, who also produced the film, asked Bay where he was going, and when Bay explained he had a meeting with the executives, Connery asked if he could accompany him. Bay complied and when he arrived in the conference room, the executives' jaws dropped when they saw Connery appear behind him. According to Bay, Connery then stood up for Bay and insisted that he was doing a good job and should be left alone. [20]
The soundtrack to The Rock was released on the same day as the film, June 7, 1996, by Hollywood Records. Hans Zimmer and his longtime collaborator Nick Glennie-Smith were the principal composers, while Harry Gregson-Williams [21] [22] was the score producer, with additional music composed by Don Harper, Steven M. Stern and Gregson-Williams. [23] The film represents the first collaboration between Zimmer and Bay, the composer would write and/or produce the scores for many of Bay’s film moving forward.
For its opening weekend, the film grossed $25 million, beating out Mission: Impossible to reach the number one spot. [24] It would be overtaken by The Cable Guy during its second weekend. [25] Produced on a $75 million budget, The Rock grossed a total of $134 million in the U.S. and Canada and $201 million elsewhere, for a worldwide total of $335 million. [26] It was the seventh-highest-grossing film for the U.S. box office in 1996, and the fourth highest-grossing U.S. film worldwide that year. [2]
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 67% based on 72 reviews, with an average rating of 6.6/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "For visceral thrills, it can't be beat. Just don't expect The Rock to engage your brain." [27] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 58 out of 100, based on 24 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". [28] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale. [29]
Roger Ebert awarded the film 3.5 out of 4 stars, praising it as "a first-rate, slam-bang action thriller with a lot of style and no little humor". [30] Todd McCarthy of Variety gave the film a positive review, commenting "The yarn has its share of gaping holes and jaw-dropping improbabilities, but director Michael Bay sweeps them all aside with his never-take-a-breath pacing." [31] Richard Corliss, writing for the Time expressed favorable opinions towards the film, saying "Slick, brutal and almost human, this is the team-spirit action movie Mission: Impossible should have been." [32]
The Rock won several minor awards, including 'Best On-Screen Duo' for Connery and Cage at the MTV Movie Awards. It was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Sound (Kevin O'Connell, Greg P. Russell and Keith A. Wester). [33]
The film was selected for a limited edition DVD release by the Criterion Collection, a distributor of primarily arthouse films it categorizes as "important classic and contemporary films" and "cinema at its finest". In an essay supporting the selection of The Rock, Roger Ebert, who was strongly critical of most of Bay's later films, gave the film 3 1/2 out of four stars, calling it "an action picture that rises to the top of the genre because of a literate, witty screenplay and skilled craftsmanship in the direction and special effects." [34]
In 2014, Time Out polled several film critics, directors, actors and stunt actors to list their top action films. [35] The Rock was listed at 74th place on the list. [36]
In 2019, Tom Reimann from Collider ranked The Rock as Michael Bay's best film: "The Rock is not only Michael Bay's finest film, it's also a perfect snapshot of the height of 90s action movies." [37]
In the original UK DVD release, the scene in which Connery throws a knife through Scarpetti's throat and says "you must never hesitate" to Cage was cut, although the scene was shown on British television. [38] Consequently, a later scene in which Connery says to Cage, "I'm rather glad you didn't hesitate too long," lost its impact on viewers who had not seen the first scene. Other cuts included the reduction of gunshot impacts into Gamble's feet in the morgue down to a single hit; a close-up of his screaming face as the air conditioner falls onto him; a sound cut to Mason snapping a Marine's neck and two bloody gunshot wounds (to Hummel and Baxter), both near the end of the film. [38]
A scene from the film was the basis for incorrect and false descriptions of the Iraqi chemical weapons program. Britain's Secret Intelligence Service was led to believe Saddam Hussein was continuing to produce weapons of mass destruction by a false agent who based his reports on the movie, according to the Chilcot Inquiry. [39]
In September 2002, MI6 chief Sir Richard Dearlove said the agency had acquired information from a new source revealing that Iraq was stepping up production of chemical and biological warfare agents. The source, who was said to have "direct access", claimed senior staff were working seven days a week while the regime was concentrating a great deal of effort on the production of anthrax. Dearlove told the chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC), Sir John Scarlett, that they were "on the edge of (a) significant intel breakthrough" which could be the "key to unlock" Iraq's weapons programme.
However, questions were raised about the agent's claims when it was noticed his description bore a striking resemblance to a scene from the film. "It was pointed out that glass containers were not typically used in chemical munitions, and that a popular movie (The Rock) had inaccurately depicted nerve agents being carried in glass beads or spheres," the Chilcot report stated. By February 2003 – a month before the invasion of Iraq – MI6 concluded that their source had been lying "over a period of time" but failed to inform No 10 or others, even though Prime Minister Tony Blair had been briefed on this intelligence. [40] [41] [42] According to The Independent , the false claims of weapons of mass destruction were the justification for UK's entering the war. [42]
The film's co-writer David Weisberg said, "What was so amazing was anybody in the poison gas community would immediately know that this was total bullshit – such obvious bullshit". Weisberg said he was unsurprised a desperate agent might resort to films for inspiration, but dismayed that authorities "didn't do apparently the most basic fact-checking or vetting of the information. If you'd just asked a chemical weapons expert, it would have been immediately obvious it was ludicrous". Weisberg said he had had some "funny emails" after the report, but he felt "it's not a nice legacy for the film". "It's tragic that we went to war," he concluded. [43]
In June 2017, director Michael Bay discussed his idea for a follow-up to The Rock that never developed past the concept that Goodspeed and Mason are chased by the government after escaping, due to possession of the microfilm as shown in the ending. [44]
Sir Sean Connery was a Scottish actor. He was the first actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond on film, starring in seven Bond films between 1962 and 1983. Connery originated the role in Dr. No (1962) and continued starring as Bond in the Eon Productions films From Russia with Love (1963), Goldfinger (1964), Thunderball (1965), You Only Live Twice (1967) and Diamonds Are Forever (1971). Connery made his final appearance in the franchise in Never Say Never Again (1983), a non-Eon-produced Bond film.
Armageddon is a 1998 American science fiction disaster film produced and directed by Michael Bay, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, and released by Touchstone Pictures. The film follows a group of blue-collar deep-core drillers sent by NASA to stop a gigantic asteroid on a collision course with Earth. It stars an ensemble cast consisting of Bruce Willis with Billy Bob Thornton, Liv Tyler, Ben Affleck, Will Patton, Peter Stormare, Keith David, and Steve Buscemi.
Alcatraz Island is a small island 1.25 miles (2.01 km) offshore from San Francisco, California, United States. The island was developed in the mid-19th century with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fortification, and a military prison. In 1934, the island was converted into a federal prison, Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary. The strong currents around the island and cold water temperatures made escape nearly impossible, and the prison became one of the most notorious in American history. The prison closed in 1963, and the island is now a major tourist attraction.
Timothy Leonard Dalton Leggett is a British actor. He gained international prominence as the fourth actor to portray fictional secret agent James Bond in the Eon Productions film series, starring in The Living Daylights (1987) and Licence to Kill (1989).
Time Bandits is a 1981 British fantasy adventure film co-written, produced, and directed by Terry Gilliam. It stars David Rappaport, Sean Connery, John Cleese, Shelley Duvall, Ralph Richardson, Katherine Helmond, Ian Holm, Michael Palin, Peter Vaughan and David Warner. The film tells the story of a young boy taken on an adventure through time with a band of thieves who plunder treasure from various points in history.
Diamonds Are Forever is a 1971 spy thriller, the seventh film in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions. It is the sixth and final Eon film to star Sean Connery, who returned to the role as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond, having declined to reprise his role in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969).
The Rock most often refers to:
Bottle Rocket is a 1996 American crime comedy film directed by Wes Anderson in his feature film directorial debut. The film is written by Anderson and Owen Wilson and is based on Anderson's 1994 short film of the same name. Bottle Rocket is also the acting debut for brothers Owen and Luke Wilson, who co-starred with Robert Musgrave, their older brother Andrew Wilson, Lumi Cavazos, and James Caan. Principal photography took place in various locations throughout Texas.
Michael Benjamin Bay is an American film director and producer. He is best known for making big-budget, high-concept action films characterized by fast cutting, stylistic cinematography and visuals, and extensive use of special effects, including frequent depictions of explosions. The films he has directed include Bad Boys (1995) and its sequel Bad Boys II (2003), The Rock (1996), Armageddon (1998), Pearl Harbor (2001), the first five films in the Transformers film series, 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (2016), 6 Underground (2019), and Ambulance (2022). His films have grossed over US$7.8 billion worldwide, making him one of the most commercially successful directors in history.
Sir Richard Billing Dearlove is a retired British intelligence officer who was head of the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), a role known informally as "C", from 1999 until 6 May 2004. He was head of MI6 during the invasion of Iraq. He was criticised by the Iraq Inquiry for providing unverified intelligence about weapons of mass destruction to the Prime Minister, Tony Blair.
Escape from Alcatraz is a 1979 American prison thriller film directed and produced by Don Siegel. The screenplay, written by Richard Tuggle, is based on the 1963 non-fiction book of the same name by J. Campbell Bruce, which recounts the 1962 prisoner escape from the maximum security prison on Alcatraz Island. The film stars Clint Eastwood as escape ringleader Frank Morris, alongside Patrick McGoohan, Fred Ward, Jack Thibeau, and Larry Hankin with Danny Glover appearing in his film debut.
You Only Live Twice is a 1967 spy film and the fifth in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions, starring Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. It is the first Bond film to be directed by Lewis Gilbert, who later directed the 1977 film The Spy Who Loved Me and the 1979 film Moonraker, both starring Roger Moore. The screenplay of You Only Live Twice was written by Roald Dahl, and loosely based on Ian Fleming's 1964 novel of the same name. It is the first James Bond film to discard most of Fleming's plot, using only a few characters and locations from the book as the background for an entirely new story.
The Rocketeer is a 1991 American superhero film from Walt Disney Pictures and Touchstone Pictures. It was produced by Charles Gordon, Lawrence Gordon, and Lloyd Levin, directed by Joe Johnston, and stars Billy Campbell, Jennifer Connelly, Alan Arkin, Timothy Dalton, Paul Sorvino, and Tiny Ron Taylor. It is based on the character of the same name created by comic book artist and writer Dave Stevens.
Thunderball is a 1965 spy film and the fourth in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions, starring Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. It is an adaptation of the 1961 novel of the same name by Ian Fleming, which in turn was based on an original screenplay by Jack Whittingham devised from a story conceived by Kevin McClory, Whittingham, and Fleming. It was the third and final Bond film to be directed by Terence Young, with its screenplay by Richard Maibaum and John Hopkins.
From Russia with Love is a 1963 spy film and the second in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions, as well as Sean Connery's second role as MI6 agent 007 James Bond.
Alcatraz Island has appeared many times in popular culture. Its appeal in film derives from its picturesque setting, natural beauty, isolation, and its history as a U.S. penitentiary – from which, officially, no prisoner ever successfully escaped.
In June 1962, inmates Clarence Anglin, John Anglin, and Frank Morris escaped from Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, a maximum-security prison located on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay, California, United States. Late on the night of June 11 or early morning of June 12, the three men tucked papier-mâché heads resembling their own likenesses into their beds, broke out of the main prison building via ventilation ducts and an unguarded utility corridor, and departed the island aboard an improvised inflatable raft to an uncertain fate. A fourth conspirator, Allen West, failed in his escape attempt and remained on the island.
The Iraq Inquiry was a British public inquiry into the nation's role in the Iraq War. The inquiry was announced in 2009 by Prime Minister Gordon Brown and published in 2016 with a public statement by Chilcot.
Sir John Anthony Chilcot was a British civil servant.