The Rock

Rating:
Summary: Get Ready to Rock
Review: Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage face incredible odds in the action-packed hit "The Rock". A rogue US general and his team seize control of Alcatraz and threaten the city of San Francisco with poison gas rockets. Now the lives of millions rest in the hands of a FBI chemical weapons specialist (Nicolas Cage) and a former Alcatraz escapee (Sean Connery). "The Rock" is a thrilling, edge-of-your-seat spectacle from start to finish. Director Michael Bay has gain success with such films as "Armageddon" and "Bad Boys" but "The Rock" still remains as the director's finest work. Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage have great onscreen chemistry and further drive the film's story. Director Michael Bay stages amazing action sequences including a fierce car chase within the streets of San Francisco.

If you weren't impress with the previous release then upgrade to "The Rock - Criterion Collection". The movie is presented in enhanced widescreen format. The DVD contains a stunning and flawless picture quality with vibrant color and sharpness. The Dolby Digital sound is certainly impressive and offers more aggresive surround effects than the DTS audio track. This 2-Disc Criterion Edition features audio commentaries by cast and crew, FX and action scenes featurettes, outtakes, trailers and the movie's premiere on Alcatraz. "The Rock" is non-stop fun and this Criterion Collection DVD earns an "A".

Rating:
Summary: Action with a capital A
Review: Never a dull moment in this is a great action flick. This may be the best of its genre in a long, long time. Jerry Bruckheimer has outdone himself. The movie opens with the two great scenes, including the well planned (and almost perfectly implemented) break in at an Army arsenal and the disarming of a terrorist bomb by Cage at work. The action does not let up until the final climactic struggles.

Great casting, with Sean Connery as a political prisoner (and former member of the British elite Special Air Service, the only man alive to break out of Alcatraz). Add Nicholas Cage as FBI agent (and self-described biochemical "super freak", who of course is grossly overmatched among these hard guys. Their foil is Ed Harris, who is great as a highly decorated military officer, disillusioned by the betrayal of his men during Desert Storm, and his cadre of soldiers. The supporting roles include David Morse, John McGinley and Greg Collins as his loyal soldiers, and John Spencer as a less than honorable FBI director They are all joined at Alcatraz prison, taken over by Harris and his men. They hold a few hostages (irrelevant to the story), along with rockets filled with deadly poison gas. Unless the government pays the big bucks, they will unleash their deadly toxins. Only a sixty year old Connery can get them onto the Rock, with the support of a group of Navy Seals and fighter planes to save the day.

Of course, they do.

Not a dull moment in this movie.

Rating:
Summary: WHAT A CROCK!!!
Review: This movie is way too bangy!!!!
Too many car chases and explosions. And a bulls**t romantic plotline to keep the gals happy. Nicolas Cage is a doooshhhbag. what a cROCK. Only my 13 year old brother would have watched this. I was trying to listen to my IVY cd "Apartment Life" but my friend's little brother Jayson Bedford wouldn't turn the movie down. I hate reviewing movies so this gets 1 star. Please don't throw "rock"s at my house or at women in Iraq. Maybe you should think about watching a good movie like Morvern Callar.

Rating:
Summary: Michael Bay's Best
Review: Only Bad Boys comes close to this action extravaganza about a group of marines who take hostages on Alcatraz and threaten the San Francisco Bay Area with poison gas rockets. Sean Connery, Nick Cage and Ed Harris are in fine form supported by a great ensemble of actors, including the always excellent David Morse. This is Michael Bay's best. It has a good story (never mind some of the plot holes this is a movie!), tons of action and great shots that make it look very slick.

The DVD presented by those generous folks at Criterion is pretty good. The video transfer is exceptionally good with only a few artefacts here and there. The sound comes in DTS and Dolby Digital and both are loud and make full use of the surrounds. The score by Hans Zimmer just roars into action.

The special features are extensive with a commentary and several interesting documentaries. It is a pretty extensive (not more so than Armageddon) 2 disc set with a very interesting commentary on disc 1. The Hollywood Gunplay feature is one of the more interesting ones that deserve a mention

This movie with a running time over 2 hours goes by at a blistering pace. I highly recommend the Criterion Collection set of The Rock.

Rating:
Summary: Criterion gives proper DVD treatment to this action/thriller
Review: A superbly crafted action-thriller. Director Michael Bay's best picture to date. Easily one of the best films put out by the Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer production team. When I first saw this film back in 1996, I was impressed with Bay's direction, the way in which he moves the action at an almost feverish pace. This made for a very exciting viewing experience, never a dull moment. And considering the genre that is an invaluble thing. Add to the mix good performances by Sean Connery, Nicholas Cage, and Ed Harris. And it's no wonder this film cleaned up at the box-office.

And it only gets better on DVD. Buena Vista released The Rock as a movie-only edition back in 1998 and anyone who knows their DVD must have been less-than enthusiastic about the release (this reviewer included), and hoped that someday the film would be revisted with a special edition release. Fortunately, that day has come! This new Criterion DVD release features a 2.35:1 matted widescreen presentation, anamorphically enhanced for 16x9 televisions, something which was sorely missed from the Buena Vista disc. This disc also has a new Dolby Digital 5.1 surround mix, which is a remixed track of the original 5.1 mix on the Buena Vista disc, which was rather good, this track just improves on it. Criterion, doesn't stop there though, a DTS 5.1 surround mix has been added for your sonic pleasure. And for a film such as this, both audio surround tracks are a welcome addition, especially the DTS track which was newly-remixed and digitally mastered specifically for this Criterion DVD.

The area where this Criterion version really puts Buena Vista's to shame is in the special features department. Now for people who own the Criterion laserdisc of this film, these extra features might seem familiar. But for first-time viewers of the Criterion release of this film, you'll be very pleased with the extras you get here. Supplements abound on the second disc in this 2-DVD set, you'll have hours of enjoyment sifting through all of the extras presented in this package. The only gripe I have about this disc is the commentary track recorded for the film. Sean Connery is suprisingly absent from it. Which, for me at least is a disappointment. But that's only a minor gripe, this disc is one of the best Criterion has relased for a film on DVD. So throw out your old Buena Vista DVD/VHS/LD copies of The Rock, and get this Criterion DVD. I highly recommend it, especially if your a fan of this film.

Rating:
Summary: A Good B Rated Action Movie
Review: This is a good movie to watch on the superstation or when you have nothing better to do. It isn't a complete letdown, but was definately not as good as Die Hard, or Entrapment. The movie had some really cool action scenes. Ed Harris, Nicholas Cage, and Sean Connery all were really good. There also was a lot of violent battle scenes that were interesting, and the finale at the end is really cool. The movie is good, but if you have high standards for action, pick something else instead.

Rating:
Summary: A must see
Review: The rock starring Nicholas cage, Sean Connery and Ed harris is a modern day classic with all the characteristics of what makes a film great. Cage plays an FBI chemical weapons specialist selected to join the elite Navy Seals team in a bid to overthrow a group of mercanaries and neutralize the threat of a battery of VX poison gas rockets being fired upon the unsuspecting citizens of San Fransisco.Connery however plays the part of an ex SAS agent imprisoned by the US government for his knowledge of the corrupt goings on in the Whitehouse. The only man ever to escape from Alcatraz now comes back to haunt the Government that took thirty years of his life being the only man alive to know how to get into the once feared penitentiary. He Plays a vital part of this fantastic movie showing every bit of skill acquired throughout his distinguished career and not once showing his age. I rate this as a classic action film and recommend it to everyone. the great acting, plot and music score are all well within the confines what anyone would expect from any Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer production. i end this with a quote from the movie by ED harris , if you have any doubts about seeing this film "i hope this elevates your thinking"

Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable movie with great acting
Review: A lot in 'The Rock' hints at James Bond. There is a British man (named John Mason) who is a master at escaping and fighting; a villain who wants to destroy an entire American city and a lot of over-the-top action scenes. What's more, Mason is played by Sean Connery. But there are some differences with Bond as well: the storyline is (even) more one-dimensional; the girls are absent and, most importantly, Mason is rather the sidekick of the movie's main character: scientist Stanley Goodspeed (Nicholas Cage).

Goodspeed is the real man-with-a-mission here: he tries to keep an evil Vietnam general (Ed Harris) from blowing up San Francisco. The general is hiding in Alcatraz, of all places. However, the only man who knows how to infiltrate Alcatraz is this prisoner John Mason, a man who was arrested years and years ago and once escaped from Alcatraz. Mason is at first reluctant to help, also because nobody tells him exactly who he is fighting against. But soon he and Goodspeed form a good team that fights the bad general till the bitter end.

The story itself is rather flat: once the team has entered Alcatraz (which happens rather early in the film), a hide-and-run-game starts that continues till the very end. The action scenes are spectacular but also somewhat predictable. Still, this isn't a bad movie, thanks to the great acting of Cage and Connery. Both play characters that are anything but one-dimensional: Mason changes from a curmudgeon scoundrel into a virtuous man, and Goodspeed slowly converts from a typically desperate scientist into a brave action hero.

It is the interplay and communication between Mason and Goodspeed that makes this film more than worthwhile, and can make you forget the rather nonsensical story. It's an enjoyable movie to watch, therefore. Oh and, don't miss the end scene!

Rating:
Summary: THE ROCK ROCKS!!!
Review: This is one of the best action adventure movies of the past decade. Michael Bay (Armageddon) lays on the action thick and it's one heck of a ride. Without going into the plot, all I can say is it's one frantic moment after the next: an FBI scoundrel gets dangled from a high rose hotel; there is a wonderfully staged and frenzied car chase through the streets of San Francisco; a whole crew of navy seals is wiped out by the bad guys; Cage and Connery exchange barbs and save each other's lives several times; a harrowing chase in a mining car; planes ready to drop bombs on Alcatraz; mutiny by Ed Harris' underlings; it goes on and on, and it's great. This is how action movies should be made. Connery, Cage and Harris are magnificent; watch for a quick cameo by James Caviezel (Passion of Christ) as one of the pilots.
THIS IS A BIG BIG MOVIE. DON'T MISS IT@!

Rating:
Summary: Good thriller with great actors
Review: Beautifully cast with Nicholas Cage as the reluctant biochemist and Sean Connery as the only man ever to have escaped from Alcatraz teaming up to defeat Ed Harris, playing a psychotic who is holding San Francisco virtual hostage. Before long, all the players are in place and viewers are treated to an action-packed couple of hours of bullets, bodies, explosions, close calls, harebrained 2nd guessing, near misses, near hits - and I don't care how many of these over-the-top movied you've seen: this one keeps you on the edge of your seat.
Sean Connery, of course, plays himself - and that slight Scottish lisp and raised eyebrow are both firmly in place; he's simply terrific. So is Cage, whom I don't usually enjoy watching - he's just too pathetic and conflicted looking. But he's perfectly case in The Rock. It's obvious that the actors had a ball during the filming. Viewers will too. Don't miss it.