The Rock (1996)

Powerful

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

The Rock maybe seen as an earlier film by director Michael Bay. It appears that Bay had always had his way with action type films. While The Rock proved that Sean Connery could still cut the mustard as an OAP action star, it was the making of Cage as action hero, his wild and wired approach gelling perfectly with Connery ís gruff demeanor. Overall this film does fulfill for action fans, although it does feel quite long in run time and seems to drag. Nonetheless, one of Michael Bay's best films of the 1990's.

Wonderfully entertaining action adventure. Sean Connery is in top form and perfectly cast. He is just such a good actor. The action sequences are heart pounding and the film actually also has emotional depth. 'The Rock' is one of my favorite action films. It is also one of Michael Bay's highest rated films.

In an era of groundbreaking blockbuster action flicks, this film directed by Michael Bay, the master of over-the-top action sequences and excessive explosions galore, places Academy Award winner Nicolas Cage and Academy Award nominee Sean Connery in 136 minutes of frenetic gunfights, hand-to-hand combat, and loud explosions absorbing the screen. Unlike the 'Die Hard' franchise which was a cutting-edge to the action genre, this film is nothing groundbreaking nor does it try to beat. But with likable performances by our leads Nicolas Cage and Sean Connery, adrenaline-fueled action set pieces, and a blissful taste of light-heart humor; the film is quite a bit of fun. Although Michael Bay is not a director who carries interest is soaking his films with sheer intelligence, he still knows how to craft a motion picture with enough mayhem and humor to leave keep our eyes glued to the screen. And who scores a better position in the producer's chair than Hollywood veteran Jerry Bruckheimer and the late Don Simpson. The film follows a story of Stanley Goodspeed (played by Nicolas Cage), a biochemist for the FBI who's called on a mission to bring down General Francis Hummel (played by Ed Harris) who along his fellow Marines has taken prisoners of Alcatraz Island hostage and set wipe out San Francisco with chemical missiles unless the FBI does one thing: pay him the $100,000 he demands for his military service. Fighting by Goodspeed's side Mason (played by Sean Connery), a prison escapee who assists him on his no-holds-bar mission to thwart Hummel's attack and save the citizens of San Francisco.Director Michael Bay doesn't offer anything out of the ordinary for an action film. Thus, there are no genuine surprises to handed beyond a heavy load of explosive gunfights and hand-to-hand combat sequences which make a good portion of the near 2 1/2 hour runtime. Luckily, Bay succeeds at landing excitement and plenty of fun to indulge all the action film junkies. Nearly every second gunfire and explosions fills the screen, there is plenty of pulse-pounding tension to be handed. However, as the film is Rated R, these sequences do get pretty bloody and there are a few minor characters who meet their ends in graphic way such as chemical burns. In the end, it is all for the sake for drenching moviegoers in sheer thrills. Taking on the lead roles is Nicolas Cage and 'James Bond' veteran Sean Connery to show off some decent chemistry between one another. Their characters sprout a fair share of humorous one-liners and clever banter, and the performances stand fairly strong. Though neither of them meet the qualities of Bruce Willis's John McClane, both of which are surprisingly likable. As for the main antagonist General Francis Hummel played by Ed Harris, he makes for a surprising villain a little beyond your one-dimensional evildoer. He's portrayed as a figure not out for trouble just for the sake of causing mindless mayhem, but simply because of his emotional scars dealing with experience in the Vietnam War and the government failing to honor him and his fellow the financial gratitude they deserve. In the final climax, viewers can almost sympathize with him.The Rock is an explosive action flick glossed with entertaining action sequences, charismatic characters, and a fair share of thrills to feast the eyes for moviegoers. To say the least, it's a bit of fun. Although it may fall short of originality and substance, it works well as an absorbing popcorn flick to entertain those not anxious for anything cutting-edge in the action genre.

I don't look at IMDb until after I've seen a movie, but it's pretty rare that the IMDb rating is far off from what I would rate (or at least in the same general goodness or badness range). This is apparently one of those rare cases, though. I had to double check that I pulled up the right title when I saw a rating of 7.4 (at least at the time of this writing).I honestly can't understand what people see here. It's over 2 hours long, and I was watching the clock after the first hour, hoping it was getting near the end. I mean, it's a light enough action ride - I was leaning towards rating it a "5", but then the number of things that bothered me just kept mounting, and I finally decided "4" was more appropriate. Here's some of those things (I don't intend any significant spoilers, but clicked the spoiler alert just in case):The movie couldn't seem to decide whether it was a gritty war drama (lots of scowling, shooting, and F-bombs), or a slightly tongue-in-cheek action movie (comic relief characters, trying-to-be-witty dialogue). Heck, it even seemed like Nicolas Cage couldn't decide either, because he bounced back and forth between the two.Similarly, a fair amount of carnage during the shooting scenes, but Nicolas Cage and Sean Connery dove, walked, or swam away from everything, no matter how many people were shooting, or how big the explosive device, or how far their bodies were thrown.The characters were wooden and stereotypical. A flamboyant gay hair stylist? Some "Sir, yes sir!" Marines, the wronged ex-con, the never-been-in-the-field agent, the trolley driver, ...The plot was predictable and clichéThe drawn out shoot-em-up, crash-em-up sequences. I haven't seen so many cars trashed in a chase scene since the Blues Brothers. And geez, that Humvee didn't even get a broken headlight.In short, it was just one cliché scene after another, strung together over a tired and predictable story line. OK, I watched it in 2016. Maybe it was fresh in 1996 when it came out, but I find that hard to believe.