Rewind Back to 1996: A 90s Action Staple - “The Rock”

For this review, I checked out an action movie that is probably one of the best action movies that came out of the 1990s. This 90s action staple that I am talking about is the 1996 action flick “The Rock.”

FBI chemical warfare expert Stanley Goodspeed is sent on an urgent mission with a former British spy, John Patrick Mason, to stop General Francis X. Hummel from launching chemical weapons on Alcatraz Island into San Francisco.

Gen. Hummel demands $100 million in war reparations to be paid to the families of slain servicemen who died on covert operations. After their SEAL team is wiped out, Stanley and John deal with Hummel and his soldiers on their own.

The 1996 movie “The Rock” was, and still remains, a highly popular audience favorite, widely praised as a quintessential 1990s action blockbuster. When it was released, critics and audiences alike embraced its fast-paced, high-octane style, making it one of director Michael Bay’s best movies in his entire filmography.

“The Rock” is simply a fun, “guilty pleasure” that skillfully balances action and humor quite well. A good amount of the humor comes into play once Nicolas Cage’s neurotic FBI chemist and Sean Connery’s hard as nails ex-con start teaming up. The combination of their characters is easily one of the many strengths this action movie has and both Cage and Connery worked really well together.

Before getting into some of the high-octane action that “The Rock” delivers, Ed Harris really knocked it out of the park as Hummel. Throughout all of his scenes, Harris brought gravitas and moral complexity to the overall story, making Hummel a villain that viewers could actually empathize with - which is rare.

His character wasn’t motivated by greed or insanity, but by a desire to obtain compensation for the families of soldiers who died on secret missions and were abandoned by the government. While some of his methods were extreme, Hummel can be viewed as a reluctant villain who never truly intended to kill innocent people.

“The Rock” is really well known for its hard hitting “popcorn movie” adrenaline-filled action that doesn’t really stop. This action-packed flick has so many high-tension

moments, most notably a major car chase through the streets of San Francisco, and a brutal shoot-out in a rundown shower room in Alcatraz. Actually, come to think of it, once the SEALS, Stanley and John make it to the island, the tension really rises.

The tense confrontation between the rogue Marines and the Navy SEALS in the shower room (the scene mentioned above) culminates in a  chaotic, tragic firefight, which holds a lot of emotional weight and tension, and is also one of the best moments of the movie. There’s also a visually iconic moment where Goodspeed (Cage) is igniting two green flares so the fighter jets see him and not bomb the island.

“The Rock” is widely regarded as a classic 1990s action blockbuster, combining Michael Bay’s signature, high-octane style - explosions, fast editing, and stylized visuals - with strong performances from Connery, Cage and Harris. Even years later, the movie is considered a thrilling, highly rewatchable action masterpiece! Many modern viewers also enjoy theorizing that Connery’s character, an aging former British intelligence agent imprisoned for decades, is actually an older version of James Bond.

MPA: Rated R for strong violence, language and a sex scene   (runtime 136 minutes)

Initial release date: June 7, 1996

Streaming services: Tubi/MGM+/various PVOD (as of writing this review)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3qcNyjj9ZQ

• There were tensions during shooting between director Michael 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 and was approached by Sir Sean Connery in golfing attire. Connery, who also produced this movie, asked Bay where he was going, and when Bay explained that he had a meeting with the executives, Connery asked if he could accompany him. Bay complied, and when Bay arrived in the conference room, the executives' jaws dropped when they saw Connery appear behind him. According to Bay, Connery then stood up for him, and insisted that he was doing a good job and should be left alone.

• The premiere of the movie was held in the Prison Recreation Yard on Alcatraz.

• According to director Michael Bay, the script was written much more straight and serious than the final movie. Most of the humorous moments and lines were improvised during filming.

• While filming, Alcatraz was still open to the public, and many visitors watched the movie being shot. However, on December 15, 1995, the federal government, which owns Alcatraz, partially shut it down, due to stalled budget talks, and filming continued with no visitors present.

• Some of the Navy SEALs in this movie were played by real Navy SEALs.

• It was Nicolas Cage's idea that his character would not swear. His euphemisms include "gee whiz".

• Along with Entrapment (1999), this was Sean Connery's favorite film of his own during the 1990s.

• Michael Bay worked closely with Ed Harris to develop his character as concretely as possible, later adding a sympathetic edge to Hummel.

• John Mason says he was trained by British Intelligence, like Sean Connery's most famous character, James Bond.

• There are several theories that Sir Sean Connery's character is, in fact, an older version of his own James Bond character. However, since Sean last played the agent 007 in the unofficial Bond movie Never Say Never Again (1983), the time setting of this movie would have to be 2013, with John Patrick Mason being 83 years old. Arguably, Never Say Never Again is not part of the official James Bond canon, and independent research shows multiple ties that can be interpreted to support the James Bond theory, and by ignoring the unofficial film, the timelines match perfectly But its all conjecture which show that none of this is true.