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. The plot follows a former SAS captain (Connery) and an FBI chemist (Cage), who attempt to disarm missiles from a rogue group of Force Recon Marines who have taken control of the former prison on Alcatraz Island.
The Rock was dedicated to the memory of Simpson, who died five months before its release. It was released by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution through the Hollywood Pictures label on June 7, 1996. It received generally positive reviews and was nominated for Best Sound at the 69th Academy Awards. It earned over $335 million at the box office on a production budget of $75 million, becoming the fourth highest-grossing film of 1996. The Rock was remade in India in 2003 as Qayamat: City Under Threat.
The Rock was the basis for 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 Rock, according to the Chilcot Inquiry.
Plot
A disillusioned USMC Brigadier General Francis Hummel and his rogue group of Force Recon Marines, including his loyal subordinate Major Tom Baxter, steal 15 rockets filled with lethal VX gas from a U.S. Navy facility. The next day, they seize control of the former prison on Alcatraz Island, taking the tourists and guards hostage. Hummel contacts the FBI and the Pentagon, threatening to launch the rockets at the San Francisco Bay Area in 72 hours deadline unless the government pays him $100 million, which will be donated to the families of the men who died during his command but were never compensated.
The Department of Defense and the FBI plan to retake Alcatraz by infiltrating the old tunnel system beneath the island, with Navy SEALs led by Commander Anderson. They recruit FBI chemical weapons specialist Special Agent Dr. Stanley Goodspeed to join them and disarm the rockets safely. With no knowledge of the island tunnel system, FBI Director Womack reluctantly calls on the aid of the imprisoned John Mason, a former British SAS Captain and MI6-trained operative and the only man to escape Alcatraz after he stole a microfilm created by J. Edgar Hoover containing classified U.S. information. Mason refused to reveal the microfilm's location after being captured, believing he would be killed, and was instead imprisoned without trial. Mason agrees to assist after being presented with a pardon that clears his record, though Womack destroys it shortly thereafter.
Mason escapes and leads the FBI on a car chase, causing a rampage through the city before being caught by Goodspeed when he meets with his estranged daughter, Jade. At the command center, Mason negotiates to join the team heading to Alcatraz. The team infiltrates the prison, but Hummel's men are alerted to their presence and ambush them in the shower room. Hummel tries to convince Anderson to surrender, but the zealous Captains Frye and Darrow deliberately cause a shootout that kills Anderson and his team. Mason and Goodspeed manage to evade them. Believing the mission to be a failure, Mason prepares to leave until Goodspeed reveals the truth about the VX, putting Mason's daughter and his pregnant fiancée, Carla (who came to San Francisco despite Goodspeed telling her to stay home), in danger.
Mason works together with Goodspeed 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. They escape from their cells, but Mason, having assessed Hummel as a man of honor who has no intention of killing innocents, leaves, with Goodspeed continuing on his own. Goodspeed is caught and held at gunpoint, but Mason saves him, convinced that Goodspeed's unborn child needs its father.
As the deadline passes, Frye and Darrow pressure Hummel into firing a rocket, but he redirects it to detonate in the sea. Hummel explains the rockets were a bluff and that he never intended to kill anyone. Realizing they will not be paid, Frye and Darrow convince the remaining Marines to mutiny against Hummel and Baxter. Baxter is killed, and Hummel is mortally wounded, but he tells Goodspeed the location of the last rocket.
With the team assumed dead, the government initiates a backup launch measure: an airstrike aimed at destroying Alcatraz with experimental thermite plasma bombs, which will neutralize the gas but kill everyone on the island. Goodspeed and Mason kill the remaining Marines before Goodspeed launches green flares, a signal for the attack to be aborted; one of the bombs is already dropped at the back of the island, and the blast throws Goodspeed into the bay, but Mason saves him.
Goodspeed confirms the mission's success to Womack but claims Mason was killed in the explosion before telling Mason that Womack shredded his pardon. The pair part ways amicably, with Goodspeed telling Mason where clothes and money are at the hotel. Mason suggests that Goodspeed visit a church in Kansas where he kept the microfilm. Sometime later, a newly wedded Goodspeed and Carla recover the microfilm from the church.
Cast
Uncredited members of the cast include Stuart Wilson as General Al Kramer, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; David Marshall Grant as White House Chief of Staff Hayden Sinclair; Philip Baker Hall as the Chief Justice of the United States; Xander Berkeley as FBI technician Lonner; and Stanley Anderson as the President of the United States.
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, Raymond O'Connor as Alcatraz park ranger Bob, Luenell Campbell as an Alcatraz tourist, Sam Whipple as Alcatraz tourist Larry Henderson 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, 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.
Production Writing and pre-production 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 and should have received screen credit.Welkos, Robert W. "'Cable,' 'Rock' in Disputes on Writing Credits" . Los Angeles Times, May 21, 1996, p. 1.
British screenwriting team Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais were brought in at Sean Connery's request to rewrite his lines, but ended up altering much of the film's dialogue. Quentin Tarantino and Aaron Sorkin were also uncredited script doctors.
Casting 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.
Filming Most of The Rock 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 Alcatraz, and much of the filming had to accommodate tour parties. 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. The closing scene was shot outside the Sacred Heart Mission Church in Saticoy, California.
The Rock was Bay's first film 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.
There were tensions during shooting between 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 Connery in golfing attire. 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. When Bay arrived in the conference room, the executives were surprised when they saw Connery behind him. According to Bay, Connery stood up for Bay and insisted that he was doing a good job and should be left alone.
Music
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 was the score producer, with additional music composed by Don Harper, Steven M. Stern and Gregson-Williams. The film represents the first collaboration between Zimmer and Bay, the composer would write and/or produce the scores for many of Bay's films moving forward.
Reception Box office For its opening weekend, The Rock grossed $25 million, beating out Mission: Impossible to reach the number one spot. Upon opening, it surpassed Dick Tracy to achieve the highest opening weekend for a live-action Disney film. This record would last for five months until the premiere of Ransom that November. The film would also hold the record for having Nicolas Cage's biggest opening weekend until Gone in 60 Seconds replaced it in 2000. It would be overtaken by The Cable Guy during its second weekend, earning $18.5 million with a 26.2% decline. The film would hold well in its third weekend, collecting $14.3 million and ranking third behind Eraser and Disney's own The Hunchback of Notre Dame. 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. 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.
Critical response On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 76% based on 137 reviews, with an average rating of 6.9/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "For visceral thrills, it can't be beat – just don't expect The Rock to engage your brain." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 58 out of 100, based on 24 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.