The Rock

The Rock Information

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 and Douglas S. Cook. The film stars Sean Connery, Nicolas Cage and Ed Harris, with William Forsythe and Michael Biehn co-starring. It is dedicated to Simpson, who died five months before its release. The film received moderately positive reviews from critics, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Sound at the 69th Academy Awards. It was a box office success, grossing over $335 million against a production budget of $75 million.

In the film, an FBI chemist and a former SAS captain are tasked with stopping a group of rogue US Force Recon Marines who have seized Alcatraz Island, taken hostages, and threatened to launch rockets filled with nerve gas over San Francisco unless they are paid $100 million.

Plot

A group of rogue U.S. Force Recon Marines, led by disenchanted Brigadier General Frank Hummel and his second-in-command Major Tom Baxter, storm a heavily guarded naval weapons depot and steal a stockpile of deadly VX gas-armed M55 rockets, losing one of their own men in the process. The next day, Hummel and his men, along with Marine Captains Frye and Darrow, seize control of Alcatraz Island, taking eighty-one tourists hostage. He threatens to launch the rockets against San Francisco unless the U.S. government pays him $100 million from a military slush fund, which he will distribute to his men and the families of Recon Marines who died on clandestine missions under his command but whose deaths were not compensated.

The Pentagon and FBI develop a plan to retake the island with a U.S. Navy SEAL team led by Commander Anderson, enlisting the FBI's top chemical weapons specialist, Dr. Stanley Goodspeed. FBI Director James Womack is forced to offer a pardon to federal prisoner John Mason, in return for information. Mason, a 60-year-old British national imprisoned without charges for three decades, is the only Alcatraz inmate ever to escape the island. After being set up in a hotel, Mason escapes, resulting in a car chase with Goodspeed through the streets of San Francisco. While seeking out his estranged daughter, Jade, Goodspeed arrives, but covers for Mason by telling Jade that he is aiding the FBI.

Goodspeed, Mason, and the SEALs infiltrate Alcatraz but Hummel's men are alerted to their presence and ambush them in a shower room. All the SEALs are killed, leaving only Mason and Goodspeed alive. Mason sees his chance to escape custody and disarms Goodspeed, but is convinced to help Goodspeed defuse the rockets after the Marines use explosive devices to flush them out.

They eliminate several teams of Marines and disable 12 of the 15 rockets by removing their guidance chips. Hummel threatens to execute a hostage if they do not surrender and return the guidance chips; instead, Mason destroys the chips and surrenders to Hummel to try and reason with him as well as buy Goodspeed some time. Though Goodspeed disables another rocket, the Marines capture him. With the incursion team lost, the military initiates their backup plan: an airstrike by F/A-18s with thermite plasma, which will neutralize the poison gas but kill everyone on the island.

Mason and Goodspeed escape, and Mason explains why he was held prisoner: he was a British SAS Captain who stole a microfilm containing details of the United States' most closely guarded secrets, refusing to give it up when captured because he knew he would be killed if he did. When the deadline for the transfer of the ransom passes, Hummel fires one of the rockets, but then redirects it to detonate at sea. He reveals to the Marines that the mission is over and that it was all an elaborate bluff as he never had any intention of taking innocent lives. Hummel orders them to exit Alcatraz with a few hostages and the remaining rocket to cover their retreat while he assumes blame. Frye and Darrow rebel upon realizing they will not be paid their $1 million apiece, killing Baxter and mortally wounding Hummel, who tells Goodspeed where the last rocket is before dying.

Darrow and Frye proceed with the plan to fire on San Francisco. Goodspeed seeks out the rocket while Mason deals with the remaining Marines. As the jets approach, Goodspeed disables the rocket before killing both Darrow and Frye. He signals that the threat is over just as one jet drops a bomb; though no hostages are injured, Goodspeed is thrown into the sea by the blast and Mason rescues him.

Goodspeed and Mason part ways after Mason reveals the location of the microfilm; Goodspeed fakes Mason's death by telling Womack that he was killed in the bomb explosion. Sometime later, Goodspeed and his newlywed wife Carla are seen stealing the microfilm from a church and driving away.

Cast

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Ed Harris as Brigadier General Francis X. "Frank" Hummel, USMC Force Recon
John Spencer as FBI Director James Womack
David Morse as Major Tom Baxter, USMC Force Recon
William Forsythe as FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Ernest Paxton
Michael Biehn as Commander Anderson, USN SEAL
Vanessa Marcil as Carla Pestalozzi
John C. McGinley as Captain Hendrix, USMC Force Recon
Gregory Sporleder as Captain Frye, USMC Force Recon
Tony Todd as Captain Darrow, USMC Force Recon
Bokeem Woodbine as Gunnery Sergeant Crisp, USMC Force Recon
Greg Collins as Private Gamble, USMC Force Recon
Brendan Kelly as Private Cox, USMC Force Recon
Steve Harris as Private McCoy, USMC Force Recon
Jim Maniaci as Private Scarpetti, USMC Force Recon

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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 their work on the script, neither Hensleigh nor Aaron Sorkin was credited in the film. The director 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. Quentin Tarantino was also an uncredited screenwriter.

L.A.-based 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. It was Nicolas Cage's idea that his character would not swear; his euphemisms include "gee whiz." Bay had worked closely with Ed Harris to develop his character as concretely as possible, later adding a sympathetic edge to Hummel.

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. 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.

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.

In the scene in which Paxton demands to know from Womack who Mason is, Paxton utters, "Yeah, I know all the cloak and dagger stories". This line was a direct reference to Forsythe's earlier film, Cloak & Dagger.

Controversy

Censorship

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. 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 multiple 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.

Iraqi chemical weapons program

A scene from the film featuring Connery and Cage 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 Hollywood action movie, according to the Chilcot Inquiry. 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 (CBW) 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. Sir Richard 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 CBW 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 movie. "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 Tony Blair had been briefed on his intelligence.

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 movies 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'd had some "funny emails" after Wednesday's report, but he felt "it's not a nice legacy for the film". "It's tragic that we went to war", he concluded.

Reception

Box office

Produced on a $75 million budget, The Rock was a smash hit, grossing a total of $134 million domestically and $201 million internationally, for a worldwide total of $335 million. Of the year 1996, it was the seventh highest home-grossing film in the U.S., and the fourth highest-grossing U.S. film worldwide.

Critical response

The film received mildly positive reviews from film critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a rating of 66%, based on 64 reviews. The site's consensus says, "For visceral thrills, it can't be beat. Just don't expect The Rock to engage your brain." To date, it is the only film directed by Bay to have a "fresh" score. On Metacritic, the film has a score of 59 out of 100, based on 18 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.

Roger Ebert awarded it 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.

Todd McCarthy of Variety gave the movie 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." 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."

Awards and recognition

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 the Academy Award for Best Sound (Kevin O'Connell, Greg P. Russell and Keith A. Wester).

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 a 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."

In 2014, Time Out polled several film critics, directors, actors and stunt actors to list their top action films. The Rock was listed at 74th place on the list.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack to The Rock was released on June 7, 1996 by Hollywood Records. Nick Glennie-Smith, Hans Zimmer and Harry Gregson-Williams were the principal composers, with additional music composed by Don Harper and Steven M. Stern. The main theme (Hummell Gets The Rockets) was composed by Hans Zimmer and Nick Glennie-Smith.

Personnel

Credits adapted from FilmScoreMonthly.

Composers, Producers - Nick Glennie Smith, Hans Zimmer
Conductors - Bruce Fowler, Don Harper, Nick Glennie Smith
Contractor [Music] - Sandy De Crescent
Compilers - Marc Streitenfeld, Nick Glennie Smith
Copyist [Music Preparation] - Dominic Fidelibus
Editing [Assistant Editor] - Shannon Erbe, Sienna Pascarella
Editing [Music Editor] - Bob Badami, John Finklea
Engineer [Additional] - Marc Streitenfeld
Executive Producer [Soundtrack] - Jerry Bruckheimer
Electric Guitar ["the Rock"] - Bob Daspit
Electric Guitar ["the Roll"] - Michael Thompson
Acoustic Guitar ["the Roll"] - Michael Stevens
Mixing [Score] - Alan Meyerson
Music [Additional] - Don Harper, Steven Stern
Orchestrating - Bruce Fowler, Dennis Dreith, Ladd McIntosh, Suzette Moriarty, Walter Fowler
Other [Assistant To Hans Zimmer] - Justin Burnett, Marc Streitenfeld
Other [Executive In Charge Of Music For The Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group] - Kathy Nelson, Bill Green
Other [Executive In Charge Of Soundtracks For Hollywood Records] - Mitchell Leib
Sound Programming [Euphonix], Computer Programming [Steinberg Cubase], Programming [Yamaha, Fairlight CMI] - Hans Zimmer
Recording [Assistant Recorder] - Brian Richards, Gregg W. Silk
Recording [Paramount Recordist] - Paul Wertheimer
Recording [Score] - Alan Meyerson, Bruce Botnick, Paul Wertheimer
Technician [Score Former] - Emma Burnham

Abandoned sequel

In June 2017, director Michael Bay discussed his idea for a follow-up to The Rock that never developed past the concept that Mason is chased by the government after escaping.