Product Details

• Released on: 2004-06-21
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: NTSC, Widescreen, Color, DTS Surround Sound, Anamorphic, Import
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 136 minutes

Video Details
A highly decorated, retired U.S. Marine general (Ed Harris) seizes a stockpile of chemical weapons and takes over Alcatraz, with 81 tourists as hostages on the San Francisco Bay isle. His demand: Restitution to families of soldiers who died in covert operations. The response: An elite Navy SEAL team, with support from an FBI chemical-warfare expert (Nicolas Cage) and a former Alcatraz escapee (Sean Connery), is assembled to penetrate the terrorists' defenses on the island and neutralize the threat before time runs out. The result: A fast-paced, edge-of-your-seat thriller with a first-rate cast, directed by Michael Bay and produced by Don Simpson and Jerry bruckheimer.

Review
Frenetically edited and paced like a bulldozer descending a mountain, The Rock felt like an upping of the ante for Hollywood action films the summer of its release, and time has only confirmed that notion. While its ability to induce headaches is just one of the film's flaws, it also points to what sets The Rock and successive Jerry Bruckheimer action films apart: it may not have substance, but it does have a philosophy. Dispensing with the standard setup/payoff formula of action filmmaking, Bruckheimer's stable of video-trained directors make every shot look like a payoff, as if they're all taken from the climax of the film. Of course, this also means that after a while -- for all but the most attention span-deprived viewers -- no shot works as a payoff. The film is thrilling for the few minutes it takes to become numbing. Of course, the general vapidity of Bruckheimer's films doesn't help and, in this, The Rock proves no exception. Sean Connery seems bored in most scenes, while Nicolas Cage's familiar histrionics do little to ground the already out-of-control proceedings. Only Ed Harris, as a reluctant villain, lends any gravity. Historically significant without being all that interesting in itself, The Rock's financial success insured that its dubious influence would be felt for years to come. ~ Keith Phipps, All Movie Guide

On the DVD
Widescreen digital transfer, approved by director Michael Bay and enhanced for 16x9 televisions
Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 Surround soundtracks
Audio commentary by Michael Bay, producer Jerry Bruckheimer, actors Nicolas Cage and Ed Harris, and technical advisor Harry Humphries
English subtitles
Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition
Video interview with Jerry Bruckheimer
Analysis of the dive sequence's special effects, by Hoyt Yeatman of Dream Quest images
Movie Magic episode on the film's special effects
Do's and don'ts of Hollywood gunplay, with Harry Humphries and Marshall Teague
Excerpts from "Secrets of Alcatraz," a documentary by � la Carte Communications
Storyboards, production design drawings, and production stills
Theatrical trailer and TV spots
Outtakes selected by Michael Bay
"The Rock" world premiere on Alcatraz

Customer Reviews

One of Michael Bay's most enjoyable films
The Rock is an enjoyable action film with an excellent cast, not just in the lead roles, but also the supporting. The special features on the Criterion Edition add a good amount of depth to the picture and add intersting insight for those interested in the industry, as well as those who simply enjoyed the film. It is one of the more difficult Criterion films to find, but worth the money if you're a fan of the movie. Over all, certainly one of Michael Bay's better films.

excellent film with great extra features
This review is for the Criterion Collection DVD edition of the film.

In this director approved Criterion Collection release, we are treated to some excellent materials.

The film follows the story of Francis Hummel (Ed Harris), a retired marine who takes hostages on Alcatraz island. His demand is that the families of soldiers killed in covert operations be given compensation. He treatens to launch VX nerve gas into the city of San Francisco if his demands are not met. A navy SEAL team is sent in to neutralize the threat. Helping out is Stanley Goodspeed (Nicholas Cage), a chemical weapons expert, and John Patrick Mason (Sean Connery), the only man to have escaped from Alcatraz.

The film has great acting and there are some good laughs in the film also. There are many action packed scenes including a car chase through the streets of San Francisco and the cars are often airborne when they go on the hills.

The Criterion DVD has many special features and is on a deouble disc set.

Disc 1 contains the movie with optional audio commentary by Director Michael Bay, Producer Jerry Bruckheimer, Technical advisor Harry Humphries, and actors Nicholas Cage and Ed Harris.

Disc 2 contains a theatrical trailer and TV spots, a video interview with producer Jerry Bruckheimer, a blooper reel, a special about the film's premiere on Alcatraz, scenes from a TV special "Secrets of Alcatraz" that contains interviews with actual former inmates and a history of the island from Native American times to modern times.

There is a special "Dos and Don'ts of Hollywood Gunplay" with the film's technical advisor Harry Humpries and Marshall Teague. This specail contains depictions of errors made in action films regarding the use of guns it emphasises saftey and common mistakes including gun drawing techniques that don't "work" such as the "gangster grab" or the "wyatt earp pull".

There are also 2 features on the films special effects. One is on the dive sequence and the other is on other effects, like the cable car crash. There are also storyboards, production stills and drawings.

This is a must biy for fans of the movie as well a fans of the Criterion Collection.

Fun film, but why on Criterion?
The Michael Bay - Jerry Bruckheimer formula, like that for the James Bond films, is pretty well set: lots of stuff blowing up, lots of bodies flying through the air, a cast dominated by strong male leads, women are very secondary, a very dramatic music score, lots of foul language and a very right of center political outlook (the military are always the heroes and anyone who questions the heroes' judgment are pansies or some other leftwing radical type). However, the James Bond films always had a sly sense of humor about themselves. Bond might save the American Space program, Fort Knox, Miami and the planet Earth, but there was always an underlying message: This is just for fun folks. The Bay-Bruckheimer films, however, have the delusion that they're actually fighting the battles depicted on screen. There's a lot of overwrought music, emotional scenes between the characters and slow motion closups of the hero(es) walking or running towards their battle with evil. The Rock, in this way, is no different. A team of marines, led by General Frank Hummell (Ed Harris) and disgusted with the way the U.S. Government has neglected the families of those soldiers killed in illegal missions abroad, has taken 81 hostages on Alcatraz, threatening to lauch nerve gas rockets into San Francisco unless reparations are paid to those soldiers' survivors. Heavy, heavy stuff.
However, injected into this serious mix is none other than the best James Bond himself -- Sean Connery. Even in the more serious early Bonds, Connery always managed to convey to the audience that they were supposed to have fun during these films. Bruckheimer and Bay do their best to elevate what is essentially Saturday morning action serial material into Wagnerian opera. But there is Connery, putting all the action into perspective by not taking anyting too seriously and grounding the material by recognizing what it really is: sheer entertainment.

Bay, Bruckheimer and company keep trying to push the fact that Ed Harris' desperate General Hummell is a man of honor, a real hero, etc., etc. Anyone who questions his judgment, like the hapless, simpering Presidential Chief of Staff at the first briefing scene, is shot down as a liberal wimp who would never make the sacrifices that Harris' character made for America and should shut up before one of the real men in the room shoot him (I wonder what George McGovern, Daniel Inouye and other liberals who fought for and were decorated for fighting for their country think of this kind of portrayal). Never mind that the General threatens to kill thousands of San Franciscans with nerve gas. Bay-Bruckheimer have stacked the deck by having the great Ed Harris play General Hummell, giving the character an inherent integrity that can't help but make him sympathetic. Fox News isn't this slanted.

In walks Connery who, in his big confrontation scene with Harris, gets right to the heart of the matter in a few lines. He correctly says that he doesn't see how "you cherish the memory of the dead by killing another million" and sums up Hummell's actions as "an act of lunacy." In one fell swoop, Connery slaps the collective message of the film across the face and shows that terrorism is terrorism, no matter if it's done by decorated U.S. soldiers with a legitimate gripe against the government. It's fairly certain that Connery, an executive producer of the film, purposely torpedoed Bay-Bruckheimer's testosterone toned view of the world.

In The Rock, Connery proves, once again, that an actor with a strong enough presence and a large amount of talent doesn't need to scream and shout to give a great performance. Nicholas Cage, Connery's co-star, bellows and shouts like he's on fire most of the film ("How, in Zeus' BUTTHOLE did you get out of your cell?!?!?!?!?!?" -- god, give it a rest, Nick!). Cage certainly isn't alone -- the rest of the cast buys into Bay-Bruckheimer's "this film is the most important thing you'll ever watch" mentality. However, Sean Connery, with his charm, wit and grace, throws a bucket of cold water over the entire proceedings and reminds everyone that the film is what it is and nothing more: a technically superb action film that exists merely to entertain ... period.

A final note: Criterion has always produced the finest quality DVD's loaded with many, many interesting extras. Most of the films Criterion has released are classics: Notorious, Roshamon, Ikiru, Yojimbo, Charade, Rebecca, etc. I enjoyed The Rock, but why did Criterion deem it good enough to rank with the other films they've released on DVD? Criterion has been selective in its releases and The Rock lowers the bar.