The Rock
1 Oscar Nominations
Rent/Purchase
When vengeful General Francis X. Hummel seizes control of Alcatraz Island and threatens to launch missiles loaded with deadly chemical weapons into San Francisco, only a young FBI chemical weapons expert and notorious Federal prisoner have the skills to penetrate the impregnable island fortress and take him down.
What critics thought
Michael Bay's Alcatraz thriller lands in genuinely mixed territory: audiences embraced it enthusiastically while critics were split between those who found the relentless pacing and self-aware humor enough to carry the ride, and those who felt the spectacle ultimately swallowed any cleverness the premise promised. The central debate is whether Bay's maximalist style is a feature or a flaw.
“a first-rate, slam-bang action thriller with a lot of style and no little humor”
Roger Ebert·rogerebert.com
“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.”
Todd McCarthy·Variety
“Slick, brutal and almost human, this is the team-spirit action movie Mission: Impossible should have been.”
Richard Corliss·Time
“The filmmakers got suckered by their own high-tech effects, turning a potentially clever entertainment into yet another barrage of violence, vulgarity, and excess.”
David Sterritt·Christian Science Monitor
Genres
Action, Adventure, Thriller
Cast & Crew
DirectorMichael Bay
StarringSean Connery, Nicolas Cage, Ed Harris, John Spencer, David Morse
ComposerHans Zimmer, Nick Glennie-Smith
The Rock
1 Oscar Nominations
When vengeful General Francis X. Hummel seizes control of Alcatraz Island and threatens to launch missiles loaded with deadly chemical weapons into San Francisco, only a young FBI chemical weapons expert and notorious Federal prisoner have the skills to penetrate the impregnable island fortress and take him down.
What critics thought
Michael Bay's Alcatraz thriller lands in genuinely mixed territory: audiences embraced it enthusiastically while critics were split between those who found the relentless pacing and self-aware humor enough to carry the ride, and those who felt the spectacle ultimately swallowed any cleverness the premise promised. The central debate is whether Bay's maximalist style is a feature or a flaw.
“a first-rate, slam-bang action thriller with a lot of style and no little humor”
Roger Ebert·rogerebert.com
“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.”
Todd McCarthy·Variety
“Slick, brutal and almost human, this is the team-spirit action movie Mission: Impossible should have been.”
Richard Corliss·Time
“The filmmakers got suckered by their own high-tech effects, turning a potentially clever entertainment into yet another barrage of violence, vulgarity, and excess.”
David Sterritt·Christian Science Monitor
Genres
Action, Adventure, Thriller
Cast & Crew
DirectorMichael Bay
StarringSean Connery, Nicolas Cage, Ed Harris, John Spencer, David Morse
ComposerHans Zimmer, Nick Glennie-Smith
Rent/Purchase