The
sophomore film from former music video and commercial director Michael Bay,
this fast-paced action yarn featured rapid-fire editing, a cutting-edge rock
soundtrack and liberal use of shots awash in a haze of burnished hues, all
trademarks of producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer. Nicolas Cage
stars as Stanley Goodspeed, an FBI chemical weapons expert handed a unique
assignment. Francis X. Hummel (Ed Harris), an insane Marine Corps general,
has taken 81 tourists hostage on the abandoned island prison of Alcatraz. He
and his men are threatening to bomb San Francisco with deadly gas unless
$100 million is paid in war reparations to the families of servicemen killed
in covert operations. Goodspeed is teamed with former British spy John
Patrick Mason (Sean Connery), the only man ever to escape "The Rock," as
well as a Navy SEAL team. When their military escorts are ambushed, it's up
to odd couple Goodspeed and Mason to break into Alcatraz and stop Hummel.
The Rock was the last film produced by Simpson, who died of a drug overdose
before the film's release. Solo, his partner Bruckheimer continued making
the sort of glossy, frenetic films for which the duo was famed.| Nicolas Cage | Stanley Goodspeed |
| Sean Connery | John Patrick Mason |
| Ed Harris | Gen. Francis X. Hummel |
| Michael Biehn | Commander Anderson |
| William Forsythe | Eddie Paxton |
| David Morse | Major Tom Baxter |
| Mike Mahrer | Navy Seal |
| Ralph Peduto | FBI Agent Hunt |
| Raymond O'Connor | Park Ranger Bob |
| Howard Platt | Louis Lindstrom |
| Juan A. Riojas | Hummel Marine "B" |
| John C. McGinley | Marine Capt. Hendrix |
| Leonard McMahan | Cable Car Conductor |
| Vanessa Marcil | Carla Pestalozzi |
| Danny Nucci | Special Agent Shepard |
| Jim Maniaci | Private Scarpetti |
| John Nathan | FBI Radar Technician |
| Ingo Neuhaus | Marine That Dies |
| Jane Sanguinetti Luenell | Tourist |
| Ricky Toms | Navy Seal |
| Tom Towles | Alcatraz Park Ranger |
| Tony Todd | Capt. Darrow |
| Marshall Teague | Seal Reigert |
| Bokeem Woodbine | Sgt. Crisp |
| Celeste Weaver | Stacy Richards |
| Sam Whipple | Larry Henderson |
| Andy Ryan | Lab Technician |
| Fred Savallon | Chef |
| Ronald Simmons | Alcatraz Park Ranger |
| Carlos Sandoval | Navy Seal |
| Hans George Struhar | Valet |
| Gregory Sporleder | Capt. Frye |
| Sean Skelton | Kid on Motorcycle |
| John Spencer | FBI Director Womack |
| Jack Yates | Hummel Marine "A" |
| Steve Decker | Navy Seal |
| Raymond Cruz | (uncredited) |
| Greg Collins | Private Gamble |
| Jack Ford | Military Official |
| Billy Devlin | Navy Seal |
| John Enos | Sea Stallion Pilot |
| Claire Forlani | Jade Angelou |
| Robert Ben Rajab | Alcatraz Park Ranger |
| Robert C. Besgrove | F.B.I. Agent |
| Robert M. Anselmo | F.B.I. Radar Technician |
| Anthony Clark | Paul the Hotel Barber |
| Dennis Chalker | Seal Boyer |
| David Bowe | Dr. Ling |
| James Caviezel | Rear F-18 Pilot |
| John W. Love Jr. | Tourist |
| Brendan Kelly | Cox |
| Ken Kells | Spotter |
| Buck Kartalian | Reverend |
| Todd Louiso | Marvin Isherwood |
| Joseph Patrick Kelly | Hummel Marine |
| Raquel Krelle | Agent Margie Wood |
| Willie Garson | Francis Reynolds |
| Anthony Guidera | Lead F-18 Pilot |
| Thomas J. Hageboeck | F.B.I. Agent Cord |
| Dando Gaver | Seal Dando |
| Harry Humphries | Navy Admiral |
| Dwight Hicks | F.B.I. Agent Star |
| Steve Harris | Private McCoy |
| Joseph Hawes | Navy Seal |
Genre/Type - Action, Action Thriller, Buddy Film
Produced by - Buena Vista / Don Simpson-Jerry Bruckheimer Films /
Hollywood Pictures
Released by - Buena Vista
Running time - 136 min.
Seven Days to Noon (1950, John Boulting, Roy Boulting)
XXX (2002, Rob Cohen)
Broken Arrow (1996, John Woo)
Arctic Blue (1993, Peter Masterson)
3000 Miles to Graceland (2001, Damien Lichtenstein)
The Negotiator (1998, F. Gary Gray)
Six Against the Rock (1987, Paul Wendkos)
Getting Even (1986, Dwight H. Little)