Content deleted Content added
Reverted 2 edits by 2001:FB1:12C:5128:5800:1500:AC96:F56A (talk): Hatnote not needed on disambiguated page |
m Reverted edits by Pobrialias (talk) to last version by Rangertapper grammar errror |
||
| (47 intermediate revisions by 30 users not shown) | |||
Line 32:
}}
| cinematography = [[John Schwartzman]]
| editing = [[Richard Francis-Bruce]] [[Steven Weisberg]]
| production_companies = {{Plainlist|
* [[Hollywood Pictures]]
* [[
}}
| distributor = [[Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures|Buena Vista Pictures Distribution]]
Line 46:
}}
'''''The Rock''''' is a 1996 American [[action film|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.
In the film, the [[United States Department of Defense|Pentagon]] assigns a team comprising an [[FBI]] chemist and a former [[Special Air Service|SAS]] captain with a team of [[United States Navy SEALs|SEALs]] to break into [[Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary|Alcatraz]], where a rogue general and a rogue group of [[United States Marine Corps Force Reconnaissance|Force Recon Marines]] have seized all the tourists on [[Alcatraz Island|the island]] and have threatened to launch rockets filled with [[nerve gas]] upon [[San Francisco]] unless the U.S. government pays $100 million to the next-of-kin of 83 men who were killed on missions that the general led and that the Pentagon denied.
''The Rock'' was dedicated to the memory of co-producer [[Don Simpson]],<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/06/07/movies/film-review-break-into-alcatraz-why-not.html | title=FILM REVIEW;Break into Alcatraz? Why Not? | last=Maslin | first=Janet | date=June 7, 1996 | work=[[The New York Times]] | access-date=February 24, 2021 | archive-date=September 25, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200925002318/https://www.nytimes.com/1996/06/07/movies/film-review-break-into-alcatraz-why-not.html | url-status=live }}</ref> who died five months before its release. The film received positive reviews from critics, and was nominated for [[Academy Award for Best Sound Mixing|Best Sound]] at the [[69th Academy Awards]]. It was also a financial success, earning box-office receipts of over $335 million against a production budget of $75 million, and became the [[1996 in film|fourth highest-grossing film of 1996]]. It was remade in India as ''[[Qayamat: City Under Threat]]''.<ref>{{cite book|title=India Today|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kmVDAAAAYAAJ|date=July 2003|publisher=Thomson Living Media India Limited}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-08-08|title='Qayamat: City Under Threat' copied from 'The Rock'|url=https://bollywoodcopy.com/qayamat-city-under-threat-copied-from-the-rock/|access-date=2021-12-28|website=Bollywood Copy - Not everything is original in Bollywood|language=en-US|archive-date=28 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211228182121/https://bollywoodcopy.com/qayamat-city-under-threat-copied-from-the-rock/|url-status=dead}}</ref>▼
▲''The Rock'' was dedicated to the memory of
==Plot==
<!--- PLOTS ARE GENERALLY 400-700 WORDS -->
Disillusioned
The [[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]] and the FBI plot to retake the island using a [[United States Navy SEALs|U.S. Navy SEAL]] team led by [[Commander]] Anderson, FBI chemical weapons specialist Dr. Stanley Goodspeed, and elderly former British [[Special Air Service|SAS]] John Mason, the only man to escape Alcatraz. FBI Director James Womack deceives Mason with the offer of a pardon and acquiesces to his request to move to a hotel, from which Mason escapes. After Mason leads the FBI on a destructive car chase through San Francisco, Goodspeed finds him meeting with his estranged daughter, Jade. As the FBI arrives, Mason expresses his regret for not being in her life. At the mission command center, Mason negotiates to join the team on Alcatraz, while Goodspeed fails to convince his pregnant girlfriend Carla not to travel to San Francisco.
The team infiltrates Alcatraz, but Hummel's men are alerted to their presence and ambush them in a shower room. Hummel tries to convince Anderson to surrender, but his new allies, Captains Darrow and Frye, deliberately cause a shootout that kills Anderson's team, except for Mason and Goodspeed, who remain undetected. Believing the mission a failure, Mason prepares to leave until Goodspeed reveals the truth about the VX.
Mason and Goodspeed work together 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. After Mason frees himself and Goodspeed, he reveals that he was an [[Secret Intelligence Service|MI6]] operative who stole a microfilm created by [[J. Edgar Hoover]] containing secrets of high-profile global figures and classified U.S. information. Mason refused to reveal the microfilm's location after being captured, knowing he would be killed and was imprisoned without trial, with his existence concealed by the FBI. Having assessed Hummel as an honorable soldier who will not kill innocents, Mason leaves but returns to Goodspeed, not wanting his child to grow up without a father.
The ransom deadline passes, leading Darrow and Frye to pressure Hummel into firing a rocket, but he redirects it to detonate harmlessly in the sea. Hummel explains the rockets were a bluff and he never intended to kill anyone, declaring the mission over. Realizing they will not be paid, Darrow and Frye kill Baxter and mortally wound Hummel, who tells Goodspeed the location of the last rocket before dying. Meanwhile, an airstrike is initiated to destroy 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 signaling to abort the attack, but one plane drops its bombs. The blast throws Goodspeed into the bay, but Mason saves him.
Goodspeed
==Cast==
Line 72 ⟶ 71:
{{Cast listing|
* [[Sean Connery]] as Captain (retired) John Patrick Mason [[Special Air Service|SAS]]/[[MI6]]
* [[Nicolas Cage]] as Dr. Stanley Goodspeed, [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]]
* [[Ed Harris]] as General Francis X. Hummel, [[United States Marine Corps|USMC]]
* [[Michael Biehn]] as Commander Charles Anderson, [[United States Navy SEALs|USN]]
* [[William Forsythe (actor)|William Forsythe]] as Ernest Paxton, FBI
* [[David Morse]] as Major Tom Baxter, USMC
Line 87 ⟶ 86:
}}
Uncredited members of the cast include [[Stuart Wilson (actor)|Stuart Wilson]] as General Al Kramer; [[Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff]],<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2016-06-07 |title='The Rock' Turns 20 But Remains Lovably Juvenile {{!}} Decider |url=https://decider.com/2016/06/07/the-rock-turns-20-but-remains-lovably-juvenile/ |access-date=2024-06-19 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.allmovie.com/movie/the-rock-am20746/cast-crew |title=The Rock (1996) - Michael Bay {{!}} Cast and Crew {{!}} AllMovie |language=en |access-date=2024-06-19 |via=www.allmovie.com}}</ref> [[David Marshall Grant]] as [[White House Chief of Staff]] Hayden Sinclair,<ref>{{Cite web |last=nyfa |title=How David Marshall Grant's Persistence Led to His Success |url=https://www.nyfa.edu/film-school-blog/how-david-marshall-grant-persistence-led-to-his-success/ |access-date=2024-06-19 |website=NYFA |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> [[Philip Baker Hall]] as the [[Chief Justice of the Supreme Court]],<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> [[Xander Berkeley]] as FBI technician Lonner,<ref name=":1" /> and [[Stanley Anderson]] as the President of the United States.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Petski |first=Denise |date=2018-06-28 |title=Stanley Anderson Dies: 'Spider-Man' & 'Seinfeld' Actor Was 78 |url=https://deadline.com/2018/06/stanley-anderson-dies-spider-man-seinfeld-actor-78-1202418782/ |access-date=2024-06-19 |website=Deadline |language=en-US}}</ref>
Other actors in smaller roles include [[Todd Louiso]] as FBI agent Marvin Isherwood, [[David Bowe (actor)|David Bowe]] as Dr. Ling, [[Howard Platt]] as Louis Lindstrom, [[John Laughlin (actor)|John Laughlin]] as General Peterson, [[Harry Humphries]] as Admiral Johansson, [[Willie Garson]] as Francis Reynolds, [[Anthony Clark (actor)|Anthony Clark]] as Paul the hairdresser, [[Tom Towles]] as an Alcatraz park ranger, 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,<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Hermanns |first=Grant |date=2023-02-08 |title=Raymond Cruz On His Breaking Bad Return In PopCorners Super Bowl Ad |url=https://screenrant.com/popcorners-super-bowl-breaking-bad-raymond-cruz-interview/ |access-date=2024-06-19 |website=ScreenRant |language=en}}</ref> Jim Maniaci as Private Scarpetti, [[Greg Collins (American football)|Greg Collins]] as Private Gamble, Brendan Kelly as Private Cox, and [[Steve Harris (actor)|Steve Harris]] as Private McCoy. [[Dennis Chalker]] (Dando) and [[Marshall R. Teague]] (Reigert) play members of Anderson’s SEAL team.
==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 S. Cook|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.<ref>Welkos, Robert W. [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-05-21-ca-6461-story.html "'Cable,' 'Rock' in Disputes on Writing Credits"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190831022439/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-05-21-ca-6461-story.html |date=August 31, 2019 }}. ''Los Angeles Times'', May 21, 1996, p. 1.</ref> [[Quentin Tarantino]] was also an uncredited screenwriter.<ref name="QT">{{cite book |first=Gerald |last=Peary |title=Quentin Tarantino Interviews |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c5SdiFJmswcC |series=[[Conversations with Filmmakers Series]] |date=August 1998 |access-date=February 24, 2013 |publisher=[[University Press of Mississippi]] |isbn=1-57806-050-8 |chapter=Chronology |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c5SdiFJmswcC&q=Tarantino+Crimson&pg=PR19 |pages=xix |no-pp=true |archive-date=April 30, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160430092429/https://books.google.com/books?id=c5SdiFJmswcC |url-status=live }}</ref>▼
=== Writing and pre-production ===
Los Angeles–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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Brew |first=Simon |date=2020-10-02 |title=The Rock: the crucial rewrite that got Sean Connery on board |url=https://www.filmstories.co.uk/features/the-rock-the-crucial-rewrite-that-got-sean-connery-on-board/ |access-date=2023-02-23 |website=Film Stories |language=en-GB}}</ref> ▼
▲[[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 S. Cook|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
[[Quentin Tarantino]] and [[Aaron Sorkin]] were also uncredited script doctors.<ref name="QT">{{cite book |first=Gerald |last=Peary |title=Quentin Tarantino Interviews |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c5SdiFJmswcC |series=[[Conversations with Filmmakers Series]] |date=August 1998 |access-date=February 24, 2013 |publisher=[[University Press of Mississippi]] |isbn=1-57806-050-8 |chapter=Chronology |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c5SdiFJmswcC&q=Tarantino+Crimson&pg=PR19 |pages=xix |no-pp=true |archive-date=April 30, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160430092429/https://books.google.com/books?id=c5SdiFJmswcC |url-status=live }}</ref>
There were tensions during shooting between director Bay and [[The Walt Disney Studios (division)|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.<ref>{{cite AV media|people=Bay, Michael (director) |publisher=[[The Criterion Collection]] |medium=DVD |chapter=[[Audio commentary]] |title=The Rock |volume=108 |date=13 March 2001}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bay |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Bay |date=2020-11-01 |title=Michael Bay Pens Tribute to Sean Connery and His "James Bond Smile" of Approval |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/michael-bay-pens-tribute-to-sean-connery-and-his-james-bond-smile-of-approval-4086277/ |access-date=2023-02-23 |website=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |language=en-US}}</ref>▼
▲
Most of the film 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 down Alcatraz, and much of the filming had to accommodate tour parties milling around.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.movie-locations.com/movies/r/Rock-1996.php |title=The Rock 1996 |website=Movie-Locations |access-date=December 18, 2018 |archive-date=December 13, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181213032104/http://www.movie-locations.com/movies/r/Rock-1996.php |url-status=live }}</ref> The scene in which FBI Director Womack is thrown off the balcony was filmed on location at the [[Fairmont San Francisco|Fairmont Hotel]] in San Francisco. The filming led to numerous calls to the hotel by people who saw a man dangling from the balcony.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Graff |first=Amy |date=2019-10-01 |title=The untold stories of San Francisco's Fairmont Penthouse |url=https://www.sfgate.com/travel/article/San-Francisco-Fairmont-Hotel-Penthouse-celebrities-14470178.php |access-date=2023-02-23 |website=SFGATE |language=en-US}}</ref> The film's closing scene was shot outside the historic Sacred Heart Mission Church in [[Saticoy, California]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-jun-17-me-47481-story.html|title=Out of the Picture?|last=Ritsch|first=Massie|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=June 17, 1999|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210708152810/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-jun-17-me-47481-story.html|archive-date=July 8, 2021|access-date=July 8, 2021}}</ref>▼
=== 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.<ref>{{YouTube|id=rWk258h9Akk|title=Arnold Schwarzenegger Interview / 22.01.13 / (San) Part 2}}</ref>
=== Filming ===
▲Most of the film 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 down Alcatraz, and much of the filming had to accommodate tour parties milling around.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.movie-locations.com/movies/r/Rock-1996.php |title=The Rock 1996 |website=Movie-Locations |access-date=December 18, 2018 |archive-date=December 13, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181213032104/http://www.movie-locations.com/movies/r/Rock-1996.php |url-status=live }}</ref> The scene in which FBI Director Womack is thrown off the balcony was filmed on location at the [[Fairmont San Francisco|Fairmont Hotel]] in San Francisco. The filming led to numerous calls to the hotel by people who saw a man dangling from the balcony.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Graff |first=Amy |date=2019-10-01 |title=The untold stories of San Francisco's Fairmont Penthouse |url=https://www.sfgate.com/travel/article/San-Francisco-Fairmont-Hotel-Penthouse-celebrities-14470178.php |access-date=2023-02-23 |website=SFGATE |language=en-US}}</ref> The film's closing scene was shot outside the historic Sacred Heart Mission Church in [[Saticoy, California]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-jun-17-me-47481-story.html|title=Out of the Picture?|last=Ritsch|first=Massie|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=June 17, 1999|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210708152810/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-jun-17-me-47481-story.html|archive-date=July 8, 2021|access-date=July 8, 2021}}</ref>
This was Bay's first movie to be shot in a widescreen [[anamorphic format|2.39:1]] aspect ratio, via [[Super 35]]. On the commentary track for the [[Criterion Collection]] DVD of ''[[Armageddon (1998 film)|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.<ref>{{cite AV media|people=Bay, Michael (director) |publisher=[[The Criterion Collection]] |medium=DVD |chapter=[[Audio commentary]] |title=Armageddon |volume=40 |date=20 April 1999}}</ref>
▲There were tensions during shooting between director Bay and [[The Walt Disney Studios (division)|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.<ref>{{cite AV media|people=Bay, Michael (director) |publisher=[[The Criterion Collection]] |medium=DVD |chapter=[[Audio commentary]] |title=The Rock |volume=108 |date=13 March 2001}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bay |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Bay |date=2020-11-01 |title=Michael Bay Pens Tribute to Sean Connery and His "James Bond Smile" of Approval |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/michael-bay-pens-tribute-to-sean-connery-and-his-james-bond-smile-of-approval-4086277/ |access-date=2023-02-23 |website=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |language=en-US}}</ref>
===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.<ref name=MF>{{cite web | url=http://www.melonfarmers.co.uk/ardhhits.htm | title=Later DVDs merged into the Video Hits section | work=The Melon Farmers | access-date=February 24, 2013 | archive-date=October 23, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023143436/http://melonfarmers.co.uk/ardhhits.htm | url-status=live }}</ref> 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 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.<ref name=MF/>▼
===Iraqi chemical weapons program===▼
A scene from the film 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 movie, according to the [[Chilcot Inquiry]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Kim |first=Sengupta |date=7 July 2016 |title=Chilcot report: MI6 may have got crucial intelligence on Iraq WMDs from a Nicolas Cage film |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/chilcot-report-iraq-war-inquiry-wmds-mi6-evidence-tony-blair-richard-dearlove-a7124426.html |newspaper=The Independent |location=London, UK |access-date=January 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160710230212/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/chilcot-report-iraq-war-inquiry-wmds-mi6-evidence-tony-blair-richard-dearlove-a7124426.html |archive-date=10 July 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>▼
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 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. Dearlove 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 weapons 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 film. "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 [[2003 invasion of Iraq|invasion of Iraq]] – MI6 concluded that their source had been lying "over a period of time" but failed to inform [[10 Downing Street|No 10]] or others, even though Prime Minister [[Tony Blair]] had been briefed on this intelligence.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jul/06/movie-plot-the-rock-inspired-mi6-sources-iraqi-weapons-claim-chilcot-report|title=The Rock movie plot 'may have inspired MI6 source's Iraqi weapons claim'|first=Peter|last=Walker|date=July 6, 2016|work=The Guardian|access-date=June 30, 2017|archive-date=July 7, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160707152917/https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jul/06/movie-plot-the-rock-inspired-mi6-sources-iraqi-weapons-claim-chilcot-report|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07/06/mi6-iraq-nerve-gas-report-stolen-from-action-film-the-rock/|title=MI6 Iraq nerve gas report 'stolen from action film The Rock'|work=The Telegraph|date=July 6, 2016|access-date=June 30, 2017|archive-date=April 6, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170406214925/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07/06/mi6-iraq-nerve-gas-report-stolen-from-action-film-the-rock/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="independent">{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/supposed-iraqi-wmd-described-in-intelligence-dossier-resembled-inaccurate-portrayal-in-1996-holywood-a7123341.html|title=Supposed Iraqi WMD described in dossier resembled inaccurate portrayal in Holywood film The Rock, Chilcot notes|date=July 6, 2016|work=The Independent|access-date=June 30, 2017|archive-date=May 17, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170517071918/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/supposed-iraqi-wmd-described-in-intelligence-dossier-resembled-inaccurate-portrayal-in-1996-holywood-a7123341.html|url-status=live}}</ref> According to ''[[The Independent]]'', the false claims of weapons of mass destruction were the justification for UK's entering the war.<ref name="independent"/>▼
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 films 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 had had some "funny emails" after the report, but he felt "it's not a nice legacy for the film". "It's tragic that we went to war," he concluded.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/jul/08/it-was-such-obvious-bullshit-the-rock-writer-shocked-film-may-have-inspired-false-wmd-intelligence?CMP=twt_gu|title='It was such obvious bullshit': The Rock writer shocked film may have inspired false WMD intelligence|first=Catherine|last=Shoard|date=July 8, 2016|work=The Guardian|access-date=June 30, 2017|archive-date=August 26, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160826025404/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/jul/08/it-was-such-obvious-bullshit-the-rock-writer-shocked-film-may-have-inspired-false-wmd-intelligence?CMP=twt_gu|url-status=live}}</ref>▼
==Music==
The soundtrack to ''The Rock'' was released on the same day as the film, June 7, 1996, by [[Hollywood Records]]. [[
==Reception==
Line 122 ⟶ 118:
===Box office===
For its opening weekend, the film grossed $25 million, beating out ''[[Mission: Impossible (film)|Mission: Impossible]]'' to reach the number one spot.<ref>{{cite news |title=The Rock' rolls at U.S. box office
|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1996/06/10/The-Rock-rolls-at-US-box-office/3156834379200/ |access-date=26 February 2022 |work=[[United Press International]] |date=10 June 1996 |archive-date=February 26, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220226220501/https://www.upi.com/Archives/1996/06/10/The-Rock-rolls-at-US-box-office/3156834379200/ |url-status=live }}</ref> It would be overtaken by ''[[The Cable Guy]]'' during its second weekend.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-star-press-first-place-finish-doesn/124170494/ |title=First-place finish doesn't tell story |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230506230752/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-star-press-first-place-finish-doesn/124170494/ |date=June 18, 1996 |access-date=May 6, 2023 |archive-date=May 6, 2023 |page=9 |publisher=[[The Star Press]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |url-status=live}} {{Open access}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news | title=The Rock Rolls to $23-Million Opening | last=Brennan | first=Judy | date=June 10, 1996 | work=[[Los Angeles Times]] | url= https://
===Critical response===
On [[Rotten Tomatoes]], the film has an approval rating of
[[Roger Ebert]] awarded the film 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".<ref>{{cite web |date=June 7, 1996 |title=The Rock Movie Review & Film Summary (1996) |author-link=Roger Ebert |first=Roger |last=Ebert |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-rock-1996 |website=www.rogerebert.com |access-date=January 31, 2018 |archive-date=January 31, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180131201211/https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-rock-1996 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Todd McCarthy]] of ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' gave the film 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."<ref>{{cite web |last=McCarthy |first=Todd |title=Review: 'The Rock' |url=https://variety.com/1996/film/reviews/the-rock-2-1200446070/ |work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |date=June 3, 1996 |access-date=November 24, 2013 |archive-date=December 3, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203073517/http://variety.com/1996/film/reviews/the-rock-2-1200446070/ |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Richard Corliss]], writing for the ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' expressed favorable opinions towards the film, saying "Slick, brutal and almost human, this is the team-spirit action movie ''[[Mission: Impossible (film)|Mission: Impossible]]'' should have been."<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Corliss |first=Richard |title=Cinema: Good Rockin': Finally, summer has a smart, almost human action movie |url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,984679,00.html |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |access-date=November 24, 2013 |date=June 10, 1996 |url-access=subscription |archive-date=December 3, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203000619/http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,984679,00.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
Line 138 ⟶ 134:
In 2019, Tom Reimann from Collider ranked ''The Rock'' as Michael Bay's best film: "The Rock is not only Michael Bay's finest film, it's also a perfect snapshot of the height of 90s action movies."<ref>{{Cite web|last=Reimann|first=Tom|date=2019-12-13|title=Every Michael Bay Movie Ranked from Worst to Best|url=https://collider.com/michael-bay-movies-ranked-worst-to-best/|access-date=2020-09-21|website=Collider|language=en-US|archive-date=December 14, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191214132938/https://collider.com/michael-bay-movies-ranked-worst-to-best/|url-status=live}}</ref>
==Controversies==
==Abandoned sequel==▼
▲===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.<ref name=MF>{{cite web | url=http://www.melonfarmers.co.uk/ardhhits.htm | title=Later DVDs merged into the Video Hits section | work=The Melon Farmers | access-date=February 24, 2013 | archive-date=October 23, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023143436/http://melonfarmers.co.uk/ardhhits.htm | url-status=live }}</ref> 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 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.<ref name=MF/>
▲===Iraqi chemical weapons program===
▲A scene from the film 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 movie, according to the [[Chilcot Inquiry]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Kim |first=Sengupta |date=7 July 2016 |title=Chilcot report: MI6 may have got crucial intelligence on Iraq WMDs from a Nicolas Cage film |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/chilcot-report-iraq-war-inquiry-wmds-mi6-evidence-tony-blair-richard-dearlove-a7124426.html |newspaper=The Independent |location=London, UK |access-date=January 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160710230212/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/chilcot-report-iraq-war-inquiry-wmds-mi6-evidence-tony-blair-richard-dearlove-a7124426.html |archive-date=10 July 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>
▲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 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. Dearlove 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 weapons 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 film. "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 [[2003 invasion of Iraq|invasion of Iraq]] – MI6 concluded that their source had been lying "over a period of time" but failed to inform [[10 Downing Street|No 10]] or others, even though Prime Minister [[Tony Blair]] had been briefed on this intelligence.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jul/06/movie-plot-the-rock-inspired-mi6-sources-iraqi-weapons-claim-chilcot-report|title=The Rock movie plot 'may have inspired MI6 source's Iraqi weapons claim'|first=Peter|last=Walker|date=July 6, 2016|work=The Guardian|access-date=June 30, 2017|archive-date=July 7, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160707152917/https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jul/06/movie-plot-the-rock-inspired-mi6-sources-iraqi-weapons-claim-chilcot-report|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07/06/mi6-iraq-nerve-gas-report-stolen-from-action-film-the-rock/|title=MI6 Iraq nerve gas report 'stolen from action film The Rock'|work=The Telegraph|date=July 6, 2016|access-date=June 30, 2017|archive-date=April 6, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170406214925/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07/06/mi6-iraq-nerve-gas-report-stolen-from-action-film-the-rock/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="independent">{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/supposed-iraqi-wmd-described-in-intelligence-dossier-resembled-inaccurate-portrayal-in-1996-holywood-a7123341.html|title=Supposed Iraqi WMD described in dossier resembled inaccurate portrayal in Holywood film The Rock, Chilcot notes|date=July 6, 2016|work=The Independent|access-date=June 30, 2017|archive-date=May 17, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170517071918/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/supposed-iraqi-wmd-described-in-intelligence-dossier-resembled-inaccurate-portrayal-in-1996-holywood-a7123341.html|url-status=live}}</ref> According to ''[[The Independent]]'', the false claims of weapons of mass destruction were the justification for UK's entering the war.<ref name="independent"/>
▲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 films 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 had had some "funny emails" after the report, but he felt "it's not a nice legacy for the film". "It's tragic that we went to war," he concluded.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/jul/08/it-was-such-obvious-bullshit-the-rock-writer-shocked-film-may-have-inspired-false-wmd-intelligence?CMP=twt_gu|title='It was such obvious bullshit': The Rock writer shocked film may have inspired false WMD intelligence|first=Catherine|last=Shoard|date=July 8, 2016|work=The Guardian|access-date=June 30, 2017|archive-date=August 26, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160826025404/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/jul/08/it-was-such-obvious-bullshit-the-rock-writer-shocked-film-may-have-inspired-false-wmd-intelligence?CMP=twt_gu|url-status=live}}</ref>
In June 2017, director Michael Bay discussed his idea for a follow-up to ''The Rock'' that never developed past the concept that Goodspeed and Mason are chased by the government after escaping, due to possession of the microfilm as shown in the ending.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.slashfilm.com/the-rock-sequel/|title=The Rock Sequel Idea|date=June 20, 2017|website=[[/Film]]|access-date=February 18, 2020|archive-date=August 9, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809034514/https://www.slashfilm.com/the-rock-sequel/|url-status=live}}</ref>
Line 193 ⟶ 202:
[[Category:Films with screenplays by David Weisberg]]
[[Category:Hollywood Pictures films]]
[[Category:Jerry Bruckheimer Films films]]
[[Category:1990s American films]]
[[Category:English-language action thriller films]]
| |||