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The Rock
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.
1996 · Directed by Michael Bay · 137 min · Action · Adventure · Thriller · Screenplay in the scene database · 8 frames
Tagline
Alcatraz. Only one man has ever broken out. Now five million lives depend on two men breaking in.
Plot
A disillusioned USMC Brigadier General Francis Hummel and his rogue group of Force Recon Marines, including his loyal subordinate Major Tom Baxter, steal 15 rockets filled with lethal VX gas from a U.S. Navy facility. The next day, they seize control of the former prison on Alcatraz Island, taking the tourists and guards hostage. Hummel contacts the FBI and the Pentagon, threatening to launch the rockets at the San Francisco Bay Area in 72 hours deadline unless the government pays him $100 million, which will be donated to the families of the men who died during his command but were never compensated.
The Department of Defense and the FBI plan to retake Alcatraz by infiltrating the old tunnel system beneath the island, with Navy SEALs led by Commander Anderson. They recruit FBI chemical weapons specialist Special Agent Dr. Stanley Goodspeed to join them and disarm the rockets safely. With no knowledge of the island tunnel system, FBI Director Womack reluctantly calls on the aid of the imprisoned John Mason, a former British SAS Captain and MI6-trained operative and the only man to escape Alcatraz after he stole a microfilm created by J. Edgar Hoover containing classified U.S. information. Mason refused to reveal the microfilm's location after being captured, believing he would be killed, and was instead imprisoned without trial. Mason agrees to assist after being presented with a pardon that clears his record, though Womack destroys it shortly thereafter.
Mason escapes and leads the FBI on a car chase, causing a rampage through the city before being caught by Goodspeed when he meets with his estranged daughter, Jade. At the command center, Mason negotiates to join the team heading to Alcatraz. The team infiltrates the prison, but Hummel's men are alerted to their presence and ambush them in the shower room. Hummel tries to convince Anderson to surrender, but the zealous Captains Frye and Darrow deliberately cause a shootout that kills Anderson and his team. Mason and Goodspeed manage to evade them. Believing the mission to be a failure, Mason prepares to leave until Goodspeed reveals the truth about the VX, putting Mason's daughter and his pregnant fiancée, Carla (who came to San Francisco despite Goodspeed telling her to stay home), in danger.
Plot summary from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA.
Crew
- Screenplay: Douglas S. Cook, David Weisberg, Mark Rosner, Jonathan Hensleigh
- Cinematography: John Schwartzman
- Edited by: Richard Francis-Bruce
- Music: Nick Glennie-Smith, Hans Zimmer
- Production design: Michael White
- Produced by: Don Simpson, Jerry Bruckheimer
Cast
- Sean Connery as John Patrick Mason
- Nicolas Cage as Dr. Stanley Goodspeed
- Ed Harris as Brigadier General Francis X. Hummel, USMC
- John Spencer as FBI Director James Womack
- David Morse as Major Tom Baxter
- William Forsythe as Special Agent Ernest Paxton
- Michael Biehn as Commander Charles Anderson
- Vanessa Marcil as Carla Pestalozzi
- John C. McGinley as Marine Captain Hendrix
- Gregory Sporleder as Captain Frye
Production
- Country: United States of America
- Language: English
- Studios: Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer Films, Hollywood Pictures, Buena Vista Pictures
- Budget: $75,000,000
- Box office: $335,062,621
- Themes: war veteran, san francisco, california, fbi, mercenary, gas attack, alcatraz prison, prison escape, shootout, u.s. navy seal, terrorism
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