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The Rock

1996

Michael Bay

Sean Connery, Nicolas Cage, Ed Harris, Michael Biehn ...

6.8

60,156

Action In Michael Bays THE ROCK, gung-ho general Francis Hummel (Ed Harris), armed with deadly chemical rockets and aided by violent cohorts, takes over the island of Alcatraz, holding 81 tourists hostage. Hummel promises to deploy the missiles over San Francisco if Washington doesnt make amends to ignored combat victims to the tune of 100 million US dollars. A cadre of Navy SEALs are dispatched to quell the situation, assisted by the ... [+]

	Author	Review
United States	Todd McCarthy Variety	"This is a pure popcorn picture that benefits heavily from its trio of highly skilled, charismatic leading thesps, an unusual setting that provides plenty of visual stimulation, and a confrontational standoff"	POS
United States	Roger Ebert rogerebert.com	"A first-rate, slam-bang action thriller with a lot of style and no little humor (…) Rating: ★★★½ (out of 4)"	POS
United States	Janet Maslin The New York Times	"Pure why-not bravado, pumped-up and staggeringly dishonest but exciting just the same"	NEU
United States	Peter Travers Rolling Stone	"There is something to be said for a movie that is violent, vulgar and irrational without shame (...) It’s a popcorn-movie deluxe."	POS
United States	Tom Breihan AV Club	"The one good movie Michael Bay ever gave us (...) The movie works almost entirely because of Harris"	POS
United States	Owen Gleiberman Entertainment Weekly	"This is a movie out to entertain you even if it kills you in the process."	NEU
United Kingdom	Alex Hess The Guardian	"[It] ticks all its director's boxes. And yet no film has brought me anywhere near as much joy."	POS
United States	Desson Thomson The Washington Post	"The cliches pile up like rubble (...) [Bay] deserves special mention for his production team's nauseating close-up shots, annoyingly frenetic editing and bevy of tedious familiarities"	NEG
United Kingdom	Chris Hewitt Empire	"The superb action is choreographed with zing by Bay (...) Entertaining action, nothing more nor less (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United States	Kenneth Turan Los Angeles Times	"Though 'The Rock' does not lack for elaborate and effective action set-pieces, the excitement generated by this scenario feels artificial"	NEU
United Kingdom	John Ferguson Radio Times	"Even the most cynical viewers will find it difficult not to feel rushes of adrenaline during the numerous slick set pieces (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS

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