The Rock (1996)
It’s Die Hard…
on Alcatraz.
Is the main character an average Joe?
Almost, he’s a chemical weapons specialist for the F.B.I. but only had one day of weapons training in his entire career. He has to disable rockets equipped with the poisonous VX-gas which are aimed at San Francisco.
Sidekick?
Yes, and it’s James Bond himself! Sean Connery plays John Patrick Mason, an MI-6 agent who escaped from Alcatraz twice and now has to lead a team of Marines in. These marines get killed and it’s up to him and Nicolas Cage as Stanley Goodspeed to save the day. Sean actually gets top billing and is featured most prominently on the movie poster.
Any personal problems?
His girlfriend just told him she’s pregnant and he secretly bought a Beatles album for $600,-.
Is the lead character there by coincidence?
No, he’s recruited ‘involuntary’.
Are there any friends or family in danger?
His wife just so happens to come to San Fransisco, and Mason’s daughter just so happens to live there..
What’s at stake and why aren’t the authorities doing anything?
A lot of money, the lives of the hostages in Alcatraz and of everybody living in San Fransisco. The authorities did try to do something but only Goodspeed and Mason remain left because all the other marines got slaughtered in an ambush. Their only option is to bomb Alcatraz unless Goodspeed and Mason disable all the rockets.
Any charismatic villains?
Ed Harris is the educated Brigadier General Francis X. Hummel, USMC and his reasons for this hostile takeover are noble. This is the most charismatic villain since Alan Rickman in Die Hard.
Is it any good?
This was Michael Bay’s second movie and one of his most critically acclaimed. It is so good that it transcends from being a simple Die Hard Rip-off. It also made Nicolas Cage an action star. I’m not sure if that is a positive thing.
They are planning a remake, I would go for Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki, Joe Manganiello, Milo Ventimiglia, Tom Welling, Chris Evans, Chris Pine, Chadwick Boseman, Anthony Mackie, Jeremy Runner, Derek Theler, or D.J. Cotrona as Gabe Walker; and Billy Zane, Kevin Spacey, Dominic Pace, Alec Baldwin, Gil Banks, Hugo Weaving, Robert Knepper, Brian Van Holt, Travis Fine, Skeet Ulrich, or Dash Mihok as Qualen.
I think there is a way to improve The Taking of Beverly Hills, like instead an undercover Fed helped crippled a militia group and imprisoned many members including their leader. But the leader’s brother and a few members of the group plant bombs all over Beverly Hills, and threaten to set them off if the leader is not released, and the undercover fed seeks out the bombs while his partners buy him time.
Blast is good, but it would be worthwhile to note that, Agent Lisa Reed (Vivica A. Fox) finds out that Michael Kittridge (Vinnie Jones) is actually a mercenary named Skyler Talbot and had killed the real Kittridge and stole his identity to throw off authorities.
I would like to see Christmas Rush. Anyone know where to find it?
There are some sites that list it as streamable, but I don’t know how legit they are. If you own an XBMC player I would advise you to look on that network.
What is an XBMC Player? I have never heard of one.
In most cases they are mediaplayers running Android. Because they run Android they can download an app named XBMC from Google’s Play Store. XBMC allows you to search and stream movies
Don’t forget the other scenarios like Terminal Rush, Interceptor, Crash Dive, Counter Measures, 12 Rounds: Reloaded, 12 Rounds: Lockdown, Project: Shadow Chaser, Command Performance, Demolition University, Cyberjack/Virtual Assassin, Final Voyage, and Air Rage.
For Speed 2: Cruise Control, it should have been Direct to Video, and not a sequel to Speed. The lead villain should have been a pirate instead of soft ware designer turned mad bomber trying to blow up a ship.
Every time I see “Air Force One” I remember that in the Tom Clancy novels, the character of Jack Ryan becomes president. This film could have been part of the saga starring Harrison Ford, if he had continued it.