Bay's mom told her son not to yell at Connery like he did with the other cast members due to Sean's age. Bay thought Connery could take it. Apparently, he could, because when the studio tried to replace Bay, Sean told the studio to go to hell. Sean stood up for Bay.
I disagree that the conclusion to Ed Harris's story is unsatisfying. I can't think of any other movie where the villain threatens violence against innocent people, and then it's revealed that he was bluffing the whole time. To me, that's an extremely unique and interesting villain. Sure, plenty of characters (Jaws in Moonraker for instance) who see the light halfway through the movie and become more moral people. But Ed Harris's character in The Rock is a deeply moral man from the very start. He never actually intended to murder millions of civilians with poison gas. And being the military man he is, his fatal flaw was that he believed his men would follow his orders no matter what. He never fully came to terms with what he'd become. But as his own men tell him, the moment they took hostages they stopped being soldiers and started being mercenaries. And he was completely blind to this truth until it was too late.
His biggest flaw is trusting men he didn’t know. His own men do stay loyal. But the group that he’d never served with before and only knew by reputation, those were the ones who betrayed him. Hummel really is a tragic character in the end.
The problem is Hummel is talking about Black Ops, the likes of which Mason (and Bond) took part in. Mason knew the British government wouldn't acknowledge his existence if he was caught, as do most Block Ops soldiers because Black Ops are illegal Hummel is kind of extremely naive to think the American Government weren't going "tell fairy stories" to the families of black ops soldiers If it was the n horrific treatment of soldiers in general then yeah , but then of course why take that out on the civilians, hence the bluff, i also should have known they weren't gonna pay up but hey then we get into stuff where we wouldn't have a movie
To be completely fair to Nic Cage, this was hot on the heels of him winning the Oscar for Leaving Las Vegas. The Rock was summer '96. The following summer he doubled down with Con Air and Face/Off. Those are three straight action bangers released within 15 months of each other... But The Rock is unquestionably the best.
@@spaceace4387 Hehe that is a generous nostalgia camp factor I'm giving for the A... the supporting cast is great but it was riding easy in 1997 when overblown action movies were all the rage. Cage was on a hot streak!
This is the first pure action movie I ever saw. I had seen Tomorrow Never Dies before it and that was pretty much it. When my mom told me that Sean Connery played James Bond I was dumbfounded. Not long after, Dr No played on tv and my mom called me telling me that Sean Connery was playing James Bond and was again very much surprised to see a young man. Like the idea that old people were once young was completely alien to me.
Thank you! That really means a lot. Though, I’d still be doing this exactly the same whether 10, 1000 or 100000 subscribers so I’m still very happy with the little corner of the internet this channel occupies 😆
It's easier for me to imagine that John Mason in The Rock is James Bond (in my own head canon) than it is to believe that Roger Moore is the same James Bond as Connery's Bond as they're just so different.
Indeed. I know the "official" word on Bond continuity is "Connery-to-Brosnan are one character regardless of any loose canon and continuity snags"...but for me, while I don't consider EVERY actor to be their own Bond, I do consider Connery to be a Bond on all on his own. Then I sort of consider Lazenby to be a new kick off point that diverges into alternate paths...one goes on to become Moore, and the other goes on to become Dalton/Brosnan. It's a little imperfect, but better than just playing pretend to fuzz the details and consider them all as one guy in a very loose canon type of world. And yes...for me, Connery's role in The Rock was portrayed in such a way that it is hard NOT to view it as one final un-official outing as Bond for him.
On hearing of the death of producer Don Simpson whilst on the set of The Rock, Sean Connery expressed it perfectly: "I can't say I'm surprised". I love the way he plays the slight awkwardness when he meets his daughter (after the chase with his ridiculous but somehow iconic line, "I'm only borrowing your Humvee!") I love this film so much that I'll always defend Bay, because this film alone, for my money, gives him a get out of jail free card no matter how hopeless almost all of his subsequent films are. And, a lovely (almost) final movie description of a Connery character, "Vaporised? A body can vaporise..?!" Welcome to The Rock! A Bona Fide 90s classic, thanks for making this video Calvin.
I agree. When he’s backed by a solid team of writers as he was here, the results speak for themselves. The trouble with Bay is that he’s not particularly discerning in matters of scripting, so most of his films end up with a dearth of substance and mostly vapid thrills.
Would love to see you review 'Outland' (Connery in space) or 'The Wild Geese' (Moore is brutal when tackling a drug dealer). As always, keep up the great work Calvin!
It just hit me. Now that Calvin is branching out reviews into other films that are tangentially tied to Bond actors and themes, we just might get a review of Highlander 1 & 2! FUCK YEAH! Or maybe even Zardoz!
Aw, man. The Wild Geese was one of my dad’s favorite movies and when I watched it, it was just great. Interesting to see Moore in a much more cold, ex-military special forces operative/Captain Price-like figure instead of a playboy superspy while still retaining his signature James Bond slick attitude.
I adore this film Calvin for too many reasons to list… but I’ll have a go anyway! - It marks the last time a studio could say no to giving Bay a blank cheque both literally and in terms of script approval, meaning the most toxic aspects of that director’s politics is reigned in. - The combination of writers includes Jonathan Hensleigh who wrote my favourite Die Hard film, and a script polish by British sitcom masters Dick Clement and Ian Le Frenais who keep Connery’s backstory and dialogue relatively witty and credible. - Ed Harris is so damn good in this film, he’s like the secret sauce that elevates this to a pretty respectable antiestablishment essay indicting the military industrial complex. - And then the low hanging fruit like Bay’s action set pieces are incredible but still comprehensible because of the budget constraints - Zimmer’s music is as reliably pulse pounding as ever. This absolutely makes my list of favourite action films of the 1990s and it accomplishes so many different tones from chalk and cheese buddy comedy to political thriller to enormous action spectacle all in one very well paced package. Bay has never been better than this and the key is this was last time he had any kind of oppositional force to contend with.
Fully agree. Even the best creative minds have to be reigned in. Once editorial oversight is eliminated, many creative types tend to overindulge without any firm means of self-regulation.
@@stoogefest16 It’s funny how that works isn’t it. The creative team behind Arrested Development constantly complained about network interference or underpromotion, yet once the fuel of that anger was gone and they could do whatever they wanted on Netflix the magic spark of that show died out. It’s almost as if certain artists need to be in battle mode to do their best work.
Yes, most cinema fans don't like Michael Bay. However plenty of people who I know who do not like Michael Bay have said that "The Rock" is what some would call "an exception to the rule".
The outtakes for this movie are freakishly hilarious. And Michael Biehn (an actor I like from The Terminator, Aliens, The Abyss and Navy Seals) shows up a soldier for 5 minutes.
It's hard to believe that Dwayne Johnson was a 1996 action film directed by Michael Bay before he took a human form and became a professional wrestler. It just goes to show the man's versatility!
One of Sean's best non Bond films, one that I saw at the cinema when it came out in 96, and one of my all-time top twenty movies & one of the most quotable "I've been in prison longer than Nelson Mandela, so maybe you want to run for President", that's probably my fav line in the movie.
Sean Connery did do quite a few 'payday' roles in the 90's but this is easily his best movie of that period. League is enjoyable but is a massive waste of potential.
@@MrLorenzovanmatterho I'd say that was more of thriller. I mean Connery only handles a gun in one scene and never fires it. Ramius' strength is more his intillect.
This is my favourite film! Thanks for covering it - I always loved the soundtrack to this one! Connery and Cage are a classic combination and the cast, in general, are fantastic in my opinion. Keep up the great work as always!
Ahhh that's so cool! It's a terrific film isn't it? As I say in the video, I hope people still seek this out these days. It holds up VERY well even 25 years on!
Personally I like to think of this as an unofficial Bond film because it's a much better, livelier send-off for the Connery Bond than either "Diamonds Are Forever" or "Never Say Never Again."
This movie is so good. Definitely Michael Bay’s best film. Great banter between Sean and Nic Cage, great villain in Ed Harris, excellent supporting casting, amazing score, cool action, memorable one liners, etc. THIS is Sean’s last Bond film imo. And amazingly, Sean looked less rough and more badass here than he did in Diamonds are Forever.
My mother and me, both avid Bond fans, her first movie was Octupussy back in the 80ties, loved this movie. Generally she has a very different taste than me, although we both love goldfinger and this gem of a movie. Also I like to think that it isn´t necessarly Bond in his old age, but rather a fellow MI6 agent, that was maybe even a coworker of Bond.That would explain his different name, their similar strenghts, as both were trained in the british navy, and both were instructed to behave similarly, in a british way. That also explains why Bond is free in the 90s.I don´t know why he isn´t an old man by now, but I guess he just uses the same essensial oils as Tom Cruise. Certainly looks a lot younger than Moore in a View to a kill Edit:Seems Metal Gear solid 1 shares some plot points.
Along with The Untouchables - this one was undoubtedly Sean Connery’s best role since he retired from 007. And yes - outside of some of the colorful language that doesn’t quite fit - to me, he is definitely playing James Bond here! And thinking of it like that - it’s a fitting walk off into the sunset for his version of the character. As for the film itself - I thought it was just SENSATIONAL - easily one of the best action films of the 90’s! And I also have to say that while Bay has definitely made several really bad films - some of them - like this one,Con Air, Armageddon and even last years 6 underground - were actually not bad at all!
@@MrLorenzovanmatterho Nope - lol ! I didn’t care for Zardoz but I enjoyed Highlander and especially Hunt for Red October - but I definitely put those other two films I mentioned above these! The first non Bond movie I saw him in was “The Anderson Tapes” in 1971 - and that scene when he got shot just traumatized me as a kid!!
What is neat is that Sean Connery starred in the Tom Clancy film The Hunt For Red October and the other TC films had a James Bond actor or reference somewhere in them. In the console version of Rainbow Six 3, there was a mission in Alcatraz that pays direct homage to The Rock. Is there some kind of paradox we are running into?
Another couple of great movies with Connery are two caper films: Sidney Lumet's "The Anderson Tapes" and "The Great Train Robbery", written & directed by Michael Crichton.
I loved this movie as a teenager and had me excited for Bay's follow up. Needless to say Armageddon and Pearl Harbor taught me to stay away after that. I watched the Rock again a few months ago and it definitely hold up. There's not enough beer in the keg for me to revisit any of his others . . .
Clive Cussler's Night Probe has a character called Brian Shaw, a former MI6 agent who has to change his name due to SMERSH. In his first scene, he attends the funeral of his former boss and meets the bosses secretary [now married] who tells him the boss viewed him as a son and passes him on a mission. At the end, Cussler's hero Dirk Pitt says 'James Bond would have been proud of you' a name which Shaw claims not to know. Like this film, Cussler claimed 'Shaw' is not bond, but it's fun to assume he is!
Kudos to your capability of separating actors from their former roles. Way to many people fail in that. Same with accepting that multiple actors can play the same character.
Not only his last great role in general but almost the best of his career (Juan Sánchez-Villalobos Ramírez, takes that honour) He looks like he’s having a blast!
Interestingly he was first offered the part of Connor McLeod, because he's the most famous Scottish actor. He said no, but he would like to play the Egyptian, Ramirez. The producers said you got it!
@@TrainerCTZ Because I doesn't work. Mason was arrested in 1962, escaped in 1963 and got captured trying to leave the country at the canadian border. He never left the United States afterwards, only escaping custody long enough to father Jade. The character is written like if he were an older James Bond, but he can't literally be an older Bond.
Sean Connery even said that he considered The Rock as his final performance as James Band. Although this theory really only works if you consider Connery's Bond movies and The Rock in a different continuity from the other 007 movies.
I love the fan fiction of it being a Bond continuation. I actually keep the movies together on the shelf. I do also love Cages older films, his new film choices have been odd at best Thank you for the great video
to be fair i dont think Bays name hurts the film, he deffinately put his stamp on it but i always think of it as a Jerry Bruckheimer film first and foremost
"The problem is that Alcatraz is a mishmash of tunnels, rooms..." Let me stop you right there. The scientific description for it is, say it with me here: "Alcatraz was built on a maze of s#it".
I recommend Christopher Lambert movies like Highlander, Subway, Mean Guns, Gunmen, Resurrection and so on. Good review and will definitely watch this gem again with cast and story so good.
All the best and funniest lines were of course supplied by the wonderful Ian le frenais and Dick Clement who were brought in as script doctors to jazz up the dialogue .
I love this film, it just brings together so many brilliant creatives. Sean, Ed and Nick, along with an Early Hans Zimmer soundtrack, all amp up the excitement. This is proto-Bay, and has a lot of his favourite elements, but they don't overpower the other elements.
Growing up as a kid I remember The Rock was always shown on BBC,except N Ireland or Scotland! LOL! It was supposed to be shown once in 2004 but cancelled because of the death of Ken Bigley in Iraq. I believe it was the scene where the Marine gets his head crushed from an air-con unit. The scene where Connery says 'You want me to kill him again'.
Spoiler Alert: I always found it interesting that the main villain is killed at the beginning of the climax instead of at the end of it like in most action movies. It's also interesting how he's killed by his own men instead of the heroes. Good film though b/c it builds to the action while giving us detailed and sympathetic characters. P.S. This film inspired many elements in the video game Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty.
@@iammrbadguy9706 The Bond Code Name Theorists will be salivating. Connery's Bond did a mission after Diamonds Are Forever where he had the cover name John Mason. He got arrested in America, MI6 disavowed him, and for some reason Felix (or Bond's powerful friend, Willard Whyte) couldn't help. MI6 then brought in Roger Moore as James Bond and forgot about Connery.
I do have a fondness for the Rock. Entrapment (1999) is very enjoyable too (if not a masterpiece) and I look forward to seeing your review of it soon ! :) best of luck with your channel ! a French bond fan !
This film is pure, unadulterated fun. Another Connery film worth checking out is The Man Who Would Be King (1975), co-starring Michael Caine. A bit politically incorrect these days but the chemistry between Connery and Caine is great.
Man, this is one hell of a movie. Although yes, Michael Bay's work is a bit overlong, his work on The Rock is really his best. Sean Connery, Nicolas Cage and Ed Harris are all great in their roles. I also enjoy Ralph Peduto in his brief role as an FBI agent during the "barber" scene, and Tony Todd is very intimidating as one of the military henchmen.
Hi Calvin great video as always, would you consider reviewing some more Connery films like The untouchables, The hunt for red October and entrapment? All great films in my eyes
both this film and the previous jerry bruckheimer produced film , crimson tide, both have equally interesting film scores while crimson tide had a military submarine type film score, this film tends to have a rather fun score similar to a heist film
Having not seen this film, I will admit to going “Hey, it’s Dr Cox!” when I saw John C. McGinley at 1:33. I’ve started rewatching Scrubs this week so I was a little taken aback by the coincidence.
The only Michael Bay film I would own and how could one forget the following, epic line delivered by Connery: " You're best ? Losers always whine about their best. Winners go home and fuck the prom queen !". I will never, NEVER get tired of that line. 😂😂😂😂😂
Sean Connery brought on legendary Britcom writers Dick Clement and Ian Is Frenais to punch up the script. That's right, the co-creators of Porridge also helped pen a prison-based action movie.
They also worked on 'Never say Never again' which is why a couple of old Porridge jokes pop up ['fill this glass, from here' from the episode 'old faces new hands', Bond and Felix posing as a boxer and trainer like Fletcher and Godber did in the Porridge movie].
Great review! As a Marine I can say this movie is accurate to Marine mannerisms.The way one carries themselves in uniform. The way they salute. The way they move tactically. The ranks structure. Even though they are the bad guys.
One part of the film has always puzzled me. When Connery has to get IN to Alcatraz, it is by remembering the rotating sequence of the burner blades (whatever they are). And once through and IN, he opens the adjacent door, From Within. Bearing in mind when he originally escaped the prison, why could he not then have just opened the door from within? Thereby negating any need to remember any sequences... Great film though, great vid.
I don't mind the fan fiction that Sean Connery's James Bond & John Mason are the same person. Another youtuber went into a little detail about how Mason's & Bond's history in the 60's/70's line up. I would like to think that Connery's bond is distinct from Lazenby/Moore's bond (The FYEO pre-credits suggesting a Tracy link), Dalton's/Brosnon's bond (again Goldeneye 1986 pre-credits) suggesting those two are linked and obviously Craig's bond is different from the others. Maybe I'm over thinking it, but it's an interesting fan theory, I wonder if that Film theory channel has taken a swing at it.
Connery-Brosnan has been established as one Bond [given that references to Connery's films turn up in Die Another Day] with Comic book time. The whole 'rock is a bond movie' idea has got a bit out of hand I think. There are some references [and it's pretty harmless to have fan fiction fun] but there are plenty of enterprises where Bond alumni have appeared with homages to the role [such as Timothy Dalton playing an secret agent in Looney Tunes Back in action or George Lazenby in that Alfred Hitchcock presents role and even Daniel Craig's character in 'Logan Lucky' has the initials JB]. I saw a comment on that 'Rock is a Bond film' video claiming it was planned as a Bond film which is total fiction [especially as Arnold Schwarzenegger was offered the John Mason role] and Connery outright said 'I played Bond in The Rock' which i can't find any evidence of [though maybe there is out there],
The thing I think of from this film is the fact that the depiction of chemical weapons, deliberately designed to look exciting cinematically as opposed to depicting reality, was later used by a lying agent to describe Iraq’s alleged chemical weapons programme. And no one at MI6 questioned the obvious bullshit and it was used to justify the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Why do I bring this up? Because it’s pretty much the plot of one of my favourite books: Graham Greene’s ‘Our Man in Havana’ published in 1958 (also a terrific film starring Alec Guinness and Noël Coward) where MI6 take obviously false evidence seriously (in the book reports of Cuba’s “new military installations” are really just pictures of vacuum cleaners). Very much a case of life imitating art. It’d be funny if it weren’t also very tragic.
Ahhh Out Man In Havana has been on my shelf for about 6 months now! I’m going to have to give it a watch soon, even if not for the purpose of review, I do love Alec Guinness!
@@calvindyson Hope you enjoy it! It’s a very well made film (featuring some great cinematography from Oswald Morris, much of it shot on location in Havana) and it’s very funny too. For my money the best spy comedy film, because it actually has a plot & characters and isn’t just a Bond spoof, and because I have a darkly acerbic sense of humour that matches OMIH’s sensibilities more than Austin Powers or Johnny English.
I'd also recommend The Tailor Of Panama by John LeCarre. LeCarre admitted it's a homage to Our Man, but that doesn't make it any less good. It's a great comic spy story about a habitual liar who just wants to be everybody's friend so concocts a fake coup conspiracy to a corrupt MI6 agent who actually wants this info, while knowing it's fake to further his career. It leads to an invasion of Panama by the US. The film version by John Boorman is also really good, and who should play the MI6 agent, but Pierce Brosnan! In a wonderful twist on his Bond. he plays the character as a morally corrupt, alcoholic, womaniser with no interest in serving Queen and Country, but making money. I hope Calvin reviews this at some time. It's a great twist on Bond and Pierce's playing of it.
@@davidjames579 Thanks, I’ve heard the name, but didn’t know it was a comedy. Will have to check it out! I will admit my experience of Le Carré is embarrassingly lacking - The Spy Who Came in From the Cold and, uh... that’s it.
@@BenCol Le Carre tended to write more serious stuff, so Panama is a departure, but he's really good at comedy. It's definitely a satire though, as so much of it rings true. Le Carre was a former MI5 and MI6 agent, so he knew his subject. I'd recommend The Night Manager, one of his recent ones. It's a great character study and spy mission. It was also made into a BBC miniseries, starring Tom Hiddleston, that led to some suggesting he should play Bond. The Constant Gardener is also really good, as is the film, starring Ralph Fiennes.
Thank you very much! I'm happy you enjoy the channels :D a collection of first edition Bond books may well be out of my reach but hey, I'd settle for even a single one haha! Thanks again :)
Calvin have you seen some of the more detailed and in depth correlations drawn by other youtubers on the link between Mason and Bond? years in jail would certainly bring about a change in ones character from say diamonds/never say never....there is some really compelling evidence and I would love a video of you refuting that evidence
Despite the fact Bay has done some bad films. This is one of his best films he did. I would say to people this film and yet the first Transformers Bay did show hom as a good director. To all those who are skeptical understandable but no matter give the Rock a watch it is a great film. One of my favorite films I watch it now and again.
Love this film, though haven't gotten round to buying it on Blu-ray. Mainly cuz UK home media releases always seem to keep censoring certain scenes. For example, there's a moment where Mason throws a knife at a marine's throat and says "You must never hesitate.". That was cut from my VHS copy and I heard it was also cut from the UK DVD too. Not sure if the UK Blu-ray is the same too or if they finally released it uncensored this time.
Took me many years to even reflect on the 007-connection for Mason here. I felt dumb when I did, that I had not.. I can see what they tried to do but..
Calvin, have you seen the video called " The Rock is DEFINITELY a James Bond Movie"? It makes a good case for Mason actually being James Bond in The Rock.
I'd love a 'reaction' video for it but I didn't buy it in the slightest. I just had Calvin's words about the 'f-k the prom queen line' in my head. It's a fun idea to see it as a homage, like Timothy Dalton as an 'ex secrete agent' in Loony Tunes back in action' is clearly a homage to his Bond role or the George Lazenby appearance in the 'Albert Hitchcock presents' episode Calvin reviewed.
When you get to The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen I'd love to hear what you think about how the VERY tonally different comics treated Fleming's James Bond character.
This is one of my favourite action thrillers, particularly of the 1990’s. The acting of the leads is terrific, the plot is interesting and doesn’t get boring or bloated, and the musical score is absolutely amazing. And unlike many action thrillers, we actually sympathise with the main antagonist, as what Hummel (Ed Harris) does in the film, is wrong, we understand his intentions. The henchmen of the movie, Captains Frye and Darrow (portrayed by Gregory Sporleder and Tony Todd respectively) are the true villains of this piece, particularly in the climax, which creates conflict between the villains which you don’t see much of in many modern films. While people, younger audiences may see this as a Michael Bay movie, it’s more of a Sean Connery movie as he was the executive producer on this movie and had a say on the story of the film, which is what made this film that much better. Overall, I do think it to be one of Connery’s brilliant roles, perhaps one of his best behind James Bond of course. I can watch this film anytime and be happy with it. It’s brilliant action romp, pretty much what all thrillers we’re like at the time of this film’s release, and it does stand to be a good film.
In his 1997 interview with Mark Cousins, Connery reveals he exec produces all his recent films, so he can have control over dialog and plot elements. Or has he put it, so he can fight for the best version of the film being made. On Just Cause, he made the production change location, so it could be near a golf course he wanted to play on.
