|
"The everyday consumer's guide to DVD & home theater" |
|
||||
|
Stay current with DVD movie releases, sign up for our free e-Newsletter |
|||||
|
Specifications: - Two discs - Region 1 - Run time: approx. 136 minutes - Subtitle: English - Menus: Animated - Package: Keep case (2-disc) - 32 chapters
Video Features: - New digital transfer
Audio Features: - English: DTS 5.1 - English: Dolby Digital 5.1 - English: Dolby Surround
Bonus Materials: Disc 1: "The Movie" -
Audio commentary by director
Disc 2: "The Vault" -
Video interview with producer Jerry -
Analysis of the dive sequence's -
"Movie Magic" episode on the film's -Dos
and Don't of Hollywood gunplay, -
Excerpts from "Secrets of Alcatraz", a -
Storyboards, production design - Theatrical trailer - TV spots - Outtakes selected by Michael Bay -
"The Rock" world premiere
on
Release Dates: Theatrical Release: 06/07/96 DVD Release: 03/13/00 Review Date: 03/22/00
List price: $ 39.99 On-line price: $ 29.99 Pre-order price was: $ 29.99
|
|||||
| The
Rock The Criterion Collection (2-disc set) - Dolby Digital & DTS 5.1 |
|||||
 |
Starring: Sean
Connery, Nicolas
Cage, Ed Harris, Director: Michael Bay
MPAA Rating: R Genre: Action - Adventure - Thriller Studio: Hollywood
Pictures |
||||
|
Movie: A Video: A Audio: A+ Extras: A+
Summary:
"The
Rock" is a gripping action-thriller that should not be missed.
It
|
|||||
|
The Story
FBI agent Dr. Stanley Goodspeed (Nicolas Cage) is a mild manner, well-respected lab rat. He works in the chemical and biological weapons department, where he calmly and coolly defuses bombs rigged with deadly, corrosive chemicals. Returning home early one afternoon after a near-death experience at work, Goodspeed is informed by his girlfriend Carla (Vanessa Marcil) that she is pregnant with his child.
Meanwhile, the highly decorated and respected General Hummel (Ed Harris) is resorting to drastic measures to make his point, after his many unsuccessful attempts to gain recognition for the men who died while serving under him in top secret missions. General Hummel leads a team of missionary U.S. Marines to steal 15 rockets armed with the deadly chemical agent "V.X." gas. They take the rockets and deploy them on the former prison-island of Alcatraz, in the heart of San Francisco Bay. They capture and detain 81 tourists as hostages. General Hummel makes a demand for $100 million, which he intends to honor the memory of the 83 men who died under his command by giving the money to their next-of-kin. If his demands are not met, he threatens to launch the deadly "V.X." gas rockets over San Francisco, which would kill tens of thousands of people.
In an attempt to neutralize this terrorist threat, the FBI and U.S. Marines team together to infiltrate Alcatraz. To penetrate "the Rock", FBI Director Womack (John Spencer) unwillingly extracts John Mason (Sean Connery) from a maximum security prison to help with the SEAL team incursion attempt. Mason is a British Intelligence special agent (ah, yes, a role too well known by Sean Connery) who was secretly locked up in Alcatraz, and is the only person who successfully escaped from Alcatraz (yeah, right!) Together, Goodspeed, Mason, and the U.S. Marines SEAL team must penetrate the former-prison compound undetected by General Hummel's missionaries and neutralize the "V.X." gas rockets. To make matters worse, Carla forsakes Goodspeed's instructions and comes out to San Francisco to meet him, putting more at stake for Goodspeed to succeed.
As
a highly polished action-thriller, "The Rock" is a real crowd
pleaser. There are awesome action sequences, including a car chase
scene through San Francisco that I think is definitely one of the
best. The highly improbable storyline is made quite believable and
(more importantly) very entertaining by the solid acting performances of
Nicolas Cage, Sean Connery, and Ed Harris. Anyway, I've got a couple of tour tickets to Alcatraz that I'm willing to
trade. Any takers?
The "Production Secrets" section include: "On the Range with the Navy SEALS" (this shows a quick handgun training school, and an overview of the SEAL training process), "Dos and Don'ts of Hollywood Gunplay" (how actors get trained for proper handgun handling techniques), "The Rock on the Movie Magic" (shows how computer special effects were performed), and "Special Effects: The Dive Sequence" (how the dive sequence was filmed with marionettes).
The "Publicity and Promotion" section includes a theatrical trailer, a series of TV spots, and "The Rock Premiere on Alcatraz" short featurette. The "Stills Archive" section consists of "Storyboards: Alcatraz Incursion", "Storyboards: Morgue Sequence", "Production Design Drawings", and "Production Stills".
The "Outtakes" featurette shows eight minutes worth of bloopers from Ed Harris, Sean Connery, and Nicolas Cage. Surprisingly, there's a lot of off-screen profanity. The "Secrets of Alcatraz" is a 14-minute featurette about the historical perspective of Alcatraz, beginning with our native Americans' visitations to the island. A lighthouse was built in 1852, followed by a fortress in 1853. This is all before it became the maximum security federal prison we know as Alcatraz in 1934. The featurette continues with coverage after the federal prison was shut down. This includes an occupation period by protesting American Indians. The "Jerry Bruckheimer Interview" is a featurette about the co-producer. He tells us about how his love for photography grew into his love for movies, about what inspires him, and about his hands-on involvement with the movie production process.
Video & Audio
The image quality of this anamorphic widescreen DVD is excellent. The colors are accurate and saturated, while shadow detail is very good. The "The Rock: The Criterion Collection" DVD comes with both Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 soundtracks. Both soundtracks are very aggressively mixed with plenty of surround channel effects, putting the viewer right in the middle of all the action. There is plenty of low frequency effects (LFE) information from the ".1" channel. Altogether, it's one of the best I've experienced. While both soundtracks are highly effective, the DTS 5.1-channel digital surround sound is sensational. In either soundtrack version, the dialogue is clear and the powerful musical score by Nick Glennie-Smith and Hans Zimmer ("Gladiator") greatly complements the on-screen action.
Recommendation
I highly recommend "The Rock: The Criterion Collection" DVD. If you only collect a few DVD titles each year and enjoy an action-packed thriller, make sure you to pick up this title. It's simply awesome.
Buy the "The Rock: The Criterion" DVD at: Support
this site: buy through our links. |
|||||
|
|
 Buy.com |
|
|||
|
Rent it at NetFlix.com
(Sign up for
NetFlix.com "Unlimited" DVD Rental Service Visit the Criterion Collection web site.
Did you find this DVD movie review helpful? Let us know your thoughts, send an e-mail to us at Feedback@TimeForDVD.com.
Support this site: when you buy on-line, please start at this site and click through the links above or through these links: Amazon.com, BigStar.com, 800.com, Buy.com, Barnes&Nobles.com, and hifi.com. Click here to see a complete list of affiliated on-line merchants. Thanks, we sincerely appreciate your support. |
|||||
|
E-mail: Editor@TimeForDVD.com Copyright © 2000-2001 TimeForDVD.com Web site created by: lama Internet Solutions |
Read our Terms of Use and Disclaimer and Privacy Policy Site optimized for 800x600 screen resolution Print at 85% scale factor |
||||
