The Rock ★★★ 1996 (R)

Cage follows up his Oscar win with a big-budget action hero turn, with great results. In an attempt to get benefits for the families of soldiers killed in various covert operations, a decorated general (Harris) and his commando squad occupy Alcatraz island, taking hostages and threatening to unleash a deadly gas bomb on San Francisco. Biochemical weapons expert Stanley Good-speed (Cage) is called in to disarm the rockets, aided by John Patrick Mason (Connery), only man to successfully escape from the island prison. Like most Simpson/Bruckheimer productions, credibility is stretched to the limit, but the action scenes and crisp pacing don't leave much time for pondering details, anyway. Connery, cool as ever, hasn't lost a step. Cage effectively plays up his character's inexperience at being the hero. Co-producer Don Simpson died of drug overdose during production. 136m/C VHS, DVD, Blu-ray Disc . Nicolas Cage, Sean Connery, Ed Harris, Michael Biehn, William Forsythe, David Morse, John Spencer, John C. McGinley, Tony Todd, Bokeem Woodbine, Danny Nucci, Claire Forlani, Vanessa Marcil, Gregory Sporleder, Steve Harris, Jim Man-iaci, Brendan Kelly, Todd Louiso, Willie Garson, Stuart Wilson, Anthony Clark, James (Jim) Caviezel, Xander Berkeley, Sam Whipple, Raymond Cruz, David Marshall Grant, Philip Baker Hall; D: Michael Bay; W: Jonathan Hensleigh; C: John Schwartzman; M: Nick Glennie-Smith. MTV Movie Awards '97: On-Screen Duo (Sean Connery/Nicolas Cage)