"Look, I'm just a biochemist. Most of the time, I work in a little glass jar and lead a very uneventful life. I drive a Volvo, a beige one. But what I'm dealing with here is one of the most deadly substances the earth has ever known, so what say you cut me some FRIGGIN' SLACK?"

I've probably seen this at least 30 times. I'm sure I'll watch it 30 more.

Before Michael Bay liquidated our retinas with CGI and made our eardrums explode with LOUD NOISES he made a truly great film, The Rock. Bombastic, humourous and palm-sweatily exciting.

Yes, it packed with the trademark Bay excesses and piled on patriotism but the action sequences rock (shameful pun, I know!), Connery and Cage make an impossible-to-hate double act and it has a formidable supporting cast: Ed Harris (playing a terrific bad-guy with a conscience), Candyman himself Tony Todd, awesome Michael Biehn, the always excellent David Morse and the The West Wing and L.A. Law legend, John Spencer.

Along with Speed, this was one of the greatest action flicks of the nineties.

I can't believe I sort of forgot JUST how awesome this film is. Everything about it is perfect. There is not one single scene that should not be here. The pairing of Cage and Connery is genius. And the music! Hans, my man!

http://youtu.be/Y12_cVX2exw

In the words of mediocre singer/songwriter Michael Bolton,

The Rock...

I said I loved you...

But I lied.

Because this is more than love I feel inside.

I said I loved you, but I was wrong...

Because love could never ever be so strong.

Said I loved you... But I lied.

In a good way.

[pass] (58min)

Easy-to-swallow action, a great cast, plenty of "why the fuck?" moments and plenty of military worship, THE ROCK is like a template for all of Bay's best work. It's all here and handled with the efficiency of a skilled blockbuster journeyman.

Easily Bay's best, The Rock is still a great action movie from the 90's.

Before he started actively hating the audience, The Bay made a killer, slick, badass action movie in The Rock.

Cage is Cagey without going to that weird well too often. Connery get to be fun and have some silly lines. Harris is intense as a motherfucker. And the rest of the movie is populated by, "Hey, that guy!"s.

And the action is damn good, too. Maybe a little overcut, shot too close at times, but still bombastic as hell. And Zimmer tests out his Pirates theme and the gets it stuck in my head for the next week or so YOU BASTARD.

Consensus seems to be that because this is Bay's most straightforward narrative, it's his best work -- and truth be told I, too, thought I liked this more than I do -- but it's thoroughly mediocre. It's like an hour of city shenanigans before they head for the island, plus it squanders a truly excellent cast: Sean Connery, Ed Harris, David Morse (doing nothing!!), John Spencer, William Forsythe, (I guess) Michael Biehn. Only Nicolas Cage's manic energy is permitted to reach its necessary pitch. Come to think of it, it's weird that he and Bay haven't worked together since then. They seem made for each other.

I am a bit sentimental because this was the very first R rated film I ever saw (hardest rating before Porn in Australia) and it is also the softest R rated film I have ever seen.
That said, I think it is a brilliant action movie with a fantastic idea and brilliant actors. Ed Harris's character is one of the finest villains of the blockbuster genre because he really isn't a villain at all. His cause is admiral and it it really makes you question the side you are fighting for.
The action is well done and the writing, although cheesy, is very entertaining. This is quite easily Michael Bay's best film and I can't wait to watch my other favourites of his (Bad Boys 1 & 2) later this week.