Back to trending
The Rock

The Rock

Action · Adventure · Thriller · 1996

When vengeful General Francis X. Hummel seizes control of Alcatraz Island and threatens to launch missiles loaded with deadly chemical weapons into San Francisco, only a young FBI chemical weapons expert and notorious Federal prisoner have the skills to penetrate the impregnable island fortress and take him down.

Movie details

The Rock

“Alcatraz. Only one man has ever broken out. Now five million lives depend on two men breaking in.”

1996 Action · Adventure · Thriller 2h 17m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.2 / 10

Community rating

When vengeful General Francis X. Hummel seizes control of Alcatraz Island and threatens to launch missiles loaded with deadly chemical weapons into San Francisco, only a young FBI chemical weapons expert and notorious Federal prisoner have the skills to penetrate the impregnable island fortress and take him down.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Rock?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

True Lies

True Lies

Action · 1994

A fearless, globe-trotting, terrorist-battling secret agent has his life turned upside down when he discovers his wife might be having an affair with a used car salesman while terrorists smuggle nuclear war heads into the United States.

Commando

Commando

Action · 1985

John Matrix, the former leader of a special commando strike force that always got the toughest jobs done, is forced back into action when his young daughter is kidnapped. To find her, Matrix has to fight his way through an array of punks, killers, one of his former commandos, and a fully equipped private army. With the help of a feisty stewardess and an old friend, Matrix has only a few hours to overcome his greatest challenge: finding his daughter before she's killed.

Sniper: No Nation

Sniper: No Nation

Action · 2026

Brandon Beckett and Agent Zero lead a rescue mission in Costa Verde when their friends are taken hostage.

Cleaner

Cleaner

Action · 2025

When a group of radical activists take over an energy company's annual gala, seizing 300 hostages, an ex-soldier turned window cleaner suspended 50 storeys up on the outside of the building must save those trapped inside, including her older brother.

Weekend in Taipei

Weekend in Taipei

Action · 2024

A former DEA agent and a former undercover operative revisit their romance during a fateful weekend in Taipei, unaware of the dangerous consequences of their past.

Executive Decision

Executive Decision

Action · 1996

Terrorists hijack a 747 inbound to Washington D.C., demanding the release of their imprisoned leader. Intelligence expert David Grant suspects another reason and he is soon the reluctant member of a special assault team that is assigned to intercept the plane and hijackers.

Interceptor

Interceptor

Action · 2022

A U.S. Army Captain uses her years of tactical training to save humanity from sixteen nuclear missiles launched at the U.S. as a violent attack threatens her remote missile interceptor station.

Hostage

Hostage

Action · 2005

When a mafia accountant is taken hostage on his beat, a police officer – wracked by guilt from a prior stint as a negotiator – must negotiate the standoff, even as his own family is held captive by the mob.

The Enforcer

The Enforcer

Crime · 1976

Dirty Harry Callahan returns again, this time saddled with a rookie female partner. Together, they must stop a terrorist group consisting of angry Vietnam veterans.

Con Air

Con Air

Action · 1997

Newly-paroled former US Army ranger Cameron Poe is headed back to his wife, but must fly home aboard a prison transport flight dubbed "Jailbird" taking the “worst of the worst” prisoners, a group described as “pure predators”, to a new super-prison. Poe faces impossible odds when the transport plane is skyjacked mid-flight by the most vicious criminals in the country led by the mastermind — genius serial killer Cyrus "The Virus" Grissom, and backed by black militant Diamond Dog and psychopath Billy Bedlam.

Where it lives

Watch in your region.

Cinema release signals and current streaming, rental, and purchase options for your region.

Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.

Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Michael Bay

Written by

David Weisberg · Douglas S. Cook · Mark Rosner · Jonathan Hensleigh

Sean Connery

Sean Connery

John Patrick Mason

Nicolas Cage

Nicolas Cage

Dr. Stanley Goodspeed

Ed Harris

Ed Harris

Brigadier General Francis X. Hummel, USMC

John Spencer

John Spencer

FBI Director James Womack

David Morse

David Morse

Major Tom Baxter

William Forsythe

William Forsythe

Special Agent Ernest Paxton

Michael Biehn

Michael Biehn

Commander Charles Anderson

Court is in session

Put The Rock on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Adrenaline Seeker

“Momentum is a formal choice.”

The velocity sharpens instinct and tension, making every beat land before self-importance can settle in.

The prosecution The Auteur Devotee

“Speed as an alibi.”

The film races past its weak spots and hopes acceleration will keep the audience from inspecting the evidence.