THE ROCK

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to THE ROCK.

Alcatraz island, located 1.5 miles off the coast of San Francisco and home to one of the most sophisticated prison facilities of it's time. Purported to have never let a man escape, 81 hostages are now being held by a rogue band of mercenaries equipped with VX gas warheads that could devastate downtown San Francisco. The only thing that can stop them? John Mason, the one man who ever managed to escape, and Stanley Goodspeed... a biochemist who doesn't know how to swim.

Tough Guy Cinema loves us some Michael Bay, and this was the second film of his to come out during the silver years of action cinema.
Sandwiched on his filmography between the awesomeness of Bad Boys and the cinematic perfection that was Armageddon, Michael Bay grabbed a pre-crazy "I'll do anything for money" Nicolas Cage, and a pre-"I got old as shit" Sean Connery and drafted them to make one of the coolest action films to come out of the 90s. You got car chases, weaponized gas that makes your skin melt off of your face, and tons and tons of explosions and gun fights. So lock and load soldier, we got plenty of caps and guns to go around, because if we have any hope of saving those hostages we're gonna have to break in, before they can break them out. (Greg MacLennan)