The Rock is one of the most entertaining action flicks of all-time with great movie star performances by Connery and Cage. Among 90s action thrillers, only behind Terminator 2, The Fugitive, and Speed to me.
Funnily enough, this was the movie that it finally clicked for the me the difference between Siskel and Ebert. Gene felt that a movie had to "mean something" (for lack of a better phrase) in order for him to like it. Roger, on the other had, judged a movie based on the film maker's intent. The Rock was never meant to be taken too seriously and he could enjoy it on that level.
Actually, it was very much to be taken seriously. Michael Bay said he wanted the tone to be much darker, but the actors would improvise a lot of the funny lines and they kept them in. Regardless, it does touch on some heavy themes from the villains POV. It's an adrenaline rush but it's not a straight up turn your brain off popcorn flick like Transformers or some shit, which is why it's awesome.
I always favored roger’s opinion more because he favored movies that had entertainment value and enjoyment to the audience. Gene always favored movies that had special meaning and purpose
I love how these two can vehemently disagree and still respect each other’s opinions. They seemed to be great friends who just really loved movies. These kind of observations and banter don’t seem quite as common these days.
lol Rog's take that Michael Bay was aping Tarantino's style because he was mad that Tarantino said Top Gun was homoerotic is pretty far fetched though lol
oh yes. i was 13 back in 96 and the whole movie was and still its amazing. in my teen mind the car chase was crazy awesome. never saw camera work and editing like that before at the time.
I understand what he's saying..that Humvee chase was weird being that early in the movie. It's the type of action you normally build up to. The way Siskel generally rates movies is he has to like everything about it. If theres 1 or 2 things he doesn't like, he gives a thumbs down.
@@BDUBZ49 Seems like the worst approach a film critic could ever had. The average movie isn't perfect and you can't give it a negative score because you didn't like it 100%. It would be like a teacher giving you the lowest grade possible because you made a couple of errors in a test but still got most of it right.
Ebert was good at his craft because he understood he was grading things based on their genre and what people would want when seeing it. If the movie was made as more of a drama, he probably would have given it a thumbs down, but he appreciate it was just an action flick and it delivered on what we want in that- we care about the hero, the action is fun, etc.
Totally agree with Siskel here. I enjoyed the movie, & Connery & Cage are two of favorite actors to watch (they have completely different approaches to acting which makes them really fun to see working together, & it worked - great chemistry), but the pace, editing, direction is like “Speed on speed”
Same here because THE ROCK is a really well acted, written and directed action thriller movie. Great movie with great acting performances and brilliant music by Nick Glennie-Smith, Hans Zimmer and Harry Gregson Williams.
Especially as far as 90s action flicks went, The Rock was one of the smartest. It had great dialog, a great cast, and a very complex 'villain' that wasn't really a villain at all. He, in his mind, thought this was the only way he could do the right thing for the men he lost. And he did it with non lethal force to put himself in position to negotiate. In the end, he was never planning to do the worst 'wrong' thing either. The 90s was the rise of the over the top action flick, and so many of them haven't aged well. Like I had fun as a teenager with Con Air when it first came out, and today it downright sucks. It hasn't aged well at all, because the premise and everything about it is brainless front to back. Armageddon is another one. The Rock is still awesome any day of the week because it kept a level of smarts.
I totally agree with Ebert & highly disagree with Siskel. This is nothing short of a truly excellent, very fun & believable action film with an excellent cast, wonderful performances, superb action sequences, a very intriguing plot & an amazing score. To say the least, I loved every damn second of it & it’s one of the very best of its genre.
This is a fun film but the issue I have with this and other action movies chase scenes and overuse of stunt work done in the first or second acts. An example is when Sean Connery makes his first escape attempt in the Hummer, I felt the stunts and special effects were overplayed too early in the film. With that said, I felt scenes like that should be saved toward the end of the film, that way the audience can have a steady and gradual build up of character development. Don't get me wrong, I'm not against stunt work or anything like that but I think big budget action scenes should be saved for the climax. In a nutshell, I think Action flicks like this should at least have a steady but not so dual flow.
Roger went a bit overboard sometimes (thumbs up to Home Alone 3 - thumbs down to HA 1 & 2) but ya generally I’m in agreement with him also. He was able to just relax and enjoy a well made popcorn film unlike Gene.
I always liked to think of the rock as a bond movie where james bond was caught and disavowed by mi6 and then the Americans need to use him. You could've changed the title and John masons name to have bond and find nothing else and it would've been a better movie.
If I were in charge of the movie, I would make this movie 3:03:07 long instead of Pearl Harbor. Stanley conversation with carla about the cruelty of bringing a child into a cruel and inconsiderate world would be answered with the pentagon shutting down the chemical weapons program. The Pentagon would pay up the ransom to the families of the marines of the families who died under Hummels command as well as the ones who died on Alcatraz, as well as the navy seals who died in the shower room, and the air strike would be excluded. the government would apologize for their arrogance and give general Hummel and his comrades a sendoff. general hummels men would be shown keeping the hostages treated to show general hummel as a man of honor and is willing to play by the rules until they reach the endgame. Masons past about the microfilm files and his wrongful imprisonment would be explored, and his relationship with his daughter would be fleshed out. instead of Goodspeed choosing to let mason go, Womack does it out of gratitude for the heroic deed he did. the term soldier would be cut out because they're MARINES. and as the cherry-on-top-of-the-sundae I'd throw in some more James Bond easter eggs since many fan theories declare this to be a James bond movie.
The Rock was actually one of the better-edited Michael Bay films, by the same editor who cut The Shawshank Redemption and Se7en. Bay hasn't had anyone to restrain his excesses since.
I'd give it thumbs up 👍🏾👍🏾 but I know what Siskel means when he says he was worn. Too much fast cutting between shots and some idiotic camera angles, particularly in the car chase scene, mounting a camera on the front bumper of a squad car as jumps over a hill. Typical bad editing from Michael Bay.
I don’t know about “best,” but yes it was a great 90s action movie. Another great not to mention under appreciated action movie was Face Off. The Rock definitely wasn’t better than that
I thought it was hilarious that him and Ebert were completely butting heads on it so much that Ebert had to just move onto the next movie so fast lol 😂
@@nsasupporter7557 respectfully disagree. Face Off wasn’t even the best action movie of that year. ConAir was bette Ethan Face Off. Face Off was stupid cartoon over the top over dramatic action that just rang hollow and stupid. And the whole science behind the face swap was by far some mission impossible shit so again it was a joke
The Rock is one of the most entertaining action flicks of all-time with great movie star performances by Connery and Cage. Among 90s action thrillers, only behind Terminator 2, The Fugitive, and Speed to me.
Funnily enough, this was the movie that it finally clicked for the me the difference between Siskel and Ebert. Gene felt that a movie had to "mean something" (for lack of a better phrase) in order for him to like it. Roger, on the other had, judged a movie based on the film maker's intent. The Rock was never meant to be taken too seriously and he could enjoy it on that level.
listen to the new podcast on The Ringer about Roger and Ebert it's great
Actually, it was very much to be taken seriously. Michael Bay said he wanted the tone to be much darker, but the actors would improvise a lot of the funny lines and they kept them in. Regardless, it does touch on some heavy themes from the villains POV. It's an adrenaline rush but it's not a straight up turn your brain off popcorn flick like Transformers or some shit, which is why it's awesome.
I always favored roger’s opinion more because he favored movies that had entertainment value and enjoyment to the audience. Gene always favored movies that had special meaning and purpose
I love how these two can vehemently disagree and still respect each other’s opinions. They seemed to be great friends who just really loved movies. These kind of observations and banter don’t seem quite as common these days.
lol Rog's take that Michael Bay was aping Tarantino's style because he was mad that Tarantino said Top Gun was homoerotic is pretty far fetched though lol
The Rock was such a fun movie I ate it up when I was 10
The Rock is a roller-coaster popping corn ,nuclear explosion of a movie
The Rock featured a stylized action that had never been seen before at that time. I loved it.
Something I don’t think modern audiences give Michael Bay near enough credit for. He played a critical role in the development of the action genre.
oh yes. i was 13 back in 96 and the whole movie was and still its amazing. in my teen mind the car chase was crazy awesome. never saw camera work and editing like that before at the time.
It's weird that they showed this during the day in some places. I always caught Siskel & Ebert very early in the am.
One of the best movies of the 90’s!
*action movies
Yes! Great action movie from the 90s
Oh Siskel come on it was a fantastic action movie ! Lighting up eh !
I understand what he's saying..that Humvee chase was weird being that early in the movie. It's the type of action you normally build up to. The way Siskel generally rates movies is he has to like everything about it. If theres 1 or 2 things he doesn't like, he gives a thumbs down.
Siskel… lighten up?! The guy always had a corkscrew up his a**
@@BDUBZ49 Seems like the worst approach a film critic could ever had. The average movie isn't perfect and you can't give it a negative score because you didn't like it 100%. It would be like a teacher giving you the lowest grade possible because you made a couple of errors in a test but still got most of it right.
It was a fun movie and the Connery back story of escaping the prison was a great idea.
People like to joke around saying that this was a Bond movie lol 😂
Terrific film..
Ebert was good at his craft because he understood he was grading things based on their genre and what people would want when seeing it. If the movie was made as more of a drama, he probably would have given it a thumbs down, but he appreciate it was just an action flick and it delivered on what we want in that- we care about the hero, the action is fun, etc.
I give Siskel a implosion!
The weather alert was classic. Made me think about when my dumb ass recorded this show back in the day, lol. Nothing wrong with being a movie geek!
Ahh yes. That 90s weather alert system during the show.
Movies like the rock are for entertainment purposes only. An escape for 2 hours from real life. That’s why I love movies like this
ironic how Ebert says simpson/bruckheimer are “getting their revenge” on tarantino when tarantino actually worked on the film lol
Totally agree with Siskel here. I enjoyed the movie, & Connery & Cage are two of favorite actors to watch (they have completely different approaches to acting which makes them really fun to see working together, & it worked - great chemistry), but the pace, editing, direction is like “Speed on speed”
I'm with Roger Ebert on this one.
Same here because THE ROCK is a really well acted, written and directed action thriller movie. Great movie with great acting performances and brilliant music by Nick Glennie-Smith, Hans Zimmer and Harry Gregson Williams.
Michael Bays best movie. Some great performances from Connery, Cage, Harris and Michael Biehn
I really don’t get it how could Gene not like the rock but like Armageddon. Personal taste really is arbitrary
Great movie. And they also dealt with a thunderstorm warming!
cant ESCAPE THE ROCK WITH A STORM COMING RIGHT SISKEL??
The movie was flawed, but ultimately very re-watchable and fun. That’s what should matter in the end
today is sean connerys big 90 i will this in honer of that ive meet him in person nice guy
Especially as far as 90s action flicks went, The Rock was one of the smartest. It had great dialog, a great cast, and a very complex 'villain' that wasn't really a villain at all. He, in his mind, thought this was the only way he could do the right thing for the men he lost. And he did it with non lethal force to put himself in position to negotiate. In the end, he was never planning to do the worst 'wrong' thing either. The 90s was the rise of the over the top action flick, and so many of them haven't aged well. Like I had fun as a teenager with Con Air when it first came out, and today it downright sucks. It hasn't aged well at all, because the premise and everything about it is brainless front to back. Armageddon is another one. The Rock is still awesome any day of the week because it kept a level of smarts.
Ed Harris was an excellent bad guy
Do you have hard target and double impact review with both of these guys
No, and I haven't seen watched them yet.
I hope everyone made it out safely after that weather alert.
I totally agree with Ebert & highly disagree with Siskel. This is nothing short of a truly excellent, very fun & believable action film with an excellent cast, wonderful performances, superb action sequences, a very intriguing plot & an amazing score. To say the least, I loved every damn second of it & it’s one of the very best of its genre.
This is a fun film but the issue I have with this and other action movies chase scenes and overuse of stunt work done in the first or second acts. An example is when Sean Connery makes his first escape attempt in the Hummer, I felt the stunts and special effects were overplayed too early in the film. With that said, I felt scenes like that should be saved toward the end of the film, that way the audience can have a steady and gradual build up of character development. Don't get me wrong, I'm not against stunt work or anything like that but I think big budget action scenes should be saved for the climax. In a nutshell, I think Action flicks like this should at least have a steady but not so dual flow.
Do you know what I have a problem with? The word “underrated” being overused on RUclips
The Rock is a really fun film. Thankfully I have this film on 2-Disc DVD from The Criterion Collection.
I still have The Criterion Collection Laserdisc
I still have The Criterion Collection 35mm reels
The first of two MICHAEL BAY movies in the Criterion Collection. Lucky bastard.
I've got it too, with the essay Ebert wrote for it. The blu-ray has the same special features for those who don't have it.
So Siskel gave thumbs down to The Rock and thumbs up to Armageddon?! Was he out of his mind?
Almost: he has having a braintumor in 1998.
@@chris-cross8106 Armageddon is trash.
Both of these movies are absolutely godawful.
They were both out of their minds giving Speed 2: Cruise Control a thumbs up.
Imagine that.
Imagine Tarantino accusing any other director and script writer of stealing.
Quite funnily, Tarantino actually did uncredited rewrites on "The Rock".
Damn it Ebert was amazing... He called pretty much every movie as it was and nailed it (80% success rate).
Roger went a bit overboard sometimes (thumbs up to Home Alone 3 - thumbs down to HA 1 & 2) but ya generally I’m in agreement with him also. He was able to just relax and enjoy a well made popcorn film unlike Gene.
There's something I read that said that this is semi intentionally and unofficial bond film (Mason being bond imprisoned since his tenure as 007)
There's only reason to watch this film: Sean Connery.
Even then I felt like they didn't even need him in the movie
@@NefariousDreary Yes, they did and the two writers Connery brought in that polished the dialogue.
@@ricardocantoral7672 🤣🤣🤣
RIP Sir Connery
I always liked to think of the rock as a bond movie where james bond was caught and disavowed by mi6 and then the Americans need to use him. You could've changed the title and John masons name to have bond and find nothing else and it would've been a better movie.
But with a more subdued opening credits sequence.
I like The Rock over ANY James Bond film but that’s just me.
Every on the mark here, The Rock is just fun entertainment. Siskel forgot he was watching an action movie.
If I were in charge of the movie, I would make this movie 3:03:07 long instead of Pearl Harbor.
Stanley conversation with carla about the cruelty of bringing a child into a cruel and inconsiderate world would be answered with the pentagon shutting down the chemical weapons program.
The Pentagon would pay up the ransom to the families of the marines of the families who died under Hummels command as well as the ones who died on Alcatraz, as well as the navy seals who died in the shower room, and the air strike would be excluded.
the government would apologize for their arrogance and give general Hummel and his comrades a sendoff.
general hummels men would be shown keeping the hostages treated to show general hummel as a man of honor and is willing to play by the rules until they reach the endgame.
Masons past about the microfilm files and his wrongful imprisonment would be explored, and his relationship with his daughter would be fleshed out.
instead of Goodspeed choosing to let mason go, Womack does it out of gratitude for the heroic deed he did.
the term soldier would be cut out because they're MARINES.
and as the cherry-on-top-of-the-sundae I'd throw in some more James Bond easter eggs since many fan theories declare this to be a James bond movie.
The Rock was actually one of the better-edited Michael Bay films, by the same editor who cut The Shawshank Redemption and Se7en. Bay hasn't had anyone to restrain his excesses since.
great action film almost wish they could have done a two
It's not Con Air but it's still enjoyable.
It's less cartoonish than Con Air.
What about Face Off?
I DRIVE A VOLVO. GREY ONE.
again rogers right very fun action flick
Gene right yet again imho
I enjoyed The Rock but I hated Armageddon. Ironically Gene had the opposite reaction.
Did Gene just say Cage is where the movie got good 🤦♂️
he was talking about 90's Cage
The only good movie Michael Bay ever made.
Gene never liked anything fun.
I always, always agreed more with Ebert than with Siskel. Gene Siskel had such weird standards that he used to judge films.
Siskel liked Dumb and Dumber..a film I found moronic.
@@BDUBZ49 a shame.
Rocky IV, Out for Justice, Under Siege making his top 10 of 1992
I'd give it thumbs up 👍🏾👍🏾 but I know what Siskel means when he says he was worn. Too much fast cutting between shots and some idiotic camera angles, particularly in the car chase scene, mounting a camera on the front bumper of a squad car as jumps over a hill. Typical bad editing from Michael Bay.
A fun film but, the editing is overdone in many scenes.
I liked Con Air better.
Con air is a classic too.
Cage has better hair in that one
@@TheWinstonSlip ..but a horrible accent.
@@BDUBZ49 put the bunny back in the box!
The only good movie Michael Bay has ever made
Best action movie of the 90s. Siskel is such a non fun guy
I don’t know about “best,” but yes it was a great 90s action movie.
Another great not to mention under appreciated action movie was Face Off. The Rock definitely wasn’t better than that
I thought it was hilarious that him and Ebert were completely butting heads on it so much that Ebert had to just move onto the next movie so fast lol 😂
@@nsasupporter7557 respectfully disagree. Face Off wasn’t even the best action movie of that year. ConAir was bette Ethan Face Off. Face Off was stupid cartoon over the top over dramatic action that just rang hollow and stupid. And the whole science behind the face swap was by far some mission impossible shit so again it was a joke
Pretty sure Tarantino and some other guy "ghost wrote" TheRock
Tarantino did a script polish on it.
@@Nathan-gd7xq So that explains why the dialogue was so sharp.
Tarantino and Aaron Sorkin were both brought in for rewrites
Siskel was wrong on this one
O man my friend showed me this movie a couple weeks ago and I really did not like it I don't know what Rogers talking about
Top Gun homosexual code lmao
I 100 percent agree with Ebert. I loved the film!
Shame Siskel isn’t around now… he’d be be shooting his wad in these days of so called progressive mentality. Boy films have gotten so boring.
I’ll probably receive death threats for saying this, but Sean Connery was an awful actor. Not as bad as Nicholas Cage, though.
RIP Sean Connery