Why “The Rock” Matters

“Just Thinking"

Why “The Rock” matters, Michael Bay’s 1996 action thriller was not just another action blockbuster, it was a love letter to San Francisco, wrapped in explosions, suspense, and a race against time.

The movie features Ed Harris as the bad guy, Nicolas Cage as the good guy and Sean Connery as the unlikely hero. San Francisco isn’t just the backdrop to the movie; it is the main character. The film uses real locations across the city for its stunning scenery. Alcatraz, The Fairmont Hotel, The Palace of Fine Arts and the Cable Car on Russian Hill all play host to key scenes throughout the movie.

The Rock, the name of the movie is a reference to a nickname for Alcatraz Island, which is the central location for the plot line. The once maximum-security prison has reputation for being inescapable, which paints the ironic twist in this film as the heroes must break in, not out. Brigadier General Francis X. Hummel (Ed Harris), a decorated Marine disillusioned by the government’s neglect of fallen soldiers’ families, seizes Alcatraz during a tourist visit. With 81 civilians as hostages, he has 15 rockets armed with VX nerve gas aimed at San Francisco. He is demanding $100 million, if his ultimatum is ignored, “The City” faces catastrophic destruction.

Stanley Goodspeed (Nicolas Cage) is an FBI chemical weapons expert, and John Mason (Sean Connery), who is a former British spy and the only man to have ever escaped Alcatraz. Together they must infiltrate the island, disarm the rockets, and prevent the death of thousands of San Franciscans. The movie culminates with the heroes neutralizing the threat just as a squadron of fighter jets prepare to obliterate the island.

The car chase in The Rock is a classic, it ties the set up in the beginning of the movie to the confrontation on the island. Connery’s character escapes from the Fairmont Hotel and promptly steals a huge black Humvee H1 and takes off down California Street, Cage’s character commandeers a bright yellow Ferrari F355 and takes off in hot pursuit. The chase features high speed action through the city’s steep hills, with classic “airborne” moments as both vehicles launch over intersections. The chase captures the essence of San Francisco driving with tight turns, steep inclines, with pedestrians filled streets, while the Humvee smashes through slow moving cars and a bottled water truck, the Ferrari weaves through chaos, narrowly avoiding disaster at every turn.

The Chase climaxes on Jones St with the Humvee sending a cable car careening through the air with passengers being thrown out, then it explodes into a fiery spectacle on Pacific Avenue. The scenery along the route of the chase is quintessential San Francisco. Victorian houses lining the hills, glimpses of the Bay in the distance, and “The City’s” bustling streets filled with trolleys and pedestrians. 

I have written in the past about some other San Francisco movies and their questionable logistics, how in Bullitt’s car chase they jumped from Army St. to Potrero Hill, North Beach to Bernal Heights culminating on Guadalupe Canyon. Then there was Dirty Harry’s epic run through the city from the Mission to Forest Station, to Dolores Park then to Aquatic Park, past a Doggie Diner ending up on Mt Davidson. The car chase in The Rock, was much more consistent, although it did bounce around, it lack street signs or landmarks to question its locations and seemed to be contain mainly to Russian Hill.

Let me know what you think.

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