I don't know why, but I always seem to like productions from Jerry Bruckheimer. Cat People was probably the first film of his that I saw, but I think that it was Days of Thunder that was the first film that really had his "feel" to it. I'm not sure what it is, exactly, either - I think it is likely the score, usually quite powerful, but not enough to overpower the video. In any case, this one was square in his busy period.
Starring Sean Connery and Ed Harris, the film is set almost entirely on Alcatraz island, currently taken over by Harris' band of Marines, intent on securing honor for their fallen comrades who have managed to miss out on military recognition because of the circumstances surrounding their deaths. Oh yeah, and they'd like $100 million too.
It's the job of Connery, a political prisoner for 33 years, to infiltrate The Rock with a band of counter-commandos (and a chemical expert, played by Nicolas Cage) and make sure that the city of San Francisco isn't ground zero for the release of a deadly nerve gas (that's why they have Cage along - he isn't especially good at much else, being a scientist-type).
As you may surmise, there's lots of action to be had, and with Connery and Harris, there's a fair amount of decent acting to be seen too, but make no mistake - this is a Bruckheimer production, so you won't see any awards won along the way, unless it's for blowing stuff up. It's a full-speed, non-stop thrill ride, nothing more. That doesn't make it bad, it just means that you aren't likely to find it playing in any art houses anytime. Ever. And that's okay, as long as you know what to expect.
Rated R for strong violence, language and a sex scene.
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