The Rock (Criterion Collection)

About a year ago, I decided to purge the greater part of my DVD collection. It had grown huge over the past 8 years, and somewhere along the line a focus on quantity over quality became evident. I was pushing over 300 discs and growing steadily. Many of the movies sat on the shelf, waiting for what I always thought would be repeated viewings. So the kids and I had a rather large yard sale and by the end I had pared the collection down to about 70 discs. Many of them are my favorites, movies I watch annually. Some are classic movies, treatises on film-making, meant to be studied over and over again and shared with others. Recently I've begun making moves to expand my collection again. This time with a straight eye and focus on quality. And whenever one seeks quality in their DVDs, one ultimately finds themselves searching the catalog of the Criterion Collection.

Criterion has been releasing films for years (first as Janus, and then also under their Essential Art-House Collection). They pride themselves on choosing only the best, and giving them the most technical sound presentation possible. Their catalog is very diverse, ranging from domestic films to foreign cinema from around the world. They choose classic films such as Fellini's 8 1/2 (1963), Renoir's Grand Illusion(1937), and Kurosawa's Seven Samurai(1954). But you will also find some more recent and mainstream choices such as Chasing Amy(1997), Armageddon(1998), and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button(2008). Their 3-disc release of Terry Gilliam's Brazil is arguably the greatest DVD release ever.

Michael Bay's The Rock has also been given the Criterion treatment. And what a treatment it is. With a new digital transfer approved by the director himself, 5.1 Dolby Digital and DTS surround sound, and special commentary by Bay, producer Jerry Brukheimer, and actors Nic Cage and Ed Harris, The Rock is a great addition to any DVD collection.

Michael Bay is one of the most polarizing directors in Hollywood today. Serious cinema enthusiasts hate his all-flash, no depth approach to film-making. However, everyday movie watchers love Bay as his movies have grossed trillions at the box office. I have found myself evolving from one of the former group into a member of the latter. Love him or hate him, I believe Michael Bay knows how to entertain you. And The Rock is entertaining.

Ed Harris plays a war general, tired of seeing his men fall victim to special missions and then having their families cheated out of needed benefits and even recognition for their valor. So what's a general to do? How about put together his own special ops force, steal some missiles loaded with the world's deadliest gas, and take 80 hostages at the famous Alcatraz prison, which has now become a tourist attraction. Harris gives the government 48 hours to transfer 100 million dollars into an account for his fallen men. That's 48 hours that Goodspeed (Nic Cage), Mason (Sean Connery), and a team of navy seals have to infiltrate "The Rock", disarm the missiles and save the hostages. What follows is the cinematic equivalent of seeing your favorite rock band in concert.

Bay has been called "the master of action." And deservedly so. The actions scenes in The Rock are some of the best ever filmed. The car chase through the streets of San Francisco uses a Ferrari, Hummer, trolley car, handicapped olympians, a dozen police vehicles, a water delivery truck, several explosions, a cell phone call, and the requisite little old lady crossing the road. The scene is a virtuoso of style and energy, but still has a tongue-in-cheek feel to it. And that is why Bay is a good director. I believe he understands that he is not the next Hitchcock or Kurosawa, but neither does he try to be. He keeps things simple. His main goal is not these deep, emotionally intense films, but films that deliver on their promise to entertain you. Some directors use shock to entertain, some use humor, some use historical fiction. Bay uses explosions and testosterone fueled characters to entertain, and the audience loves him for it.

He has blown up police vehicles and the KKK in his Bad Boys franchise, a large asteroid in Armageddon, futuristic flying machines in The Island, Pearl Harbor in, uh, Pearl Harbor, and large awesome robots in Transformers. He also directed Lionel Ritchie's "Do it to me" video, and ended up blowing up Ritchie's career. And now he's blowing up Alcatraz in The Rock.

The Rock is a great joy ride of a movie. It's filled with quality performances, intense editing, and lots and lots of action. It's fun. It's a popcorn flick. It's not going to leave you emotionally drained by the end. However, you will probably want to start a car chase along the streets of your hometown. That looks like a lot of fun.

Grade: B+