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The Rock (UMD)
Region 1 • R • Dolby Surround • Available Now
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Alright then, let’s see what Buena Vista cooked up for us this time around...
Thoughts on the Movie
I’ve seen bits and pieces of the Rock, but finally I got a chance to watch the movie the whole way through. It’s marginally better than most Bruckheimer movies these days, but I’m not sure that says much.
Actually, I did enjoy this movie quite a bit more than, say, National Treasure. Nicholas Cage is a scientist called to help the government with a patriotic terrorist (heh) who has chemical weapons housed in Alcatraz. Only one man knows the way to break into Alcatraz, and that’s Sean Connery. And off they go, but not before a breakneck chase through San Francisco.
I have to give credit for Bruckheimer for that chase. He essentially took a shot at himself. Connery escapes and finds a Hummer to steal, and Cage goes after him when he finds a Porsche. Not only that, Connery hits a couple of fruit carts before exiting the alley, fruit carts that had no primary reason to exist in a dark and dank alley other than to be run into. I’ll give Bruckheimer the benefit of the doubt and say he did this as a parody to all action films (or more precisely, his films) which was pretty hilarious.
Oh, and that one guy that dies in the end: really, really sucks to be him. To quote Sin City: Yeesh.
Video Quality
The movie is in its OAR of 2.35. I guess the days of croppin the screen is gone for Buena Vista... hooray!
And man, at times this film looks gorgeous. While the movie doesn’t go for beautiful landscapes (we’re at a prison half the time) it’s the colors that really shine, such as the blue room the missiles are stored in, or the view of San Francisco Bay at dawn. Excellent transfer overall.
5/5
Audio Quality
I definitely could have used louder sound, but it’s not too bad. Aside from the volume, the movie has some good directional effects, but I wish the guns had more impact. It’s a decent track, but I’ve heard much better... it still serves the film well, at least.
3/5
Extras
The Rock has one of the coolest looking menus I’ve seen so far. It’s really slick, and it almost felt like I was playing a Tom Clancy game on my PSP for a second. The chapter selection is equally slick. We get some forced trailers, but just press square and you’ll skip over them.
No bonus features though. The movie was available in a bare bones DVD and a Criterion DVD, which was filled to the brim with extras. Apparently Buena Vista doesn’t want to move those Criterion features to UMD just yet, which is a shame.
2.5/5
Overall…
Standard Bruckheimer movie, although the excellent video transfer surprised me. Overall, a good addition to your UMD library, but I kinda wish we had a smidgen of bonus stuff. Ah well.
3/5
