The Rock

When deciding which film to watch with my girlfriend and my flatmate one night it was revealed that I had never seen The Rock, which was shocking to all involved. Not only had I never seen it, but I had never even heard of it. Apparently it was a fantastic film which was proclaimed as ‘Michael Bay’s best film’ by one flatmate. It’s about a group of soldiers who take a number of hostages on Alcatraz, with the goal of doing something sinister. The FBI sends in the marines to recapture ‘the rock’ but the only man who can help out is the only man who has ever broken out.

The whole film is very typical of Michael Bay. There is a comic air to the film, with an explosives budget that could solve the problems of a few small countries. It is undoubtedly a very cheesy film, but it is very enjoyable all the same. Nicholas Cage stars as the young agent who naturally finds himself thrust in the middle of a crisis. Sean Connery also appears as the criminal roped in to helping the FBI, John Mason. In addition, Ed Harris appears as the leader of the rogue band of soldiers. There is nothing incredible about this film, except maybe the scene with the tram. The dialogue is beyond shocking, but not atypical of Michael Bay, and there are some lines which you cannot help but cringe at.

Nicholas Cage is one of those actors that everyone seems to rave about. I haven’t seen that many Nicholas Cage films, and I suspect that The Rock is not the best film to start with. I found his character supremely annoying in this film, and couldn't work out whether Agent Goodspeed is meant to be portrayed in this way. I thought that his acting left quite a lot to be desired in this film, but then it occurred to me that most of the acclaim for this film probably rests on the fact that it is a bit silly and probably isn't meant to be taken quite so seriously.

I love Sean Connery, and he has starred in some of my favourite films ever. In The Rock he plays the former British agent imprisoned in Alcatraz and does so brilliantly. I get the feeling that alongside General Hummel, Mason is the only character that is meant to be taken a little more seriously. Then again, maybe not. Either way, I really liked his character here and he is the only one who seems to have any real complexity. He is keen to build up a relationship with his daughter, who he has never met because of his long imprisonment. The image of Sean Connery in this film before he is made-over is very imposing, and the scenes with Connery’s character in are among the most entertaining of the film.

I have only seen two films that Ed Harris has been in, and in both he plays quite an intimidating character. In A Beautiful Mind he is the hallucination of the FBI agent that continually haunts John Nash’s life. In The Rock he is the leader of the rogue soldiers who take hostages on Alcatraz. He is very imposing and has a strong presence on the screen. The scene in which he and Sean Connery face off is quite enthralling, and I found myself mildly entertained by the politics among the soldiers towards the end of the film.

As with all Michael Bay films, you don’t have to be paying too much attention to get what’s going on. You don’t have to be paying too much attention either. The action is very entertaining, and although now comes across as immensely clichéd, at the time it was probably less so. Once you watch the entire film, the ending is brilliant and I found myself to be genuinely tense about what was going to happen. Naturally it was quite obvious that in the end the good guys would win and the bad guys would be defeated. Given that it is a Michael Bay film, the bad guys would probably be defeated in a theatrical (and largely expensive) manner, and the film does not disappoint.

The Rock is an entertaining action film which does not require much focus to enjoy. It is one to watch with a few friends, and will definitely make you laugh a number of times. It is so enjoyable that it almost doesn’t matter that it is cringing, cheesy and very silly. It is not essential that you go out and watch it though, and you’re life is not completely empty if you do not see it.

Sean Connery as James Bond

There are far too many Bond films for me to review them as one whole series, so I decided to break them down Bond-by-Bond, and first up is the original, and for me the best, Sean Connery. He is suave, sophisticated and absolutely fantastic, setting many standards for the Bond's that follow him to live up to. I think that it was Sean Connery's portrayal of Bond that has led to the stereotypes around the character.

The first Bond film, Dr. No takes place in Jamaica, and would now be viewed as a cliched spy film about a man who wants to take over the world. Bond follows the trail left by the murder of the British agent stationed in Jamaica to discover who killed him. This trails leads him to the base of Dr Julius No who is planning to ruin a rocket launch with a radioactive powered ratio beam. This film is famous for so many reasons, not least for starting one of the most successful franchises in movie history. There are so many memorable moments, the most famous of which is Ursula Andress coming out of the sea in 'that' white bikini. The scene with the 'dragon' also sticks in my mind. This was produced on a very low budget, but you wouldn't have guessed this, which undoubtedly contributed to the success of the film. Sean Connery was a relatively unknown actor at the time, and James Bond helped to catapult him into the public eye. Another iconic scene is the first view we ever have of James Bond, featuring the truly iconic line: "Bond, James Bond".

Following Dr. No, the next film, From Russia With Love, had some very high standards to live up to, and it managed this perfectly. From Russia With Love was even more successful than Dr. No, and picks up on SPECTRE which was a common feature of the Ian Fleming books. The story follows Bond's attempts to find a cryptograph machine which was stolen from the Soviets. However, Bond is being followed by an assassin who has been instructed to kill him. The stand out scene of this film is when Bond and Tatiana Romanova board the Orient Express and meet the assassin, pretending to be a British agent in order to gain Bond's trust. This is where the traditional Bond gadget comes in. Q has provided Bond with an attache case, and for me this is the ultimate in gadgetry. The following fight scene is one of the finest in the Bond series, and when Bond and Romanova finally reach Venice with the Lektor device, we see the fight between Bond and the truly sinister Rosa Klebb. From Russia With Love is another diamond in the James Bond crown and is up there as one of my favourites. It firmly cemented James Bond as one of the most iconic cinematic characters ever.

Some how the next film tops the previous two. Goldfinger is absolutely phenomenal and many people consider it to be the best Bond film. Bond's investigation of Goldfinger and Goldfinger's plot to attack the US gold supply provided some incredible moments. The most obvious one is the horrific scene where Bond discovers that Jill Masterson has been killed by being painted gold all over by the sinister henchman who haunts the early part of the film, Odd Ball. Equally iconic is the laser scene with the classic line "Do you expect me to talk?" "No Mr. Bond, I expect you to die". Goldfinger also features many people's favourite Bond girl. Honor Blackman is wonderful as Pussy Galore, breaking with the tradition of many Bond films where the girl is hopelessly reliant on Bond. Finally, there is nothing more perfect about Goldfinger than another Q masterpiece. The Aston Martin DB5 and all it's adaptations, quirks and tricks has to be one of the greatest movie cars ever. Goldfinger is by far the ultimate Sean Connery James Bond film, and if you have to watch just one of his films, this should be it.

After the three films preceding it, Thunderball was always going to struggle in my eyes. It's by no means a bad film, in fact it's very good, but in comparison to the previous films it pales. Nevertheless, the underwater fight scene is another iconic James Bond moment, and financially, after inflation has been adjusted for it is the most successful ever. Thunderball sees even more of SPECTRE which has been lingering through all the previous films. The villain in Thunderball is the sinister Emilio Largo who has stolen two atomic bombs and is holding the world to ransom for £100 million in diamonds. Bond, helped by his timeless friend Felix Leiter and Largo's mistress Domino eventually defeats Largo and saves the day, as ever. In my opinion, Thunderball is an excellent Bond film. The jetpack in the opening scene sticks in my mind as one of the moments of the film, and the re-appearance of the DB5 can only ever be a welcome addition to a series which was now rapidly promising to be one of the most successful ever.

My favourite Sean Connery Bond film is You Only Love Twice, or YOLT as some of the youth of today would probably say. A little known fact about You Only Live Twice is that the script was written by Roald Dahl, and is the first Bond film to reject a lot of the original Ian Fleming story. You Only Live Twice revolves around the disappearance of two spacecrafts which was engineered by SPECTRE to force the world into war. Bond tries to solve the puzzle and is eventually confronted by Ernst Stavro Blofeld, who has appeared in most of the previous films, but has never actually been seen. I have used the word 'sinister' a couple of times in this particular post, but a new word is necessary to describe Blofeld in this installment. Horrifying seems to do him justice. For me, this is the image of Blofeld that lingers in my mind, and every portrayal following You Only Live Twice doesn't quite live up to it. I can't decide whether it is the piranhas, used to punish anyone who fails Blofeld, or whether it is the epic nature of the film, or even if it's the storyline itself, but I absolutely love You Only Live Twice. It's not as good as Goldfinger, or even From Russia With Love, but I enjoyed it more, and for me that's the killer.

You Only Live Twice was to be Connery's last appearance as James Bond due to an argument with the producer Albert Broccoli, and he was followed by George Lazenby. However, they evidently resolved their dispute, and Connery was back for Diamonds Are Forever. This sees Bond impersonate a diamond smuggler in order to uncover a blot by Blofeld to build a giant laser. Bond has to fight his ultimate nemesis for the final time to defeat Blofeld once and for all. Naturally he does this with all due sophistication. No classic Bond film would be complete without a secondary villain though, and the slightly camp Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd are threaded throughout the film creating a very scary effect. I am always a bit apprehensive whenever I see them in the movie, and this can only be a tribute to Bruce Glover and Putter Smith, however they are nowhere in comparison to some of the other Bond villains. The real shame about Diamonds Are Forever is that it is a black mark on the James Bond record of Sean Connery. Many critics have slated it, and it's without a doubt the worst of all Connery's Bond films.

Nevertheless Sean Connery is the best bond. Five out of his six Bond films are up there with the best for me. His witty one-liners, ultimate sophistication and timeless charm cement him as 'the' James Bond. The opening sequence in Goldfinger where he comes out of the water in his scuba suit, blows up the nitro and then, as entering the bar, strips off to reveal a perfectly crafted white tuxedo is beyond comparison. His films see some of the most iconic cars, villains, gadgets, songs, and women of the whole franchise and because of this, Connery will always stand as the quintessential British spy.