The Rock (1996)
Alcatraz. Only one man has ever broken out. Now five million lives depend on two men breaking in.
When vengeful General Francis X. Hummel seizes control of Alcatraz Island and threatens to launch missiles loaded with deadly chemical weapons into San Francisco, only a young FBI chemical weapons expert and notorious Federal prisoner have the skills to penetrate the impregnable island fortress and take him down.
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| Type | Movie |
|---|---|
| Released | 7 June 1996 |
| Genre | Action, Adventure, Thriller |
| Director | Michael Bay |
| Starring | Sean Connery, Nicolas Cage and Ed Harris |
| Runtime | 137 min |
| Rated | R |
| Scores | Rotten Tomatoes (average) 6.7/10 · Rotten Tomatoes 67% · Metacritic 58/100 · IMDb 7.4/10 · TMDB users 7.2/10 |
| Budget | $75 million |
| Box office | $335 million worldwide |
Where to watch The Rock
The Rock is streaming on Peacock ($16.99 a month) in the US. If that is the only reason to subscribe, one month of Peacock is $16.99 at list price.
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Rent or buy
You can rent or buy The Rock on Apple TV, Prime Video and Fandango at Home.
Where to watch The Rock in 56 other countries
| Country | Streaming on (price a month) |
|---|---|
| Argentina | Disney+ $15599 ARS |
| Australia | Disney+ $17.99 AUD, ARD/ZDF |
| Austria | Disney+ €10.99 |
| Belgium | Disney+ €10.99 |
| Belize | Disney+ |
| Bolivia | Disney+ |
| Brazil | Disney+ R$49.90 |
| Bulgaria | Disney+ €9.99 |
| Canada | Disney+ $15.99 CAD |
| Chile | Disney+ $10990 CLP |
| Colombia | Disney+ $36900 COP |
| Costa Rica | Disney+ |
| Croatia | Disney+ €9.99 |
| Czechia | Disney+ 219 Kč |
| Denmark | Disney+ 119 kr DKK |
| Dominican Republic | Disney+ |
| Ecuador | Disney+ $11.49 |
| El Salvador | Disney+ |
| Finland | Disney+ €11.99 |
| France | Disney+ €10.99 |
| Germany | Disney+ €10.99 |
| Greece | Disney+ €10.99 |
| Guatemala | Disney+ |
| Honduras | Disney+ |
| Hong Kong | Disney+ HK$88 |
| Hungary | Disney+ 2990 Ft |
| Ireland | Disney+ €11.99 |
| Italy | Skygo, Now TV |
| Jamaica | Disney+ |
| Japan | Prime Video ¥600 JPY, Disney+ ¥1250 JPY |
| Liechtenstein | Disney+ |
| Luxembourg | Disney+ €10.99 |
| Mexico | Disney+ $259 MXN |
| Netherlands | Disney+ €10.99 |
| New Zealand | Disney+ $18.99 NZD |
| Nicaragua | Disney+ |
| Norway | Disney+ 129 kr NOK |
| Panama | Disney+ $12.49 |
| Paraguay | Disney+ |
| Peru | Disney+ S/49.90 |
| Poland | Disney+ 34.99 zł |
| Portugal | Disney+ €10.99 |
| Romania | Disney+ 34.99 lei |
| Singapore | Disney+ $18.98 SGD |
| Slovakia | Disney+ €9.99 |
| South Korea | Disney+ ₩9900 |
| Spain | Disney+ €10.99 |
| St. Lucia | Disney+ |
| Sweden | Disney+ 129 kr SEK |
| Switzerland | Disney+ CHF16.90 |
| Taiwan | Disney+ NT$285 |
| Trinidad & Tobago | Disney+ |
| Türkiye | Disney+ ₺449.90 |
| United Kingdom | Disney+ £11.99 GBP |
| Uruguay | Disney+ about $U522 |
| Venezuela | Disney+ |
Subscription, free and ad-supported services we track; prices where Binge Boss has a price list for the country. "About" marks a price the service bills in another currency, converted at the day's rate. All countries as data.
What kind of watch this is
Michael Bay’s 1996 action thriller runs 137 minutes. The hook is a simple inversion of a famous escape: one man who got out of Alcatraz now has to get back in. Sean Connery plays the escaped convict, Nicolas Cage the FBI expert, and Ed Harris the general holding the island hostage. The tagline promises that five million lives depend on two men breaking in.
What the critics said
Critics found a film that works if you stop thinking. Rotten Tomatoes lists a 67% Tomatometer score as of August 2024, while Metacritic sits at 58 out of 100 as of July 2025. Those numbers suggest a movie that is competent but not transcendent. Roger Ebert gave it 3.5 stars, calling it "a first-rate, slam-bang action thriller". He seemed to enjoy the ride. Todd McCarthy in Variety noted that the director sweeps "gaping holes" aside with "never-take-a-breath pacing". The holes remain, but the speed hides them. It is a fun distraction, provided you do not ask too many questions.
How it did with audiences
Produced on a $75 million budget, The Rock took in $134 million domestically and $335 million worldwide. That opening weekend, it beat Mission: Impossible to land at number one. It also briefly held the record for the highest opening weekend for a live-action Disney film before Ransom took the spot. For its time, it was a solid hit, ranking as the seventh-highest-grossing U.S. film in 1996. Audiences gave it a 7.4/10 IMDb score. Numbers like that suggest people actually wanted to see what Cage was doing.
What came next for the cast
The Rock landed in a crowded year. Before it, Sean Connery was still riding the wave of Indiana Jones and The Untouchables. After, he found himself in Entrapment and Finding Forrester. Nicolas Cage moved from Raising Arizona to Ghost Rider. Ed Harris stepped from Apollo 13 into A Beautiful Mind. John Spencer went from Black Rain to The Negotiator. The sequence of credits does not prove causality. It just records what happened next.
If you liked this
TMDB's recommendations for people who watched The Rock.
Sources
- The Rock on TMDB — synopsis, cast, ratings and recommendations
- Wikidata Q216720 — review scores, box office and awards (CC0)
- “The Rock (film)” on Wikipedia, by its contributors (history) — reception, audience figures and legacy, summarised and adapted here under CC BY-SA 4.0
- Where to watch and prices: Binge Boss, from TMDB watch-provider data (powered by JustWatch) and our own provider list
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