one of the coolest movies, ever.

Rating: 8/10 (26 May 2000)

putting aside all other opinions that i may have, this is one of the best action movies, ever. an awesome movie directed by an awesome... uhh... director is, well, awesome. :)
the plot: here we see a rather unique, but predictable, story. in short, hummell (played by ed harris,) who is an ex-army general (or something high-ranked,) has decided to steal a whole bunch of rockets with some nasty stuff in them because his men were not reimbursed for the stuff they suffered. he puts all of the rockets on the rock - alcatraz island - and maintains base there. enter the government. they decide to use (cheesy) the only man who's ever escaped: john mason, who is played by sean connery. with mason is goodspeed, who is played by nicholas cage. together, and with other guys, they have to disarm all these bombs before hummell fires them off.
character development: the three main characters - hummell, goodspeed, and mason - are rather well developed. from the beginning of the movie, we see hummell's reason for doing this, and we feel some form of compassion, as if it's something he has to do. and we see goodspeed's relationship with his girlfriend and how he puts work above all, and yet he has a fear of needles. finally, we see mason's struggle because he's been in jail for the longest time because he stole a microfilm. everything in the movie has a purpose, and in time, we see the purpose.
the action: what's a bruckheimer movie without action? one of the greatest action sequences in this movie is the shower-room scene. hummell's men have the advantage of height, looking down on a now-infiltrated shower room. we see the bloodshed and the loss of men, and then we see hummell's reaction - he is ashamed and angry because of what has transpired. without giving away more of the movie, we see some very cool deaths for the characters we grow to hate.
the music: i love a good movie score. in fact, i hold the soundtrack in my hand right now. hans zimmer did an incredible job when he wrote this - the recurring notes we hear throughout the movie are reverberated and pounded into our heads. the music is action-packed and keeps the audience into the movie.
all in all, this is one of bruckheimer's greatest movies. he has put together a masterpiece, and i am incredibly glad for having seen this movie. and if you see it, you'll feel the same way.