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(I haven't personally seen this movie yet so I haven't written a plot summary or done any brash reflections but you're welcome to add you nits and comments to the ones below.)

Reflections from the Guild

[Note from Phil: I have not verified these but they sounded good to me!]

Lee Lorenz of Fenton, MI: "Well, first, my review (short): Pretty good! Well written, and of course, given the cast, well acted. Ed Harris played a believable Marine Corps (OOH-RAAH!) General, and of course, Cage and Connery played their parts well. I found a few nits, and it would be interesting to see what you and the other members come up with."

"BTW: This was a 'Don Simpson' picture, the guy who gave us 'Top Gun' and also OD'd recently. Too bad. He would have been back on top, had he not thrown his life away."

"The anti-nits: Except for the nit below, the Marines were *VERY MUCH* in character. Bravo for the accurate portrayal. Usually, you see pretty inaccurate Marines in TV and Movies (Space:Above and Beyond had long hair in 1st half of season, and still has Fighter pilots flying APCs and doing infantry duty... In Space, there are no Privates- or any Enlisted!) The "tracking" graphics were OK. Would I expect a blueprint overlay on short notice, could happen. Plus the icons representing people (which looked like an overhead "head and shoulders") were identical and didn't give the usual Hollywood magical powers to show direction or position..."

"The nits: 1. Regarding the scene where Mason (Connery) rolls under the giant steam engine to unlock the door... He says he memorized the timing for his escape. NOW: The SEAL team was trapped INSIDE this cistern room, which was a short hop to the outside world, and Mason unlocked the door from the OTHER SIDE... do you see where I'm going with this? When he escaped, why didn't he just go through the door?"

"1.5 Also, what was the deal with this "steam engine" room? Flames and partial giant gears? Was this meant to prevent escape? Why not just put BARS over the openings? And why was it operational???"

"2. The microfilm, revealing the secrets of J.Eddie Hoover, that Mason stole in 1962, supposedly tells who *REALLY* shot JFK... wasn't he shot in 1963??? Or is one more secret???"

"3. Totally out of character, for a Marine, was the line "Be All You Can Be". I was a Marine for only 4 years, and not *THAT* gung-ho, but if I was that General, I would've shot the guy! You don't use "Army-isms" in the Corps!!!"

"4. In the hotel, wouldn't the FBI head have had guards posted at *EVERY* floor besides the elevators?"

"5. In the lighthouse, Goodspeed (Cage) fires the rocket... didn't they need command authorization from the Command Post control before doing this?"

"6. As the renegade Marines leave the Weapons Depot, there are gaurds at the gate, seemingly oblivious to all the gunfire around the base. Must be taking lessons from the Voyager's shuttle security detail!"

"7. Not actually a nit, but I would have loved the following line for Goodspeed (Cage) when Mason (Connery) revealed he was a British Intelligence Operative: "Oh, you were like James Bond or something?" Then Mason shooting back "Yes, but without the neat toys" or something along those lines..."

Matt Cotnoir of Coventry, RI: "First of all, this movie was probably one of the best my friends and I have seen in a long time. I think a heartfelt thank you is in order to the producers for livening up what otherwise has been a dissapointingly dull summer movie season (until Independence Day comes Out). Now on to nits. First of all, I'm shocked at Goodspeed's girlfriend's comment about being Catholic. As a Catholic myself, I know that you're not supposed to have sex before marriage period. Her being so worried that she is Catholic, unmarried, and pregant is abhorring. Another nit involves the way the FBI handles Goodspeed's girlfriend's arrival. First of all, they could have locked the door to the limo so that she could not get out (Duh!). Secondly, the agent could have done a better job in lying to her about what was going on (Something like "Stanley had to change hotels...He is now staying in in ) instead of spouting of all that "It's classified, ma'am" crap. If someone told you that some piece of information was classified, would you be slighty more nervous???"

"Did anyone not think that someone would have to inject themselves with the atropine needle by the time the movie was done?"

"And last but not least, Humvee's are invincible, but not that invincible!"

Wesley_Neal: "First, I'd like to say this is a really good movie, although hardly original in it's basic story. Almost every actor involved (especially Ed Harris) played his role well. My nit---Towards the end of the picture when Harris is dying and he tells Connery where the final rocket is....Harris says, 'the lower tower', I believe. Connery relays this info to Cage and Cage says something like 'got it' and runs off. How the heck does Cage know the layout of the prison so well? Maybe he went over the layout extensively before they left or something, but I was under the impression that Cage was just 'along for the ride', until his job came up(disarming the missles)." Orion Bawdon of Bellingham, WA: "OK, a few nits.. first of all, shouldn't the Weapons Depot have had a little better security? The Marines were breaking windows in the guard tower, but no alarms went off, and they were able to get the door open to the Really Nasty Biological Weapons by just turning a handle! It seems that anyone with any kind of a contact in the Navy would have been able to get those rockets. If security was like that in the real world, nutcases would be stealing biological weapons all the time."

"The trainee that was in the gas chamber with Cage when they were investigating the wooden crate was pretty stupid, wasn't he? I mean, here's a crate that may have some deadly gas in it, and what does he do? He picks up a doll and starts playing with it! Stupid, stupid, stupid. This sets off the bomb inside, and while Cage is trying to defuse it, the trainee goes into hysterics and won't even put a hypodermic needle -- that will save his life -- into his heart! How do guys like this get into the FBI?"

"Cage's girlfriend isn't very bright, either. She *knows* he works for the FBI, and he tells her in no uncertain terms *not* to come to San Fransisco. Now, anyone with half a brain would be thinking at this point, 'Gee, this guy works for the FBI, so maybe he knows what he's talking about, hmm?' So she comes to San Fransisco anyway! *sigh* The movie world is filled with morons, no? (except, of course, the Big Stars)" (Note from Phil: Just love-numbed, I guess!)

"Sean Connery asked for a hotel room where he could shower and get a haircut, just so he could escape and visit his daughter. Why didn't he just ask them to let him see his daughter? If they were willing to give him a hotel room, surely they would be willing to let him talk to his daughter for an hour or so."

"Those Marines weren't very skilled, either, especially with their explosives. Aren't Marines trained with the weapons they use? At one point, they dropped a bomb into the tunnel where Connery and Cage were, but there was enough time left for Connery to yell "bomb!" and for both of them to duck before it went off. Shouldn't they know how long the timer was, and adjust accordingly? As in, don't give time for your victims to react? The same thing happened at another point, where a marine threw a grenade next to Cage, but there was enough time for him to pick it up and throw it back at the marine before it exploded, killing the marine (deserved it,too!)"

"And what happened to those locater devices the FBI were using to track the team? Halfway through the movie, they suddenly stopped working and it was never explained quite why."

Jeremy Jones of Oakdale, MN: "First of all, 'The Rock' was an excellent movie! It was very funny and action packed. However, one aspect of it did bother me. It's really not a nit. More of an observation."

"Much of the tension at the end of the movie revolves around the government calling an air strike to destroy the terrorists and, unfortunately, the hostages. Of course, it is cancelled at the last second. I don't know how many times I have seen this exact scenario lately. Actually, I do know--four. The same thing happened in "Outbreak," "Under Seige 2," "Executive Decision," and now "The Rock." Hopefully Hollywood can put this plot device to rest for a while."

Brian Lombard: "1. Connery and Cage are locked in separate cells on Alcatraz. Cage asks Connery how he passed the time when he was on Alcatraz. Connery replies that he mostly dreamed about getting out and meeting his daughter. Earlier in the movie, the FBI head in San Francisco said that Connery's daughter was born in 1972. One problem. Alcatraz was closed in 1963. Was Connery dreaming about meeting a daughter who wouldn't be born for another 9 years?"

"2. Connery and Cage lead the bad guys on a mine chase under Alcatraz. (I didn't know Alcatraz had a mine.) In a wide shot of their mine car, you can see a rope attached that was used in the production of the scene, obviously to control the car."

"3. Not really a nit, but Worf's brother Kurn played one of the bad guys. He was the Captain who didn't like Elton John's song 'Rocket Man'. (You'll get this joke when you see the movie!)"

Jon Davidson: "There are two items related to cell doors on the Alkatraz that are not correct."

"1) In one scene they show the cell doors swinging open. This is not the way the doors are on Altatraz. All doors on the cells that were used during the federal prision time period slide open. there are doors on the island that do swing, but they are not "on broadway" like the movie states, they are in a different cell block that was only used during millatary prision ties (pre 1930's)."

"2) In one scene in the movie the tour guide on the rock invites guests to become temporary guests of the rock and to step into the sells. They do not do this on Alkatraz. They will open and close the doors, but not with anybody in the cells. On a tour that I took person's asked to be locked in, but were turned down because of liability reasons."

"While the movie is not generally beleavable it is very exciting and great fun to watch. Sean Connery does a great job, his quote regarding getting his training from the greatest place on Earth 'the Brittish Intellegence' was classic. This could almost be called a .007 movie. It was wonderful."

Todd Felton: "When Stanley Goodspeed (Nicolas Cage) jabs the needle into his chest, why does he do it like halfway between his heart and his waist? I don't know about you, but *my* heart isn't down there!"

"And, near the end when Stanley (Cage) keeps one of the glass balls that contains the biogenic compound, where does he put it? If he puts it in his pocket, it's not likely it would stay intact through all the rumble tumble action stuff he goes through before he uses it!"

Chris Kintz, Salt Lake, Hawaii: "I almost choked on my popcorn when watching the scene where they're screaming about ejecting the Atropine into the heart to ward of the effects of the gas. Two points:

"1) Anybody who's gone through US Army basic training knows, Atropine doesn't come in one big syringe, but instead comes in two separate 'parts'. Also, you do NOT inject Atropine directly into the heart. You inject it into a large muscle mass (like the legs). Speaking as a Army Medic with four years of experience, if you injected Atropine straight into the heart, or any blood vessel for that matter, you would be just as dead as if you took a wiff of VX gas (which, by the way, is real.)

"2) Okay, Goodspeed (Cage) has been exposed to VX Gas. He staggers around, pulls out this big hypodermic, and plunges it into his heart. He survives! I almost choked on my popcorn. Atropine simply would not keep you alive against VX Gas. And even if it did, how can a Neural Stimulant (which all Atropine really is) keep your skin from melting off? (I asked this question during the movie, and my friend Steve said with a smirk 'Oh, it must be the teflon in the needle')

"Okay...other nits.... Just how big is Alcatraz, anyway? It has it's own mine cart? And a large interlocking network of caves? Also, that fireball at the end didn't look like a super hot 'Thermetic Plasma' to me. It looked like a standard Napalm explosion. Anything that burns really really REALLY hot would give off a intense white-blue light (like burning Magnesium, or a arc-welding lamp). Also, wasn't it pretty convenient that the 'plasma bombs' hit 'the other side of the island. no civilians were hurt'? Guess they weren't as powerful as they said they were ('We're throwing enough firepower at this island to vaporize it.')

"One last thing about the comment Lee Lorenz said about those in the Corps not using 'Army-isms'. Inter-service Rivalry is a very real thing in the US Military. Each branch fully believes that they're better then the others. That's why I agree with his nit about the Marine saying 'Be all you can be.' Any Marine who said that would just look like a fool to his fellow Marines.

Mark Bowman: "About the mine chase scene: The car was probaly there for maintanence access to areas of Alkatraz and scince the basement was changed radicly over the years (leaving for example extrawalls, stairs that go nowhere (I remember hearing that in the girl's locker room at my local YMCA my sister had seen stairs that went up to the ceiling and stopped after the building was changed)) it may have been put there for that reason."

Jon A. Christopher (concering Lee Lorenz's nit above, "Regarding the scene where Mason (Connery) rolls under the giant steam engine to unlock the door... He says he memorized the timing for his escape. NOW: The SEAL team was trapped INSIDE this cistern room, which was a short hop to the outside world, and Mason unlocked the door from the OTHER SIDE... do you see where I'm going with this? When he escaped, why didn't he just go through the door?"): "Not exactly. Mason said 'I memorized the timing.' He didn't say that he memorized it for his escape. If you recall, he spent a few minutes looking at the tunnel before making his statement. He *could* have been memorizing it right then. The SAS trained him well, you know..."

(Also, concerning Orion Bawdon over why Sean Sonnery didn't just ask to see his daughter): "Ah, but he wanted his daughter to think that he had been released. I'm quite sure that the FBI wouldn't want to let him out of their sight, and it'd take a pretty dense person not to notice all the FBI standing around and looking nervous. Also, what makes you think he 'just' wanted to see his daughter? That may have been top priority, but he also wanted freedom."

Seth Farrow: "Regarding Joe Christopher's explanation of how Connery might have been memorizing it JUST then: A good hypothesis, but he also syas, 'I just hope it hasn't been changed.' This implies, that he DID memorize it for his escape."

Trever Logan: "A comment or two, if I may:

"To Jon Davidson concerning the swinging cell doors that Conery manages to open when he and Cage are ,err, caged... I don't have any 'inside' knowledge of the cell construction of Alcatraz, so perhaps this next comment has no validity, but in the movie the tourist are locked in 'Broadway' and in the movie those doors are shown to slide as Jon said they are made to do on 'Broadway'. When Cage and Conery are shown locked up there are no other people around to be heard. Cage is off rambling and singing and Conery is busy at work, and other than the two there is no one there in that wing of the prison. My point being this: perhaps the doors of the infamous 'Broadway' do slide as apposed to swing, but the two are not being held in 'Broadway', the tourist are...Perhaps the tour that Jon took did not envolve the other cells of Alcatraz, the ones that indeed do swing."

"A second thought: as Chris Kintz said, there is an understood seperation between the different branches of the military. I grew up on a military base in Okinawa, Japan and this seperation is understood even at the elementry school dependent's level. Hang on, i am going somewhere with this... At the beginning the officer representing the Air Force, forgive me, I have forgotten his name and rank, is called upon concerning the 'thermite plasma' -spelling??- and he rushes off to try and fulfil this 'act-of-god'. I get the feeling that the Air Force, under the direction of this officer, were being called on to conduct the air strike...and as the planes take off you see a lovely formation of F-18's. Beautiful planes, and i remember seeing them coming and going, and now even in Independence Day they are used...BY THE MARINE CORP!! The Air Force would not have used the F-18 to conduct an air strike, it is a USMC pilot's bird of prey."

Ethan H. Calk of San Antonio, TX: Why was Goodspeed (Cage) the one disarming the missles? He was a chemical expert, not a weapons/missle expert. He opens the missle (how does he know how?), takes the cannister with the VX gas out, takes the chain of VX modules out, then gets the chip from inside. Couldn't a highly trained weapons expert do this?

And, why was this missle designed this way? Who would want to replace a faulty chip by having to handle the delicate, deadly VX gas? Wouldn't the control chip be in the missle part somewhere, not the VX part?

If you would like to add some comments, drop me a note at chief@nitcentral.com. Please put the name of the movie in the Subject line and include your real name, city and state (or province and county as the case may be) in the body of the e-mail so I can give you credit if you are the first person to bring up a particular nit. (Remember the legalese: Everything you submit becomes mine and you grant me the right to use your name in any future publication by me. I will do my best to give you credit if you are the first person to submit a particular nit but I make no guarantees. And finally, due to the volume of mail received at Nitpicker Central, your submission may or may not be acknowledged.)

Copyright 1996 by Phil Farrand. All Rights Reserved.