(Sound) Welcome to the rock. >> In the spirit of blockbuster summer
movies, we thought it was time to cover a classic, The Rock.
Also, The Rock had its 20th anniversary this month.
So that was a huge help in making it seem like we planned it this way.
Here are seven things you didn't know about The Rock.
Not to be confused with seven things you didn't know about The Rock, probably.
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Helicopters and Michael Bay go together like car chases and Michael Bay,
or gunfights and Michael Bay, or Michael Bay shots and Michael Bay.
Hell, he loves helicopters so much, we even made a rule out of it for
our all-purpose Michael Bay movie drinking game on Movie Buzz.
Shameless plugs aside, helicopters are definitely a part of The Rock.
But you probably didn't know that they're aren't even as many helicopters in it as
Michael Bay had wanted. >> Okay,
what do you mean? >> Producer Jerry Bruckheimer
kept fighting with him, insisting there were just too many helicopter shots.
In the end, Bay compromised and
cut out a lot of the chopper screen time that was in there originally.
Which is good because if he hadn't,
The Rock probably would have been 50% helicopter silhouetted against the sunset.
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>> I hope you're insured.
(Sound) >> As we just mentioned Michael Bay also
loves his car chases.
What people don't know is shooting this car chase in San Francisco was one of
the biggest headaches of his career.
San Francisco is basically the worst place to try to do a car chase.
In order to get cleared to close down two blocks of the city to film it,
the production team had to get 5,000 signatures.
5,000 signatures for just two blocks.
I said it a second time because it really is a lot of signatures.
On top of that, they had to give all the homeowners and apartment complexes on
the street free valet, pay for their dry cleaning, and even wash their dogs.
Okay, the last thing about the dogs isn't true.
But still, it was a real shakedown.
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The Rock, as a movie, is a massive spectacle.
But it's a bit more surprising to hear just how much of a spectacle shooting
The Rock became.
They were shooting on one of the largest sets in all of Hollywood,
the same stage where The Wizard of Oz was shot.
(Music) Which is, boom,
a bonus thing you didn't know.
Anyway, they had running waterfalls and so
much other crazy crap going on that it got to the point that people from competing
studios were dropping by just to gawk at the set.
Which is probably pretty annoying when you're trying to make a freaking movie and
stuff. >> What do you say we cut the chit chat,
A-hole? >> Moving on.
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The Rock had a massive budget, but it still wasn't enough money for
Michael Bay to get everything he'd wanted.
Take this scene when they're in the mine carts.
Originally they were supposed to be suspended in the air in more of a monorail
type of cart.
Problem was, it was going to be way too expensive to do that.
You can actually see the type of carts they wanted to use right here,
where Nick Cage's character is hanging off it.
To save money they had to do it like The Temple of Doom and
do the sequence on old school rails.
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they only had 150 feet of track to do it, so they had to keep going back and
forth on the track over and over with Michael Bay operating the camera himself.
Boom, bonus thing.
And just fake the 150 feet for a much longer distance.
Wouldn't trick us all into thinking it's bigger than it really is, Michael Bay,
which is boom, a bonus dick joke for you.
(Sound) >> You want me to join this?
>> Well it's certainly more enjoyable than
my average day. >> Along with shooting some key parts of
the mine car sequence, Michael Bay is known to run cameras somewhat often.
But you may not have known that he also likes to do most of his own second
unit stuff.
want to know why?
(Sound) That's why, that is obviously a dummy.
Sure, the shot goes by quickly.
But now that we've pointed it out to you,
you will never unsee it every time you watch The Rock, which I assume is often.
Michael Bay trusted his second unit to get the shot for
him and they came back with that, woah. >> Okay,
that's just about the most awful thing I've ever seen.
(Sound) >> Let's stick with things you'll never be
able to unsee for this thing.
And by the way, this one contains a spoiler.
So rather than bitching about it in the comments, go ahead and
excuse yourself right now if that's a concern for you.
All right, so let's talk about Ed Harris' character real quick.
Specifically, let's talk about when Ed Harris' character dies,
because you can totally see the blue mat that he falls onto when it happens.
I mean, safety first.
Ed Harris is a national treasure who needs to be protected, yada, yada, yada.
But maybe cut the part where we see his safety cushion out of the final film.
You know what I'm saying? >> Hello from Alcatraz, out.
(Sound) >> Let's talk
about the Air Force attack team toward the end of the film.
Because you wouldn't guess what's the most impossible thing about this plot point.
See, the jets being flown here are F18s.
The thing is, the Air Force didn't buy the F18 jet.
Only the Navy and Marines fly F18s.
So if the Air Force really did lead this attack, they wouldn't have these planes.
The Rock's military advisor let Michael Bay know all of that but Bay didn't care.
He knew it wasn't technically right and
he kept the F18s anyway because he liked the way they looked.
Besides, most people will never know anyway.
Unless of course they're super awesome and watch Things You Didn't Know.
That wraps up seven things you probably didn't know about The Rock, but
let us know your favorite Michael Bay movie in the comments.
And if you hate all things Michael Bay, and a lot of people do,
let us know your least favorite.
Be sure to check out cinefix.com and subscribe for more truish things about
movies and sometimes safety mats, right here on Things You Didn't Know.
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