How To Watch Nicolas Cage's The Rock For Its 30th Anniversary

2 weeks ago 18

An injured Stanley Goodspeed clutching his stomach outside in The Rock

Published Jun 3, 2026, 2:30 PM EDT

Adam has been writing in the entertainment news space for over a decade. Beginning his career of covering film and TV at CinemaBlend, he has also appeared on The Flash Podcast and done several radio spots.

On June 7, 1996, The Rock opened in theaters, competing against Heavy and The Phantom that opening weekend. The action movie saw Nicolas Cage and Sean Connery teaming up onscreen, while Michael Bay, fresh off delivering Bad Boys in 1995 as his filmmaking debut, carried out directing duties. This combination of talents came produced one of the highest-grossing movies of that year.

Where To Stream The Rock

John Patrick Mason looking battered in The Rock

On the streaming front, The Rock can currently be accessed on AMC+. However, subscribers to the platform will only have until June 29 to watch it on there, per JustWatch. AMC+ can be subscribed to on its own, or as an add-on for Prime Video. There are three price plans available: Monthly With Ads for $7.99 a month, Monthly Premium for $10.99 a month, and the Annual Premium for $109.99 a year. Both monthly plans come with a seven-day free trial.

Subscribing to AMC+ not only provides access to AMC programming (like The Walking Dead franchise, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, and The Vampire Lestat) and various other licensed movies and TV shows like The Rock, but also content from BBC America, IFC, Shudder, and Sundance TV/Sundance Now. Starting June 11, AMC+ will also be Doctor Who’s new streaming home for the Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, Twelfth, and Thirteenth Doctors’ seasons.

Additionally, The Rock can be rented or purchased on digital platforms like the aforementioned Prime Video, Fandango at Home, and Apple TV.

What To Know About The Rock

Brigadier General Frank X. Hummel in a military uniform in The Rock

Cage stars in The Rock as Dr. Stanley Goodspeed, an FBI chemical weapons expert who’s brought in when a rogue detachment of Force Recon Marines take control of Alcatraz. Making matters worse, this group, led by Ed Harris’ Brigadier General Frank X. Hummel, stole 15 rockets armed with lethal VX gas to be launched if they aren't given $100 million. In order for Goodspeed to get to Alcatraz to disarm the weapons, Connery’s John Patrick Mason, a prisoner who’s the only person to escape the island, is recruited to safely guide him there.

Cage, Connery, and Harris were joined in The Rock by David Morse, John Spencer, William Forsythe, Michael Biehn, Vanessa Marcil, Tony Todd, Gregory Sporleder, John C. McGinley, Bokeem Woodbine, Danny Nucci, and Claire Fontaine. David Weisberg, Douglas S. Cook, and Mark Rosner wrote the action movie’s script. Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer produced The Rock, and Hans Zimmer and Nick Glennie-Smith composed the score.

Although The Rock earned mixed critical reception, it commercially impressed by making over $355 million worldwide off a reported $75 million budget. It was 1996’s fourth highest-grossing movie globally, sandwiched between The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Mission: Impossible. The action flick was later nominated for the Academy Award for Best Sound, but lost to The English Patient.

Bay revealed in The Rock’s audio commentary (via Slashfilm) that he had an idea for a sequel where Cage’s Goodspeed is forced to go on the run from the United States government and has to turn to Connery’s Mason for help again. However, this never progressed past the conceptual stages. Nevertheless, The Rock continues to be an action genre favorite on its own all these years later, and arguably is an even more enjoyable watch if envisioned as an old James Bond movie.