When a legendary war hero (Ed Harris) takes over Alcatraz and threatens to fire poison gas-bearing rockets into the heart of San Francisco, the government ropes in nerdy FBI chemical-weapons expert Stanley Goodspeed (Nicolas Cage) and long-incarcerated former British spy John Mason (Sean Connery) to join the military incursion onto "the Rock." After their SEAL team escort is wiped out, it's up to these two reluctant warriors to defuse the rockets and face down a small army of renegade Marines. Playing the wimpy foil to Connery's invincible sexagenarian, Cage endows his Goodspeed with the tics, twitches and off-kilter line readings that would soon be beloved by millions as he strategically negotiates his transition from Serious Actor/cult-movie weirdo to action hero. Even more importantly, this megahit action opus marked the true arrival of auteur savant Michael Bay, who slo-mo slathers the screen with burning oranges, icy blues, emerald greens and fluttering Stars-and-Stripes. God bless America!