20 Best The Rock Quotes
Powerful Lines from the Ultimate Action Thriller
The Rock (1996) is a high-octane action thriller set on Alcatraz Island, where a group of terrorists takes hostages and a retired convict (Sean Connery) teams up with an FBI agent (Nicolas Cage) to save the day. Packed with tension and unforgettable lines, the film became an instant classic. Below are some of the best quotes from this gripping action flick.
John Mason: [while on the stairs leading to the prison morgue] Are you sure you're ready for this?
Stanley Goodspeed: I'll do my best.
John Mason: Your "best"! Losers always whine about their best. Winners go home and fuck the prom queen.
Stanley Goodspeed: Carla *was* the prom queen.
John Mason: Really?
Stanley Goodspeed: [cocks his gun] Yeah.
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Stanley Goodspeed: I'll do my best.
John Mason: Your "best"! Losers always whine about their best. Winners go home and fuck the prom queen.
Stanley Goodspeed: Carla *was* the prom queen.
John Mason: Really?
Stanley Goodspeed: [cocks his gun] Yeah.
[after Mason has killed a Marine, the corpse's foot twitches]
Stanley Goodspeed: [while in the prison morgue] You've been around a lot of corpses. Is that normal?
John Mason: What, the feet thing?
Stanley Goodspeed: Yeah, the feet thing.
John Mason: Yeah, it happens.
Stanley Goodspeed: Well I'm having a hard time concentrating. Can you do something about it?
John Mason: Like what, kill him again?
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Stanley Goodspeed: [while in the prison morgue] You've been around a lot of corpses. Is that normal?
John Mason: What, the feet thing?
Stanley Goodspeed: Yeah, the feet thing.
John Mason: Yeah, it happens.
Stanley Goodspeed: Well I'm having a hard time concentrating. Can you do something about it?
John Mason: Like what, kill him again?
General Hummel: Did they bother to tell you who I am and why I'm doing this or are they just using you like they do everybody else?
John Mason: All I know is that you were big in Vietnam, I saw the highlights on television.
General Hummel: Then you probably have no idea what it means to lead some of the finest men on God's earth into combat and then watch their memories get betrayed by their own fucking government.
John Mason: I don't quite see how you cherish the memory of the dead by killing another million. And, this is not combat, it's an act of lunacy, General Sir. Personally, I think you're a fucking idiot.
General Hummel: "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." Thomas Jefferson.
John Mason: "Patriotism is a virtue of the vicious," according to Oscar Wilde.
[Hummel strikes him, and he falls to his knees]
John Mason: Thank you for making my point.
General Hummel: Where are the guidance chips?
[Points his gun at Mason's head]
General Hummel: WHERE ARE THE GUIDANCE CHIPS?
John Mason: I've destroyed them.
General Hummel: That was a bad move, soldier.
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John Mason: All I know is that you were big in Vietnam, I saw the highlights on television.
General Hummel: Then you probably have no idea what it means to lead some of the finest men on God's earth into combat and then watch their memories get betrayed by their own fucking government.
John Mason: I don't quite see how you cherish the memory of the dead by killing another million. And, this is not combat, it's an act of lunacy, General Sir. Personally, I think you're a fucking idiot.
General Hummel: "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." Thomas Jefferson.
John Mason: "Patriotism is a virtue of the vicious," according to Oscar Wilde.
[Hummel strikes him, and he falls to his knees]
John Mason: Thank you for making my point.
General Hummel: Where are the guidance chips?
[Points his gun at Mason's head]
General Hummel: WHERE ARE THE GUIDANCE CHIPS?
John Mason: I've destroyed them.
General Hummel: That was a bad move, soldier.
Stanley Goodspeed: [while in the tunnels underneath Alcatraz] You enjoying this?
John Mason: Well, it's certainly more enjoyable than my average day... reading philosophy, avoiding gang rape in the washrooms... though, it's less of a problem these days. Maybe I'm losing my sex appeal.
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John Mason: Well, it's certainly more enjoyable than my average day... reading philosophy, avoiding gang rape in the washrooms... though, it's less of a problem these days. Maybe I'm losing my sex appeal.
Stanley Goodspeed: [to Mason] Look, I'm just a biochemist. Most of the time, I work in a little glass jar and lead a very uneventful life. I drive a Volvo, a beige one. But what I'm dealing with here is one of the most deadly substances the earth has ever known, so what say you cut me some FRIGGIN' SLACK?
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John Mason: [in the interrogation room] I want a suite, a shower, a shave, the feel of a suit.
Stanley Goodspeed: May I also suggest a haircut?
John Mason: Am I out of style?
Stanley Goodspeed: Unless you're a 20 year old guitarist from Seattle. It's a grunge thing.
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Stanley Goodspeed: May I also suggest a haircut?
John Mason: Am I out of style?
Stanley Goodspeed: Unless you're a 20 year old guitarist from Seattle. It's a grunge thing.
Paul (hotel barber): [to Mason, in the elevator] Okay, I don't want to know nothing. I never saw you throw that gentleman off the balcony. All I care about is: are you happy with your haircut?
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Stanley Goodspeed: [in the lower lighthouse] Listen, I think we got started off on the wrong foot. Stan Goodspeed, FBl. Uh - Let's talk music. Do you like the Elton John song, "Rocket Man"?
Captain Darrow: I don't like soft-ass shit.
Stanley Goodspeed: Oh, you - Oh, oh. Oh. Well, I only bring it up because, uh, it's you. You're the Rocket Man.
[Goodspeed fires a rocket at him]
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Captain Darrow: I don't like soft-ass shit.
Stanley Goodspeed: Oh, you - Oh, oh. Oh. Well, I only bring it up because, uh, it's you. You're the Rocket Man.
[Goodspeed fires a rocket at him]
Captain Darrow: Excuse me, general... but what about the fucking money?
General Hummel: There is no fucking money. The mission's over.
Captain Frye: Bullshit it's over!
Major Tom Baxter: You're talking to a General, soldier! Maintain discipline.
Captain Darrow: I'm not a soldier, Major. The day we took hostages, we became mercenaries. And mercenaries get paid. I want my FUCKING money!
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General Hummel: There is no fucking money. The mission's over.
Captain Frye: Bullshit it's over!
Major Tom Baxter: You're talking to a General, soldier! Maintain discipline.
Captain Darrow: I'm not a soldier, Major. The day we took hostages, we became mercenaries. And mercenaries get paid. I want my FUCKING money!
Agent Paxton: [in the interrogation room] Mr. Mason, I'm Special Agent-in-Charge Ernest Paxton.
John Mason: In charge of what? Fucking me over for another three decades?
Agent Paxton: I don't know anything about your previous matters. We've brought you here because there's a situation that we think you can help us with.
John Mason: And what might that be? I've been in jail longer than Nelson Mandela, so maybe you want me to run for president.
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John Mason: In charge of what? Fucking me over for another three decades?
Agent Paxton: I don't know anything about your previous matters. We've brought you here because there's a situation that we think you can help us with.
John Mason: And what might that be? I've been in jail longer than Nelson Mandela, so maybe you want me to run for president.
Stanley Goodspeed: [while in a cell on Alcatraz] You broke out, let me see if I can get this straight, down the incinerator chute, on the mine car, through the tunnels to the power plant, under the steam engine - that was really cool by the way - and into the cistern through the intake pipe. But how, in the name of Zeus' BUTTHOLE!... did you get out of your cell? I only ask because in our current situation, well, it could prove to be useful information. *Maybe*!
[Mason does not answer, but opens up his prison door with an improvised tool]
Stanley Goodspeed: [Goodspeed hears noise from Mason's door opening] Mason?
[to Goodspeed's surprise, his own door suddenly opens]
John Mason: Trade secrets, my son.
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[Mason does not answer, but opens up his prison door with an improvised tool]
Stanley Goodspeed: [Goodspeed hears noise from Mason's door opening] Mason?
[to Goodspeed's surprise, his own door suddenly opens]
John Mason: Trade secrets, my son.
Stanley Goodspeed: Well, I'm one of those fortunate people who like my job, sir. Got my first chemistry set when I was seven, blew my eyebrows off, we never saw the cat again, been into it ever since.
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General Hummel: Remember Operation Desert Storm? Those surgical hits made by our smart bombs that were covered so well on CNN? It was my men on the ground that made those hits possible by lazing the targets. Twenty of those men were left to rot outside Baghdad after the conflict ended. No benefits were paid to their families. No medals conferred. These men died for their country and they weren't even given a goddamn military burial. This situation is unacceptable. You will transfer one hundred million dollars from Grand Cayman Red Sea trading company to an account I designate. From these funds, one million dollars will be paid to each of the eighty-three marines' families. The rest of the funds, I will disperse at my discretion. Do I make myself clear?
Womack: Except for the Red Sea Trading Company. What is that?
General Hummel: Identify yourself.
Womack: This is FBI Director Womack, General.
General Hummel: It's a slush-fund where the Pentagon keeps proceeds from illegal arms deals...
General Al Kramer: Jesus, Frank, this is classified information!
General Hummel: You alert the media, I launch the gas. You refuse payment, I launch the gas. You've got forty hours, until noon, day after tomorrow, to arrange transfer of the money. I am aware of your countermeasure. You know and I know it doesn't stand a chance. Hummel from Alcatraz, out.
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Womack: Except for the Red Sea Trading Company. What is that?
General Hummel: Identify yourself.
Womack: This is FBI Director Womack, General.
General Hummel: It's a slush-fund where the Pentagon keeps proceeds from illegal arms deals...
General Al Kramer: Jesus, Frank, this is classified information!
General Hummel: You alert the media, I launch the gas. You refuse payment, I launch the gas. You've got forty hours, until noon, day after tomorrow, to arrange transfer of the money. I am aware of your countermeasure. You know and I know it doesn't stand a chance. Hummel from Alcatraz, out.
General Hummel: Major Anderson, if you have any concern for the lives of your men, you will order them to safety their weapons and place them on the deck.
Agent Paxton: This is not happening...
Commander Anderson: Sir, we know why you're out here. God knows, I agree with you. But like you, I swore to defend this country against all enemies, foreign, sir... and domestic. General, we've spilled the same blood in the same mud. And you know god damn well I can't give that order.
Navy SEAL: We're dead!
General Hummel: Your unit is covered from an elevated position, Commander. I'm not gonna ask you again. Don't do anything stupid. No-one has to die here.
Commander Anderson: [raising his voice] You men following the General: you're under oath as United States Marines, have you forgotten that? We all have shipmates we remember, some of them were shit on and pissed on by the Pentagon. But that doesn't give you the right to mutiny!
General Hummel: You call it what you want! You're down there, we're up here! You walked into the wrong goddamn room, Commander!
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Agent Paxton: This is not happening...
Commander Anderson: Sir, we know why you're out here. God knows, I agree with you. But like you, I swore to defend this country against all enemies, foreign, sir... and domestic. General, we've spilled the same blood in the same mud. And you know god damn well I can't give that order.
Navy SEAL: We're dead!
General Hummel: Your unit is covered from an elevated position, Commander. I'm not gonna ask you again. Don't do anything stupid. No-one has to die here.
Commander Anderson: [raising his voice] You men following the General: you're under oath as United States Marines, have you forgotten that? We all have shipmates we remember, some of them were shit on and pissed on by the Pentagon. But that doesn't give you the right to mutiny!
General Hummel: You call it what you want! You're down there, we're up here! You walked into the wrong goddamn room, Commander!
Chief of Staff Hayden Sinclair: Southern China? We've never even admitted we sent troops into China.
General Hummel: Who is this? Identify yourself!
Chief of Staff Hayden Sinclair: White House Chief of Staff Hayden Sinclair, General.
General Hummel: How OLD are you Mr. Sinclair?
Chief of Staff Hayden Sinclair: I'm 33.
General Hummel: Well Mr. Sinclair, you've probably got no FUCKING idea what I'm talking about! By your 9th birthday, I was running BlackOps into China and my men were responsible for over two-hundred enemy kills. Now someone put some rigging tape over Mr. Sinclair's mouth, he's wasting my time!
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General Hummel: Who is this? Identify yourself!
Chief of Staff Hayden Sinclair: White House Chief of Staff Hayden Sinclair, General.
General Hummel: How OLD are you Mr. Sinclair?
Chief of Staff Hayden Sinclair: I'm 33.
General Hummel: Well Mr. Sinclair, you've probably got no FUCKING idea what I'm talking about! By your 9th birthday, I was running BlackOps into China and my men were responsible for over two-hundred enemy kills. Now someone put some rigging tape over Mr. Sinclair's mouth, he's wasting my time!
FBI Director Womack: What do you know about V.X. gas?
Dr. Stanley Goodspeed: Liquid; failed pesticide; discovered by mistake in 1952. Uhh, actually, it's kind of like champagne that way. The Franciscan monks thought they were making white wine. Somehow the bottle carbonated. Voila, champagne, and uhh, then the whole thing...
FBI Director Womack: The gas, Dr. Goodspeed.
Dr. Stanley Goodspeed: It's very, very horrible sir. It's one of those things we wish we could disinvent. This isn't a training exercise, is it?
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Dr. Stanley Goodspeed: Liquid; failed pesticide; discovered by mistake in 1952. Uhh, actually, it's kind of like champagne that way. The Franciscan monks thought they were making white wine. Somehow the bottle carbonated. Voila, champagne, and uhh, then the whole thing...
FBI Director Womack: The gas, Dr. Goodspeed.
Dr. Stanley Goodspeed: It's very, very horrible sir. It's one of those things we wish we could disinvent. This isn't a training exercise, is it?
John Mason: [in the interrogation room] Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes.
Stanley Goodspeed: "I fear the Greeks even when they bring gifts."
John Mason: Ah, an educated man.
[Stanley gives a modest wave]
John Mason: That, of course, rules out the possibility of you being a field agent.
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Stanley Goodspeed: "I fear the Greeks even when they bring gifts."
John Mason: Ah, an educated man.
[Stanley gives a modest wave]
John Mason: That, of course, rules out the possibility of you being a field agent.
Stanley Goodspeed: [last lines]
Stanley Goodspeed: [while looking at the microfilm by using a miniature magnifying glass that was left by Mason] Honey? Uh... You wanna know who really killed JFK?
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Stanley Goodspeed: [while looking at the microfilm by using a miniature magnifying glass that was left by Mason] Honey? Uh... You wanna know who really killed JFK?
Commander Anderson: Have you ever been in a combat situation before?
Stanley Goodspeed: Define combat, sir.
Commander Anderson: Shep?
Lt. Shephard: An incursion underwater to re-take an impregnable fortress held by an elite team of U.S. Marines, in possession of eighty-one hostages and fifteen guided rockets loaded with V.X. poison gas.
Stanley Goodspeed: Oh. In that case, no sir. Excuse me...
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Stanley Goodspeed: Define combat, sir.
Commander Anderson: Shep?
Lt. Shephard: An incursion underwater to re-take an impregnable fortress held by an elite team of U.S. Marines, in possession of eighty-one hostages and fifteen guided rockets loaded with V.X. poison gas.
Stanley Goodspeed: Oh. In that case, no sir. Excuse me...