Monday, August 16, 2010

Between a rock and a hard place

Meaning: In difficulty, faced with a choice between two unsatisfactory options.

In the 1996 action film "The Rock" which primarily takes place on Alcatraz Island, disenchanted Brigadier General Francis Hummel (Ed Harris) and his men (a group of rogue Force Reconnaissance Marines) seize control of Alcatraz Island during a guided tour and takes 81 tourists hostage in the prison cells, threatening the Pentagon with launching the VX gas-armed rockets they had seized against the population of San Francisco unless the government pays ransom and reparations to the families of Marines who died on illegal, clandestine missions under his command and who's deaths weren't even honored.

The Pentagon and FBI develop a plan to retake the island with a U.S. Navy SEAL Team (presumably SEAL Team 6), enlisting chemical weapons expert Stanley Goodspeed (Nicolas Cage) and John Mason (Sean Connery), a former British Army Special Air Service operator illegally detained for years in the U.S., and the only inmate of Alcatraz to have ever successfully escaped from "The Rock".

Question is: Which John Mason do they pick, now that there's two of them (in 1:6 scale LOL)?



Here are two 1:6 scale 12-inch Sean Connery as John Mason kitbashes I've done. The one on the left is a bash I did more than ten years ago (pictures posted HERE and HERE) and the one on the right was done just a few days ago (see my previous post)




I wanted to show how much the 1:6 scene has progressed over ten years. Take a look at the head sculpt and Eagle assault vest between then and now. You can tell how toy-like the older 12-inch one is compared to what is being produced and released currently. What a great time to pick up the 1:6 hobby!


I had also posted an entry entitled "No Country for Old Men" where I posted pictures of almost all the 1:6 scale 12-inch figures with Sean Connery's likeness in my possession :)


The only one I didn't include was this particular figure by Sideshow Collectibles - the "Thunderball" Sean Connery James Bond (pictures posted HERE). That's because he would seem out of place standing next to all the rest of the fine gentlemen.


4 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Sideshow is the best. The latest release from Loading Toys with a pair of sharp ears and a cunning smile carry a cynical feel of the character.

desmond said...

Bro, the head sculpt of the latest release of Sean Connery is the best sculpt I have ever seen. Medicom version is also not bad..Great score :P

WL said...

Hi Alex,

what a great time to be picking up the hobby indeed..

I can concentrate on getting the detailed HS that I like.. The old HS were very toy-like and Dragon's HS has this 'gloss' which I cannot accept..

In their defence they do have such a wide range of millitary figures that I can 'rebuild' by kitbashing the latest nude figures and gathering the loose parts..

To quote you.. "Viva la 1/6!"

saruman said...

look at them HUGE zippers! :)