Don Simpson

The Rock (1996)

[7] Nicolas Cage and Sean Connery headline this amped-up action thriller from reliable hit-makers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer (producers of Crimson Tide, Days of Thunder, and Top Gun). Cage plays an elite chemist who is paired with Connery’s ex-con escape artist to infiltrate the abandoned prison island of Alcatraz to stop a disgruntled marine general (Ed Harris) from releasing a deadly nerve gas into …

Beverly Hills Cop (1984)

[7] This film and Top Gun are the ones that really launched the Simpson/Bruckheimer brand of action/comedy that would dominate the box office through the late 80s and 90s. (Even after Simpson’s death in ’96, Bruckheimer is still a top name in action today.) Whether that’s a good or bad thing, I won’t get into. I’ll just say that at least it was a fresh …