The Rock Movie
Film trivia buffs can tell you plenty about Tarantino's contributions to this 1996 action flick. Tarantino is known for doing quick clean up jobs on poor film scripts. The rumors of Tarantino's involvement with big ticket Hollywood movies stretch from the awful (Crimson Tide and The Rock) to the downright abysmal (Coyote Ugly and any number of Eddie Murphy vehicles). We know for a fact that Tarantino played doctor on The Rock script, along with Aaron Sorkin and Jonathon Hensleigh.
The only real value in Tarantino's work on The Rock would be if we knew exactly what changes he made. If we could look at a shooting script and see where Tarantino inserted a few words, took some out, etc, we'd have a better idea of his value as a script doc. We don't have the information, and it is unlikely we ever will. You can safely pass on a viewing of The Rock if your whole purpose for watching it is to gain an understanding of the full career of Quentin Tarantino.
The Rock Script
If it is true that Tarantino did worked on The Rock script in order to earn cash to support his film making career, he couldn't have picked a better movie to hitch a ride on. Though The Rock is passed off as another shlocky 90s action movie, it earned about $340 million dollars in box office receipts worldwide and probably earned him a nice piece of change. The Rock has continued to be profitable, and by some estimates may be worth as much as $700 million after rentals and airing rights.
The Rock Synopsis
The Rock is a typical action movie -- soldiers take hostages and (armed with deadly nerve gas) threaten the Pentagon with doom and death unless blah blah blah you've already quit reading by now, haven't you? Starring Nicolas Cage, Ed Harris, and Sean Connery, The Rock was the third highest grossing R rated film in 1996. This kind of film is obviously a big breadwinner, and back in 1996 both Nicolas Cage and Sean Connery were sure things for Hollywood.
Fans of Quentin Tarantino's movies don't need to spend much time or effort on The Rock. There's nothing Quentin-esque about this laughable effort from "big explosions" director Michael Bay -- the script is awful, the plot is thin, and above all the entire effort is unoriginal and devoid of life. Though it is important to understand Tarantino's contributions as screenwriter and script doctor, you hardly need to sit through over two hours of big bangs and wooden dialogue to know that Tarantino is a go-to guy when a script falls apart. The guy worked on Coyote Ugly for God's sake.
Some of Tarantino's fans complain when he does projects like this, but I say whatever you do in the interest of earning money is well worth the effort. Besides -- Quentin Tarantino is hardly ever name-checked for his work as a script doctor. Come to think of it, most script polishers work without a byline, probably for the same reason Tarantino cites -- sheer embarrassment.