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Swordfish

Swordfish

List Price: $14.96
Your Price: $11.97
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 1 stars
Summary: BOMBS AWAYYYYYY!
Review: This is a bad film. It's designed to appeal to those willing to sacrifice a decent plot and dialogue for lots of gratuitous violence. Travolta is kind of a teflon actor/everyready bunny combo - he just keeps on and on putting out this junk, yet never suffers any negative aftershocks and still pulls down the big bucks. And why oh why did Halle Berry expose herself in this horrid movie? She's at the top of the heap in talent and looks. She should stick to James Bond films and excellent fare like The Dorothy Dandridge Story, which showcased her talent brilliantly. In short, not recommended, even for Hugh Jackman fans.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: "Berry" appealing for that famous scene & more
Review: Yes, I was a sucker (no pun intended) for that famous topless scene, but CTPB, Halle was NOT paid extra bucks to do it. It was simply a part of the character she played, as she asserts at her website. She does talk more about it in some of the supplemental trailers (including 2 hidden ones--depending on how your DVD player works you can search for titles 12 & 14). One of the trailers is as long as the movie itself; as the movie plays from start to finish, the director comments on how various scenes were shot & why they were shot the way they were. His perspective on the topless scene: Halle agreed to do it because her character would "get the upper hand" by turning the embarrassment around on Hugh Jackman's character, who would then get disoriented & bump into a chair.

At any rate, why all the "hoopla over the boobla," as another reviewer put it? This is already an R movie for all the shootings & things blowing up, so its makers might as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb. Besides, Kate Winslet bared all in "Titanic" while posing for a painting, & that movie is PG-13! As long as Halle is comfy doing such a scene, I say go for it!

Of course there was also that underwear/wire/gun scene, which I loved also. Plus the unorthodox plot where you can't tell whether Hugh Jackman is the good guy & John Travolta the bad guy or vice versa. Even the timing of this movie is interesting--it came out only a few months before 9/11.

Controversy often drives people's interest in a movie (or, for that matter, a book or audio CD or whatever) up instead of down, & that sure was the case with me. Congrats, Halle, on a job well done--again, if you're comfy with it, do it!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The 'X-Men' are back with Hugh Jackman and Halle Berry.
Review: Nice to see the 'X-Men' Hugh Jackman(Wolvereen) and Halle Berry (Storm) together again in 'Swordfish'. One of John Travolta's second best movies after 'Pulp Fiction'.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Glitz but little substance
Review: There's lots of style and flash in this film. A topless Halle Berry---I really didn't see the hoopla over her boobla-------and some interesting special effects with computers and graphics but ultimately its a Mission Impossible episode gone on too long. John Travolta over acts----hopefully on purpose. Halle Berry plays sultry and shocked---two notes, and Jackman plays reluctantly moral. Everyone is "playing" something and why is that? I think it's because Dominic Sena's direction is really great here. The use of slow motion and angle shifting is really inspired and it's very difficult to create balance. Great direction may mean lackluster acting or a shoddy script. It takes a lot to bring all three of these elements together into a synthesis. Its a little scary when I actually liked teh special effects more than a film.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Regret wasting time watching it
Review: If I could give it zero stars, I would. Every so often I run across a movie that is so lame that I regret wasting time to watch it, and this falls firmly into that category. I would say that Deterrence, which I hated, was better than Swordfish. There's no "meaning" to be found, there's no intriguing story to watch, there's nothing but weak cliche followed by trite cliche followed by predictable cliche, and so on. Travolta did a great job of acting -- like Travolta. Not too hard of a role to assume, I can act the same way all the time too. Of the various cardboard characters in this weak film, his portrayal was the most distracting because it was so obviously Travolta. Having a no-name actor play that part would have been better, at least it wouldn't have distracted from the character (not that there was much to distract from, of course). I find it hard to believe that anyone would rate this more than one or two stars and give it glowing comments -- it's certainly not something I would ever recommend to someone else.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Mildly enjoyable
Review: You remember that Berry, Travolta and Hugh starred in it but that's about all you will remember! It's an entertaining movie but it's not a great film that demands repeated viewings.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Tense plot, and Halle Berry too!
Review: This movie goes through great pains to make us believe that there are super-secret organizations, sanctioned by the government, to keep our way of life intact. They have absolute power, unlimited resources, and if innocents get in the way, well, it's the greater good that has to be taken into consideration.

Well, something like this probably does exist to some degree, but losing any sleep over it is not going to change a thing. And as silly as this movie can sometimes make it, such as having the resources to literally lift a bus out of traffic with a helicopter shouldn't bring out too much of a cynical streak in us. For in the case of this movie, the execution of a taut thriller is what matters.

The movie works because John Travolta carries it. Whatever you think of his career, the man's a born movie star. He convincingly portrays a man who will kill civilians to get his point across. And he will so convincingly give his justification that you might actually buy it.

The plot centers around a convicted computer hacker, played by Wolverine himself, Hugh Jackman. He is not allowed to touch a computer as part of his parole, and is also banned from seeing his daughter. Enter Mr. Travolta, who makes him an offer he can't refuse. He does this with a combination of fear and incentive. The fear is on his life, and the incentive is via money and Halle Berry.

The movie works because it keeps you guessing who are the good guys, and who are the bad guys. Jackman has to not only use his hacking skills, but wits and physical ability to overcome obstacle after obstacle. This include Ms. Berry, in one of the finest nude scenes of a major star you will ever see in a movie. If Jackman needed a final push to get his cooperation, well, it would probably work for me, too.

But all through it swaggers Travolta, who is unbending through the whole movie in his utter confidence. While you one cannot condone his methods, one can probably concede there may be a use for him in our world. Ms. Berry, I mean the movie, is definitely worth seeing.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I really like the sound "Torvald"
Review: good film, nice effects, strong acting.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Mediocre action film
Review: Once again, I watch a movie with a stellar cast but a mediocre script. As action movies go, there wasn't enough real action - just a car chase, a foot chase, and the 360-degree explosion scene. As hacker intrigue movies go, there wasn't enough hacking going on. As mystery movies go, well, there was hardly any mystery to it at all. It was an all-around disappointment.

John Travolta is malevolent fun as Gabriel, the self-styled antiterrorist. I always enjoy watching him; he is basically the only reason I'm giving this movie the generous score of 2 stars. Halle Berry as Ginger, is pure eye candy; not even a hint of her acting talent can be seen here. Her infamous nude scene is completely gratuitous and unnecessary. Of course, she does make great eye candy. The very talented Don Cheadle doesn't really get to do much except act frustrated as the police officer who's trying to figure out what's going on. And Hugh Jackman as Stanley, one of the world's greatest hackers, is basically eye candy as well - with a little acting thrown in - a complete waste of his venerable acting talent. And, anyway, since when does a hacker in real life have a gorgeous face, ripped body, porn star ex-wife, and a perfect daughter? Whatever.

I love action movies, I love hacker movies, and I love the entire cast of this movie. So will someone please tell me why I felt so cheated after watching this? I was only mildly entertained. Your best bet is to skip this movie altogether.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A great action/thriller movie
Review: This is a very good movie. It has a good cast, a good storyline, and a few top-notch action scenes that rival James Bond movies. John Travolta seems to be the villain in many of todays action movies (Broken Arrow, Face/Off, Battlefield Earth), but in this movie, he plays the best villain of them all. He doesn't hesitate to pull out a minigun and blow up some cars, or strap bombs filled with ball bearings and blow a street up. Halle berry looks great in this movie, her hair/chest, clothes, everything looks good. Hugh Jackman, sporting an aftershave ad hair cut, is a computer hacker who helps travolta get 10 billion dollars. this is a very good movie if youre looking for an action movie with a little less action, and a little more plot.


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