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S.W.A.T. (Widescreen Special Edition)

S.W.A.T. (Widescreen Special Edition)

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: S.W.A.T. Hits The Bullseye!
Review: All I remember about the 1970's TV show that serves as the basis of the new film by director Clark Johnson is that it had a REALLY cool theme song, and I used to have a S.W.A.T. costume, complete with rifle and bullet-proof vest, that my Aunt gave me for my seventh birthday. Many a happy afternoon was spent sneaking around my apartment "Rescuing" my Mom from imaginary bad guys, humming that cool theme song all the while. So although I have no REAL recollection of the show itself, some primordial instinct made me heed the tug of nostalgia, and it was off to the opening night screening of S.W.A.T. I went. Humming that song the whole way...

S.W.A.T. opens with a poorly planned bank-heist in the midst of going down the tubes. The bad-guys are about to start shooting the hostages, when Jim Street (Colin Farrel) & Brian Gamble (Jeremy Renner), two of S.W.A.T.'s finest, arrive to save the day. Unfortunately, a civilian gets hurt, a lawsuit ensues, and Street is transferred, while Gamble walks off the job. Six months later, legendary S.W.A.T. member Dan 'Hondo' Harrelson (Samuel L. Jackson) is given the task of starting up a new team, and Street is recruited, along with your typical action-movie tough-gal Chris Sanchez (Michelle Rodriguez), street-cop Deke Kay (LL Cool J) and a couple of other nondescript types from Hondo's old team. No sooner is the new team out of the gate than they're called up to pull escort duty for Alex Montel, a French bad-boy on his way to prison who will pay One Hundred Million Dollars (ONE HUNDRAY MEELYEN DOLLAA!) to anyone who can bust him outta S.W.A.T. custody. Let the games begin......

Director Clark Johnson (Best known as an actor for his role on the late, lamented NBC drama Homicide: Life On The Street) does a nice job in his feature film debut, keeping the pace rolling briskly along, even though the majority of the film's first hour is all set-up. The action kicks in fast and furious after that, though, breathlessly racing along to a mostly satisfying conclusion. The ensemble cast are all given a chance to shine, and although Farrel and Jackson are clearly the stars, LL and Rodriguez get their moments in the sun as well. The only real letdown in the cast is Olivier Martinez as Montel; Although a French villain is VERY topical at the moment, he's given little to do other than set the plot in motion. I would have preferred to see S.W.A.T. be R-rated, as I do like my violence a little more....well, violent. But otherwise S.W.A.T. is sure to hit the bullseye with action fans.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great Movie
Review: Be sure and see this movie, its probably the best one i've seen all year and definately the best cop movie i've seen. Don't miss this one.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: SWAT is a Great Action Movie
Review: I have to be honest, when I first saw previews for this movie i thoyught it would be cheesy, and not very good, but I decided to go see it and give it a try, one reason cuz Colin Farrele is an awesome actor. After seeing this movie, I was surprise on how well they did it. Colin Farrel proves once asgain he is a great actor, and hides his accent pretty well. Samue l jackson does an awesome job too, it suspences you, and theres betrayl and awesome action, without using CGI. If you want comedy see bad boys 2, if you want a good action movie see SWAT

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: no impression, whatsoever
Review: Poor Colin Farrell ... I thought this actor was a little more picky with his role choices, being quite the controversial celebrity. The poor actors in this film tried to work with the dialogue given, but this movie left no mark, emotional nor intellectual on me. Someone mentions S.W.A.T. and I think "I haven't seen that. Oh yeah, I have, but I don't even remember what happened in it", because I totally zoned out. This is not good. There was quite a bit of character development, but this went nowhere, because in the end nothing was really concluded properly. (Probably a sequel is on its way). I have never seen the 70s television show, but would definitely not watch it after seeing this movie. Talk about boring. Action gets boring when there's no proper character and romantic development to go along with it. This movie was disappointing, to say the least, and Colin Farrell was immemorable as a sexy S.W.A.T. member.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Kept Making Me Look at the Clock
Review: Just how does one combine the great Samuel L. Jackson, a crack team of commando police officers, and a villain willing to pay $100 million for freedom and make something as clunky as "SWAT"? Well, if you want the answer to that question, this laborious "action" thriller is for you. As with most contemporary films, check your brain at the door; in fact, the only thing you'll really need it for is ticking off all of the other movies you'd rather be watching. Of course, you could also spend the time cataloging the many films this one seems to raid for ideas . . . "Heat," "Bad Boys," "Licence to Kill," "The Right Stuff," "Executive Decision,"--not to the mention the 70s TV series upon which it is based. The story--an international gangster gets nabbed and the SWATsters battle former team members to keep him--is just a flimsy excuse for some ho-hum action sequences and lots of tiresome macho posturing. Even the usually ultra-cool Jackson seems bored with the goings-on.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: meh
Review: there was one really cool action scene that involved none of the stars. some gansters attacked a police convoy with a lot of heavy weapons. The main characters were not interesting and the action wasn't that great.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: A better-than-expected "escape" movie
Review: "S.W.A.T" is a surprisingly standard cop flick, a throwback to a calmer if not recent cinematic era. It is still stuffed full of guns, villains and mayhem, but unlike "Bad Boys II," or even the excellent "Training Day," the movie does not paint an urban world teetering on the brink - criminal masterminds run amok, but Los Angeles isn't quite burning. It seems bizarre to consider "S.W.A.T" comforting, but it is.

Colin Farrell is Jim, a former S.W.A.T member relegated to scrub duty after he and his rogue partner, Brian (Jeremy Renner), break protocol in a hostage negotiation. Sam Jackson is, yes, Hondo, chief of a newly formed crew that resurrects Jim's career from the gun cage. LL Cool J and Michelle Rodriguez play Jim's buds, while Josh Charles, the do-good cop, is Jim's main shooting rival on the crew. Director Clark Johnson charts the crew's training - it amounts to a recruiting poster, set to a video game soundtrack - a circle changeup, of sorts, to the usual hit-the-ground-gunning structure of most modern cop films.

The crew eventually is dispatched to handle the prison transfer of a Eurotrash crime boss (Olivier Martinez) who brags, in the movie's most quotable line, that he will offer "one hundred meellion dollars!" to any brave crook willing to bust him free. Half the city's loose cannons are up for it, including Brian, now off the force, who has a connection inside Hondo's crew. In a twist, Martinez's character is not a supervillain of limitless cunning and strength, but an ineffectual, well-funded heel, pout-lipped and soft-bellied as Brian escorts him through sewers to the rendezvous: a private jet waiting on an LA bridge.

Renner was unknown to me, but his few scenes with Farrell crackle with energy. The face of an insolent cherub, he makes for an appropriately smug sellout. Jackson, for once, is the calming influence collecting a paycheck, and "S.W.A.T" is better off without his bravado. And while Farrell has not yet proven his acting chops - we'll have to wait for Oliver Stone's "Alexander" - there is an offhand, understood masculinity that recalls a young Mickey Rourke, or Sean Penn. Only Rodriguez, notching another asexual sidekick role to her club, is a bust.

Cynics might call "S.W.A.T" inconsequential in that relives the climax from "Die Hard 2" and generally avoids the graceless, graphic violence of its 2003 competitor "Bad Boys II." I far preferred it; unoriginal as the movie is, "S.W.A.T" is the very idea of escapist entertainment without the sideline helping of head wounds and nihilism. Action junkies should eat it up.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: This movie stinks
Review: Collin Farell can't act for sh....

I saw this movie one a VCD...think god I didn't pay 8 bucks for a ticket for this crap in a box...

What a dumb film...Samual L. Jackson saved it....Movie sucked pretty much.....Horrible casting...Worst then Phone Booth...Acctually Phone was worse then this........they both suck pretty much...

I wish i could give it a -000000/5...

Worst movie I've seen last summer...

Later...

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Slickly produced mainstream action fluff
Review: Based on the 70's cop drama TV show, S.W.A.T. is pure slickly produced mainstream action fluff of the highest degree. Beginning with a rebellious and disgraced SWAT member (Colin Farrell) who is picked to join a new squad (which includes Michelle Rodriguez, LL Cool J, Brian Van Holt, and Josh Charles) by a fresh out of retirement sergeant (Samuel L. Jackson). Soon afterward, the head of a European drug cartel (Unfaithful's Oliver Martinez) is captured and offers 100 million dollars to whoever breaks him out of prison, and the crew ends up having their hands full when anyone and everyone comes out of the woodwork to claim the bounty. The film looks great and his some great action scenes, and the cast is nicely assembled, but it's an ultimately shallow experience. If you're a mainstream action fan, this is worth a look, but there's better, more character driven action films out there that are more than worth your time.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Saw it for the first time on TV last night....Bad Film!
Review: I skipped this one in theater because it looked cheesy and man is it ever. Colin Farrel and Sam Jackson's talents are wasted in this mess of an action movie and the dialogue and realism of SWAT is below-average at very best. Don't even rent this stinker, catch it on cable for free.


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