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

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

List Price: $19.94
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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Stinks!!!!!
Review: I'd like to say I was disappointed by this film, but I was pretty sure hollywood wouldn't be able to do this film without turning it into a phony macho excerise in bad story telling. No, wait there was no real story. The film was just a frame work to hang a story about a bunch over hammy macho acting on. I'm really disappointed in Samuel L Jackson for added his considerable reputation to this piece of dreck.
I do recommend this film if you let you 13 year olds watch a fim with this rating.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Overly serious, formula action pic
Review: "S.W.A.T." has at least one thing going for it - it's a lot better than the old TV series it is based on. Unlike most other recent action films, it tries hard give a little depth to it characters, but it ultimately fails because the script is as formula as they come and because the events it portrays are utterly unbelievable.

As the movie opens, a S.W.A.T. team has been dispatched to the scene of a horrific bank robbery / hostage situation. The team saves the day. In the course of doing so, one of the officers wounds a hostage. That officer and his partner, Jim Street [Colin Farrell], are called on the carpet because the victim of the gunshot is suing for 'millions of dollars'. The officer who fired the shot quits and becomes a vindictive drunk, and Street gets demoted to doing menial tasks. [How's that for formula? Movies have been going this route since 'Dirty Harry" in 1971.] Salvation for Street comes in the form of 'Hondo' Harrelson [Samuel Jackson], who has been called back to S.W.A.T. to improve the department's tarnished image. He chooses Street and several other officers to make an 'elite' team. Meanwhile, an international gangster [Oliver Martinez] is arrested, and as he is lead off to jail, offers $100,000,000 to anyone who can bust him out. Suddenly all the bad guys come out of the woodwork hoping for the reward. As in all lazily written scripts, the bad guys have all this information and equipment that in real life they could not possibly have. The elite team has its hands full, but it's all just an excuse for another series of car chases and explosions.

I don't mean to be so 'down' on "S.W.A.T". As such movies go these days, it's sometimes exciting. My laments these days are two-fold. The first is that modern action movies play like video games. The second is that they take themselves so seriously. Since the scenario is so outlandish, where is the humor? Where are the inside jokes? Do the people who make this stuff truly believe they are mirroring reality? Or do they believe that they are reflecting what the audience thinks reality to be?

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: S.W.A.T
Review: Well, ok, so it wan't much for character development or emotion, but to tell you the truth if I wanted character development and emotion, I would have rented The Invisibles (again). When you pick up S.W.A.T., you're looking for action, a few laughs, and the hot guys in body armor. (And girl as well in this case). And S.W.A.T. delivers. The training sequences are spot-on if you like that kind of thing (which I do) and the good old fashioned mayhem is top-notch. There are a few good jokes that kept me laughing. I mean, come on, "Lakers purple"? That's good. And the teeny tiny hint of military humor was great fun for the Navy girl in me. (Even though Colin Farrell is waaaay to young to have retired from the SEALs.) You kind of have to be in the mood for action, humor that's clever in the way that's kind of not, and a non-existent love interest, but if you are, S.W.A.T is perfect.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Bashful's DVD Summary #007
Review: Best:

1) You get to see authentic SWAT tactics as the action scenes were supervised by current and retired team members.
2) The action scenes were the most extreme examples of police life and the big visuals were pretty well done.
3) Those who like character development might like the soap opera nature of the actor's interplay.
4) There's a host of special features including 4 short documentaries and 2 commentary tracks.

Worst:

1) You have to REALLY love cops to love this movie because you're immersed in police life from beginning to end.
2) The non-action scenes often came across as dorky and a little too much like the 1970's TV series.
3) Those who want lots of action may be disappointed with the first half of the movie.
4) The major characters sometimes acted too much like testosterone-soaked studs (even Michelle Rodriguez).
5) The hip-hop soundtrack was loud and intrusive at the wrong times.

Recommendation:

If you prefer real grit in your police dramas, this one may be too much talk and too little action for you. It's likable but not all that memorable (except for the cool airplane landing on the bridge scene). The generous amount of special features is what tips the balance for me to recommend this one.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: N.O.T.
Review: The first hour is a complete tedious snooze. You know you're in trouble when there's a shot of LL Cool J shopping in a grocery store. Training, training, TOP GUN-type posturing, training.

Michele Rodriguez starts off with the same scowl she's had in every movie I've seen her in, then smiles a couple times in scenes that make me think there might be a love interest--then nothing. Whatever humanity was hinted at (and there wasn't much, believe me) is quickly jettisoned for the by-the-numbers action scenes.

I give it two stars for the action scenes in the last hour, but that's being generous. No surprises to be found.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: "S.W.A.T." Review
Review: "S.W.A.T." wasn't the first TV show I thought that would make a succesful transition to the big screen, but after watching the movie, how wrong I was. Unlike a good amount of the summer action movie crop, this actioner actually had something most of them didn't have: regard for human life (and in the case of "Bad Boys II", death). Unlike the cartoonish mayhem of "Bad Boys II", we have situations where cops HAVE to deal with the consequences of their actions. As the film opens, Jim Street (played by Colin Farrell) has been disgraced by the actions of his former partner during a brutal bank robbery and seems to be out of L.A's S.W.A.T. for good. However, redemption comes in the form of Sgt. Hondo (Samuel L. Jackson), who is assembling his own S.W.A.T. unit, made up of a ragtag pack of officers (LL Cool J, Michelle Rodriguez, Brian Van Holt, Josh Charles). No sooner do they earn their stripes as a unit, they end up being put in charge of taking a drug kingpin (Oliver Martinez) to federal prison. That's easier said than done, when said druglord declares he'll give $100 million to whoever frees him from custody. Suffice to say, it gets hairy from there. The ensemble cast here is definitely having fun, and it shows. The direction by Clark Johnson (who directed several episodes of "The Shield", including its shocking first episode) keeps things moving through the first 90 minutes or so, but things do get a little sluggish near the end. However, it's still worth a rental (even despite the PG-13 rating for such a rough and tumble film like this) and the special features aren't all bad either. Recommended.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: 3 and 1/2 stars, Good despite the propaganda...
Review: Yes, jackbooted police enforcers are good, knocking down walls and shooting hostages for the good of the state! Well, that is the underlying message of this film, but I still enjoyed watching this even-paced action flick.

Despite the hammer-headed storyline (even the Thunderbirds could'nt handle a learjet like the pilots in this movie yet the chopper pilots never had any idea how to auto-rotate their craft during an emergency) and cliched characters, the film was comfortable to watch due in part to the solid performances of the actors and stuff does blow up real good.

This by-the-numbers action film is worth a look.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: "worth your time"
Review: I saw S.W.A.T on DVD and I have to say it was pretty good.
Action-8/10- S.W.A.T was packed with much action from beginning to end. With not a single boring moment S.W.A.T is everything the trailer makes it out to be. There are killings, explosions, violence, and the works. If you like action flicks S.W.A.T is a must have.
Acting-9/10-The acting was pretty good. I had no real problem with it. The actors give great performances that you'll like. As far as acting goes S.W.A.T has no problems.
Directing-8/10-The directing was also good. The director did a nice job of making the scenes more realistic and enjoyable. Nice job of directing.
Graphics-8/10-The graphic on the DVD are good but what I had a problem with was it became difficult to see what was happening towards the end. The lighting wasn't that great near that part of the movie. Every time the S.W.A.T team goes into a tunnel or something you can't see what's going on.
Overall S.W.A.T was a pretty good movie. No complaints here But it didn't have anything special to separate it from other action movies. If you like action than make S.W.A.T a part of your DVD collection.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Smarter than most cop movies
Review: S.W.A.T. is better than most of the cop movies of recently. In Bad Boys 2, Will Smith and Martin Lawence chase the bad guys without even caring about innocent civilians getting hurt. Meanwhile in S.W.A.T. Colin Farrell's partner shoots a hostage and he doesn't want anything to do with him after that. If Will Smith shot a hostage in Bad Boys 2 in order to shoot the bad guy Martin Lawence would congradulate him on a job well done.

Sure S.W.A.T. does have some brainless summer movie action but it still manages to be smarter and more realistic than Bad Boys 2. It's also smart how it doesn't over-due playing the theme song from the tv show. That could've been a annoying and a bad movie based on a tv show would play the theme song through the whole movie. Colin Farrell and Samual L. Jackson have good chemestry as well. I would've liked to have seen the Colin Farrell and Michelle Rodriguez character get together though. They have good chemestry but the script doesn't let them act on that.

I liked how the bad guy gets other people even cops to be bad by offering a million dollars to who ever breaks him out. When I first heard that was the plot, I found it silly but it actually works. You don't know when someone is going to attack the S.W.A.T. inorder to rescue the bad guy and get the money. You don't even know who will either. So I found that cool. The movie doesn't depend on a bunch of big explosions like most action movies these days seem to depend on. So it shows that action movies don't need non-stop explosions to be good, it's a nice change.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One. . .
Review: Easly one on my top ten list. The way this movie unfolded was amazing, the storyline, the effects, and ofcourse the kick ass cast including Colin Farrel (Phone Booth, American Outlaws) LL Cool J (Deep Blue Sea, Halloween H2O) Michelle Rodriguez (Resident Evil) and ofcourse the kickass Samuel L Jackson (Shaft).
This is an action packed movie that keeps you wanting more. With a cast like this and and story line so mind blowing I (already have) would jump on the movie AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!!!


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