Rating: PG-13
Starring:
Samuel L. Jackson as Lt. Dan ‘Hondo’ Harrelson
Colin Farrell as Jim Street
Jeremy Renner as Brian Gamble
Michelle Rodriguez as Chris Sanchez
LL Cool J as David ‘Deke’ Kay
Josh Charles as T.J. McCabe
Brian Van Holt as Boxer
Olivier Martinez as Alex Montel
Larry Poindexter as Capt. Tom Fuller
Reg E. Cathey as Lt. Velasquez
James DuMont as Gus
Matt Gerald as Nick
Lindsey Ginter as Agent Hauser
Page Kennedy as Travis Shipley
Special Features:
Commentary by director Clark Johnson and actors Samuel L. Jackson, LL Cool J, Brian Van Holt, Josh Charles, Jeremy Renner, and Michelle Rodriguez
Commentary by screenwriters and technical consultant
Deleted scenes
Four featurettes: 6th Street Bridge, Anatomy of a Shootout, S.W.A.T.: TV’s Original Super Cops, The Making of S.W.A.T.
“Experience the Sound & Fury of S.W.A.T.”
Gag reel
Other Info:
Widescreen (2.40:1)
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
English and French Subtitles
Running Time: 117 Minutes
Synopsis:
This film is loosely based on the TV series of the same name.
Jim Street is a member of the Los Angeles S.W.A.T. team. He loves his job and seems to be addicted to the action that comes with it. However, everything changes when his partner, Brian Gamble, recklessly leads him into a dangerous situation against orders. When they must eventually face the consequences of their actions, Gamble decides to leave the police department while Street decides to stay on the force and ride out the storm. Feeling betrayed, Gamble leaves while Street takes a menial job in the gun locker.
Months later, the police department decides to revamp the S.W.A.T. team with a younger hotshot crew of specially trained rookies. S.W.A.T. legend Lt. Dan ‘Hondo’ Harrelson is brought back in to set up the team. He chooses a motley crew of individuals to train. When Street happens to catch his eye, he includes him in on the fun as well.
The new team trains hard together though their Captain is eager to see them fail. Their first major test comes when they are asked to transport crime figure Alex Montel to a prison facility. Matters are complicated when Montel boldly offers $100 million to anyone who breaks him out. The S.W.A.T. team must then face every hoodlum and thug in L.A. who decides to take a shot at breaking Montel out and winning the money.
S.W.A.T. is rated PG-13 for violence, language and sexual references.
The Movie:
This was the last big summer movie of 2003 and its a fun one. S.W.A.T. has everything you could ask for in a popcorn flick. It has a great cast, a lot of action, bits of humor, and a fast paced plot that keeps you on the edge of your seat. I never saw the TV show, so I cant talk about how they compare. However, I can say that this is a TV show to movie adaptation thats on par with The Fugitive in terms of entertainment value.
The cast in this movie is excellent. Colin Farrell continues to be a great leading man as our hero, Jim Street. Farrell not only delivers a convincing American accent, he handles the action very well. Its quite a different role for him compared to Bullseye in Daredevil. Samuel L. Jackson is also good as Hondo. While his line delivery is a little stiff, his energy and enthusiasm more than make up for it. I cant imagine anyone besides him playing this role and he really helps elevate the level of the cast. Michelle Rodriguez continues to be typecast as the tough chick in the movie. But I guess if it aint broke, dont fix it. She plays the role well and I think she could even give Sarah Connor a run for her money on the toughness scale. LL Cool J continues to make the transition from music to acting and he does it well. He adds some much needed comic relief in the movie and he, too, is great in the action scenes. Jeremy Renner rounds out the cast as Brian Gamble and I swear this guy has to be related to Elijah Wood in some way. He looks like his older brother.
The plot in the movie is really fast paced with hardly a moment to catch your breath. The action is also first rate. There are times when I thought I was watching another Die Hard sequel. Theres a great scene where the team raids a mock hijacked airliner in a training simulation. The scene is well choreographed and makes you hold your breath even though you know its a training exercise. The final fight scene seems like its almost 40 minutes long as it moves both above and below the streets of Los Angeles. Numerous gunfights and training sequences fill up the spaces between the major action sequences.
Director Clark Johnson really comes out of nowhere to deliver a fun popcorn flick. This is the first time he has directed a feature film, but he has a long list of TV directing credits including NYPD Blue, Third Watch, The West Wing, Law and Order, and more. He certainly knows his cop dramas, and this movie shows he knows his action movies as well.
S.W.A.T. had a few problems that were easily overlooked but still worth mentioning. For some reason Colin Farrell is shown spitting repeatedly and even barfing once. I kept wondering what bodily fluid wed get to see him expel next.
The next problem is that the trailer gave away most of the plot. It ruins most of the major twists and turns in the story, so theres nothing that will really surprise you if youve seen the promos.
While most of the movie seems pretty realistic, there are some moments where things are unrealistic. As seen in the trailer, a plane lands on a bridge in the middle of Los Angeles. I dont know how big the bridge is or how short of a runway a private jet needs, but it seemed a bit far-fetched. As you also know from the trailer a helicopter is shot down. Yet, two scenes later, we see police helicopters flying all around without caution. That seemed unrealistic as well. It also seemed like the S.W.A.T. team could have found a better way to transport the prisoner considering everything that happened. Anyway, these are all minor gripes and things that I only noticed after the movie was over. While watching the story unfold, I was so into it that I was willing to buy anything they threw at me.
Overall S.W.A.T. is a fun action movie thats well worth checking out on the big screen. If youre looking for a good popcorn flick, this is one you wont want to miss.
The Extras:
There are a fair number of DVD extras considering that this is a one disc film:
Commentary by director Clark Johnson and actors Samuel L. Jackson, LL Cool J, Brian Van Holt, Josh Charles, Jeremy Renner, and Michelle Rodriguez This is really a two part commentary with the directors recorded at one time and the actors at another. Johnson talks about the script, the thinking behind the film, the actors, random trivia, and more. Its a very informative commentary. Intercut with it is commentary from the actors. Their discussions are more like a bunch of friends kicking back and watching old home movies. They laugh, joke, and make fun of the film. Youre not going to learn much about the movie from them, but they do have a lot of fun.
Commentary by screenwriters and technical consultant The four writers from the movie provide the commentary for this DVD extra. They talk about how the divided up writing chores, where they got ideas for the plot, difficulties adapting the TV show, and other things. These guys also have a lot of fun but they still manage to provide unique insight into the film.
Deleted scenes There are about eight deleted scenes on the DVD. One shows a little more interaction between Street and his partner at the beginning. Another shows the team bonding in the locker room. Another shows them preparing for the final training exercise at dawn in a parking lot. One odd deleted scene shows cops rushing into a gun store demanding that the owner give them his illegal firearms that have body armor piercing bullets. Its probably best this was left out of the film because it would have offended both cops and gun shop owners, neither of which you want to get on the bad side of.
6th Street Bridge Featurette This short video discusses how the jet landing on the bridge was accomplished. They start right off by saying its impossible, but then they go on to say how they made it look somewhat realistic. We see the computer effects, location shooting, and more.
Anatomy of a Shootout Featurette This feature breaks down the opening bank robbery sequence. The director talks about how he wanted it to look like a real L.A. bank robbery that was highly publicized. They talked about setting up a fake bank, scheduling to shoot on the busy road, and other things. The goal was to make much of the footage look like it was from a documentary, and I think they accomplished that.
S.W.A.T.: TV’s Original Super Cops Featurette This featurette is 50% commercial for the original series DVD, 50% a look at the show that inspired the movie. For those unfamiliar with the 70s TV show, its a nice brief look at what youve been missing.
The Making of S.W.A.T. Featurette This is the longest extra on the DVD and it is your standard making of feature. You have your behind the scenes footage, interviews with the cast and crew, and more. They talk about how Jackson, Farrell, and the other cast were chosen, how they were trained by real former SWAT members, and other things. If you liked the movie, then this is worth viewing.
“Experience the Sound & Fury of S.W.A.T.” Featurette This is a two part feature. The first shows various weapons used in the movie. When you click on the weapon, the real SWAT trainers give stats on the weapon, then demonstrate it. Gun nuts will love it. The second half of the feature shows clips from the film and you can toggle between different layers of sound. You can hear just gunshots, dialogue, or other individual sound effects. Pretty nifty!
Gag reel This is an extremely short gag reel featuring bloopers, flubbed lines, and practical jokes played on the set. Michelle Rodriguez is shown playing a joke on Sam Jackson as he enters the ladies locker room. Another gag shows Colin Farrell working out by lifting a hand weight, then a beer while smoking a cigarette. Its definitely a parody of the tough-guy scenes earlier in the film.
The Bottom Line:
This is a fun and entertaining DVD thats worth adding to your collection or at least cecking out at the video store.
