Customer Reviews

S.W.A.T. (Full Screen Special Edition)

5 star:		(51)
4 star:		(54)
3 star:		(49)
2 star:		(38)
1 star:		(24)

 

 

I have seen a lot of negative reviews here for this movie. I think this movie is not that bad at all. If you have liked "Speed", you will probably like "S.W.A.T" too. The actions are great, and so is the photography. The director has used his imagination and with the camera he managed to get some excellent shots for the movie. However, I was little disappointed by the acting of Samuel L. Jackson, and Michelle Rodriguez (actually not expected anything from her, she has an emotionless face), but Colin Farrell, and Olivier Martinez looked great throughout the movie.

Sometimes, the movie get slow, but soon picks up with action and keeps the audience on their seat. I agree with one of the reviewer that the movie is more mechanical thriller, but still it's worth a watch. The DVD I got had all the features, except the eight deleted scenes mentioned here. The sound effects are great and you will enjoy this movie if you have a 5.1 home theater system.

Based on the 1970s TV series, S.W.A.T. is a great story with just enough action to keep you going, without overdoing it.

Jim Street (Colin Farrell) and Brian Gamble (Jeremy Renner) are partners on the Los Angeles Special Weapons and Tactics team. When a successful hostage rescue results in a lawsuit for the department, hot-head Gamble quits the force while Street accepts a demotion, hoping for a 2nd chance. That 2nd chance comes in the form of Lt. Dan "Hondo" Harrelson (Samuel L. Jackson), a departmental war horse assigned to restore the division's reputation. He hand-picks a new team with Street as its top dog. The other members include Chris Sanchez (Michelle Rodriguez of Blue Crush and The Fast and the Furious); David "Deek" Kay (Rapper L.L. Cool J); T.J. McCabe (Josh Charles of Dead Poet's Society); and Michael Boxer (Brian Van Holt of Basic and Windtalkers). Throughout their training period, we get to know a bit about each team member. Their individual personalities really come to life.

Meanwhile, a French criminal kingpin named Alex Montel, played by Oliver Martinez ("Unfaithful"), is caught and imprisoned, and offers $100 million to anyone who can help him escape. The Team is now up against a bunch of money-hungry LA mercenaries which will include some familiar faces.

Great action movie. Naturally, most scenes are stolen by the legendary Samuel L. Jackson and the young, hot, Irish actor Colin Farrell. But the other team members shine as well and add so much to the team and the film. Definitely worth it.

I spent my hard earned cash for a matinee fully expecting to watch a big, loud, dumb, mindless and escapist action packed film filled with gun-fights, fist fights, stuff blowing up, mean Euro-trash villains (in this case a real slimy Gaul), a team made of devoted experts, decent enough acting and a few funny lines as well as a passable performance by the young Mel Gibson-like Colin Farrell and I have to say, my money was well spent.

SWAT has the potential to be the TOP GUN for special police forces. SWAT contains TOP GUN'S romanticized vision of ripped warrior bodies performing great feats of physical skill. Like TOP GUN'S Navy Pilots and their super sonic jets, this super Police force expertly manipulates specific technology to defeat the forces of evil. A warrior's complete and total command over the tools of the trade- guns, cars, clubs and each other makes such films work as effective recruitment tools. Who wouldn't want to be part of such an expert team?

SWAT embraces all the required clichés befitting a proper action/cop picture: the [...]by-the-numbers captain, the hardened veteran (played with the usual strength and charisma by the always excellent Samuel L. Jackson), the roguish rebel, the tough female partner, the shapeshifting turncoat and the family man as sacrificial lamb.

If someone wants a decent action-adventure, no thinking required, entertaining junk food movie that provides temporary satisfaction, SWAT serves the bill.

I saw this movie on t.v. for the first time a few days ago and now I'm buying the DVD. I'm not a big fan of action movies but I do watch them now and again. I've read quite a few negative reviews about this film and I think they are undeserved. When I saw it I thought it was good, not Diehard good, but it held its own. I really enjoyed it. I really liked the idea that they included a female member of SWAT. One never sees a woman SWAT member. It looks like this is one of those movies you either love, like, or hate. One has to make up one's own mind.

Loosely based on the TV series of the same name, "S.W.A.T." is an entertaining, if essentially formulaic, police procedural set on the ribboned thoroughfares and sizzling pavements of metropolitan Los Angeles. Samuel L. Jackson plays an LAPD veteran called back to the force to handpick and train a crack SWAT team made up of promising neophyte recruits. Colin Farrell, LL Cool J and Michelle Rodriguez are the actors who make up part of that team.

The creators of "S.W.A.T." have done a pretty decent job given the limitations of the genre. It's true that the plot is standard issue stuff for the most part and the characters have little opportunity to distinguish themselves and develop. However, the dialogue is frequently crackling and the performers go through the motions with seriousness and conviction. The action scenes are also well handled, even if they do go a bit overboard from time to time, a problem endemic to virtually all action films these days, not just this one.

Chances are you probably won't remember a thing about "S.W.A.T." much past its closing credits, but it's a fun enough ride while you`re watching it.

Well...what I thought of the movie will be quite different from your opinion. I thought the movie was action-packed, fun, and interesting to watch. It contained all what you need to feel good.

Jim Street (Colin Farrell) was a part of S.W.A.T. team but got degraded to the gun cage. He was still proud to be part fo the force. His friend, on the other hand, went away forever and became a gangster. With effort and courage, Jim Street becomes part of a S.W.A.T team that is commanded by Sergeant Hondo (Samuel L. Jackson). They practice their skills, and it is tested when they are taking a prisoner hostage. The S.W.A.T team proves to be good with one exception (the guy who betrays everyone and goes for money).

After all, sometimes doing the right thing isn't the right thing.

This will show up on the USA network some day, as their ad campaign last year stated, "No films, just movies." SWAT was a mildly pleasant ride with few, if any surprises. It was difficult for me to fool myself into thinking I didn't have the major plot points down after the first five minutes. A friend said something to the effect of "A movie like that, people stick around for the dialogue, not the plot points." It's just unfortunate that the dialogue wasn't more creative.

There was one shining moment of creativity in this movie. This has been stated about SWAT everywhere from the trailers to capsule reviews, so I'll just tell you this may be a very MILD spoiler. The question of what might happen if an international criminal offered 100 million dollars to anyone who would get him out of prison was the one thing about this movie that really seemed fresh and original. Some of the proposed answers to that question were rather disappointing, however, and on a couple levels reinforced stereotypes about people of color in LA.

Bottom Line: Fun escapist fare. Samuel L. Jackson probably saves the movie, but if you can only see one Jackson SWAT movie, make it The Negotiator, which you can convieniently purchase right here at amazon.com, or at your local retailer. :)

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.

Boom! Crash! Bang! Boom! Rat-a-tat-a-tat! There - I've just summed up S.W.A.T. for you. Starring Samuel L. Jackson (the second coolest black man in Hollywood) and Naughty Boy of The Moment, Colin Farrell, this run of the mill police shoot 'em up is average. And by average I mean that when something is supposed to go boom, it does. There's little to no ingenuity, little to no originality, heck, they even brought the catchy S.W.A.T. theme back (updated of course). The good guys are cool, the bad guys are bad, and that's about the size of it. The one thing that really bothered me was seeing the wonderful Michelle Rodriguez co-starring as the stereotypical Tough Latina Girl (tm). After a wonderful screen debut in "Girlfight" (go rent it now!), she has yet to star in anything resembling good since then. "Resident Evil", "The Fast and the Furious", "Blue Crush". In every single one, she's Tough Latina Girl, and that's just a shame. It was also a treat to see Jeremy Renner as the S.W.A.T. cop gone bad, as I'd seen him audition and get the role in Bravo TV's "The IT Factor" a year earlier. So the bottom line is - if you're looking for a good film, then try elsewhere. If you're looking for something to stare at on your television screen for an hour or two, without any danger of thought or emotion, then S.W.A.T. will do just fine, but if you like your police work with character and emotion, go rent "Homicide" directed by David Mamet.

SWAT is as good as I remember and the quality of the downloads is excellent. For those of you who liked the series and do not want to wait for the DVD set, this is thw way to go. They are, however, missing 3 episodes but I will be buyint them once Amazon gets them. One caution, these downloaded better on my desktop than on my laptop. In addition, because season 2 takes up over 20gb, I strongly recommed buying additional storage unless you have a huge hard drive with alot of free space.