Swordfish Movie
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Storyline
TAGLINES
Log on. Hack in. Go anywhere. Steal everything.
Once you know the password you can go anywhere.
Log In. Log Out. Leg It!
Password Accepted
Log On. Hack In. Go Anywhere. Get Everything.
When the DEA shut down its dummy corporation operation codenamed SWORDFISH in 1986, they had generated $400 million which they let sit around; fifteen years of compound interest has swelled it to $9.5 billion. A covert counter-terrorist unit called Black Cell, headed by the duplicitious and suave Gabriel Shear, wants the money to help finance their raise-the-stakes vengeance war against international terrorism, but it's all locked away behind super-encryption. He brings in convicted hacker Stanley Jobson, who only wants to see his daughter Holly again but can't afford the legal fees, to slice into the government mainframes and get the money.
| Halle Berry | Ginger Knowles |
| Don Cheadle | Agent J.T. Roberts |
| John Travolta | Gabriel Shear |
| Vinnie Jones | Marco |
| Hugh Jackman | Stanley Jobson |
| Sam Shepard | Senator James Reisman |
| Drea de Matteo | Melissa |
| Rudolf Martin | Axel Torvalds |
| Zach Grenier | Assistant Director Bill Joy |
| Camryn Grimes | Holly Jobson |
| Angelo Pagan | Torres |
| Chic Daniel | SWAT Leader |
| Kirk B.R. Woller | Axel's Lawyer |
| Tim DeKay | Agent |
| Dominic Sena |
6.20 out of 10 (31951 votes)
Visitor Reviews
Such a Cool film!
posted on 17 Aug 2009Swordfish is one cool film! I enjoyed this film so much I want to see it again. Okay the story is a bit crap but John T & the rest of the cast all make this film work. The direction is strong and the ending is action packed. Do go and see it and take it from me it is worth it.
Easy movie to enjoy with involving style and good performances, but it isn't quite good enough. **1/2 (out of four)
posted on 17 Aug 2009SWORDFISH
/ (2001) **1/2 (out of four)By Blake French: "Swordfish" contains a lot of good material, but it's cluttered by a script so complicated that even the filmmakers themselves confess the confusing character motives. "The circumstances are constantly in question," explains producer Joel Silver. "Who is bad and who is good? Gabriel is not the film's hero, but is he really bad? And Stanley is the good guy, but how good is he really? Everything is changing and shifting and every character has shades of gray." If that is the case, for whom do we root? Is the bad guy the good guy, or is the good guy the bad guy? It this story a battle over personal perspectives on government matters? By the end of this movie, if anyone can clearly explain some of the characters true motives, intentions, identities, loyalties, and beliefs, I would hire them as my personal film interpreter. What I say doesn't make sense now, but if you see the movie you will understand my complaints.John Travolta stars as Gabriel Shear, an enigmatic and treacherous spy who hires Stanley Jobson (Hugh Jackson), one of the best computer hackers alive, to break some airtight security systems to steal a large sum of illegal government funding. Gabriel and his beautiful young partner, (girlfriend, or whatever she is) Ginger (Halle Berry), persuade Stanley to help them with their task, but not with money or power, but with the means to reunite with his daughter. He lost custody of her after spending time in jail for hacking into the FBI's controversial cyber surveillance systems. His ex-wife, a lazy alcoholic, is now married to the an influential pornographer. Gee, I dunno-if I was a judge for a child custody case, I might rule for the girl to live with a computer hacker rather than a full scale porn king and his slacker wife with drinking problems.The plot runs deeper than that, but I do not want to give too much away. There are subplots about government corruption, double crossing, and there is a unique bank heist and several exciting car chases. Then there is the person reuniting with his daughter, an obsessed patriot who does not know where to draw the line, and something about computer hacking? "Swordfish," details all that and more, but with a plate so full, and with so many complex issues at hand, the film needs more than just a highly stylized visual arena.The film's, Dominic Sena, brought us the highly visual action thriller "Gone in 60 Seconds" last year. I liked that film because the action worked with the good against evil story. There is a lot of potential with this script by Skip Woods, but "Swordfish" is very different from "Gone in 60 Seconds." Sena gets away with a lack of character development and plot depth in "Gone in 60 Seconds" because it solely exists as an action picture. "Swordfish" wants to be more, therefore, Sena cannot get away with sheer style, action, and energy. The themes and motives deserve more. According to the movie's web site, Dominic Sena wanted to give Gabriel's world a high sheen of glamour with lots of color. "We were constantly mixing gels and the color palette is pretty strong," Sena explains. "Each location had a color palette assigned to it and the practical lighting dictated the light we would use on the actors. For instance, if there was a green lantern, the light on the faces would be green instead of trying to create perfect flesh tones. It looks glossy and sexy, which is the right look for this picture."The behind the scenes production team is led by director of photography Pail Cameron, production designer Jeff Mann, and special effects coordinator Mike Meinardis, who all worked on "Gone in Sixty Seconds." The technical aspects here are first rate, the fault lies within the screenplay and, I suppose even Dominic Sena can share some of the blame. Sena starts the movie with a mature attitude and reasonable motives, but he eventually switches the story to auto pilot when car chases, bank robberies, and shoot-outs inhabit the plot instead of wit, edge, and complex, thought-provoking material.Does "Swordfish" really need its last half to be action-ridded, and laced with double and triple crosses, changes in character motivations, and the stylized violence? Yes, it's well acted and visually enticing, but the movie sets up plot twists for the sole reason to contain plot twists. The film does manage to pull the rug from under us a few startling times, but these turning points do not serve much of a purpose and do not truly reveal anything about the story.I screened "Swordfish" with a friend, who loved this movie, and he could, for the most part, justify most of his opinions, and challenged my own; he provided logical points of explanation behind his recommendation. But I think he is simply filling in the blanks the movie leaves open. I like a movie that makes you think, and one that leaves a lot to your imagination, but "Swordfish" is entirely based on what we interpret. To draw a solid conclusion from a movie, it needs to give us more than hints and implications. The film makes it very clear we cannot trust it, so why does it leave so much up for us to draw from it. Maybe you will make more out of this production than me. It's an easy movie to enjoy; there are some astonishing special effects. In one car chase scene involving the police and a bus, Gabriel changes his travel plans, and a massive helicopter flies down, attaching itself to the bus, and lifts it away. Wow-we've never seen that before!
A new-age action thriller for the masses
posted on 13 Aug 2009Swordfish has extremely high qualities. For starters, the cinematography, script, acting, and direction are of high caliber. Usually, John Travolta fluctuates in his acting, but I guess this was one of his better films. Hugh Jackman, a talented actor, did a fine job, and Hally Berry did all right. This film is filled with surprising twists and turns. Although, the ending was a bit of a stretch, the rest of the movie was very entertaining. The entertainment value of this movie was definitely its strongest factor. Make no mistake about it, I'm not one of those beer guzzling, nudity adoring, jocks who love a good mindless action flick. I have looked at this film critically and it's a decent film. I suggest you see it. Sure it's directed towards a male audience, but I think everyone can enjoy this movie. Hope ya' like it.
A Rating System
posted on 28 Jul 2009Okay, It's like this: my scale for movies include multiple things, and all have to be present for the greatest number of stars, 10, in this case. Well, first, since this was an action film, it has to be an action rating system. It's just plain common sense to have different rating systems for different genres, while all stick to a specific guideline.-Big name actor(s) in main role(s) -Big name director -Big name producer -Developed plot -Multiple large explosions and gun fights -The "F Word" used properly in each usage -NudityThose are the seven marks for an action movie, and SWORDFISH met every one of those marks, so it gets the full 10 stars here (my normal is seven, a star for each mark).
Average
posted on 26 Jul 2009Stylish criminal movie leading to a bank robbery. Great opening sequence but the movie soon goes downhill. Travolta's right, "Dog Day Afternoon" is much better. Jackman resembles Clint Eastwood. But the scene where he creates a computer worm is ridiculous. Vinny Jones does his best to be noticed by walking behind any actor when they're talking. Another movie featuring the Canon XL1 camcorder as a prop. How does Travolta NOT get into that helicopter?
Predictability, verse survival instincts at the level of Government
posted on 20 Jul 2009Swordfish is a prediction within a prediction, thats why it starts where it ends. Prediction in the movie The Matrix urges neo to seek the oracle so that they may advise neo of predictability within the matrix. The matrix itself seems to be defined by what actor John Travolta in Swordfish explains as negotiation with those who would take what they want. Of course in The Matrix this seems to be acted out by Agent Smith and associates. Similar aggression with telekinetic ESP powers also seem most dramatical evident in the Minority Report with actor Tom Cruise as an agent for the Government.Swordfish is a wonderfully creative action film of power and control. Which is what every excellent field commander salivates over and dreams of accomplishing every night for the following day. In the movie The Matrix Morpheus, also known as God of dreams, portrays an elusive shadowy character holding the keys to Agent Smiths' freedom. Prehaps its the culture gap, as evident in custom, between what the citizen wants and what the Government demands. Subliminal character development exists throughout the film for this contrast of characters.Again the opening of Swordfish seems subliminal as well. Misdirection of light is reflection, and another meaning for reflection is wisdom. Just as a wise film editor can predict how a film is perceived by a market audience so can wise people predict the actions of a government within a theater of military operations dictated by logistical command. What if the theater of operations logistical equation is simplified? Unconventional wisdom called upon. Unorthodox morals and ethics manipulated. Then is the aggressor preforming a "special" tactical and strategical execution with command decisions? Or is the commander a sadistic capitalist? Of course in Swordfish the same non pervasive element in both cinematic vision and warfare seems to me to be Surprise. Well the movie ends, the commander lives. The operation recorded as SWORDFISH.
If it hadn't been free, I'd be more annoyed
posted on 18 Jul 2009What a load of hyped up garbage. Swordfish completely fails to deliver, except maybe for the interesting explosion effect at the beginning. The acting is shoddy on all levels, from Halle Berry's attempted "eye-opener" line in the beginning, to Travolta's lame attempts at sounding cool (reminiscent of "Face/Off"), to Jackman's unconvincing solo work session with the 6 screen computers. This movies got everything: plot holes, poorly written dialogue, bad timing, totally unrealistic computer sequences (similar to the effects in "Hackers"), irrelevant cracker slang, and of course the now "token twist" at the ending. The Halle Berry nudity is blatant T&A, and was also over-hyped. The only actor that actually delivers a decent performance is Don Cheadle, the main agent. I got these tickets for free, and I felt robbed afterward because of the wasted time. Avoid this movie; there MUST be something better out there.
Some good action, good stars but plot, logic and sense all seem to have left the building
posted on 18 Jul 2009When his first choice is stopped at an US airport, master criminal Gabriel Shear employs super hacker Stanley Jobson to help him steal $9billion.
However everything is not what it seems and the DEA, the police and powers within the US Senate all appear to be involved. Jobson finds himself in the middle of an intense standoff with hostages strapped with explosives and ball bearings and reflects over the past four days.Pulled from cinemas due to the events of September 11th this was one of the better action movies of the summer. The film starts really well - Gabriel discussing movies and robberies as the camera pulls back to reveal hostages, explosives and a street full of cops. Five minutes later we have a Matrix style explosion that is nearly as amazing as the first time you saw that effect. However what led them to this point doesn't always make sense - the whole computer thing didn't play for me and Gabriel's reasons for his robbery doesn't make sense and completely jumbles his character's morality, when it is clear he is a `bad man'.That said, summer action movies are never about plot but mostly about bangs for your buck! Here Swordfish doesn't disappoint. The story moves fast despite being illogical, and everything feels fast and action packed. The action scenes and exciting and OTT. We even have gratuitous nudity from Halle Berry thrown in to appeal to an even bigger audience! I'm not complaining, but it just felt unnecessary. All these factors almost manage to carry the film despite it's plot - almost. Almost, because between the boobs, the guns and the chases the plot does feel a little flimsy and when the film finished, I didn't think back over the action scenes but instead couldn't forget how senseless the plot was.The cast are great! What a line up! Jackman is sexy and cool - he always reminds me slightly of a young Clint Eastwood. Here he has cool character and even manages to make being a computer geek look sexy! Travolta loves his hammy bad guys and is really cool here. The best role is Berry, she plays the vamp of the team, but doesn't allow her to be all sex and comes across and stunning, sexy, intelligent and dangerous. If she did get $500,000 extra for two semi-nude scenes then it was money well spent - but I think she would have been better without showing her breasts for no real reason at all. Cheadle can't help but be good (unless he does a cockney accent!) and the support cast include Sam Shepard and Vinnie Jones (forcing the English toughness thing to the limit)Overall it's fun while it lasts but like Gabriel's deception, you go away feeling like something was missing and that it doesn't quite fit together.
Good movie with a great ending
posted on 14 Jul 2009Travolta steals everything including the show. He's good at being a good guy but better at being a bad guy. He has a real knack for playing the suave bastard who wants to win no matter what. Hugh Jackman, Don Cheadles, Vinnie Jones, and Halle Berry do a fine job of supporting. One of those films that won't stop surprising you. The ending was the best example. You'll find this trend in several John Travolta movies besides Swordfish (ex. Basic, Broken Arrow, General's Daughter). It was refreshing to see something different than the typical Hollywood endings they always seem to dish out no matter what the genre. I love the references to other movies in this movie (Dog Day Afternoon, Sugarland Express) and there is alotta shooting and explosions for movie watchers like me who enjoy that sort of thing. The most interesting thing about this movie is that it was made before the September 11 attacks on America and has particular relevance to that event. Life is INDEED stranger than fiction.
There are steaming turds, and there's Swordfish.
posted on 06 Jul 2009I rarely feel the need to comment on a movie, but Swordfish deserves it. It is a film for morons. I thought I'd seen it all, but this plunges that Lowest COmmon Denominator into the sub sub sub zone. It you liked this film, I recommend a frontal and rectal lobotomy.And since this site seems to think that even a truly dreadful film warrants ten lines of commentary, as though it were quantity rather than quality that counts, I'll just keep meandering on in the manner of many of the contributors to the Internet Movie Data Base (in full, to fill). Now, has that done it?Michael
Summer has finally arrived
posted on 02 Jul 2009After two major back-to-back commercial and critical flops (Battlefield Earth and Lucky Numbers), the eternally-mercurial John Travolta once again found himself in career flatline and in desperate need of resuscitation. As was the case in three of his countless comebacks (Pulp Fiction, Broken Arrow, Face/Off), he's risen from the ashes by showing us where his real talent lies - playing the bad guy. Aside from sporting a silly, pencil-thin goatee and a blond-streaked, Dutch-boy haircut, Travolta's Gabriel Shear is an ominous, cold-blooded, calculating cyber-terrorist who knows no extremes and gives no quarter. Quite simply, he wants to relieve of the government of $9 billion in slush funds. In order to accomplish this, he enlists the services of Stanley Jobson (Hugh Jackman, X-Men, Someone Like You), a world-famous computer hacker. Just out of prison and desperately trying to get custody of his daughter, the reluctant Stanley is going to need a lot of convincing. No problem for Gabriel. He simply offers Stanley the promise of some serious cash (to pay those pesky family law attorneys), the company of the beautiful Ginger (Halle Berry) and the challenge of hacking in to a virtually impenetrable government security system. Stanley signs on but immediately has second thoughts after an encounter with Roberts (Don Cheadle), a government agent specializing in cyber crime who also happens to be the guy who sent Stanley to the slammer two years before. He knows something major is going down and turns up the heat under Stanley. Roberts tailing of Stanley causes immediate, undue stress to slippery US Senator Reisman (Sam Shepard) who appears to be the brains behind it all. He then orders Gabriel to abort, but Gabriel - being the maverick he is - ignores the senator. What started out as a relatively unfettered, in-and-out exercise in grand theft has now escalated into a major fiasco. Director Dominic Sena (Kalifornia), himself in need of a career boost after the disastrous Gone In 60 Seconds, delivers a spectacular Summer diversion that contains everything an escapist could want: well-written bad guys, a sympathetic hero, tasteful nudity, way-cool (although often technically inaccurate) computer stuff and - most importantly - substantial fire power. Normally in a movie like this, explosions litter the screen to the point where it numbs the audience with unnecessary overkill but Sena's use of pyrotechnics is thoughtfully/thankfully spare and well spread out. As a result, the action sequences not only carry a stronger wallop but also allow for greater story and character development. The opening sequence contains what just might be the most intricate and involved bit of action filmmaking ever made - you simply won't believe your eyes. It's that impressive. What's also impressive is that Sena, nor do any of the performers, take it too seriously. You can tell that everyone involved had a great time when making it. And you'll have a great time watching it.
Stop Everything You're Doing And Just Go See This Movie NOW!
posted on 26 Jun 2009Swordfish is definitely one of the best movies of the year. From start to finish, it has everything you could want in a movie. Their are some great scenes here and the action sequences are brilliant and all the little twists in the movie are really great too.I couldn't of ask for better cast in a film too. The *amazing* Huge Jackman is obviously brilliant as always as Stanley Jobson. (And he's looking stunning as usual.) John Travolta is back on track as the bad guy Gabriel Shear and Halle Berry is really good as the mysterious Ginger Knowles. Don Cheadle is also quite good as Agent A.D. Roberts.
Did they have to add Vinnie Jones to the movie though? I think not.The ending in the film is really good and really intense too. I REALLY hope that they make a sequel to Swordfish. I'm sure it would be just as brilliant. Anyway, Swordfish is fantastic and a must-see for everyone, especially if you like action and crime movies. I give Swordfish a well deserving 10/10. Now, go see it NOW!
It was tense, we get it already
posted on 22 Jun 2009O.k. It was almost entertaining, except I couldn't get by a couple of things. Was it 128 bit encryption? I can't remember, but that's pretty standard stuff--maybe I'll take a crack at the bank :)Not to be too nitpicky, but I don't care if you are the second greatest hacker on the planet--you can't just 'guess' and get it right. And what was the girl for? We get it already...it was tense.And thanks for a 10 minute shot of Halle Berry's boobs. You know, women enjoy crash scenes, blow-em-up movies too. I think it was a waste of great acting talent. Back in the day, they used to use conversation to add drama, suspense and sexuality. It worked very well.
Enjoyable film
posted on 18 Jun 2009As I read all these negative reviews, well..., I personally think it all depend on what do you primarily expect. It was exactly what I expected so I'm not disappointed. I liked the story. The scenes and effects were great. I loved the acting too, except Travolta's. I think his performance wasn't anything much. I think, due to his apperance he didn't fit the charater at all, it looked very fake. The other characters were awesome. It wasn't a masterpiece of acting, but it was still a good movie. And Halle's hot showing scene for me was was a sweet bonus - a cherry on a cake.
As painful as childbirth (I'd imagine)
posted on 14 Jun 2009Many people seem to have praised this to the hilt and given it scores upwards of 1. To these people: are you sure you were in the right screen at the cinema? You didn't accidently stumble into Shrek or something like that did you?For a big budget action film this moves surprisingly slowly. Most of the money probably went on getting decent actors like Don Cheadle and Vinnie Jones, (and the once great Travolta) because they certainly can't have been attracted by the god-awful screenplay.As it happens, Travolta is spectacularly awful in this, as his character is exactly the same slightly deranged fast talking megalomaniac we saw in Broken Arrow and Face/Off - and he was equally abonimable in those.Of the many painful and awful plot points, one of the worst was the theme of Hugh Jackoff trying to get his daughter back. This was handled in such a contrived manner I didn't really care less whether she lived or died (probably would have been better if she died).Intriguingly, Travolta begins the film with a monolithic speech about the lack of realism in Hollywood films. I don't know whether this was intended to be a hilarious in-joke or not, but Swordfish is the exact type of film he's moaning about. The action is spectacularly uninteresting, unrealistic, and about as exciting as a blocked toilet, which, in an action film is kind of, you know, important. Particularly at the end, when the bus gets winched by a helicopter, I think I exuded the longest sigh ever recorded in the history of the world. Which pretty much sums up the whole film. *sigh*
I gave it a "3", and I was being generous!
posted on 13 May 2009It's easy perhaps to understand why films like this get made. Nominally they're lightweight, action thrillers with a catchy theme. In this outing, the theme is "hacking", the ability of some shady genius to get into mainframe computers, anywhere, anytime, and work super-scams that will shift millions of dollars - or in this case almost $10 billion - into the bank account(s) of your choosing. It sounds harmless enough, but it all goes badly wrong in "Swordfish", and what comes out the other end is a nasty, stupidly obscene film. I have difficulty imagining why wealthy big-name stars like John Travolta, Halle Berry, Don Cheadle, and Hugh Jackman allow themselves to be involved in this sort of enterprise. Do they really need the money? If the answer is "yes", then can someone tell me just how much money such people want or need?This is not to say that the technical production values aren't high. They are. The explosions are impressive, there are cars and bodies, and fragments of bodies, flying through the air. There are fireballs. We have helicopters zooming all over the place. Many people are picturesquely slaughtered. Good technical stuff, indeed. And it was on the basis of the impressive optics that I gave the film a 3, instead of a 1.The film hits a low point shortly after the opening violent scenes. Ginger (Halle Berry) tracks down Stanley-the-hacker (Hugh Jackman) in his dilapidated trailer in Midland, Texas to make him an offer he can't possibly refuse. A great big pile of money so that he can hire a super law firm to help him get custody of his 10-year old daughter (who is ten going on thirty-seven, but Hollywood kids are always special) from his sluttish wife, who now lives with one of Hollywood's porn kings. (Intense moral drama unfolding here.) Ginger immediately impresses Stanley (and all of us) with her sparkling wit and incisive intellect:Stanley: If you'd told me you were coming I would have cleaned the place up.Ginger: I didn't come here to suck your dick, Stanley.Brilliant dialogue for the ages. How did "Swordfish" fail to get a nomination for best original screenplay, I wonder? And later, rising to even greater heights of taste and intelligence, the head honcho, Gabriel - no angel, he, as we quickly discover - played by John Travolta, has a gun put to Stanley's head and forces him to hack into a government site in 60 seconds, or his brains will be moved someplace else on the business end of a heavy calibre slug. And to add more wit and tension to the scene - I guess - a blond bimbo busily buries her head in Stanley's lap, and we know for certain that she's not rummaging around for loose change. I guess this must be director Dominic Sena's notion of a climactic scene.And, so on. The plot is wildly improbable and stupid but it at least unfolds rapidly, thus minimising brain damage to the viewer. Probably the best scenes belong to Jackman, an actor of talent and potential range who only needs to develop a degree of taste and judgement in his roles. (But then he did go on to make "Kate & Leopold", didn't he?) Travolta, who is also talented, if not as much as he thinks, walks through the film doing a kind of reprise of his Chili Palmer role from "Get Shorty" - a vastly superior film - but with an overlay of nastiness here that does him no credit whatever. As for Halle Berry - well, she looks great, just as she did in "Monster's Ball", and as in that film, she mostly acts with breasts and crotch. But, as we used to say in the military - "If you've got ‘em, smoke ‘em!"At film's end, I guess we're supposed to conclude that Gabriel is a mis-directed super-patriot, a true son of J. Edgar Hoover's resident paranoia, and he wants to rid his country of the threat of terrorism, apparently by being the toughest terrorist on the global block: "If they blow up a church, I'll blow up ten churches! Hell, I can buy a nuclear warhead in Minsk for $40 million; if I buy six I can get a discount." So, yes, the film appears to be telling us, let's make sure this lunatic anti-hero gets his hands on $10 billion so he can buy all kinds of ordnance and bring the bad guys to heel. Why not? It works for Israel, doesn't it? It doesn't? Darn! And at film's end, after wiping out quite a few innocent people, Gabriel does get his $10 billion, and the voice-over tells us that hitherto untouchable terrorists are now dying like flies in a winter chill. The viewer is left with the impression that, chaos and dead innocents aside, Gabriel is just the kind of guy we need - or American super-patriots think they need - to set the world to rights. Gabe even gets Ginger, the dishy, if essentially vacuous, Halle Berry, to assist him and, one supposes, make his bedsheets hum. Slaughter and sex are, after all, staple companions in this kind of sad nonsense."Swordfish" was made before September 11, 2001. One wonders, in the persistent pall of 9/11, and the mostly unanswered questions that atrocity has raised, if such a film would be made today. One hopes not. But, Hollywood being what it is, and what it too often is not, one suspects that we have many more films like "Swordfish" in our collective future. And that's a shame. The world's a complicated place, and it might actually help if movie-makers would divert some of those millions of production dollars to making intelligent films about complicated issues, rather than mindless trash like this.
Swordfish: much smarter than it seems
posted on 09 May 2009Anyone who would even consider ‘Swordfish' as a mindless summer blockbuster would be deeply mistaken. This film is worth a second look simply for its' poignant ‘sandy' look and raw energy. Furthermore, even though the marketing chiefs at Warner Bros. are marketing this film as a high energetic action blockbuster – it is not. Instead, it is a crafty and intellectually challenging, energetic neo-thriller that contains a couple of great action sequences.
Travolta stars as rogue agent Gabriel Shear with strong political alliances who recruits one of the world's foremost computer hackers Stanley Jobson (played with great range by Hugh Jackman) to hack into 9.5 Billion $ worth of funds contained in an encrypted U.S. Government database. Halle Berry is basically eye candy who most people know exposes her breasts in a ridiculously gratuitous manner that anyone knows was simply inserted for marketing's sake. To stop this high-risk low profile operation is Don Cheadle, a tough brute FBI agent (aren't they all) who showed more acting chops in ‘Boogie Nights'.
Read carefully: the opening for ‘Swordfish' is one of the most memorable movie openings in recent memory. Without giving too much away, anyone who appreciates the art of cinema will appreciate this ironic, analytical and explosive opening that a viewer will still be thinking about long after the film is over. Travolta opens the film with this line: ‘Do you know the problem with Hollywood these days is? They make S**t!' To many, this can be a death wish because many see that as writing the very film's own critique. Yet, it is this raw and bold energy that Director Dominic Sena (Gone in 60 Seconds) captures at the beginning of the film and never lets go. This very opening sets the tone for this fast paced and exciting film that is smarter than it seems.
Sena develops his characters within the first half hour and within the first 15 minutes we see how remorseless Travolta really is. Jackman's incentive to hack the code is a 10$ million payday and not to mention a luscious Halle Berry. As for Travolta's motive, the audience only discovers at the very end resulting in a finale that requires the viewer to stay in his chair and digest all the information thrown at them. The film is packaged as a summer action blockbuster but delivers on another level – a high energy, kinetic neo-thriller. The pacing is fast and the style is superb. Yet, do not mistake the ads that sell it as ‘from the producer of the Matrix' as another Matrix-esque film. This film is solid in its' own style and in no way is similar to Joel Silver's other producing effort ‘The Matrix'. Instead, Sena crafts a fun ride that teases, entices and ultimately leaves the viewer wanting more. Of course, action is always a great tool to satisfy my need, yet when a director can captivate the audience without any elaborate action sequences and still deliver thrills, you know he is doing a good thing.
Did I mention that there is a flying bus in the film? Lastly, remember this - Travolta's favourite line in the film is ‘nothing is really what it seems', and after watching this film, we know why.Giancarlo's Rating: **1/2
Travolta's Best Film Since Face Off
posted on 07 May 2009At the beginning of this film you notice that Travolta is a real mean guy.
The movie basis around Hugh Jackman who is a retired computer hacker who desperaltey wants to lye back and enjoy his life with his child which he is not aloud to be around. Well here enters Holly Berry. She tries to convince him to get back into hacking if he does he will be paid 10 million dollars. Of course Jackman Doesn't go for it a first untill he is offered to travel to meet travolta's character. Jackman refuses the offer that Berry gives him untill she pulls out one hundred thousand dollars. Let's just end it right there. Go see this movie even though Halle Berry is nude there is other good parts. Now I gave this movie an 8/10 beacuse it's way to unrealestic there is no way a man can get away with 6 billion dollars and never be caught.8\10 grade
A complete waste of time!
posted on 29 Apr 2009I saw this piece of poor filmmaking in the german version. It was a sneak preview, the attack on the WTC, lead to a recall of the official start. I cannot imagine that the german synchronization killed the movie. It lacks everything, a plot, a storyline, good acting, a decent direction. When it was finished i could not recall the plot, there was not one. Save the money, get a coke and watch the 28th rerun of "Spenser". I warned You!
High-tech or an Audience appealer?
posted on 21 Aug 2009After watching Swordfish, I must say that the impression left upon me was quite... well... confused. Allow me to explain: The beginning of the film, though the opening scene was shot with what can pass (focusing wise) as a Sony Handycam (though awfully artistic, don't get me wrong), was high-paced. It was a nice change-of-pace from the rest of the films I've seen all year. Then: a flashback. This was the plot of the film, as so many films follow this same style. Now, with some action... scratch that... MOST action films, the plot is very slow. Take, for instance, The Matrix. Easily one of my personal favs, but after about 4 viewings I felt very robbed of action. Swordfish kept a nice pace throughout the plot, and was in-depth enough to explain what was going on without a hint of question. Okay, flash forward, Travolta hires this hacker (Jackman) because he is one of the best two in the world. After putting him through some tests, Travolta pays him to develop a "hydra" (a multi-headed worm virus that can seek out things on a network) and transfer some funds. This is where it gets confusing for me. They take a kind of approach that is a bit nonsensical. They combine the absurdity of "Hackers" with the technologically correct side of "WarGames". Though the majority of the computer approach is a GUI display (pointless), on the sides of the display one can note text that is very UNIX oriented. This was somewhat... yes, yes it was confusing. However, throughout its romp and cuts on the movie industry (well placed), it remained a "high-tech" chaotic paradise of entertainment. Quite a soulless minion of Hollywood, but admitting so... as of yet, I say that it is the "Fight Club" of this year.