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S.W.A.T. (2003) DVD Review
S.W.A.T. (2003) DVD Credits:
S.W.A.T. (2003) Directed by:
Clark Johnson
S.W.A.T. (2003) Written by:
David Ayer, David McKenna, Ron Mita, Jim McClain, Robert Hamner
S.W.A.T. (2003) Cast:
Samuel Jackson, Colin Farrell, Michelle Rodriguez, Josh Charles, Jeremy Renner, Brian Van Holt, Olivier Martinez, Reg Cathey, Larry Poindexter
S.W.A.T. (2003) Released by:
Not available at this time
Region:
2
S.W.A.T. (2003) DVD Release Date:
1st January 2006
Our Rating: Extras Rating:

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S.W.A.T. (2003) Synopsis:

Jim Street is a former S.W.A.T. team member, who along with his partner Brian Gamble, is thrown off the team in the aftermath of a controversial decision they made during a robbery/hostage standoff. Gamble quits the force in disgust, but for Street, being a policeman is his life and he agrees to a demotion, hoping to someday have the chance to redeem himself and once again wear the privileged S.W.A.T. uniform. He gets that chance when team commander Dan "Hondo" Harrelson is assigned to recruit and train five top-notch officers for a new Special Weapons and Tactics unit. After weeks of rigorous physical training, the new team is immediately thrown into action when a notorious drug lord, offers a $100 million bounty to anyone who can free him from police custody. As they escort the kingpin out of Los Angeles into the hands of the Feds, the S.W.A.T. team is pursued by a ruthless and well-armed band of mercenaries.

S.W.A.T. (2003) DVD Review:

I wasn't aware that S.W.A.T. was based on the hit 70's TV series when I got the chance to see the film, which is good because I judged its merits on the film alone and not the source material. It's basically a no brained actioner, a vehicle for rising star Colin Farrell. He plays Jim Street, a
demoted SWAT officer, sent back to lowest job in the division after an assignement went wrong. That is until Sam Jackson (Hondo Harrelson) is back
on the scene, a SWAT veteran, brought back from obscurity to assemble a new team. Enter LL Cool J (or James Todd Smith as he likes to be known),
Michelle Rodriguez, Brian Van Holt, Jeremy Renner ans ooh, Colin Farrell, the rookie he takes a chance on to do good once again. The team are assigned
to transport an underwold kingpin (Oliver Martinez) into federal custody. It just so happens that this same kingpin has offered $100 million to anyone
that can set him free, on national television.

It all sounds so exciting doesn't it? Well, yes it does. It's a great hook, its just that the story kicks in way too late and for me didn't really work.
But that's me looking way too deep into the film. It's okay. It's mainsteam Hollywood at its most average. You have what should be an 18 certificate
film, toned down to a 12. There were so many opputunities for this film to be great. As I said before, it's a great hook, you just have to wait forty
five minutes of character training and plot development to endure before you get to the meaty action scenes. The climax of the film is a little
dissapointing also, and in a time when you have the likes of Michael Bay delivering such action set pieces like the highway chase in Bad Boys II,
well, this is falls way below par.

We have a great cast. The likes of Michelle Rodirguez, LL Cool J and Colin Farrell. All great actors, Farrell was great in his debut Tigerland,
enterianing in Daredevil and extremely watchable in Phone Booth. You have Girlfight's Michelle Rodriguez, who seems to be getting typecast as the tomboy hard bitch, though with a soft side no less (she's a single mother in this). And LL Cool J, who has great things to come, but again falls into the stereotypical comic relief role. Most diisaponting is Samuel L. Jackson, who just radio's in his performance as team leader Hondo. He's hugely watchable, but this is Jackson in it for the paycheck (ala Shaft), not the kudos.

Director Clark Johnson, whose work i've not come across before, does okay. The action sequences are good, but good and okay don't cut it in this day
and age. Action films today must push the envelope and shift me to the edge of my seat, as it was, my posterior was firmly glued front and centre.

SWAT was a good Saturday night action flick, but it just doesn't cut the mustard. It's the sort of film that studios were churning out back in the late eighties, but in a post Matrix/ Speed/ Face Off world, that aint good enough. A hugely watchable, but instantly forgettable actioner.

THE EXTRAS: Mediocre cast commentary, which would have been great if Farrell was included, but there's a great rarity, to find a hilarious gag-reel,
though way to short that includes some great Farrell moments. There are pointless deleted scenes (AND NO COMMENTARY!!!), which really annoys. There's a short feature entitled 'Anatomy of a Shoot-out' about the making of the opening scene, which is great because that scene kicks ass. There's another short about the original 70's TV show, which was also great because I knew nothing of the original series, theres another docu-feature on the set piece finale '6th Street Bridge: Achieving the Improbable', about the ending of the film where a plane lands on the 6th Street Bridge in downtown LA. The best feature though, is Sound & Fury: The Sounds of S.W.A.T., a 40 minute docu-short about how they managed to mix and record the sound on the film. You can view, or indeed hear each sound track individually, and see just how each scene was put together audio wise. There's also a useful commentary from the head sound guy of the film. It's nice to see the sound department get a mention. Loads of features, but that doesn't make up for the average film in which they are based.

Rent it rather than buy.

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S.W.A.T. (2003) DVD review written by: Paul Heath

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