... Swordfish is his latest film and he seems to fall somewhere in-between the two categories…
Plot – No Major Spoilers (But Feel Free To Skip!)
The film starts off with a bunch of hostages each with large amounts of explosives strapped to their bodies, and a smiling Gabriel ... Read review
The sort of action thriller for which the phrase "high octane" could have been ... more
conceived,Swordfishstars John Travolta as Gabriel Shear, an enigmatic criminal operator who is as admired as he is feared. Using sexy sidekick Ginger (Halle Berry) as bait, ...
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The sort of action thriller for which the phrase "high octane" could have been ... more
conceived,Swordfishstars John Travolta as Gabriel Shear, an enigmatic criminal operator who is as admired as he is feared. Using sexy sidekick Ginger (Halle Berry) as bait, ...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Log on, tap in and kick back for cyber-edged action and suspense. Your password for ... more
excitement is SWORDFISH.Use a computer, go to prison. The terms of Stanley Jobson's (Hugh Jackman - X-Men) parole are clear. Yet a $10 million payday awaits the super h...
Log on. Hack in. Go anywhere. Steal everything. John Travolta stars as Gabriel Shear a ... more
sinister mastermind with an elite criminal crew who are desperately trying to access information locked inside a complicated computer system that contains governme...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
The sort of action thriller for which the phrase "high octane" could have been ... more
conceived,Swordfishstars John Travolta as Gabriel Shear, an enigmatic criminal operator who is as admired as he is feared. Using sexy sidekick Ginger (Halle Berry) as bait, he pressgangs Stanley Jobson, (Hugh Jackman) the world's greatest computer hacker, into helping him relieve the world banking system of a few billion dollars to finance his own enterprises. Jackman agrees, on the promise that Travolta will help him regain custody of his daughter.The numerous explosions and set-piece exchanges of high calibre gunfire tend at times to blowholes in the narrative fabric and sense ofSwordfish, a film that nonetheless engages through its extravagant silliness. Vinnie Jones is under-used as a fearsome minder, a close-up of Halle Berry's breasts isn't entirely integral to the plotline, while Travolta enjoys himself as the dapper ringmaster of this orgy of techno-chaos, especially in scenes in which he blasts away a brace of pursuing assassins with improbable aplomb and during his opening, Tarantino-esque monologue. By the end, he has shown himself in his apparently true colours in such a way that events of September 11, 2001--although made prior to them--lent the film an eerie sense of prescience. --David Stubbs
Postage & Packaging:free Super Saver Delivery Availability:Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
The sort of action thriller for which the phrase "high octane" could have been ... more
conceived,Swordfishstars John Travolta as Gabriel Shear, an enigmatic criminal operator who is as admired as he is feared. Using sexy sidekick Ginger (Halle Berry) as bait, he pressgangs Stanley Jobson, (Hugh Jackman) the world's greatest computer hacker, into helping him relieve the world banking system of a few billion dollars to finance his own enterprises. Jackman agrees, on the promise that Travolta will help him regain custody of his daughter.The numerous explosions and set-piece exchanges of high calibre gunfire tend at times to blowholes in the narrative fabric and sense ofSwordfish, a film that nonetheless engages through its extravagant silliness. Vinnie Jones is under-used as a fearsome minder, a close-up of Halle Berry's breasts isn't entirely integral to the plotline, while Travolta enjoys himself as the dapper ringmaster of this orgy of techno-chaos, especially in scenes in which he blasts away a brace of pursuing assassins with improbable aplomb and during his opening, Tarantino-esque monologue. By the end, he has shown himself in his apparently true colours in such a way that events of September 11, 2001--although made prior to them--lent the film an eerie sense of prescience. --David Stubbs
Postage & Packaging:free Super Saver Delivery Availability:Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Production Year: 1964 - Action/Adventure - Director: Cyril Endfield - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring:Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth, Michael Caine, Nigel Green
Action/Adventure - Director: Gore Verbinski - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring:Bill Nighy, Keira Knightley, Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom, Chow Yun-Fat
Production Year: 2002 - Action/Adventure - Director: Vincenzo Natali - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring:Lucy Liu, David Hewlett, Anne Marie Scheffler, Joseph Scoren, Matthew Sharp, Jeremy Northam
Advantages: Quick Paced, Good Stunts/Acting Disadvantages: John Travolta, The Ending
...being a great actor. Swordfish is his latest film and he seems to fall somewhere in-between the two categories…
Plot – No Major Spoilers (But Feel Free To Skip!)
The film starts off with a bunch of hostages each with large amounts of explosives strapped to their bodies, and a smiling Gabriel Shear (John Travolta) explaining the problems with modern day Hollywood films – a strange combination! When the ... ...hostage, Shear blows her up (like you do) and says he’ll do the same to every other hostage if he has to – cue flashback, and much of the rest of the film explains how and why the situation occurred. Shear needs a hacker and enlists Stanley Jobson (played by Hugh Jackman) to help him. Now Stanley, who’s just got out of jail, just wants to be a good boy and get his daughter back (who is currently living with her alcoholic mother ... more
John Travolta has a weird occasional habit of becoming the most annoying man on earth (even worse than Chris Rock which is an impressive acheivement!). Anyone who has seen ‘Broken Arrow’ will know what I mean – he does the totally over-the-top bad guy routine that, frankly, makes me want to hit him. Other times he is cool incarnate and has a subtlety that marks him out as being a great actor. Swordfish is his latest film and he seems to fall somewhere in-between the two categories…
Plot – No Major Spoilers (But Feel Free To Skip!)
The film starts off with a bunch of hostages each with large amounts of explosives strapped to their bodies, and a smiling Gabriel Shear (John Travolta) explaining the problems with modern day Hollywood films – a strange combination! When the police decide to get a little too close to a hostage, Shear blows her up (like you do) and says he’ll do the same to every other hostage if he has to – cue flashback, and much of the rest of the film explains how and why the situation occurred. Shear needs a hacker and enlists Stanley Jobson (played by Hugh Jackman) to help him. Now Stanley, who’s just got out of jail, just wants to be a good boy and get his daughter back (who is currently living with her alcoholic mother and porn-producing step-father) but he gets drawn into a web of intrigue involving a half naked Halle Berry (who plays the excellently named Ginger – you can tell it was made in Hollywood, that name would have caused too much hilarity in the UK!), a secret DEA account worth a cracking 9 and a half billion dollars, and Agent A.D. Roberts (played by Don Cheadle) who’s always one step behind.
Acting
Well, aside from Mr Travolta (who’s just a little too over the top for my tastes), Hugh Jackman is definitely the star. After appearing in the blockbuster ‘X-Men’, Hugh shows what a good actor he really is by not sounding totally confused by all the techno jargon, and having a believable relationship with his young daughter (played by Camryn Grimes). Halle Berry is very good, but doesn’t really get to develop her character enough (despite the character being the subject of a major plot twist) and no matter how much she got paid to bare her breasts (reportedly $350,000 each!) it is totally unnecessary to the plot and only seems to have been included for all the teenage lads in the audience (I wonder how many DVDs they’ll sell just because of that scene?!) . But my star of the film is Don Cheadle (Out Of Sight, Traffic, Boogie Nights) who is a great actor and just oozes cool, despite the fact he’s playing a police officer, and is worth the cinema ticket alone.
Special Effects/Stunts
The Matrix has a lot to answer for. Director Dominic Senza is obviously a fan, judging by the 360 ‘bullet time’ shot around the scene of an explosion. The scene is well done, but feels just a bit too much like showing off, especially as the fancy shots are forgotten later in the film. The stunts on the other hand are pretty impressive. Strangely, Senza has come up with a far superior chase scene than in his last movie ‘Gone in Sixty Seconds’ despite that film being all about cars! Also Hugh Jackman’s character leaping off a cliff (followed by Don Cheadle and another worried looking police officer!) is pretty impressive. Add to that multiple explosions, some fairly fancy computer graphics (which are totally unrealistic, but look much better than the real thing) and another good chase scene, and you’ve got some great effects.
Product Placement
For those of you who found the blatant Head and Shoulders plugging a bit too much in ‘Evolution’, don’t worry this isn’t as bad, but two products do warrant a mention. Every time a computer appeared on screen, my boyfriend informs me it was made by Dell – however he works with computers, so he’s probably more likely to notice that than ‘normal’ people. Also, Hugh Jackman’.s character is a big Heineken fan, and I mean BIG (look inside his fridge!). Hollywood seems to be getting worse at placing product in FULL VIEW CLOSE UP in films – keep your eyes peeled in the future!
Verdict
It’s a boys film without doubt. Big explosions, John Travolta and Halle Berry’s breasts. Having said that, I did actually quite enjoy it. The acting and characterisation was never bad, the stunts were great and the plot was neither too complicated nor too simple. The ending was far too unbelievable for me (they manage to outwit the police, hack into all these computers and the thing that ultimately defeats them is that it’s too windy!!) and as I’ve mentioned (a lot) I didn’t like Travolta, but if you take the film as face value as a popcorn movie then it’s an enjoyable night out.
You must have seen the advert. Action, guns, Travolta and Berry in her underwear. To be honest, I got all of these in the film, except it was obvious Halle Berry’s clip was there to attract the blokes.
The film opens with Travolta in a flickering, bad quality picture talking very intellectually about films. "Hollywood? They make shit!", seems to be his conclusion. It is clear from the start that this is a return to the Travolta I loved in ... ...With hair slicked back, a very ickle beard running from his lower lip, a cool voice, a cigar and an air of control around him, it was clear Travolta was going to run this film, and that he did.
The film moves on for the viewer to see the situation the film is in, a hostage situation. What followed did literally leave my mouth wide open, as my jaw dropped at the more than fantastic explosion, some of the best seconds of action I think I have ever ...
danradders 29.07.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Swordfish (DVD)
Advantages: See text of opinion Disadvantages: See text of opinion
...at dooyoo!)
~ ~ Swordfish has a very unusual opening sequence.
We see Travolta’s character, Gabriel Shear, sitting drinking coffee and waxing lyrical about the shortcomings of Hollywood films.
"You know, the problem with Hollywood is that they make sh*t," he informs us, as he gives his critique of the old 1970’s movie, "Dog Day Afternoon".
In fact, I originally thought I’d pressed the wrong button on the DVD’s remote control, ... ...world-class hacker of this stature, Swordfish describes it for you very graphically. At least a dozen computer monitors are required, along with endless and copious amounts of wine and strong espresso coffee. Stanley bounces around like a demented rock star, juggling his various 3D and text images, and playing with his keyboards like a man possessed. Mind you, anyone would be wired to the moon after that amount of espresso and wine!! ~ ~ Other actors ...
the_mad_cabbie 17.02.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Swordfish (DVD)
Advantages: Beautifully orchestrated action sequences. Disadvantages: Very little else.
You have 60 seconds to read this op. I often find that people use the word gratuitous gratuitously. A bit of ankle is gratuitous nudity, the odd heck is gratuitous language and the occasional stubbed toe is gratuitous violence. But this film is just that. Gratuitous to the extreme. ~Cast~ John Travolta..........Gabriel Shear Hugh Jackman.......Stanley Jobson Halle Berry..............Ginger Knowles Don Cheadle..........Agent A.D. Roberts Vinnie Jones..........Marco ... ...Martin..........Axel Torvald Zach Grenier..........A.D. Joy Drea de Matteo.....Melissa Jobson ~Synopsis~ Stanley Jobson is a desperate computer expert who finds himself coerced into helping hack into complicated computer system in order to steal some vast sum of money that technically doesn't exist by Gabriel Shear, a mysterious figure, who may or may not work for people in high places. Stanley finds himself battling not only for his own survival, ...
T-Boy67 01.08.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Swordfish (DVD)
Advantages: lots of actions Disadvantages: maybe confusing at times
...have seen from the adverts Swordfish is an action film, but with a bit of everything. It stars a very sleek looking John Travolta, playing Gabriel the bad guy of the film. Hugh Jackman playing Stanley, once one of the best computer hackers in the world, now living in a caravan unable to see his daughter his one hope in life, and halle Berry playing Ginger who seems to work for Gabriel.
The film opens with Gabriel discussing films and how, why the ... ...don’t like unhappy endings”. Gabriel seems to disagree and eventually gets up and leaves being confronted by a small group of swat teems, it is here we realize what has is happening.
I think I can say, without a doubt this film has one of the best openings I have ever seen. There is an explosion (I wont tell you how it occurs) then some amazing special effects as the camera seems to follow the shock wave tossing people and cars, it was ...
stes.da.man 01.08.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Swordfish (DVD)
Advantages: Good opening sequence. Hugh Jackman. Cool soundtrack. Disadvantages: Seen it all before. Will date easily. Ending a bit ropey.
A magazine consists of three essential elements. Staples to hold the whole thing together, pages to make up the bulk, and a celebrity feature to make you buy it.
And once you've read the celebrity feature, there's only usually a couple of things to read in the magazine to hold your interest. The same applies to this desperate attempt to create a cool, modern thriller.
This is (the clumsily titled) Swordfish.
***THE PLOT***
The story follows Hugh ... ...most good-lookingest - hackers, seduced (kinda) by the very non-ginger Ginger, played by Halle Berry (X-Men, The Flintstones) into helping out Gabriel's criminal team after their original choice makes a blunder at customs. Hugh is taken to Gabriel's trendy club, where he is forced (in a rather odd scene) to hack into the FBI's computer in 60 seconds (maybe a nod to the director Dominic Sena's previous effort, Gone In 60 Seconds), which comes as a ...
peppersinclaire 30.07.2001 (11.04.2004)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Swordfish (DVD)
A company which had shut down operations many years earlier has let its money sit around generating substantial compound interest and is now worth almost ten billion dollars. An anti-terrorist group needs the money to fight terrorism but cannot get at it. They bring in computer hacker Stanley Jobson to break into the government mainframe but he only wants to see his daughter again...
Audio Commentary, Alternative Endings, The Making Of, Featurette, Restricted Files Featurette
Aspect Ratio
2.35 Wide Screen
Sound
Dolby Digital 5.1
Dubbing Sound
Dolby Digital 5.1 English French
Professional reviews
Review
"...Enjoyably corrupt....[Travolta] electrifies the space around him with his mellifluous and cocky authority..." (Entertainment Weekly, p.56, 15/06/2001)
"...[Jackman] steals the show, much as he did in X-MEN, investing his character with a steely resolve..." (Sight and Sound, p.54-5, 01/09/2001)
"...It's Jackman who tears away with most of the scenes....The man, quite simply, is a star..." (Total Film, p.98, 01/09/2001)
"...The movie has constant mayhem and a speedy pace..." (USA Today, p.9E, 08/06/2001)
"...Mounted in breathlessly stylish fashion, with a great-looking cast....It's turbo-charged, with hyper-realistic, attenuated slo-mo action shots..." (Variety, p.16-23, 04/06/2001)
DVD Description
Star John Travolta revisits the grinning villain territory he explored in BROKEN ARROW and FACE/OFF with this stylish, supercharged techno-thriller. He plays Gabriel, a charismatic, fast-living mystery man who, with help from his right-hand woman, Ginger (Halle Berry), recruits ex-con and former master hacker Stan (Hugh Jackman) to aid in a plan to steal billions from a secret government bank account. Stan reluctantly agrees to help in order to finance the legal battle for custody of his young daughter (Camryn Grimes). Meanwhile an FBI computer crimes specialist (Don Cheadle) is determined to find out what's about to go down, and plans to use Stan to find out. The movie amply earns its keep by cleverly zig-zagging away from audience's expectations and delivering many clever, pulse-pounding action set pieces--including an incredible opening explosion, a car chase through downtown Los Angeles replete with blazing machine guns, and a spectacular airborne climax. With the help of a propulsive electronica score by DJ Paul Okenfold, director Dominic Sena (GONE IN 60 SECONDS) lays down lots of style, and Travolta is mesmerizing in his juicy role.
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