'Allo! I'm not contributing to Ciao for the time being but if you are bored / desperate / weird enou...
'Allo! I'm not contributing to Ciao for the time being but if you are bored / desperate / weird enough to wish to continue to read my ramblings, you can find me on Dooyoo under the user name plipplop. See you around! :P
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The year’s first DVD release that I have been looking forward to for a while. I’m a bit of a fan of action movies – mainly because you can just switch your brain off and relax – and Swordfish was one of the more popular cinema releases of 2001, so I was hoping for good things.
Stanley Jobson is a former world-class computer hacker. Following a prison sentence, Jobson is on parole, and lives a paltry existence, sleeping and eating in a rusty old trailer van, forbidden to access any computer system. One evening, Stanley is visited at home by a beautiful young woman, Ginger, who advises that her employer is interested in securing Stanley’s services – and is willing to pay large amounts of cash for the privilege. Stanley is at first reluctant, but is eventually persuaded to go and see the prospective employer on the basis that the money he will be paid will be enough for him to get custody of his estranged daughter.
Stanley flies out to Los Angeles, blissfully unaware of what he is getting himself into. Once there, he meets the mysterious Gabriel Shear, who offers him $10 million in exchange for some serious hacking work. Stanley agrees and finally lives in hope of getting his daughter back again. Sadly, nothing and nobody are what they appear to be – and before long, Stanley finds himself caught up in a terrifying plan to rob the World Bank, with both the FBI and Gabriel’s men stalking his every move.
Swordfish is a surprisingly original and relatively innovative piece of modern-day cinema. Continually, deliberately blurring the lines between the good buys and the bad guys, this is a morality tale for the 21st century. The plot twists and turns right
from the outset and, according to when you watched this movie, your reaction to the theme will vary considerably. Without giving anything away, whether you watched this pre or post September 11th 2001 will certainly change your outlook. In order to make the film as up to date as possible, the filmmakers have applied liberal doses of cyber-jargon – most of which is virtually impossible to follow, but all of which conjures up a high speed, high tech action romp.
And this film is definitely an action film. From the opening sequences, involving one of the most terrifying explosions you will ever see on screen, the film has more than its fair share of classic action movie sequences. Everything is hip, slick and high octane, and the stunts are amongst the most innovative I have seen at the cinema for some time. Much of it is highly implausible, but if you’re going to be implausible, you might as well be entertaining, and Swordfish is most certainly that. The climactic sequences featuring a hijacked coach and a helicopter are absolutely superb and well worth seeing. All the action movie usual suspects are there – car chases, big-breasted chicks, shoot outs and police chases all feature at one point or another, along with a few other treats.
The plot is relatively simple to follow. The film opens with a high action sequence, which is then explained by going back in time four days and showing how things ended up this way. Once the historical events catch up, the film then runs for a further twenty minutes. I always think this is a great way to construct a film, as you can instantly generate some excitement in your audience by giving them a taste of what’s to come, and then gradually stick the pieces together. The story line is relatively easy to follow though certain elements may not make a great deal of sense until the absolute conclusion. The action scenes are softened slightly by the scenes of affection between Stanley and his daughter, but for once, the filmmakers have managed to film these in a sincere way, rather than sugar-coated sweetness.
The nature of some of the action scenes is such that special effects are sometimes used – and are generally visually very impressive. The film balances live action and stunts where possible with computer generated effects, but the two normally work well together. The best thing about the relevant scenes really is that they are very imaginative, so you can forgive them if they aren’t 100% technically competent. The film carries a 15 certification – some of the violence is quite extreme, and as well as Berry bouncing boobs, Mr Jackman gets some oral action, so the content is not suitable for children.
The film boasts an impressive cast, all of whom work extremely well in their respective roles. John Travolta seems to have decided to settle for the role of the bad guy these days, and is as effective in Swordfish as he was in Face/Off. His bizarre facial and cranial hair give him a rather odd appearance, and he is suitably nutty. My only reservation with Travolta is that he always seems to play the bad guy the same way – slightly comical, but infinitely sinister. Hugh Jackman (last seen as the furry superhero Wolverine in the X Men) is great as Stanley, balancing the youthful side of his nature as a hacker, with the more mature paternal side that gradually comes out. Halle Berry is particularly sexy as Gabriel Shear’s sidekick, Ginger – the famous multi-million dollar bare breast sequence is surprisingly low key but Berry is very sexy all the way through. Sadly, Vinnie Jones also appears as – you guessed it – a thug. Vinnie’s demise comes far too late in the film to be truly satisfying – quite what the fuss is with Vinnie I’m not sure, but I’m hoping it will pass soon.
The film’s not perfect though. In many ways its is very cliched. At face value, Gabriel Shear is an archetypal bad guy, and Stanley is a stereotypical misled good guy. The technological elements of the film are typically American – everyone has beautiful slim line laptops, with remote access and a complete absence of anything even half-realistic about them. I’d love to know which ISP hackers use – they never seem to get the hourglass or the “Please Wait” messages that you and I so “warmly” associate with the Internet. The techno babble is suitably convoluted as well – you can’t help thinking that they’ve tried to blind you with science, and many audiences would find this a real turn-off.
Nonetheless, I really couldn’t fail to enjoy this – Swordfish was virtually made for me. I was gripped by this movie from the outset, and there was nothing about it (apart from the presence of Vinnie) that made me want to turn off. Fans of action movies will probably love this, and for an evening’s entertainment this is more than suitable.
The DVD offers the following extras:
Audio Commentary by the director – never really interests me, so I didn’t explore this option.
Two behind-the-scenes documentaries – the first one is really just a glorified trailer, with some footage of star interviews mixed in. The second documentary is a short (ten minute) piece about some of the special effects used, which is interesting enough.
Two alternate endings – I always quite enjoy watching these, as they can often be very different to the actual endings used. More often than not, you can see why the filmmakers didn’t use them though.
The DVD Rom PC also contains a selection of web links, most of which were very dull, but there is a simulated hacking game which might keep you amused for ten minutes or so.
Highly recommended
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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
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
Lovin' the title, mate. It is a great film, and yeah, like many others, and alternative ending would have been good. Hope they make a Swordfish 2... -Frank
earlofaldgate 04.08.2006 16:07
i loved the twist, would like to see the alternate endings
The sort of action thriller for which the phrase "high octane" could have been ... more
conceived,Swordfishstars JohnTravolta as Gabriel Shear, an enigmatic criminal operator who is as admired as he is feared. Using sexy sidekick Ginger (Halle Berry) as bait, h...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 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 JohnTravolta as Gabriel Shear, an enigmatic criminal operator who is as admired as he is feared. Using sexy sidekick Ginger (Halle Berry) as bait, h...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
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
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...
Advantages: great acting from all involved, even Vinnie Jones!, Not the usual summer blockbuster, so offers something the others don’t., The directing and production, exemplified by the first few sequences of the film Disadvantages: Is a little inconsistent in places, Look at John Travolta’s hair cut!!
ickle_devil 06.08.2001 ·
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Swordfish (DVD)
![Swordfish [DVD] [2001]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78531121.jpg "Swordfish [DVD] [2001]")
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