S.W.A.T. (2003)

An imprisoned drug kingpin offers a huge cash reward to anyone that can break him out of police custody and only the LAPD's Special Weapons and Tactics team can prevent it.

Director:

Clark Johnson

Writers:

Robert Hamner (characters), Ron Mita (story),

Stars:

Samuel L. Jackson, Colin Farrell, Michelle Rodriguez

4 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Samuel L. Jackson	...	Sgt. Dan 'Hondo' Harrelson
Colin Farrell	...	Jim Street
Michelle Rodriguez	...	Chris Sanchez
LL Cool J	...	Deacon 'Deke' Kay (as James Todd Smith aka LL Cool J)
Josh Charles	...	T.J. McCabe
Jeremy Renner	...	Brian Gamble
Brian Van Holt	...	Michael Boxer
Olivier Martinez	...	Alex Montel
Reg E. Cathey	...	Lt. Greg Velasquez (as Reginald E. Cathey)
Larry Poindexter	...	Capt. Thomas Fuller
Page Kennedy	...	Travis
Domenick Lombardozzi	...	GQ
James DuMont	...	Gus
Denis Arndt	...	Sgt. Howard
Lindsey Ginter	...	Agent Hauser

Storyline

Based off of a one time T.V. show, two Los Angeles S.W.A.T. officers Jim Street and Brian Gamble were sent in to foil an extremely violent bank robbery. Although they thwarted the robbery, they shot a hostage in the process. Street was suspended from S.W.A.T. while Gamble was fired altogether. After 6 months, a veteran S.W.A.T. officer, Daniel Harrelson or "Hondo", is told to assemble a S.W.A.T. team for his division. He chooses other S.W.A.T. officers as well as 3 rookies. However, after they pass the S.W.A.T. training, they receive a message that a French crime boss, known as Alex Montell is trying to escape from prison. This will not be easy to prevent, especially after Montell promises $100 Million to his rescuers.

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Plot Keywords:

swat team | police | hostage | bank robbery | uniform | 

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Taglines:

Even cops dial 911

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for violence, language and sexual references

Details

Official Sites:

Sony [br] Sony Pictures [us]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish French

Release Date:

8 August 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

S.W.A.T. - Unidad especial

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$80,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£1,960,281 (UK) (5 December 2003)

Gross:

£5,274,283 (UK) (9 January 2004)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation, Original Film, Camelot Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The bank used at the beginning of the film was an abandoned building scheduled to be torn down, so the film crew was allowed to shoot at it, tear it apart and do whatever they wanted to. They also had to get over 500 signatures from residents and businesses for permission to fly the helicopters at low altitudes during the SWAT team insertion.

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Goofs

When McCabe and Gamble illegally transport Alex Montel at night alongside a car of his henchmen, the camera pans from right to left between the two moving cars. The shadow of the crane (or "cherry picker") needed to for such a moving shot is clearly visible along the sidewalk.

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Quotes

Capt. Thomas Fuller: The Chief is *making* me take you back. Because he's afraid of losing his best officers to other cities.
Hondo: He thinks that I'm one of his best officers.
Capt. Thomas Fuller: But, he's given me complete oversight, and trust me you have no room for error.
[Looking at the files]
Capt. Thomas Fuller: So, I will give you, Boxer, T.J. McCabe and this new guy, Deacon Kaye. I'm gonna pass up the other 2. Sanchez is a woman and Street, well Street's on my shit list.
Hondo: Hey, *I'm* on your shit list too, and I'm the team leader.
Capt. Thomas Fuller: You work for *me* know, ...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

Director Clark Johnson, who appears in the film briefly as Deke's beat partner, is credited as 'Deke's Handsome Partner'.

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Connections

References Die Another Day (2002)

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Soundtracks

"Oh Shooter"
Written by Robin Thicke, Robert Daniels, James Gass and Bobby B. Keyes
Performed by Thicke
Courtesy of Interscope Records
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

For action fans

'S.W.A.T.' is a movie that does nothing more than deliver. It promises nice action scenes and gives us some. They look pretty good, so I guess in that way I can recommend the movie. The story is, of course, about S.W.A.T., a respected part of the LAPD. We follow a team with leader Hondo (Samuel L. Jackson), Jim Street (Colin Farrell), Sanchez (Michelle Rodriguez), Deke (rapper LL Cool J), Boxer (Brian Van Holt) and T.J. (Josh Charles). They have to deal with a criminal named Alex Montel (Olivier Martinez) who offers 100 million dollars to the people who will help him escape from jail.

The movie opens with Jim Street and his partner Gamble (Jeremy Renner) saving people from bank robbers, but they do that after disobeying an order. Both are punished but Gamble thinks Street has betrayed him so Gamble leaves the fore while Street gets a job out of action. The movie continues six months later, leaving us with the feeling we will hear more from the Gamble-character. We feel correct. These facts, and may be that Street used to date Boxer's sister, are kind of important to know, although every event serves the action or the one-liners that are not that impressive.

Yes, events are implausible, but not in a way they become annoying. For actions fans the movie does exactly what we expect and what we want, entertaining enough. If you are normally not an action fan, only when it is done very good, I should skip 'S.W.A.T.'!