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Swordfish

  • 20012001
  • RR
  • 1h 39m
IMDb RATING
6.5/10
186K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
3,784
403
John Travolta, Don Cheadle, Halle Berry, and Hugh Jackman in Swordfish (2001)
Trailer
Play trailer0:32
3 Videos
99+ Photos
  • Action
  • Crime
  • Thriller
A covert counter-terrorist unit called Black Cell led by Gabriel Shear wants the money to help finance their war against international terrorism, but it's all locked away. Gabriel brings in ... Read allA covert counter-terrorist unit called Black Cell led by Gabriel Shear wants the money to help finance their war against international terrorism, but it's all locked away. Gabriel brings in convicted hacker Stanley Jobson to help him.A covert counter-terrorist unit called Black Cell led by Gabriel Shear wants the money to help finance their war against international terrorism, but it's all locked away. Gabriel brings in convicted hacker Stanley Jobson to help him.
IMDb RATING
6.5/10
186K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
3,784
403
  • Director
    • Dominic Sena
  • Writer
    • Skip Woods
  • Stars
    • John Travolta
    • Hugh Jackman
    • Halle Berry
Top credits
  • Director
    • Dominic Sena
  • Writer
    • Skip Woods
  • Stars
    • John Travolta
    • Hugh Jackman
    • Halle Berry
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 576User reviews
    • 138Critic reviews
    • 32Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 5 wins & 10 nominations

    Videos3

    Swordfish
    Trailer 0:32
    Swordfish
    Swordfish
    Trailer 2:08
    Swordfish
    What Roles Has Hugh Jackman Been Considered For?
    Clip 4:16
    What Roles Has Hugh Jackman Been Considered For?

    Photos190

    John Travolta, Halle Berry, and Hugh Jackman in Swordfish (2001)
    John Travolta, Halle Berry, and Hugh Jackman in Swordfish (2001)
    John Travolta and Halle Berry in Swordfish (2001)
    John Travolta and Hugh Jackman in Swordfish (2001)
    John Travolta and Vinnie Jones in Swordfish (2001)
    John Travolta and Hugh Jackman in Swordfish (2001)
    John Travolta in Swordfish (2001)
    Don Cheadle and Hugh Jackman in Swordfish (2001)
    Hugh Jackman in Swordfish (2001)
    Don Cheadle in Swordfish (2001)
    Halle Berry and Hugh Jackman in Swordfish (2001)
    John Travolta, Halle Berry, and Hugh Jackman in Swordfish (2001)

    Top cast

    Edit
    John Travolta
    John Travolta
    • Gabrielas Gabriel
    Hugh Jackman
    Hugh Jackman
    • Stanleyas Stanley
    Halle Berry
    Halle Berry
    • Gingeras Ginger
    Don Cheadle
    Don Cheadle
    • Robertsas Roberts
    Sam Shepard
    Sam Shepard
    • Senator Reismanas Senator Reisman
    Vinnie Jones
    Vinnie Jones
    • Marcoas Marco
    Drea de Matteo
    Drea de Matteo
    • Melissaas Melissa
    Rudolf Martin
    Rudolf Martin
    • Axl Torvaldsas Axl Torvalds
    Zach Grenier
    Zach Grenier
    • A.D. Joyas A.D. Joy
    Camryn Grimes
    Camryn Grimes
    • Hollyas Holly
    Angelo Pagán
    Angelo Pagán
    • Torresas Torres
    Chic Daniel
    Chic Daniel
    • SWAT Leaderas SWAT Leader
    Kirk B.R. Woller
    Kirk B.R. Woller
    • Lawyeras Lawyer
    Carmen Argenziano
    Carmen Argenziano
    • Agentas Agent
    Tim DeKay
    Tim DeKay
    • Agentas Agent
    Laura Lane
    Laura Lane
    • Helgaas Helga
    Tait Ruppert
    Tait Ruppert
    • Ad Agency Executiveas Ad Agency Executive
    Craig Braun
    Craig Braun
    • Coroneras Coroner
    • Director
      • Dominic Sena
    • Writer
      • Skip Woods
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The dramatic explosion at the start of the film was captured using 135 synchronized still cameras.
    • Goofs
      The $400 million in DEA money is said to have grown, "with interest", to $9.5 billion in 15 years. That would represent a compound interest rate of over 21% per year, which is unrealistic. At 12%, the money would have grown to a little less than $2.4 billion. At a more realistic 6%, it would be about $981 million, or a little over one-tenth of the value claimed in the movie.
    • Quotes

      Gabriel: Have you ever heard of Harry Houdini? Well he wasn't like today's magicians who are only interested in television ratings. He was an artist. He could make an elephant disappear in the middle of a theater filled with people, and do you know how he did that? Misdirection.

      Stanley: What the fuck are you talking about?

      Gabriel: Misdirection. What the eyes see and the ears hear, the mind believes.

    • Crazy credits
      The last credit reads "Final Password: Vernam", which is part of the website game. (See Trivia). A Vernam cypher is a method of encrypting a message.
    • Alternate versions
      Alternate television takes were shot for the scene with Ginger at the pool (she wears a bikini) and where Stanley hacks into the main frame of the Departement of Defense (Helga is not there).
    • Connections
      Featured in Conversations with Jerry Bruckheimer (2000)
    • Soundtracks
      Dark Machine
      Written by Paul Oakenfold and Andy Gray

      Performed by Paul Oakenfold and Christopher Young

      Courtesy of London-Sire Records

    User reviews576

    Review
    Top review
    6/10
    A lot of style and action, little substance
    This movie can be summed up as: lots of very cool action scenes (fans of both bullet time and explosions will really enjoy this), a lot of style, and a standard implausible plot. This movie is very entertaining if you like non-stop action in a cool high-tech environment.

    The ingredients are pretty standard. There's a stylish kick-ass villain (Travolta) with a plan, being a high-tech bank robbery. This is all garnished with lots of weapons, technology, car chases and beautiful women. This movie really delivers on the action front, I don't think there's any 'quiet' scene that lasts more than 2 minutes. It also contains the now standard implausible hacking scenes, where getting into the computer system of a bank involves solving a kind of Rubik's cube on your computer screen. I hope you're not offended by product placement because a certain computer brand is quite prominent when IT hardware is involved in this movie. But it's by far not as obnoxious as in "I, Robot".

    The filming is top-notch, unlike some other movies you can actually see what's happening in the action scenes (which is sometimes due to the amazing slow-down effects in some scenes). Unfortunately the entire plot becomes quite thin when the movie is stripped of all this action and style. However, it works. The ending is rather vague, as if room was left for a sequel without making it too painful if there wouldn't be one after all.

    Overall I would say this is a pretty OK movie, but don't expect the best cinema ever.
    helpful•47
    14
    • DrLex
    • Feb 26, 2007

    FAQ1

    • In what city does the heist take place?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • June 8, 2001 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official sites
      • Official Facebook
      • Official Site (United States)
    • Languages
      • English
      • German
    • Also known as
      • Swordfish_
    • Filming locations
      • Ventura, California, USA
    • Production companies
      • Hollywood Licensing Group
      • Jonathan Krane Group
      • NPV Entertainment
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $102,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $69,772,969
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $18,145,632
      • Jun 10, 2001
    • Gross worldwide
      • $147,080,413
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 39 minutes
    • Sound mix
      • DTS
      • Dolby Digital
      • SDDS
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

    Related news

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