Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8574 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-04-26
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Dubbed, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English, French, Spanish
• Subtitled in: Arabic, Bulgarian, Croatian, Danish, English, Finnish, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Icelandic, Italian, Norwegian, Romanian, Swedish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 112 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Samuel L Jackson and Colin Farrell swagger through S.W.A.T., a guns-and-big-trucks macho extravaganza based on the 1970s TV show of the same name, in which police teams are brought in to take care of extremely dangerous situations. Jackson plays a sergeant brought out of retirement to form a new squad, which includes rebellious Farrell and tough babe Michelle Rodriguez.

After a lot of training and head-butting with a smarmy police captain, the squad gets assigned to transfer the head of a European crime cartel (Olivier Martinez) who's declared on television that he'll give $100 million to anyone who gets him out. Every scumbag in Los Angeles descends to claim the money, turning a routine transfer into a bullet-filled gauntlet. Despite some gaps in logic and a generic flavour, S.W.A.T. will satisfy most action-movie junkies. --Bret Fetzer

DVD Description
They're the best of the best, the elite of law enforcement. And they've been recruited for their most dangerous mission ever. From the Producers of The Fast and the Furious and xXx, this explosive action thriller stars Academy Award nominee Samuel L. Jackson (1995, Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Pulp Fiction), Colin Farrell (Phone Booth, Minority Report), Michelle Rodriguez (Blue Crush, The Fast and the Furious), and LL Cool J (Charlie's Angels, Deep Blue Sea). Harrelson (Jackson) is assigned to recruit and train five top-notch cops for a new Special Weapons and Tactics unit (S.W.A.T.). After weeks of demanding physical training the new S.W.A.T. team is quickly thrown into action after the notorious drug lord Alex Montel (Oliver Martinez), audaciously offers a $100 million bounty to anyone who can free him from police custody. But as they escort the kingpin out of Los Angeles and into the hands of the Feds, their mission is compromised by a ruthless, heavily armed band of mercenaries.

Special Features

• 2 commentaries including Director and Cast
  
• 8 Deleted Scenes
  
• Anatomy of a Shootout featurette
  
• S.W.A.T., TV's original Super Cops featurette
  
• Making of S.W.A.T. featurette
  
• Blooper reel
  
• Filmographies
  
• Theatrical trailer

DVD Technical Information:

• Subtitles: Arabic, Bulgarian, Croatian, Danish, English, Finnish, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Icelandic, Italian, Norwegian, Romanian, Serbian, Slovenian, Swedish
  
• Language: English, Italian
  
• Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
  
• Running Time: 112 minutes
  
• Aspect Ratio: Anamorphic - 1:2.40
  
• Disc Format: DVD-9

Customer Reviews

enjoyable
and it doesn't disgrace the original tv series, unlike most.

I watched the original series when I was a child, it was shown late at night and I can vividly remember waking to the sound of the siren at the start of the show and by the time the theme music stopped I was dangling over the edge of the banister on the stairs, looking through the open door at the tv screen. Ah bliss.

Samuel L Jackson plays Lt (now Sgt) Dan 'Hondo' Harrelson (previously played by Steve Forrest, who makes a special guest appearance at the end of the film as the SWAT driver);

Colin Farrell plays Jim Street (who was played by the late great Robert Urich in the series);

Rod Perry makes a special guest appearance in the bar after the team successfully pass the course, his part of David Deacon 'Deke' Kay is played by LL Cool J aka James Todd Smith;

TJ McCabe (previously played by James Coleman) is now played by the very underrated Josh Charles;

The character of Dominic Luca (played by Mark Shera) has been made into 2 separate characters - Michael Boxer (played by Brian Van Holt) and Chris Sanchez (played by Michael Rodriguez). I found the Sanchez character unnecessary to the story.

For some strange reason Coleman and Shera are the only survivors from the original SWAT team not to be asked to appear in a blink and you'll miss them moment guest star moments. In fact Coleman comments on this on the review for the series box set on the amazon.com site. The series (for anyone who is interested is only available in the US on region 1, but it is not embedded so will play on my hp computer).

The plot is split into two main parts - Street's fall from grace when he follows friend and partner Brian Gamble (Jeremy Renner) into a hostage situation where orders are not followed and Gamble ends up shooting a hostage on live tv. Then there is Harrelson - Harrelson is old school and is brought in to set up his own SWAT team as a bit of good publicity for the LA police department. The trouble is that Harrelson and his boss (Capt Thomas Fuller - Larry Poindexter) have a past. It is this team development that takes up the first part of the film.

The second part of the film involves the discovery that the police have been holding the wanted head of a crime cartel called Alex Montel (Olivier Martinez). Harrelson and his newly formed SWAT team are assigned to transport the wanted man to Federal holdup add to this the fact that Alex offers 100 million dollars to anyone who can help him escape and so the fun starts.

I'll admit now that I am not a fan of either Farrell or Jackson but this is a film that I completely enjoyed, and I've watched it a number of times without tiring of it. A 5 star piece of escapism that may make me change my mind about Farrell and Jackson.

It's nice to see that we have a mass of extras with this dvd which makes a nice change.

Enjoyable action film
I must admit that I'm not a big fan of action films, but I found S.W.A.T. enjoyable and entertaining.

It is carried along well by engaging performances from Samuel L. Jackson and Colin Farrell. The film delivers plenty of highly charged action. This is nicely balanced with the time we spend getting to know the newly formed S.W.A.T. team, as we follow them through their training and ultimately as they work to accomplish their mission.
There is also a short sequence where we see what the team members do on their day off which adds an albeit brief insight into their characters. Dotted throughout the film are a few lighter hearted moments, should the tension of life as a S.W.A.T. officer be too much.

Not a particularly thought provoking film but very watchable nonetheless.

Mindless Action Flick
S.W.A.T. is a typical summer action movie - several big set pieces with little coherent plot or character development. As such, it succeeds fairly well. Samuel L. Jackson stars as the team head, Sgt. Hondo, who returns to the force to help burnish the tarnished image of the Los Angeles S.W.A.T. He assembles a team of misfits, including Colin Farrell and Michelle Rodriquez, and LL Cool J. The team trains and is thrown into the field just as an international crime figure (Olivier Martinez) is captured in LA and is to be transported to a remote dessert prison. This transport mission is complicated greatly when the fugitive offers $100 million to anyone who can free him.

The movie features a few good action scenes, including a Lear jet trying to take off from a bridge, and the dialogue includes a few funny jokes. However, S.W.A.T. never gains much traction, largely because of the generic characters and plot. TV director Clark Johnson (The Shield, Third Watch) helms, and his apparent lack of vision is a major debit. With such a great cast, a good basic plot idea, and a large budget, S.W.A.T. should have been fantastic, but it ends up being a disappointment that will likely be forgotten quickly.

Extras: A potentially fun commentary track with the director and cast (sans Colin Farrel) goes nowhere as the director obviously recorded his commentary separately from the cast. The result is a disjointed and joyless commentary track.