Former master hacker Stanley Jobson (Hugh Jackman) is on parole after getting caught infiltrating an FBI program. Even so much as glancing at a computer could send him straight back to prison, but Stanley’s new offline life is interrupted when he’s approached by the mysterious Gabriel Shear (John Travolta), who offers him $10 million for one last hacking job. Unable to resist the lure of the computer screen, Stanley accepts and finds himself caught in the middle of a complex web of intrigue involving several covert agencies and a nine billion-dollar government slush fund. Slick, stylish and action-packed, Swordfish is a nail-biting high-tech thriller from its explosive opening to its thrilling climax, with a great supporting cast including Halle Berry, Don Cheadle and Vinnie Jones.
What We Thought:
I always thought I had seen Swordfish before, but after watching this new 4K release from Arrow Video, it turns out I hadn’t. There’s a famous scene with Halle Berry everyone from that time period remembers, but the film ended up being new to me. Released in 2001, it’s already painfully dated and out of touch.
If you aren’t familiar with the film or haven’t seen it in a long time, Hugh Jackman plays a hacker trying to keep clean. Halle Berry finds him and offers him a job with John Travolta. Jackman thinks it’s something he can make some quick money with to take care of his daughter, but Travolta is much bigger than he realizes. It’s about stealing money, but there is terrorism and politics involved and because of that, the story feels dated.
The film came out in June of 2001, which is pre-9/11. Terrorism and state sponsored proxy wars weren’t things the average American viewer thought about at the time. Now after 20+ years of the Global War on Terror, using money to fund wars is daily news. The idea of stealing hidden rollover money to fund terrorism was probably groundbreaking when they were writing the movie, but the events just months after its release changed the world and our political climate.
The technology and effects also date the movie. Jackman is a hacker so all his hacking scenes are just him typing fast. That was such a cliché of the 1990s/early 2000s, in order to hack you had to type fast. The special effects are quite bad by today’s standards as well. There’s an explosion scene outside a bank that uses slow motion and scenery rotation that looks bad. Same for the bus attached to the helicopter scene. The Matrix came out two years earlier, but looks way more groundbreaking and holds up way better.
Hugh Jackman had just made a name for himself as Wolverine in X-Men prior to this. Halle Berry had a strong career going and would win an Oscar for a different film in the same year. Swordfish might have been the first peek at John Travolta doing some terrible work though. The movie isn’t straight-to-video bad, but Travolta’s performance did earn him a Razzie nomination. Watching it today they clearly thought they had made the next big thing, but two weeks later The Fast and the Furious was released and became the next big thing. It feels very much like a film of the time with a soundtrack featuring Paul Oakenfold and special effects they hoped would “wow” audiences. Looking at its box office take it didn’t hit the way they were hoping either. I’m sure there are fans out there and the 4K release comes with some great bonus features so if you are a fan, you’ll enjoy this new release.
Bonus Features:
- 4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS
- 4K Ultra HD (2160p) Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
- Original lossless stereo and 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio options
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Audio commentary by director Dominic Sena
- Soundtrack Hacker, a brand new interview with composer Paul Oakenfold
- How to Design a Tech Heist, a brand new interview with production designer Jeff Mann
- HBO First Look: Swordfish, a promotional behind-the-scenes featurette
- Effects in Focus: The Flying Bus, a promotional featurette detailing how the film’s iconic climactic scene was created
- Planet Rock Club Reel, a music video by the film’s co-composer Paul Oakenfold
- Swordfish: In Conversation, a promotional featurette with interviews from cast and crew members including actors Hugh Jackman, John Travolta, Halle Berry, Don Cheadle and Sam Shepard, director Dominic Sena, and producer Joel Silver
- Two alternate endings
- Theatrical trailer
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tommy Pocket
- Double-sided fold-out poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tommy Pocket
- Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Priscilla Page and an article from American Cinematographer about the film’s opening sequence
The Nerds Templar 