S.W.A.T. [2003]

I guess that now, after ten years, I can say what a blast from a past! Shot at the pinnacle of the second coming of police dramas and best of the best flicks, S.W.A.T. is an entertaining action movie, well structured, scripted and above all with an excellent cast. This is one of those movies that you play when you wanna be absolutely sure that you will be entertained. Directed by Meldrick, oops I mean Clark Johnson, S.W.A.T is a combustive movie, that toys with your heart, but eventually wins it. I would like to see more movies that have the same premise, where you have a certain problem and then you ensemble a group of best of the best and then deal with the problem in a massive shootout. Recently we had the opportunity to check Gangster Squad that had the similar, if not the exactly same story but this time set in the thirties. S.W.A.T. walks a thin line between reality and fiction, with scenes that are a bit far fetched but it comes back with really good, realistic ones, so all in all I should cut the crap and skip directly to the synopsis.

Jim Street and Brian Gamble are one of the best members of a Los Angeles S.W.A.T. team, and also very good friends, but after one faithful bank robbery the differences between the two of them will come to the spotlight. During the robbery, Gamble disobeyed orders and decided to move into the bank, against the orders of his superiors, and Street being a good friend followed him. Eventually they were able to save the hostages, but they must suffer the consequences of their disobedience. While Street was demoted, Gamble was forced out of the police and promptly disappeared on the streets of L.A. Six months later, Street is still working in the armory, one of the dullest jobs available in the force, but thats all about to change when the bosses decide to form a special S.W.A.T. squad comprised of the best people available and a couple of rookies. And they timed it perfectly, since a captured criminal Alex Montell offered $100 Million to whoever rescues him from prison…

P.S. Note two rising stars (Colin and Renner) and one constant (SLJ)

Director: Clark Johnson

Writers:  Robert Hamner, Ron Mita, Jim McClain, David Ayer, David McKenna

Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Colin Farrell, Michelle Rodriguez, LL Cool J, Jeremy Renner, Olivier Martinez, Reed Diamond

Fun Facts: The SWAT Officers who deliver the secure phone at the beginning of the film in the bank robbery scene were actual LAPD SWAT Officers who were on scene as technical advisors for the film, and got to put on their uniforms and do it “for fun”.

Rating:

IMDb Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0257076/