S.W.A.T.

"You're either S.W.A.T. or you're not."

2003 1h 57m EN

😐

6.2

MID

🥫

48%

ROTTEN

😬

METACRITIC

⭐

6.1

IMDB

★6.2TMDB · 2,804🥫48%Rotten Tomatoes●45Metacritic★6.1IMDB · 159,306

ActionThrillerCrime

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Hondo Harrelson recruits Jim Street to join an elite unit of the Los Angeles Police Department. Together they seek out more members, including tough Deke Kay and single mom Chris Sanchez. The team's first big assignment is to escort crime boss Alex Montel to prison. It seems routine, but when Montel offers a huge reward to anyone who can break him free, criminals of various stripes step up for the prize.

“You're either S.W.A.T. or you're not.”

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Cast

Samuel L. Jackson
Sgt. Dan 'Hondo' Harrelson
Colin Farrell
Jim Street
Michelle Rodriguez
Chris Sanchez
LL Cool J
Deacon 'Deke' Kaye
Josh Charles
T.J. McCabe
Jeremy Renner
Brian Gamble
Brian Van Holt
Michael Boxer
Olivier Martinez
Alex Montel

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Clark Johnson
Writers: David Ayer, David McKenna, Ron Mita
Languages: English, Spanish, French
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Mid-budget at $80M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 23 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 3 languages: English, Spanish, French.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "S.W.A.T. Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CAST

Did you know

269+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Clark Johnson, shot by Gabriel Beristain. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Original score by Elliot Goldenthal. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Michael Tronick shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Clark Johnson directs. Gabriel Beristain behind the camera. Elliot Goldenthal scores. Michael Tronick cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, Spanish, French.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Mid-budget at $80M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.
2Released 23 years ago.
3Dialogue crosses 3 languages: English, Spanish, French.
4Part of the "S.W.A.T. Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
5269+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
6Directed by Clark Johnson, shot by Gabriel Beristain. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by Elliot Goldenthal. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor Michael Tronick shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Samuel L. Jackson and Colin Farrell and Michelle Rodriguez carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "You're either S.W.A.T. or you're not.".
11IMDB entry: tt0257076 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
12Released under 13 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Gabriel Beristain
Original score: Elliot Goldenthal
Editing: Michael Tronick
Production design: Mayne Berke
Costume design: Christopher Lawrence
Makeup / hair: Deborah La Mia Denaver
VFX supervisor: Ray McIntyre Jr.
Sound: Paul N.J. Ottosson
Stunt coordinator: M. James Arnett
Runtime: 117 min · 1h 57m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $80,000,000
Box office: $207,700,000
Return: 260% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: S.W.A.T. (2003)
Rotten Tomatoes: 48% 🥫 Rotten
Metacritic: 45/100
IMDB rating: 6.1/10 · 159,306 votes
MPAA: PG-13

Awards

5 wins & 5 nominations total

Part of

S.W.A.T. Collection

An action film series centered around a Special Weapons And Tactics (S.W.A.T.) team. S.W.A.T. is a 2003 American action-crime-thriller film directed by Clark Johnson, and is based on the 1975 television series of the same name. It stars Samuel L. Jackson, Colin Farrell, Michelle Rodriguez, LL Cool J, and Jeremy Renner. It was produced by Neal H. Moritz and released in the United States on August 8, 2003. In 2011, a direct to video sequel called S.W.A.T.: Firefight was released. None of the main actors reprised their roles.

Also by

Clark Johnson

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2014-09-25
★ 6/10
Competent actioner. S.W.A.T. is neither here nor there, in that if it was made ten years earlier it would in all probability be better thought of. The problem is that there is such a long line of action movies that entertain without pushing the boat out, some, like S.W.A.T., throw a good cast list at it and hope that carries the film through, others just go over the top with the pyrotechnics and think that is job done. Abandon hope of something fresh and exhilaratingly kinetic and S.W.A.T. passes muster. The plot of S.W.A.T. basically sees Samuel L. Jackson put in charge of a crack team of five cops with attitude and guts. Their main mission, after all the training and baring out of character's respective traits and psychological make-ups, is to ensure an imprisoned drug kingpin doesn't get broken out of jail after said scum-bag offers a huge cash reward to anyone that can break him out of said police custody. Cue crash, bangs, double-crosses and a face from the past coming back into the picture after being telegraphed by an incident that opens the film. Along with Sam are Colin Farrell, Michelle Rodriguez, LL Cool J, Josh Charles and Brian Van Holt. Oliver Martinez slips into the slimy villain shoes and Jeremy Renner does another one of his unhinged characterisations. Director Clark Johnson never breaks free of his TV roots, because the film often feels like a glorified TV episode, but his action construction is competent and he has decent actors to keep the film from sinking down among the dead men. Competent is the key word here, it's a decent time waster for the action movie fan, but really it feels like the action movie hadn't advanced much from the previous decade. A shame because there was much potential in the story. 6/10

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