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S.W.A.T.
Director:
Clark Johnson
Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Colin Farrell, Michelle Rodriguez, James Todd Smith, Jeremy Renner, Josh Charles.
 In the line of police dramas comes the film S.W.A.T. based on the 1970s television series. This fast-paced action film with
its element of real human drama in the action scenes, will appeal to audiences satiated with
an overdose of graphics and special effects. The film is directed by Clark Johnson, who's directed episodes of
television series like 'NYPD Blue' and 'The Shield'.
S.W.A.T. (Special Weapons And Tactics Team) is an elite unit consisting of cops drawn from the Los Angeles Police force, and expertly trained to handle special
tactical situations under pressure. The story opens when S.W.A.T members Street (Farrell) and Gamble (Renner) are thrown off the team following a controversial decision they made during a bank robbery.
While Street bides his time hoping to redeem himself one day, Gamble quits the force in disgust. Street is given a second chance when Sergeant Honda (Jackson), assigned to recruit five cops for his new S.W.A.T. team, chooses Street and four other cops, one of them a woman (Michelle Rodriguez).
The real S.W.A.T. incidentally, has no female members in
its team. The team has to go through strenuous training and counter mock challenges, like an airline hijacking. Their real
testing time comes when Alex Montel (Olivier Martinez), a mobster wanted by Interpol, tries to escape as he's transported to prison.
The wily Alex's announcement that he would pay a
$ 100 million to anyone who would free him, attracts the city's gangsters. And so also the disgruntled Gamble. Gamble heads the rescue team of Alex, is one up on the S.W.A.T. team, aware of how it functions. But he hadn't reckoned with the grit and tenacity of the S.W.A.T team.
One of the adrenalin pumping scenes in the film is the action packed finale where a Lear jet lands on a bridge (the scene was shot on the 3,000-feet 6th Street Bridge in Los Angeles) and there's a shoot-out between the S.W.A.T. team and the Alex gang. Lovers of the action genre would surely not like to miss this film.
Malini Mannath
Published on 24th Nov, 2003
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