S.W.A.T. on DVD

When a trailer can take a movie with not much action and make it look like an action-packed thrill ride, whoever put the trailer together deserves a kudos and a smack.

We went into S.W.A.T. expecting plenty of action from start to finish, but what we got was an “action” movie all about tactics and procedure. Now, there’s nothing really wrong with that, but we object to being misled.

On the whole, though, we liked it.

S.W.A.T. could probably still be considered an action movie, but only by default. There’s really no other genre in which it could effectively be classified and, to be fair, there are a few action scenes in it.

The movie opens with the Los Angeles S.W.A.T. team infiltrating a bank that has been taken hostage by armed robbers. They manage to foil the robbery, but one of the hostages gets shot, albeit in a non-critical area (not the vault). The two partners (Colin Farrell and Jeremy Renner) are yelled at, one gets kicked off the force altogether, and the other is bumped down to almost nothing.

But when wisecracking Sgt. Hondo (Samuel L. Jackson minus the usual intensity) comes back to recruit a S.W.A.T. team of young, hip, ass-kickers, BLAH BLAH (Farrell) is back in, as well as Deke Kaye (LL Cool J) and Chris Sanchez (Michelle Rodriguez). The training begins, but when a drug kingpin offers $100 million to anyone who gets him out of jail, they’re thrust into action sooner than expected.

Despite the fact that there’s not nearly as much action as it hints at, or as we wanted, S.W.A.T. still manages to be a thoroughly enjoyable romp. It has a great cast that all fit their roles to a T, and the lack of action is made up for by the other elements. Director Clark Johnson wanted a more realistic action movie, so the characters all act as they likely would in real life situations, instead of just barging into every scenario with guns blazing and leaving with explosions following.

It’s a nice change, but it’s also not as exciting as a good old fashioned car chase.

S.W.A.T. is a bit different, so go in with an open mind don’t worry: the really good stuff will start soon and make it worthwhile.

One of the seven thousand action movies of summer 2003 to become a hit, S.W.A.T. grossed over $100 million on a modest summer blockbuster budget of only $70 million.

Columbia Tristar has put together a nice little special edition worthy of such a film. Presented in the increasingly more popular aspect ratio of 2.40:1 anamorphic widescreen (16x9 enhanced), the picture quality looks great, with rich, bright colors, excellent fleshtones, and no grain whatsoever.

The audio, in Dolby Digital 5.1, is even better, with some of the most consistent surround use we’ve heard in a while. From the opening scene, there are gunshots heard from every speaker, helicopters that you’d swear were in the room with you, and various other sound effects that make you feel like a part of the action. There are some good front-to-rear and side-to-side pans, and excellent channel separation.

For extras, Samuel L. Jackson, James Todd Smith (aka LL Cool J), Brian Van Holt, Josh Charles, Jeremy Renner, Michelle Rodriquez and Clark Johnson get together for an audio commentary, while Ron Mita (story), Jim MacLean (story), David Ayer (screenwriter) and David McKenna (screenwriter) provide another.

The cast and director commentary is a hoot, with everyone having a great time and letting Johnson handle the technical portions. The second commentary isn’t as fun, but the group still appears to be enjoying themselves, and there’s a lot more to learn, particularly from the screenwriters. There are four short featurettes on the disc: “6th Street Bridge,” which shows how they managed to land a plane on a long, fairly narrow bridge; “Anatomy of a Shootout,” which focuses on the opening sequence; “S.W.A.T. – TV’s Original Super Cops,” which is all about the original TV show on which the movie is based; and “The Making of S.W.A.T.,” which is mostly PR and doesn’t actually tell you much.

There are a few deleted scenes, which are actually pretty good, though it’s easy to see why they were cut, a gag reel, a “Sound and Fury” feature, and a bunch of trailers.

S.W.A.T., from Columbia Tristar Home Entertainment
117 minutes, anamorphic widescreen (2.40:1) 16x9 enhanced, Dolby Digital 5.1
Starring Samuel L. Jackson, Colin Farrell, Michelle Rodriquez, LL Cool J, Brian Van Holt, Jeremy Renner, Josh Charles and Olivier Martinez
Produced by Neal H. Moritz, Dan Halsted, Chris Lee
Screenplay by David Ayer and David McKenna, Directed by Clark Johnson

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