Some movies age like a fine wine, and some age like milk. Swordfish has aged like good weed (not that I would know or anything). It was a dependable option for a good buzz 24 years ago, but if you toke on it today, the effects might blow your mind a little bit. Sure, it’s corny; the computer jargon is wholesale ridiculous, and it has a few extraneous action beats that smell like studio notes. On the flip side: The cast is terrific, the score by Christopher Young and Paul Oakenfold is jazzily unique, and it never overstays its welcome with a lean 99 minute run time. It’s a refreshingly unpretentious action film that also manages to be somewhat prophetic with the benefit of 20-20 modern hindsight. With that being said, it’s no Demolition Man, even if both movies begin with spectacular explosions.
Swordfish opens with John Travolta, sporting another in a long line of obnoxiously epic hair styles, speaking directly into the camera: “You know what the problem with Hollywood is? They make shit. Unbelievable, unremarkable shit.” He then goes on a rant about the realms of conventional cinema, diving deep into Dog Day Afternoon, and even describing many of the twists and tropes Swordfish itself will relish in. It’s a sharp, self-aware, and well-written monologue, expertly delivered by Travolta from the screenplay by Skip Woods, and it segues into a beautiful reveal that this conversation over coffee is happening in the midst of a hostile bank robbery. Over a dozen hostages have been wrapped with C4 and radio dog collars that tether them to the bank where they work. Holy crap, right? Then it climaxes in a special effects explosion that still dazzles the eyes and ears to this day. At that time, this bullet time effect was the single most complex render in the history of Warner Brothers. There are so many layers and composites, even the effects team lost track of what was real and what was animated. It’s a truly phenomenal opening, basically perfect, and director Dominic Sena has the impossible task of making the rest of the movie just as impactful and compelling. It never is, but you have to give them credit for trying. They even throw Halle Berry’s breasts at us for leverage.
Like those aforementioned boobs, the most surprising elements of Swordfish come in a pair: Its villain's motivation, especially relative to its release date, and a passing line of exposition that’s uttered in a moment of heated debate. Chew popcorn at the wrong time and you could miss it.
For the first bit, we can go to the movie’s IMDb synopsis: “A covert counter-terrorist unit called Black Cell led by Gabriel Shear (Travolta) wants money to help finance their war against international terrorism, but it’s all locked away. Gabriel brings in convicted hacker Stanley Jobson (Hugh Jackman) to help him.” Let’s put on our Morpheus meme hats: “What if I told you that Swordfish was released in June of 2001?” Yes, you read that correctly. This film predicted the “War on Terror,” which was all about “bringing the war to them.” Swordfish was even briefly pulled from theaters in Britain after 9-11, due to its subject matter.
The second surprise is a line of dialogue dropped by Hugh Jackman’s cyber hacker, who totally isn’t named for Apple’s founder Steve Jobs, right? After a frenetic handheld foot chase involving the agent who had him thrown in prison for two years (Don Cheadle), subsequently losing him custody of his daughter, Stanley admits the reason he committed the crime that got him arrested is because of an unconstitutional government program designed to snoop on the private correspondence of every American. If that doesn’t ring a few dozen bells, you may have been asleep the last 25 years, or if you’re just on the young side, Google “The Patriot Act.”
Aside from these two astonishing coincidences, Swordfish may not be great, but it’s certainly entertaining, and this new 4K transfer from Arrow really makes it shine. The cinematography by Paul Cameron went against the monotone grain that was in vogue at the time, especially in the wake of The Matrix and Saving Private Ryan, and this transfer brings out a vibrant lushness that was sorely lacking in the early 2000s. Watch this as a double feature with 2010’s The Losers, purely for the cinematography, and you’ll see how ahead of the game Swordfish was, even during a time when digital color grading was in its infancy.
Dominic Sena was definitely a much more prolific music video director than a film director. His Gone in 60 Seconds remake was ultimately forgettable, and his career dove six feet under and pulled the dirt in after it after his disastrous second collaboration with Nicolas Cage in 2011, Season of the Witch. He literally hasn’t directed since, not even a music video. It’s too bad he didn’t cash it in after Swordfish, because relative to his small filmography, this would be the high note I would have chosen to go out on.
- Blake O. Kleiner