Editor Reviews:

Product Description:
A $9-billion payday. If they can hack it. A sinister mastermind and his elite criminal crew attempt the catch of a lifetime: the daring cyberheist of a government slush fund code-named swordfish. Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 12/09/2008 Starring: John Travolta Halle Berry Run time: 99 minutes Rating: R Director: Dominic Sena

Amazon.com:
Swordfish is a superficial movie, so let's address the superficial facts: Halle Berry was well paid to bare her breasts in this gratuitous cyber-action thriller, and while Berry's many fans will enjoy a cheap drool at the actress's expense, her brief topless scene doesn't justify this insipid parade of glossy violence from the director of 2000's Gone in 60 Seconds. Add yet another notch in John Travolta's bad-movie belt, and you've got Hollywood bankruptcy in full blossom. Go ahead, marvel at director Dominic Sena's biggest money shot--a 360-degree pan as a robbery hostage is blown to bits by a bomb that pelts a surrounding SWAT squad with deadly ball bearings.

The plot, as if it matters: Travolta's a slick, self-appointed antiterrorist who recruits a top-flight computer hacker (Hugh Jackman) to transfer a $9.5 billion government slush fund into a cluster of secret accounts. Berry's the curvaceous bait who lures Jackman into the scheme; Don Cheadle's an FBI agent hot on their tails; and an obligatory subplot turns Jackman's daughter (Camryn Grimes) into an innocent bargaining chip. By the time a hostage transport bus is airlifted in the film's not-so-thrilling climax, Swordfish will hold your passive attention or put you to sleep--it all depends on your tolerance for Sena's brand of derivative bloodlust. It's pornography of a sort, and efficiently mechanical, but you can bet good money that Berry and her costars didn't cash their paychecks proudly. --Jeff Shannon

Rating : - Trying to be cool
This is a seriously flawed movie. It so wants to be cool, but misses the target by a long way. Sure its fits the critera of a high octane movie, but it has no soul. That said, for its time (2001) its not without intelligence. The concept of external non-government privately run organisations in the U.S. being involved in taking out terrorists etc is now a virtual fact (Blackwater).

Furthermore Travolta IS cool, especially in the riveting opening sequence. Halle Berry looks great and overall Hugh Jackman probably gives the best acting performance. But these plus points are spoilt by an over-reliance on car-chases, explosions and gun fights. This has all been done before and so much better, and with a lot more style. See Michael Mann's Heat for one.

Overall then its an average, but hugely overblown blockbuster. If you like that sort of thing thats fine, and if its cheap you'll probably buy it. I would rent first...