4/5 Swordfish
  by Gilberto Fontanez (new york)
Great movie everyone does an excellent job u feel tension almost right away and will find yourself glued to this movie to see what happens.

5/5 Wow! What a great first 5 minutes!
  by Jim Gateley (Sunnyvale, CA)
5 of 5 stars for this exciting suspense movie. The first 5 minutes of the movie is an amazing set of scenes acting as a kick-start for this high-tension, suspenseful action movie. Right down to the little ball-bearing rolling towards to camera covered in blood--amazing effects!

Travolta's character is truly evil--calm, cool, collected but evil. Frankly, he is really a terrorist trying to sway events using violence. Ruthlessly cold, he doesn't mind killing people to get his way. For his purposes, he needs a top-class computer hacker (Jackman) who he recruits via Halle Berry's character.

Thru the whole movie, there are twists and turns. Travolta even makes a speech to Jackman about how Harry Hudini did his tricks "mis-direction"! Several times, you learn things are not as they appeared to mis-direct efforts. Travolta is in total control.

Lots of action scenes, chases, explosions, machine guns, RPGs, etc. The ending scenes have several surprise twists; remember, mis-direction!

3/5 First Viewing Was A 'Blast'
  by Craig Connell (Lockport, NY USA)
John Travolta as "Gabriel Shear" was riveting as an anti-terrorist terrorist. The early explosion scene where people are flying sideways is awesome, particularly in the sound department if you have surround system. Oh, and yes, Halle Berry and her figure was on display in this film and quite a sight. Wowzer!

Some of this script is a takeoff on Dog Day Afternoon, which Travolta's character re-enacts a role from that famous '70s film. "Shear" talks about that movie during the film.

A few warnings: there is so much computer terminology that I was lost. However, if you find yourself in a similar spot, take heart because that that ends after that first 30 minutes and is no longer a problem. The film also has a strong left-wing bias (wow, what a shock), but it's still fun for at least one viewing. After that, it loses its appeal.

5/5 A Great Mix
  by Nathan Thomas (Melbourne, Florida)
More action movies like this should be made. Outstanding cast. Travola at his best. It seems that he had a string of movies that established him as a super star. Too bad he is not making more.

3/5 "Log on. Hack in. Go anywhere. Steal everything"
  by Sebastian Sanjurjo (Miami FL)
It seems to me that after "The Matrix" hundreds of movies came out trying to mimic the success of it. Either simply by creating slow motion sequences, or by actually establishing a "wana be" plot. Here in this mess of a movie we get a semi-interesting plot that is converted into an over glossed picture. Every scene in this movie looks like it was taken from "the matrix" not in the action so much, but rather in the picture quality. The frames and angles look very similar to it. Interestingly they add credits that also resemble "the matrix".

In Swordfish we have Gabriel Shear (John Travolta) a terrorist/Bank Robber. Shear is interested in some weird way to help our nation maintain its cycle of war...to help somehow. I don't know it's weird. What I do know is that he needs a man named Stan (Hugh Jackman) to help him create a worm. This worm will be placed electronically inside a computer to steal 9,500 million dollars. Along with this we have undercover DEA agents, a custody battle and alot more filer to continue this mess.

The issue here is that the plot is silly, that they try to make it interesting. The only way they knew how was to create similar contrast in picture quality to "the Matrix" even adding lines that sound like it come from there. In a scene, a character says "He exists in a world beyond your world. What we only fantasize, he does. He lives a life where nothing is beyond him. Ok... is it just me or this kind of sounds like "Morpheus". No?

The plot could have been handled if they gave the audience some incentive on how exactly the hacking procedure works. Instead we see them clicking and clicking there keyboards over and over, accepting there cyber talk, which makes the viewer think the movie is somewhat smart...when in fact it isn't. The twist is so stupid...yeah sure, a little creative, but to far fetch. The twist was a manageable way to hide the irrelevant action scenes and stupid heist that barely makes any sence. Travolta however, as always, plays the baddie as we want him to. It's just feels as if they took a rotten apple and over shined it, so it could seem intelligent and creative...it's just a dumb tech action movie. Rent, not buy.

MY PERSONAL RATING: 3 OUT OF 5