Swordfish
Published January 17, 2025
Film info
- Title Swordfish
- Director Dominic Sena
- Year 2001
- Run time 1hr 39m
- Genres Thriller, Crime, Action
- Tagline Log on. Hack in. Go anywhere. Steal everything.
In this stylish techno-thriller with pulse-pounding action, a charismatic mystery man recruits Stan, a master hacker, to steal billions from a secret government bank account. But an FBI computer crimes specialist is determined to find out what's about to go down and plans to enlist Stan's help.
Live blog
| Time | Comment |
|---|---|
| 3:09 | Any John Travolta monologue is a great way to start a movie. |
| 11:13 | Do they let people walk around when taken back by security? |
| 14:01 | “This is not a nice place you got here, Stan. I’ve been here five minutes, I already feel sorry for myself.” |
| 21:59 | “You work for the guy, you don’t know his name?” Surely not that unusual in these seedy circles. |
| 26:14 | Halle has been styled like Sonic the Hedgehog in this movie. |
| 28:03 | Haha, 128 bit encryption. Cute. |
| 40:31 | How did he know the kid had been forgotten and left at school? |
| 49:40 | TRIPLE espresso. Oof. |
| 56:13 | Coding montage. |
| 1:00:45 | You can’t just shout learn at someone and that help them know how gears work. |
| 1:14:38 | The little CD drawer whirring back in. Not threatening at all. |
| 1:20:57 | Bus at the airport, hostages, it’s just like Speed. |
| 1:26:15 | Who would have imagined hauling a bus away by helicopter wouldn’t go smoothly? |
Thoughts
This is such a 90s film, despite being made early in the next decade. It’s like a teenage fantasy brought to life, particularly the somewhat gratuitous nudity and unexpected blowjobs. It’s nonsense and over-the-top and entirely unplausable… but somehow still a lot of fun. The iconic scene of them rolling down a mountain for what feels like hours, only to walk away unscathed at the bottom!
Really, the only complaint is that this has been on many lists of great hacking films but really there’s not a lot of hacking in it. One short montage of Hugh Jackman creating a cube and shouting at the screens, and then a snippet of what looked like actual code, but otherwise it’s more action than typing. But still, a good one to have ticked off the list!
Rating: 3 / 5