S.W.A.T. is a 2003 American action-crime-thriller film
directed by Clark Johnson, and is based on the 1975 television series of the
same name. It stars Samuel L. Jackson, Colin Farrell, Michelle Rodriguez, LL
Cool J. It was produced by Neal H. Moritz and released in the United States on
August 8, 2003.
Story:
Jim Street (Colin Farrell), a former U.S. Navy SEAL and
hot-shot cop from the Los Angeles Police Department and his SWAT team are sent
to stop a gang of robbers who have taken over a bank. His high-tempered partner
and close friend Brian Gamble (Jeremy Renner) disobeys an order to not fire on
the bank robbers, and accidentally wounds a hostage in the process. Gamble and
Street are demoted by Captain Fuller (Larry Poindexter), the commander of the
LAPD Metropolitan Division. Gamble quits following the argument with Fuller,
and Street is taken off the team and sent to work in the "gun cage",
where he looks after the gear and weaponry. Six months after the incident, the
chief of police calls on Sergeant Daniel "Hondo" Harrelson (Samuel L.
Jackson) to help re-organize the SWAT division. Hondo puts together a diverse
team, including himself, Street, Christina Sánchez (Michelle Rodriguez), Deacon
Kaye (LL Cool J), TJ McCabe (Josh Charles), and Michael Boxer (Brian Van Holt).
The team members train together, eventually forging bonds of friendship. As a
result, their first mission to subdue an unstable gunman is a success.
Meanwhile, French drug lord Alexander Montel (Olivier
Martinez) arrives in Los Angeles and goes to a local restaurant to kill his
uncle for holding back the family money from him. While driving to the airport,
Uniformed LAPD personnel stop Montel for a broken taillight and later detain
him to get a full positive I.D. on him; learning through Interpol that he is an
international fugitive wanted in over a dozen countries. But as Montel is being
transferred to prison, his associates, dressed as LAPD officers, attempt to
rescue him as he rides the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department bus. Hondo's
team arrives in time to kill the two gunmen and recapture Alexander. As the
SWAT team approaches the police station, reporters crowd around them, prompting
Montel to yell to the cameras that he would "give 100 million dollars to
whoever gets [him] out of here". The LAPD makes plans to transfer Montel
into federal custody. They initially plan for travel by air, but a mysterious
attacker shoots down the helicopter with a high-powered rifle. The police next
send out a large convoy, which gang members attack and discover to be a decoy,
at the same time as Hondo's team is spiriting Montel away in two SUVs. However,
while driving Montel into federal custody, TJ had been plotting with Gamble,
and the two succeed in taking Montel from the other officers, critically
wounding Boxer in the process.
Hondo and the rest of his team give chase for a final battle
against Gamble's group. Fuller later informs them that Gamble intends to fly
Montel out of the United States. Fuller dispatches every officer to an airport
to prevent the escape. As Hondo and his SWAT team race across town, they
observe a plane flying at lower than normal altitudes and deduce correctly that
the plane is the one expected by Gamble. They decide to go after the plane, as
available units are at the airport and won't make it in time. Before Gamble's
group can take off, the team intercedes, and a gun battle ensues, killing
Gamble's remaining thugs, although it wounds Sánchez. TJ commits suicide out of
remorse for his betrayal of the team and to avoid being captured. Street
pursues and inadvertently kills Gamble by knocking him under the wheels of a
passing train, decapitating him. Fuller and the rest of the LAPD arrive to take
care of everything else. Fuller thanks Hondo and his team for their success but
tells them the job wasn't finish as Montel was still there, not in federal
custody. Hondo and his team deliver Montel to a federal prison to await trial.
On the way home to Los Angeles, a report of a holdup in progress comes over the
police radio and despite the team being two officers down and off shift for the
past twelve hours, Hondo, Street, Kaye, and Sanchez decide to help anyway.