Swordfish (2001)
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An ex-con hacker is coerced into a high-stakes bank robbery conspiracy to siphon billions from government funds.
The story
Cyber-hacker Stanley Jobson becomes notorious for infecting the FBI's Carnivore program with a computer virus. While on parole, he is approached by Ginger Knowles, who persuades him to work for Gabriel Shear. Gabriel forces Stanley into cracking a secure Defense Department server and subsequently offers him $10 million to program a multi-headed worm called a "hydra" to siphon $9.5 billion from government slush funds. Stanley begins the work, unaware of the true nature of Gabriel's organization, while navigating a complex web of surveillance and personal stakes involving his daughter.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Stanley Jobson, a hacker on parole, is recruited by Ginger Knowles to work for Gabriel Shear. Gabriel tasks him with creating a 'hydra' worm to steal $9.5 billion from government funds. Stanley discovers Gabriel leads 'Black Cell,' a secret organization, and realizes Ginger is an undercover DEA agent. He also finds a corpse resembling Gabriel. Stanley secretly codes a backdoor into the hydra to reverse the transfer. Meanwhile, Senator Jim Reisman, who oversees Black Cell, is killed by Gabriel after refusing to stand down. Gabriel eventually abducts Stanley's daughter, Holly, framing Stanley for the murders of Stanley's ex-wife and her husband. Stanley is forced to participate in a bank heist where Gabriel takes hostages and rigs them with explosives. During the heist, a sharpshooter kills a hostage, and a bomb detonates. Stanley launches the hydra, but the backdoor triggers, leading to his recapture while Holly is rescued. Gabriel shoots Ginger and demands Stanley re-siphon the money. Stanley complies, but Gabriel shoots Ginger. Gabriel then transports hostages via a bus lifted by a Sikorsky S-64 Skycrane to a skyscraper roof. Stanley shoots down Gabriel's helicopter with an RPG. Stanley later realizes Ginger was working with Gabriel all along and that the entire scenario was a deception. He is granted custody of Holly, while Gabriel and Ginger escape with the money.
- First release year
- 2001
- Runtime (minutes)
- 99
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Dominic Sena
- Writers
- Skip Woods · writer
- Cast and characters
- John Travolta; Hugh Jackman; Halle Berry; Don Cheadle; Vinnie Jones; Sam Shepard
- Genres
- action-thriller; spy thriller; heist; crime thriller
- Themes
- cybercrime; terrorism; betrayal; government conspiracy
- Tone and mood
- action-packed; techno-thriller; dramatic
- Premise and plot tags
- hacking; bank heist; spy thriller; malware
- Reception
- The film received mostly negative reviews and was described as an action opera that skimps on plot and logic. It grossed over $147.1 million on a $102 million budget.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 4.35/10 · scale: 10 · review count: 139; Metacritic · score: 32 · scale: 100 · review count: 33; CinemaScore · score: B · scale: A+ to F
- Awards and nominations
- Razzie Award · Worst Actor · nomination
- Production trivia
- The opening explosion was the most complicated visual effect in the film, captured using 135 synchronized still cameras.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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