In 2001, audiences knew Hugh Jackman primarily as Wolverine from the X-Men movies. In 2025, audiences know Hugh Jackman… primarily as Wolverine from the X-Men movies.

That said, Jackman enjoys a broad popular profile beyond those movies, even if his initial attempts to step outside of Wolverine didn’t hit. 2001’s Swordfish looked like a potential success but it didn’t get there.

A box office disappointment, Swordfish did nothing to make Jackman a true movie star. I can’t say the film and its lead deserved better, as it offers a fairly generic and bland action experience that has a few decent moments but generally seems unexceptional.

Swordfish starts well, however, with an opening that feels like a nod to Tarantino flicks like Reservoir Dogs. Gabriel Shear (John Travolta) speaks to the camera and addresses the crumminess of most Hollywood product.

The irony seems strong since Swordfish also will fall into that category, but it offers a gutsy way to begin the flick and it sets the table nicely. From there, we quickly see a terrorist situation unfold in which Gabriel and his gang have wired captives with explosives and they’ll blow if moved out of a certain territory.

After a climactic moment, the film enters flashback mode, as we move four days prior to this event. From there we more closely meet Stanley Jobson (Jackman), an exceedingly talented computer hacker who spent some time in jail due to his activities.

Now free again, Stanley works a dead-end job but remains determined to stay on the straight and narrow… well, ddetermined until he gets an offer from Gabriel’s lieutenant Ginger (Halle Berry) for an enormous sum of money to come out of retirement.

Though Stanley risks imprisonment if he ever takes up his old hobby again, the money would let him pursue custody of his daughter Holly (Camryn Grimes) so he agrees to take the gig. Ginger and Stanley fly from Texas to California where we formally meet Gabriel.

Gabriel wants Stanley to use his prodigious hacking skills to rechannel billions of dollars languishing in DEA accounts created as part of the war on drugs. The organization set up dummy corporations that ended up making oodles of cash but this money simply sat and earned interest for the prior 15 years or so.

Of course, complications ensue, as the FBI chases Gabriel and company. Headed by Agent Roberts (Don Cheadle), this task force attempts to get to the bottom of the operation and foil their intentions. In a way, they have help from Stanley, who appears suspicious of the entire enterprise and doesn’t feel very secure about the course it takes.

Ultimately, this all takes us back to the movie’s opening scene, and we see where it goes from there. I won’t spill the beans yet, but expect lots of action and mayhem.

Swordfish starts and ends fairly well but the morass in the middle causes problems. The opening scene seems fairly intriguing and clever, while the conclusion feels more standard but still comes across with a suitably high level of excitement and fury.

Unfortunately, those bookends stand out because the long central portion fails to provide much material that seems useful. It comes across like one extremely long expository piece, especially because we essentially know where it’ll ultimately lead.

The flashback format allows the flick to start with a bang, but it makes the middle seem somewhat tedious. Director Dominic Sena attempts to spice up the tedium with a couple of car chases and some gunplay, but it adds up to little.

As our lead villain, Travolta seems surprisingly bland and lifeless. Actually, I suppose “surprisingly” isn’t appropriate, for he often comes across as uninspired in action films.

Travolta responds well to good material, but when he encounters fairly weak source material, he appears to fall in line with it. As such, Gabriel feels like a bland part of the film. After the solid opening sequence, he never comes across with much spark or personality, and his development seems virtually nil.

Jackman does a reasonable job as Stanley, but he also fails to deliver much personality. A lot of the problem resides with the part as written, for it doesn’t contain much flair, but Jackman does little to wring any additional life from it.

Unfortunately, the only way in which Swordfish now stands out relates to its subject matter. The film hit screens in June 2001, but the events of September 11, 2001, inevitably altered how viewers would see terrorists.

Potential spoilers ahead, so skip ahead two paragraphs to avoid them!

As the film progresses, we learn that Gabriel wants the billions of dollars to fund a covert anti-terrorism unit. They attempt to make the repercussions of anti-American assaults so horrible that no one will attack US citizens.

Swordfish intends to stand against Gabriel’s plan because of its illegal elements. He works outside the law and performs actions that avoid the rights and responsibilities inherent in the US system.

However, the post-9/11 likely made many people think more positively about what Gabriel does. I remain on Stanley’s side, as this kind of vigilante force has no place in our society. Nonetheless, the opposite position will most definitely seem more compelling to plenty of folks.

Even without this side of the film, Swordfish fails to find much of an individual path. The movie has some solid moments, but as a whole it feels like a fairly generic and uninventive summer action flick.

I think Swordfish offers a sporadically entertaining experience for fans of this genre. However, it never does more than moderately grab me.

Swordfish appears in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. This became a largely satisfying Dolby Vision presentation.

Most of the time, I thought sharpness worked well. Some softness cropped up sporadically, but the majority of the film boasted solid accuracy.

I witnessed no signs of jagged edges or moiré effects, and edge haloes remained absent. Shot 35mm, the image came with a light layer or grain and lacked print flaws.

The movie’s palette leaned heavily on yellows and greens, with occasional reds and blues as well. This meant a heavily stylized presentation that the disc replicated well, with a boost from HDR.

Black levels also seemed strong and rich, while shadow detail revealed appropriate levels of heaviness without any signs of excessive murkiness or thickness. HDR gave whites and contrast added punch. Outside of a little softness, this wound up as a fine image.

In addition, the DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of Swordfish provided a solid experience. For most of the movie, the soundfield maintained a moderate emphasis on the forward channels.

This remained largely appropriate, as it occurred during scenes in which there wasn’t much action. The mix came to life during some of the more active scenes, though.

The car chases kicked in nicely, as the vehicles and other elements flew accurately and vividly around us. The movie’s extended climax demonstrated a lot of accurately placed and clear audio.

The elements moved about us in a precise manner, and the entire package created a clean and distinctive environment. Overall, the action sequences allowed the soundfield to breathe and expand, and they made the soundfield work well.

Audio quality seemed similarly good, as dialogue appeared accurate and natural. Music showed nice dynamics and depth.

Effects were consistently clear and accurate, and they showed good clarity and low-end elements. The louder aspects packed a solid punch and made this a fairly vibrant package. Ultimately, the soundtrack of Swordfish wasn’t demo material, but it seemed like an effective presentation.

This 4K UHD release of Swordfish offers a mix of old and new extras, and we start with a circa 2001 audio commentary from director Dominic Sena. He provides a running, screen-specific affair that seems interesting and positive.

Sena covers a nice mix of topics about the movie, from casting concerns - including the names of actors also considered for Jackman’s part - to technical considerations to script changes. A few gaps appear, but for the most part, the director fills the time nicely.

Sena presents a fairly frank and open personality. He offers very little of the usual “happy talk” that often fills these sorts of tracks, as instead, he’s willing to mention all of the difficulties experienced during the shoot and he also knocks some aspects of the flick.

Hey, he even criticizes his own Gone In Sixty Seconds to a moderate degree! Ultimately, this turns into a pretty solid little commentary.

Next we find HBO First Look: Swordfish. This featurette runs for 15 minutes, two seconds and offers notes from Sena, producer Joel Silver, visual effects supervisor Boyd Shermis, and actors Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, John Travolta, Don Cheadle, and Vinnie Jones.

"First Look" discusses story and characters, cast and performances, effects, stunts and action. This mostly becomes a typical fluffy promo reel, though we get a few decent glimpses from the shoot.

As expected, Effects In Focus provides a look at various visual effects. The program lasts eight minutes, 14 seconds as we hear from Sena, Silver, Jones, Shermis, and 2nd unit director Dan Bradley.

They focus largely on the climactic bus sequence. It reminds me a lot of the “First Look” featurette, partially because it also includes some nice behind this scenes material, and it’s also a glossy look at the subject.

In Conversation brings 12 minutes, 47 seconds of interview clips. Taken from the sessions used for the prior featurettes, we hear from Jackman, Silver, Travolta, Cheadle, Berry and actor Sam Sheppard.

The remarks look at the actors' use of computers, casting, aspects of the production, and story/characters. We find some fun stories and a lot of fluff.

In addition, we discover two Alternate Endings. The first runs three minutes, 48 seconds, while the second goes for two minutes, eight seconds.

Both offer variations on the existing finale, though the first offers an ironic twist and the second leaves matters completely open-ended. Neither seems great, but the actual conclusion comes with its own issues as well.

The alternate endings can be viewed with or without additional commentary from the director. He expands upon the statements he made during the full movie track and again provides his honest thoughts about the material as he covers the problems he had with the shots.

Planet Rock Club Reel offers a cheap music video that shows movie clips accompanied by a pretty terrible Paul Oakenfold song. We also get the movie’s trailer.

The final two programs were created specifically for the new release, and Soundtrack Hacker lasts 12 minutes, 31 seconds. Here we find notes from composer Paul Oakenfold.

The musician covers his life and career as well as his work on Swordfish. Oakenfold offers a decent set of remarks.

Next comes How to Design a Tech Heist. It involves production designer Jeff Mann and spans 20 minutes, 49 seconds.

Mann looks at how he got into movies along with the film's sets and locations. He offers a useful look at these topics.

As a summer action flick, Swordfish provides a reasonably entertaining experience but it doesn’t do much to distinguish itself from the crowd. The film starts and ends well, but the middle stretches into an extended expository piece that often falls flat. The 4K UHD features solid picture and sound as well as a decent collection of supplements. Ultimately, Swordfish may interest some action fans, but it’s not something I can strongly recommend.