Swordfish

Rogue operative Gabriel Shear hatches a bold plan to grab nine billion dollars hidden in a top secret DEA account, a haul he intends to use to finance anti-terror operations. He enlists Stanley Jobson, a washed up encryption expert who can crack almost any computer, hoping his skills will unlock the government mainframe. The job entangles a glamorous risk taker named Ginger, a dogged federal agent named Roberts, and a ruthless insider named Marco, turning a simple heist into a high stakes power play. As the crew tightens the noose around the prize, loyalties fracture, morality gets tested, and the line between savior and outlaw blurs in the glare of explosive action. Tense cat and mouse games unfold.

Directed by Dominic Sena from a screenplay by Skip Woods, Swordfish arrived in 2001 for wide release as a glossy high tech thriller. The film pairs Travolta's swaggering antagonist with Jackman's everyman hacker, supported by Berry, Cheadle, and Jones in brisk, action-driven scenes.

With a budget around 102 million, Swordfish grossed roughly 147 million worldwide, a performance that justified its flashy production while leaving some critics unimpressed by its logic. The film benefited from the star power of Travolta and Jackman across audiences.

Swordfish is remembered for its neon tinted set pieces and the era's appetite for cyber slickness rather than technical realism. Travolta's villain persona, Hugh Jackman's earnest hacker, and Halle Berry's calculating strategist became talking points in late night chatter and parodies of early 2000s techno thrillers that lingered in memory.

Critics were divided on Swordfish, praising its brisk pace and big screen flair while faulting the plot's plausibility and character arcs. The movie probes greed and power, weighing public good against private gain, and asks whether heroic acts can justify questionable methods in a world saturated with surveillance and temptation.