Ketrivie It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

Livestonth I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

Grimossfer Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

Yazmin Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

Sparky48 "When you need help, you call the police. But when the police needs help, they call S.W.A.T." I vividly remember this tag used to advertise this then-new TV crime drama, which debut in 1974 when I was 13.Having watched a number of detective and conventional police crime dramas on television, S.W.A.T. was indeed a different type a crime-drama TV series about the quasi-military arm of the Los Angeles police department, assigned to respond to extreme/emergency situations. The show became an instant hit, with its theme song even becoming one as well on many radio stations during the mid-seventies.A strong cast lead by Steve Forrest, who plays the stern, level-headed Lt. Dan "Hondo" Harrelson--and featuring Rod Perry as "Deacon" Kay, his loyal right-hand man, Marc Shera as Officer Dominic Luca, the free-spirited Italian, James Coleman as Officer T.J. MaCabe, the expert marksman, and Robert Urich, as the no-nonsense young Officer Jim Street--provides solid and intriguing drama that would hold the TV viewers' attention in almost every episode.However, I recently viewed the series again in re-runs on TVLand, and as a middle-aged man now instead of a young teenager, I've become a bit more critical. When watching the series now, it seems quite unrealistic how in certain episodes a S.W.A.T. team member had personal connections to an individual who was involved in a particular case that the S.W.A.T. team responded to.In one episode, T.J. reunites with his former high-school basketball teammate and introduces him to the other members of the S.W.A.T. team. Later that evening, T.J.'s buddy, who's now a pro basketball player, plays a basketball game at the local arena and thugs kidnap his team. They hold the players hostage in the locker room, and you can guess--by the strangest coincidence--what particular law enforcement unit comes to the rescue.In another episode, a college professor of a university is also held hostage by extremists with the S.W.A.T. team responding to the emergency. Interestingly enough, the professor just happens to be Street's instructor of a course that he's is currently taking in night school at the university.Yet in spite of these "Hollywoodish" moments, the show still holds up fairly well after 35 years. It can still captivate TV audiences with its action-packed, dramatic moments and provides sufficient entertainment to merit viewing.

Peggy Kuntzelman S.W.A.T. was my favorite show that came out of the 70's and I still enjoy it as much today as I did back then since it was shown on TVLand for a month and now the first season has been released on DVD. I read all these reviews saying that the show doesn't transcend to today but I think that is totally wrong. My teenage boys think the show is as cool as I did back in the 70's, I have yet to sit down and watch an episode without one of them coming in to watch with me. I only hope that the second season is also released on DVD because there are episodes in the second season that I haven't seen since the show originally aired.I only had a few complaints with the show, one is that they would change details from one season to the next without explanation, such as in the first season TJ was engaged but in the second he was out dating again. That seemed to happen a lot on shows in the 70's.My major complaint with the show was that it seemed to focus mainly on the character of Hondo. Each episode seemed to make him out to be the hero, instead of ever letting one of the other members of the team get any glory.All in all I think this was a great tv show that never got the praise it deserved.

paulg8753 The movie was pretty good too, so I bought the Season One DVD series. The 1st review here was right on accurate! Ditto everything he said! The TV series seems to have been well reflected in the Movie, even the character names are the same. Some of the TV show scenarios wound up in the movie also.

ciecie When I was a kid, that's what the viewers wanted in the police show. At the time the most realistic police show was Adam-12. In the 1960's and 1970's, Jack Webb produced the most realistic shows on television. Aaron Spelling did his thing even back then. One thing about SWAT was that they did function as a team.