Cross-media recommendations across film, TV, games, books & music — picked by taste.
S.W.A.T. follows Sergeant Daniel "Hondo" Harrelson leading a Los Angeles SWAT team in the very neighborhood he grew up in — caught between loyalty to the community that shaped him and allegiance to his fellow officers. That split runs through every episode, making the show as much about identity and divided belonging as about tactical action. Fans of it tend to seek out stories of disciplined units under pressure, morally complicated authority figures, and the unresolved friction between policing and the communities being policed.
S.W.A.T. is an American action drama television series based on the 1975–76 television series of the same name. Aaron Rahsaan Thomas and Shawn Ryan developed the new series, which premiered on CBS on November 2, 2017, and is produced by Original Film, CBS Studios and Sony Pictures Television. The series stars Shemar Moore with an ensemble cast and follows Sergeant Daniel "Hondo" Harrelson (Moore) and Twenty Squad, a police Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team operating in Los Angeles, California.
From the Wikipedia article S.W.A.T._(2017_TV_series), available under CC BY-SA.
Film
S.W.A.T.
The same Hondo name and LAPD elite-unit setup, building a hand-picked team from scratch.
Film
S.W.A.T.
Elite special police training and first-mission pressure, told through a Chinese unit's formation.
Film
S.W.A.T.: Firefight
An LA SWAT officer exports his expertise to Detroit, clashing with command in an unfamiliar institution.
Film
S.W.A.T.: Under Siege
A SWAT compound under siege forces the team to defend their own house against relentless assault.
Film
S.I.S.
An LAPD elite squad faces its hardest case yet when a new psychopath starts terrorizing Los Angeles.
Film
Code of Honor
A one-man assault on street gangs, mobsters, and corrupt politicians — extreme loyalty to a city over institution.
Game
SWAT 3: Tactical Game of the Year Edition
Puts you inside an LAPD SWAT unit with explicit emphasis on exhausting tactical options before lethal force.
Game
SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs
Team-based elite special operations, commanding a SEAL unit through high-stakes counter-terrorism missions.
Game
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl
First-person shooter and immersive sim set in the hazardous Chornobyl Exclusion Zone — survival under constant threat.
Game
L.A. Noire
A decorated war veteran joins the LAPD in postwar Los Angeles, navigating neo-noir crime and corruption.
Game
Full Spectrum Warrior
Infantry squad tactics under fire, where teamwork and real-world military doctrine drive every decision.
Game
SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy SEALs
A six-day countdown to prevent national collapse, commanding an elite unit racing against escalating chaos.
Book
L.A. Confidential
Terse LA noir with sharp characters and moral grime underneath the city's institutional surface.
Book
Killer Elite
Inside the United States' most secret special operations — covert duty, extreme stakes, classified missions.
Book
The new enemy
A new recruit operating behind enemy lines on top-secret surveillance, learning tradecraft under real danger.
Book
Use of force
A high-value terrorism suspect resurfaces through a storm rescue, pulling operators back into deadly covert work.
Book
The apocalypse watch
An officer goes undercover impersonating his dead brother to unravel a conspiracy reaching into powerful institutions.
Book
Field of graves
A Nashville detective and medical examiner face institutional pressure while hunting a serial killer targeting coeds.
Series
S.W.A.T.
The direct predecessor: a California SWAT team whose squad dynamics and tactical action seeded the 2017 reboot.
Series
Lethal Weapon
An unconventional LAPD officer whose volatile personality strains his partnership with a veteran detective.
Series
The A-Team
Special forces operatives working outside official sanction, defined by tight team loyalty under constant pressure.
Series
The Shield
Inner-city LA cops who bend rules and work against colleagues to keep streets safe on their own terms.
Series
Countdown
An LAPD detective pulled into a secret multi-agency task force after a Homeland Security murder.
Series
Law & Order: LA
LAPD's elite Robbery Homicide Division working high-profile Los Angeles crimes ripped from real headlines.
The Shield is a natural next watch — it's also set inside a gritty LA police precinct where officers bend the rules, and it digs deeper into the moral tension between community loyalty and institutional allegiance.
SWAT 3: Tactical Game of the Year Edition puts you directly in the boots of an LAPD SWAT officer, emphasising non-lethal tactics and squad coordination — the closest a game gets to Hondo's world.
L.A. Confidential is the standout pick — sharp characters, terse dialogue, and a deep dive into LAPD corruption and street-level crime that fans of the show's moral complexity will devour.