|  | Actors: Liam Neeson, Famke Janssen, Maggie Grace
Studio: Twentieth Century Fox
List Price: $29.98
Buy Used: $3.40
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Seller: goHastings
Rating:  304 reviews
Sales Rank: 345
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Dubbed), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 93 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 5
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: 2255352
UPC: 024543553526
EAN: 0024543553526
ASIN: B001TODCII
Theatrical Release Date: 2008
Release Date: May 12, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Previously Viewed rental product. 100% GUARANTEED! May have stickers on case or disc. Fast shipping! Book, Video, Video Game & Music titles!
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 296-300 of 304
 Great film! February 12, 2009
J.C. Noble (New York, New York)
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
Edge of your seat action, some scenes are far-fetched but you won't care,
the movie theatre was packed, everyone applauded at the end, you won't be disappointed!
 Taken - OK For Entertainment, But Predictable And Filled With Holes January 13, 2009
Mark (East Coast)
4 out of 14 found this review helpful
Taken is a new movie starring Liam Neeson as a former security specialist who has relegated himself to the civilian sector to be closer to his daughter. When a simple trip abroad puts his daughter and her friend in danger, he must swing back into action. Visually, the movie is very well shot and will be a pleasure to watch in standard definition or Blu-Ray. But the weak story holds back a movie that could have been much better.
This film deals with kidnapping and human trafficking, very serious problems which have become overused in films of recent memory. This film is entertaining as an action movie, though somewhat predictable. But as a movie about human trafficking, the script is filled with numerous holes and inaccuracies that make it less than believable. The less you know about the topic, the easier it will be for you to suspend disbelief and enjoy this as surface level entertainment.
As Bryan Mills, Neeson attempts to channel a composite of Matt Damon's character from the The Bourne Identity with Denzel Washington's character from Man on Fire.
Bourne's odyssey and skills are easier to believe because of the economy of dialogue and the way the back-story is slowly fed to us. In addition, the script of the The Bourne Identity was clearly well vetted and researched. Here, Neeson's character says and does things that no trained security professional would ever do, like warning the villains that he is a trained security professional and that he is coming for them. He is clearly no Bourne.
In comparison with Denzel Washington's character, Neeson is not given nearly as much to work with in terms of emotion and dimension. Denzel was given a character we could relate to through his human frailty. But Neeson is given a wooden role with one-dimensional motivation. One can even think to Russel Crowe's role in Proof of Life as another point of comparison. It's easy to see how little Neeson is given to work with here.
The supporting cast is good, and includes Famke Janssen as Neeson's ex-wife. However, there is a rather lengthy back-story that attempts to develop Neeson's character. We get to meet his former security buddies and get to see how he interacts with his ex-wife and how much he sacrifices for his daughter. By the time we get to the heart of the film, it's clear that much of that back-story could have been told in half the time to better effect.
About half of the early cast could have been cut. Similarly there are a lot of supporting scenes that could have been trimmed to maintain the suspense at a higher level. The result is a movie with choppy pacing that drags on and feels longer than it is.
The irony of that is that there is already an extended "harder" cut set to be released on Blu-Ray. I will suspend disbelief till I see the extended version, but it's difficult for me to imagine making this movie better by adding scenes. It seems like much of what was included could have made this movie better by being pared away.
**** MINOR PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD -- STOP NOW TO AVOID ****
As with any action movie, there are a number of fight scenes where Neeson seems to gain super-human dexterity, unlimited strength and omnipresent knowledge of all of his enemies. Believe it or not, I can somewhat accept his ability to defeat any number of opponents as an action movie standard. The fight choreography is actually very good as a whole.
However, it gets worse. The numerous errors in the supporting sequences make it difficult to suspend disbelief. With almost no information, he is able to ID his adversaries from some imaginary database that could only exist in the mind of a Hollywood producer and would never work in practice. It's hard to believe that Neeson goes to Paris, after having been retired from overseas duty for several years, and somehow all his contacts are still there in roughly the same roles ready to provide him lodging and resources.
Of course, everybody in Paris speaks English to him with pleasure. Did any of the writers actually go to Paris for research before this movie? It's difficult to accept that he could wander into a crime den masquerading as a French security agent while speaking English. Then again, considering the same people he confronts have already gotten a visual ID on him, it's absurd that he isn't immediately shot.
But then, to insult our intelligence even further, once we get to the climax scene and witness the people actually engaging in the human trafficking, we are shown a scenario that makes Hostel seem plausible. I don't want to give too much away. But if you do get to see it ask yourself, "would people breaking the law do so in this way?"
Once again, if you can suspend disbelief some of those many things will not bother you as much. But this is just the tip of the iceberg.
CONCLUSION
This movie is OK, hence my average rating. It's a good way to pass the time, and those who love foreign thrillers and action movies will enjoy the fight scenes and top notch camera work. But the predictable plot and factual errors undercut what could have been a much better movie. Neeson is a very good actor, but he can't make up for a script that needed to be vetted by several fact checkers before the final cut.
Judging by the enthusiastic foreign response to this movie, I can only hope that a completely separate cut was release for the European market.
This is worth seeing for mindless entertainment, but if you're expecting something as good as The Bourne Identity you will likely be disappointed.
Enjoy.
Liam kicks **** January 3, 2009
Fares Fayad (Liban)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Great action movie... almost as good as the Bourne series... not to mention Liam Neeson's performance.
Two thumbs way up!
Really Good Movie November 23, 2008
Steven Stewart (steveo.stewart@hotmail.co.uk)
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
Liam Neeson is one of those actors that although you will admire their work, Taken is a movie you could never expect them to be the lead in. It's a full blown action movie that challenges the 56 year old and his acting ability to appear cool. The film has its drawbacks, but they are all massively outweighed by the better parts of the film.
The film focuses around retired spy Bryan Mills (Neeson) whos daughter is kidnapped whilst on a trip to Paris with her close friend. He's a man who wasn't there for a lot of his daughters life due to his job, but is trying to make up for lost time with overprotective, suffocating fathering. Kim (Maggie Grace) and her friend are kidnapped by Albanian human traffickers whilst Bryan is on the phone to Kim. He tells her not to be scared and he will find her, he also tells the Albanian kidnapper who taunts Bryan on the phone. This leads into a series of events where Bryan is investigating the human traffickers in France using vigilante methods, but this is at the displeasure of the French authorities and an old friend of Bryans who simply want him out of France. He promises his ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janseen, who quite frankly creeps me out) that he will return her safe and sound, at any cost but the only drawback is he has 96 hours.
This is a really good and fast paced action movies that has some excellent chase and combat scenes. Neeson seems to hold his own well and can display some excellent ability when it comes to those action scenes (although I'm sure a stunt double was cleverly placed in those scenes). Some of the dialogue is quite cringe worthy especially when Neesons character is on the phone to the kidnapper and he tells him that he has experience and he will be coming for them. It's something very cliché and annoying in some respects but quite cool in another. The other gripe I had about it was the accent of Neeson. I'm not sure where his character was meant to hail from but it certainly wasn't American born and bred, or at least I hope not. Neeson's a good actor but he really needs to work on his American accent because it just destroys any role he's in when he's meant to be an American but his Irish accent clearly shines through.
It's a great film overall though and I would strongly recommend it to any action movie fan. He's good in this role, but I can't see him doing another role like this ever again as although he held his own, he seemed at times to be quite uncomfortable in what he was doing. The supporting cast are OK but nothing to shout about, the story is well done and seems to be quite intelligent in what it's talking about when on the subject of human trafficking. But what do I know, maybe this is the most inconsistent movie I've ever seen. If it is then it certainly hid it well. I just have one request to any future movie makers, please don't cast Famke Janseen, she's just weird.
Wow very underrated film! November 17, 2008
Gordong11 (New Jersey)
22 out of 30 found this review helpful
All I have to say is Liam sets a new standard once again. Don't miss this action-packed film. This is one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. not too long, not too short....just right.
Showing reviews 296-300 of 304
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