Taken - Liam Neeson

[Goose]

I enjoyed it best by just going with the flow. Didn't think about it too much, just enjoyed Liam Neeson kicking some serious ass - with that darker edge that meant he'd happily kill a room and half full of people rather than just wait outside and kidnap the one he wanted once he'd found out who he was. The second you look deeper into the film and logic it does fall apart very quickly with chance and coincidence.

It's what, in some regards, how I picture Fleming's Bond when I read the books rather than see the films. Neeson is utterly committed to getting his daughter back, he doesn't care if you like what he does or think he goes too far, he's going to get her back, no matter what the cost!

Rock on!

[Peter Hitchens]

She was ODed on heroin by her captors, didn't you notice him looking at the syringe and all the injection marks on her arm? I thought the idea of that scene was that it showed him his daughter's possible fate and pushed him even harder.

It seemed a bit silly though, she's surely a valuable commodity in their sex trade so I don't imagine they'd be so careless as to let her die, especially so quickly. It was just convenient to ramp up the horror. Similarly, the 90 hours (or whatever it was) was totally arbitrary, if anything the scariest thing about the sex trade is that she could have been stuck in that horrible life for years and he'd never know whether she was still alive.

His brutality is the manifestation of his love for his daughter. That's how fucked up he is. He buys her a karaoke machine, gets her a chance to meet her favourite pop star, and nails a guy to a chair before hooking him up to the Paris electrical system. He's not meant to be entirely good or likeable- he's quite the antihero at times, bit like Rorschach in Watchmen.

YEah I agree, but with such a potentially interesting character they could have developed those points a bit. It seemed like they didn't really want the audience to think about that. I guess I was just intrigued by the potential for a more serious film, the sex trade world could have been really interesting to explore, and so could Neeson's character... but it would have made for a very depressing, completely different film.

[sir podger]

i really enjoyed this film, the only part where it was let down was when

he was captured in the posh flat after watching his daughter get auctioned, why oh why would some kind of villain with henchmen not pay for silencers for pistols so they could shoot him in the face, instead of suspending him from steam pipes by his arms so they can dispose of him discretely

other than that one small 10 second glitch it was great.

[Secondspace]

It seemed a bit silly though, she's surely a valuable commodity in their sex trade so I don't imagine they'd be so careless as to let her die, especially so quickly. It was just convenient to ramp up the horror. Similarly, the 90 hours (or whatever it was) was totally arbitrary, if anything the scariest thing about the sex trade is that she could have been stuck in that horrible life for years and he'd never know whether she was still alive.

YEah I agree, but with such a potentially interesting character they could have developed those points a bit. It seemed like they didn't really want the audience to think about that. I guess I was just intrigued by the potential for a more serious film, the sex trade world could have been really interesting to explore, and so could Neeson's character... but it would have made for a very depressing, completely different film.

It is interesting that during the phone conversation, he tells them that if they let his daughter go, that will be the end of the matter. There is the implication that he sees the friend as expendable. It added to my enjoyment of the film that he really isn't a conventional hero, just a very violent dad.

[ACole]

Who would win in a fight John Matrix or Bryan Mills?

To be fair when I came out of the cinema I loved this film and thought of it as a 21st century/European version of Commando and absolutely loved it.

[X_2_0]

Who would win in a fight John Matrix or Bryan Mills?

To be fair when I came out of the cinema I loved this film and thought of it as a 21st century/European version of Commando and absolutely loved it.

Matrix would win no contest.

While Bryan Mills is busy listing his particular set of skills, Matrix would just shoot him in the head.

[Couch Corpse]

Nah Matrix would disguise himself as a milk man and catch Mills unawares during a karaoke session with his daughter. It would all go horribly wrong of course, and Mill's would get the drop on him.

[Spacehost]

Who would win in a fight John Matrix or Bryan Mills?

To be fair when I came out of the cinema I loved this film and thought of it as a 21st century/European version of Commando and absolutely loved it.

It's totally a 00s-era Commando.

I reckon it'd be a close fight, but in the end they'd unite to fight a common enemy.

[Captain Novaforce]

Loved this film, Liam neeson is now officially the Man.

They did gloss over the whole dead friend Amanda though, I mean the whole airport reuniting scene at the end - where were Amanda's folks exactly?! Probably analysing it a bit too much though!

[Couch Corpse]

I don't think he had too much sympathy for her, after all the bitch was mostly responsible for everything. He probably would have taken her out himself at some stage.

[Silent Runner]

You lot are high off your asses if you think some dude called Brian would last a second against John Matrix.

[mindgames]

Poor Liam

[Chadruharazzeb]

Poor Liam? He gets to go to France, kill hundreds of people and gets away with it scott-free!

[Silent Runner]

Mindgames is proabaly refering to Natasha Richardson (Liam Neesons wife) who died earlier today.

[Chadruharazzeb]

Doh.

Well I'm sure the prospect of another trip to France to kill hundreds of people will offer him some comfort.

[Scribblor]

I watched this the other day on Virgin's movies on demand thingy.

I enjoyed it lots, but having read this thread I expected it to be the second coming of action films, and to be honest, I don't think it is.

The action seemed subdued somehow. I can't really put my finger on it, but I felt it was a bit... tame. Like a shorter version of 24 or something.

Having said that, of course, I'm looking forward to the inevitable Taken 2.

[Comrade]

Just saw this tonight on blu-ray. I can't say I was terribly impressed. We all seem to be in agreement that the story is rubbish, but if that's the case I would expect really good action, which I just didn't think it delivered. I mean the action was pretty good, but in a film with such a paper-thin plot I would expect great.

Also, I did kind of have to take objection to what little plot was there - "insanely over-protective paranoid father proved ultimately correct" is not much of a moral. Also, every single bad guy in the film is based on French racial and zenophobic stereotypes. Dodgy eastern europeans, lascivious arab perverts and moneygrabbing American capitalists. Pretty much the only French guy in the whole film is a corrupt lazy workshy who's let the foreigners destroy his country, unlike the old days! It could have been written by Jean-Marie Le Pen.

To be honest, I'm probably just a bit disappointed that the ending wasn't like

video. It would have been amazing.

[Monkeyboy]

You were looking for a moral?

[El Pibe]

I finally saw this and was really disappointed after reading all the praise on here.

The set-up was really dull, Vallance was embarrsingly bad, Neeson looked bored out of his mind throughout the film, it was xenophobic, and even the action just felt 'Bauer-light' and it seemed a bit boring.

On the plus side - the running time was about right and the scene in the house with the red door was good.

Amanda's death seemed a bit strange.

[KriessG]

Didn't this get really bad reviews? Word of mouth is that it's good but I've only heard that off people who will watch almost anything.

[Monkeyboy]

Didn't this get really bad reviews? Word of mouth is that it's good but I've only heard that off people who will watch almost anything.

It's not going to change your world, but if you want to see Liam Neeson bang heads together in some brisk action scenes, it's good value. People moan about the boring setup, but it's essential, and gives rise to a great speech from Neeson on the phone, before he nips off to France to tear it apart. Like any action movie or blockbuster, you'll find it divides people.

[MDY]

Yeah it's not one to really think too much about, but it's brief (90 mins) and a good deal of fun if you can just chill out and enjoy the mayhem.

[El Pibe]

People moan about the boring setup, but it's essential, and gives rise to a great speech from Neeson on the phone, before he nips off to France to tear it apart.

It wasn't essential, though. They could easily have done that in 10 minutes or less and made the film shorter.

[Monkeyboy]

It wasn't essential, though. They could easily have done that in 10 minutes or less and made the film shorter.

I thought it was about right. And at 93 minutes, they really didn't need to make the film any shorter. A 20 minute setup is nothing.

[Couch Corpse]

It wasn't essential, though. They could easily have done that in 10 minutes or less and made the film shorter.

Maybe not essential but the right thing to do, Spielberg didn't unleash Jaws on the crew until at least an hour* into the movie.

*I'm guessing here before you go all internets on me.

[Hello Goaty ♥]

Taken has to be appaulded in this modern day film environment.

it pulls no punches, and hasnt got any soppy shit in it, reallly at all.

[bingowings]

Taken has to be appaulded in this modern day film environment.

it pulls no punches, and hasnt got any soppy shit in it, reallly at all.

this. i have watched it a few times and find it immensely entertaining because it has a minimal setup then hits the fan. the thing is, the bootings Neeson hands out like so many Werther's Originals are pretty sharp, sometimes mean, and yes, boring because sometimes all you need is a swift punch in the face not some c-c-c-combo breaker. i still laugh when he

shoots the dude in the back in the whorehouse

or

shoots that French cunt's wife in the arm

. he's thoroughly narked his daughter has been nabbed, so does what needs to be done.

[Hello Goaty ♥]

I've seen Taken 6 times by the way.

- its a long story!

[spaceyjase]

Is the "I need you to focus!" scene in the BR? I'm sure I read (or maybe I was told) it had been removed?

[larrydavidsanger]

I watched this yesterday with the mother of all hangovers, thought it was absolute shite. I wanted Commando style trash, I got a big pile of shite with a very boring story, very uninspired action and acting and nothing of note whatsoever to recommend it. It's bad but it's not bad enough, just the same old crap you've seen a million times before.