Taken (2008/I)

Director:

Pierre Morel

Writers (WGA):

Luc Besson (written by) &
Robert Mark Kamen (written by)

Release Date:

30 January 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

They took his daughter. He'll take their lives.

Plot:

A former spy relies on his old skills to save his estranged daughter, who has been forced into the slave trade.

Plot Keywords:

Stepfather | Agent | Screaming | Stealing Car | Raspberry Banana Milkshake

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Liam Neeson	...	Bryan Mills
Maggie Grace	...	Kim
Leland Orser	...	Sam
Jon Gries	...	Casey
David Warshofsky	...	Bernie
Holly Valance	...	Sheerah
Katie Cassidy	...	Amanda
Xander Berkeley	...	Stuart
Olivier Rabourdin	...	Jean-Claude
Gérard Watkins	...	St-Clair
Famke Janssen	...	Lenore
Marc Amyot	...	Pharmacist
Arben Bajraktaraj	...	Marko
Radivoje Bukvic	...	Anton (as Rasha Bukvic)
Mathieu Busson	...	Undercover agent

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence, disturbing thematic material, sexual content, some drug references and language.

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

France

Language:

English | French | Albanian | Arabic

Colour:

Colour

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

South Korea:18 | Netherlands:12 | USA:PG-13 (cut version) | Australia:MA | UK:15 (edited version) | New Zealand:R16 | Ireland:15A | South Africa:16LV | Peru:14 | Argentina:16 | France:-12 | Brazil:16 | UK:18 (DVD rating) | Portugal:M/16 | Finland:K-15 | Chile:Y7 | Germany:16 | Sweden:15 | Singapore:NC-16 | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | Norway:15 (uncut version) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:18A (Manitoba) (DVD rating) | Ireland:18 (DVD rating) | USA:Unrated (DVD rating) (uncut version) | Hong Kong:IIB | Denmark:15 | Austria:16 | Iceland:16 | Japan:PG-12 | Mexico:B15

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Company:

Europa Corp.

Trivia:

Former Special Air Service (SAS) soldier Mick Gould trained Liam Neeson in combatives and weapons handling skills to prepare him for the role.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When the girls are in the apartment in France, they turn the music up loud so they do not hear Kim's mobile phone ringing. When the camera pans over to her handbag, you can clearly hear the phone ringing, however the phone shows the "Silent" mode is selected.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Singh: Mr. Mills, how are you?
Bryan: I'm fine. How are you?
Singh: Very fine. I suppose you want to see it again?
Bryan: You should know why I'm here.
Singh: You know where it is.
Bryan: Oh yeah.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Megan Fox/U2 (#35.1)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

Change

Excellent film, much like Man on Fire

Just watched this film and have to say, very good in the scheme of things. The film is quite slow at the beginning as others have said, however it quickly gathers pace. The way the script introduces you to the characters is excellent and its only when you see Liam Neeson tackling a crazed fan that you think he is an excellent choice in the lead role, in fact he carries it off very well. I wasn't too sure on Holly Valance as the pop singer, but as the number of scenes she is in are fairly minimal its OK. Action sequences are very well shot and you can tell Luc Besson had his hand in this. To this end, the overall film has an excellent pace which keeps you very well entertained. It has the same sort of storyline as Man on Fire so if you liked that film, then you will definitely like this. I would say its probably slightly better with the direction and cinematography being just a bit classier. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend you seeing this. 7/8 out of 10