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Anyone Seen the Movie "Taken" --Spoilers?

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Dayton3

Admiral
My wife and I saw this movie last night while on our annual anniversary date. I was surprise my wife wanted to see it as thriller's aren't ususally her thing.

But the movie which starred Liam Neeson as a former CIA agent whose 17 year old daughter is kidnapped in Paris is outstandingly good.

Spoilers below:
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Why?

1) Liam Neeson is surprisingly good as the father, former CIA agent Brian Mills. Tall, gaunt, and weatherbeaten, Neeson's character looks like a most unlikely tough guy. But he brings it off believably.

2) The fighting style of Brian Mills. None of this "super karate" crap or "Matrix style" moves. Mills basic move is simply grabbing someone by the head and bashing it into something hard.

Repeatedly.

3) Brian Mills is uncompromisingly and unapologetically brutal. None of this giving the bad guys a fair chance. He thinks nothing of torturing a sex slave trafficer to death AFTER he has gotten the information from him, finishing off the man behind the operation AFTER he has gotten the information of him.

Or most shocking it seems to the audience, shooting the innocent wife of a former friend and colleague if it forces the other guy to obtain the information he needs.

There is something very refreshing about a clearly heroic character willing to use maximum brutality in a noble effort.
 
Yeah, I saw and liked this movie couple days ago. As father myself, if I would have the same training than Mills, I would do the exact same things to those thugs who kidnapped by kid... Brutal, Fast, Furious, Very Unpleasant. Oh God knows I'm not a violent man, but as Rambo once said: "When you're pushed, killing is as easy as breathing."

His fighting skill reminded me some "Bourne techniques". No visual effects, no damned wires. Everything in this movie felt so real. even when the guys are knocked off by Neeson, it look like it hurt like hell !

once again, good movie !

Butch
 
At first he reminded my of James Rockford. One of those guys who while not intimidating you get the ideal that if something happened he would be there. In the end he was like Eastwood in Unforgiven, t wasn't the superskill he took to combat but just the greater will to do harm to another. But then he had motivation, he was protecting his child and not just someguy who wanted to have sex with virgin, a virgin drugged out or mind at that.
 
I'd agree Taken was a pretty good movie. I'm not sure if I'd buy it when it comes out though.
 
"Taken" was awesome. It was refreshing to see action set pieces that I could follow easily. I do have to say that its rather minimalist style and Neeson's acting kept the movie grounded and from being totally ridiculous. The sheer brutality of it all was shocking at first, but by the middle of the film the audience I saw it with was cheering him on every step of the way.

It was also refreshing to see his daughter follow his instructions before getting captured. She wasn't your typical "annoying girl who gets captured" deal.
 
Really great movie! Neeson was marvelous, and as stated above the fight scenes were pretty brutal and believable. Loved it!
 
Awesome movie, but the original version is better - the version that came to theatres in the US has some of the violence edited. There aren't any MAJOR changes, but little ones here and there that add up. Some of my favorite bits were gone when I saw it in theatres.
 
I've seen the UK version (which is uncut, hell yeah!) twice already... first time through certain means I won't mention, and the second time on Blu-ray which I got a little while back. Awesome movie, looks even better in HD. :D
 
I agree that it was good and I would echo most of the above points.

I did notice that a few things were cut from the trailers. I still don't know how the US cut stayed as a PG-13 movie. It was more violent than several R-rated movies I've seen over the years.

Then again, the US rating system says you can have a LOT of violence and you'll get a PG-13, but if you put in a boob, it's R. There is also the (I think) unwritten rule from the MPAA that you can drop ONE F-bomb in a PG-13. Any more and it goes to R.

Meanwhile, I hear that in Europe they are a lot more open to sex or nudity in films, but they hate violence. So it's almost the opposite as it is over here.

Did anyone else find it odd that none of the characters said anything about the daughter's dead friend who was kidnapped? There was no mention at all.

I also wish they had thrown in a line at the end, something to the effect of 'Well, I hope no one was planning to vacation in Paris....ever...' since he killed 20-30 people, threatened the lives of a high-ranking police officer and his family, caused a major incident at the airport, killed a (Saudi?) sheik and his entire entourage, and a few things I'm forgetting. It didn't make any sense as to how they let him leave the country. He's certainly never going to be allowed back in France...
 
I doubt Mills or any of his family has any desire to return to France.

Would you go to a country where you knew senior law enforcement officials were taking kickbacks from sex slave trafficers?
 
LutherSloan said:
I also wish they had thrown in a line at the end, something to the effect of 'Well, I hope no one was planning to vacation in Paris....ever...' since he killed 20-30 people, threatened the lives of a high-ranking police officer and his family, caused a major incident at the airport, killed a (Saudi?) sheik and his entire entourage, and a few things I'm forgetting. It didn't make any sense as to how they let him leave the country. He's certainly never going to be allowed back in France...
Click to expand...
The movie was tight and didn't need the warning never to return. He was "ex"CIA with contacts. If he needed to go back he would no matter what the government said. He was let out because he could embarrass France unless they disappeared him. The only innocent victim was the cop's wife.
 
Star Wolf said:
LutherSloan said:
I also wish they had thrown in a line at the end, something to the effect of 'Well, I hope no one was planning to vacation in Paris....ever...' since he killed 20-30 people, threatened the lives of a high-ranking police officer and his family, caused a major incident at the airport, killed a (Saudi?) sheik and his entire entourage, and a few things I'm forgetting. It didn't make any sense as to how they let him leave the country. He's certainly never going to be allowed back in France...
Click to expand...
The movie was tight and didn't need the warning never to return. He was "ex"CIA with contacts. If he needed to go back he would no matter what the government said. He was let out because he could embarrass France unless they disappeared him. The only innocent victim was the cop's wife.
Click to expand...

Given that her gunshot wound was only a flesh wound, I figure her injury was reported by the cop as an "accidental shooting while cleaning his gun".
 
Seen it twice. Once in the theater and once via...other means. Will likely see it again as a lady friend of mine is interested in my alternate media method to see it.
 
I really enjoyed this one as well. As the father of a baby daughter (7 months old) it really strikes a nerve, and you cheer on every one of Liam's brutal responses to the kidnappers.

It seemed to me that the movie was heavily influenced by the TV show 24. It could easily have been Jack Bauer in the main role.
 
CaptJimboJones said:
It seemed to me that the movie was heavily influenced by the TV show 24. It could easily have been Jack Bauer in the main role.
Click to expand...

A French cougar kidnaps Kim, and Jack Bauer has to use his very particular set of skills tracking big game to get her back.
 
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