"Taken" (2002) TV series

Creator:

Leslie Bohem

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

2 December 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Three families. Four generations. Fifty years of secrets.

Plot:

Taken spans five decades and four generations, centering on three families: the Keys, Crawfords, and Clarkes...

Plot Keywords:

Alien | Roswell | Vietnam War Veteran | Alien Contact | TV Star

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 7 wins & 18 nominations

Cast

 (Series Cast Summary - 6 of 83)

Dakota Fanning	...	Allie Keys (10 episodes, 2002)
Matt Frewer	...	Dr. Chet Wakeman (6 episodes, 2002)
Heather Donahue	...	Mary Crawford - Adult (5 episodes, 2002)
Emily Bergl	...	Lisa Clarke - Adult (5 episodes, 2002)
Adam Kaufman	...	Charlie Keys - Adult (5 episodes, 2002)
Camille Sullivan	...	Nina Toth - Adult / ... (5 episodes, 2002)

Also Known As:

Steven Spielberg Presents Taken (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

877 min (10 parts) | Finland:842 min (DVD)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Germany:12 (cut tv version) | Germany:16 (DVD rating) | Argentina:13 | Australia:MA (DVD rating) | Finland:K-15 (DVD rating) | Singapore:NC-16 | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Britannia Beach, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

DreamWorks Television

Trivia:

The abduction stories and sightings featured in the mini-series are based upon accounts made from people over the many years of UFO believers.

Goofs:

Continuity: At the end of "Maintenance", the last day shown is November 8th, 1980. When that date first appears on the screen, it is daylight. Then we see Eric waiting for Becky to get out of her house (in order to live with her to Maine), it is then night time. When she doesn't go out he decides to hit the road back to his military base and finish packing up. When he enters the base, it is daylight again. However, when he finally takes off to Maine, while he is on the road, it is night time again and the date shown is still November 8th, 1980. It should be November 9th (or later) since at least one day and a half separates the scene when that date first appeared and the last scene it appears in.

Quotes:

Allison Clarke: People talk a lot as if the most important thing in life is to always see things for what they really are. But everything we do, every plan we make, is kind of a lie. We're closing our eyes and pretending that the day won't ever come when we won't need to make any more plans. Hope is the biggest lie there is, and it is the best. We have to keep going as if it all mattered, or else we wouldn't keep going at all.

Movie Connections:

References "The Dukes of Hazzard" (1979)

Fantastic exploration of ourselves in this time.

I've seen all but the last segment of this mini-series and think it is great. Heather Donahue wonderfully portrays the evil investigator in hot pursuit, free of any scruples. Dakota Fanning is a star as she portrays the series hero, Ally, and narrates the story. The story itself draws on the current belief in Alien abduction, but in fact the real threat of being "taken" comes more from the scientists and military investigators who doggedly pursue their prey without any regard for the humanity of those they come into contact with, including the alien hybrids. Conversely, the alien hybrids have achieved a greater humanity than most of us ever will, culminating in Ally who not only feels intense sensitivity and compassion for people but has the power to act on it in ways impossible for us. Interestly, we identify with the hybrids as the pursued and as a those beings possessing those human qualities that we would most like to possess. That is what the series intended and is similar to "AI" in that regard. The film deals with our current mythology, which like all great and timeless mythologies explores our nature through an examination of the Gods and man and their interactions. Mythology changes though as it adapts to the conflicts human beings face in a particular moment in time. Spielberg is extremely important in that he has chronicled this changing mythology and our changing sense or ourselves beginning with "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" followed by "E.T." "Taken" is far darker, but so are we. It serves the purpose of all great mythology however by providing us the opportunity of self-examination.