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

Color:

Color

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:

The martial art style used by Liam Neeson is Nagasu Do. It's a hybrid martial art style that borrows from Judo, Aikido and Ju Jitsu.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In the scene at the building site, some men are seen in hard-hats in a style that is not available nor permitted in France.

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 "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire: (#4.5)" (2009/I)

Soundtrack:

California Girls

Surprising original exciting action movie

I saw this movie tonight at the sneak preview and I was completely surprised and blown away. I went to see this movie with no expectations. In the beginning it seems that it was going to be an easy to watch movie, but after a short time it turned into a high-speed action movie. I found the story original and so did my friends. At some times I found it hard to watch, because of the drug abuse and violence. To know that these practices still occur also gave me a horrible feeling. I was completely taken away by this movie. At some points it was very very quiet in the cinema, because of the excitement, you wonder what is going to happen next. Some moments in the story I found a bit not convincing, but the rest of the movie makes up to that. Liam Neeson in one of his best performances. It had good action, a good story, some humor. There are also some sensitive / sentimental scenes. There are no plot twists. It is just a story being told. This is one of those movies which stay in your memory for a while and let you think about bad things that happen. The movie that had that same effect on me was Traffic (2000). Personally I think this movie is underrated, but maybe this is because it is new. I would give it 8/10.