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		List Price: $39.99		Label: 20th Century Fox Salesrank: 141 Released: May 12, 2009
		Our Price: $13.69
		Used Price: $13.68
		MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) Media: Blu-ray

Editorial Review:

Genre: Action/Adventure
Rating: PG13
Release Date: 12-MAY-2009
Media Type: Blu-Ray

Description of Taken [Blu-ray]:
What could be a skillful but ordinary action flick gets a surprising emotional heft from the presence of Liam Neeson as the hero. Bryan Mills (Neeson) has given up his career as a spy to form a relationship with his estranged teenage daughter--but when, on a trip to Paris, she's kidnapped by slavers, Mills uses all his connections and skills to turn the city of lights upside down and rescue her. Like most of the movies that writer/producer Luc Besson has a hand in (such as La Femme Nikita, The Transporter, Unleashed, and many other French action movies), Taken drips with lurid violence (a bit toned-down to get a PG-13 rating, but there's still plenty of it), deranged sentimentality, and stereotypes of all kinds. But this doesn't stop his movies from being effective thrill-rides, and Taken is no exception. Taken pays just enough attention to the illusion of procedure--making it seem like Mills knows all the right steps to track down his daughter--that the movie cheerfully seduces your suspension of disbelief, despite many plot holes and scenes where Mills doesn't get scratched despite bullets flying in all directions or pretends to be a French policeman despite not speaking French or even adopting a French accent. What holds it all together is Neeson; his gravitas and emotional availability make his character--the usual action fantasy of impossible competence and righteous fury--somehow seem real and relatable. --Bret Fetzer

Stills from Taken (Click for larger image)

Taken [Blu-ray] Reviews:
A must have movie...
2009-11-24 - My husband LOVES to talk through movies and this is the ONLY movie where he didn't speak one word through! This has to be Liam Neeson's best performance ever.

Charles Bronson-esque old school action flick for the 21st century
2009-11-16 - When I watched 'Taken' I was immediately reminded of the types of no-holds-barred, no-apologies action flicks that Charles Bronson starred in with Cannon during the 1980s -- films like Murphy's Law and Kinjite Forbidden Subjects. Quick runtime? Check. Heavy on action, thin on characters and plot? Check. Heavy violence? Though tamed a bit for a PG-13, yes.

But seriously, if you took this script and made this movie in 1984 with Charles Bronson it would be a Bronson classic. Neeson stars as an ex-CIA agent whose worst fears and paranoias from the job come true when his daughter and her friend are kidnapped by thugs from a European sex slavery ring. Neeson doesn't (beep) around in this one -- he goes right in and nails anyone and everyone even remotely involved, gets the job done, and as the saying goes, makes it home in time for corn flakes.

In short, if you love action, especially the Bronson/Seagal action flicks of the 80s and early 90s, this is definitely gonna be up your alley.

Rambo goes to Paris...with a vengeance
2009-11-14 - White slavers, high speed chases, torture, explosions, dead bodies ... you just can't ask for more from gay Paree!

The plot is simple. An ex-CIA agent's airhead daughter decides to take an innocent trip to Paris and gets herself into a mess of trouble. (Dad knew all along that it was a bad idea, but do they ever listen?) True to Dad's completely reasonable and well-founded expectations, the daughter and her equally brainless girlfriend are immediately abducted by Albanian white slavers. Due to his CIA connections, Dad figures out who the slavers are in about three minutes, which gives you a whole hour to watch him kick, gouge, electrocute, shoot, and, in general, beat the living daylights out of the rest of the cast. Eventually, Dad finds the Arab sheik who has bought the silly girl for an outrageous (and totally unwarranted) amount of money, and there is a touching reunion--after Dad shoots the sheik. Then the happy pair fly back to California where a pop singer-

Hold on! Now wait just a cotton-picking minute! What about all the OTHER girls who were abducted while trying to get a taxi in Paris? Did Liam Neeson just leave them to their fate? Didn't some of them have well-to-do parents who might have kicked up a fuss? What about the "hundreds" of Albanian slave traders? I'm pretty sure Liam Neeson only killed... let me see...thirty or forty of them. How did he get on a plane after shooting all those people? Don't they have police in Paris?

OK, so it's an action flick. We can ignore all those little details. But the one thing you really can't get around is the fact that no way does a father rescue his daughter under those circumstances without saying, "I told you so."

Neeson gives good Jason Bourne-like Performance
2009-11-12 - Neeson is excellent as a government operative who is divorced and is still trying to make amends to his teenage daughter for not being there for her during many of her formative years. He is very protective for her because of his training Thus he is extremely adverse to his daughter going with a friend to Paris for a vacation.

At first he totally refuses to give her permission but is pressure by both his daughter and ex-wife to sign the permission slip. Of course the actual plans that the daughter has once she gets there is different. She and her girlfriend let a stranger ride with them in a cab from the airport and it leads to a bunch of men breaking into the apartment where she is staying.

The daughter manages to call her father as the men break in and her tells her what is going to happen but if she follows his instructions, he will hopefully be able to find her. The men take both girls and one actually taunts Neeson on the phone. Neeson promises the attacker that he will track him down and kill him.

Neeson then dons a "Jason Bourne" personna and goes to Paris to find his daughter. He is in a desperate race against the clock because that he is told that if he doesn't find her in 96 hours, it will be impossible to ever locate her.

Great action scenes and Neeson is relentless in his chase. Though this movie has a lot of predictability it is still fun and Neeson does a good job playing his part. An above average thriller!

Much better than I expected!
2009-11-08 - A co-worker suggested this movie saying it was better than most were giving it credit for and I was hesitant to take his word on it, as this co-worker has suggested other movies to my hubby and me that I ended up really disliking (My Super Ex-Girlfriend for example). But I gave in and gave it a try as I do like Liam Neeson, but I wasn't expecting much in the end.

The plot was a little weak and the movie overall was a bit formulaic. I didn't care for Maggie Grace as the daughter, and felt her acting was a bit lame in this movie. And I definitely wasn't expecting Liam Neeson to be so kick-butt in this movie and I was surprised at how much I really liked this film by the end! It's a good guy takes revenge on the bad guy flick and Liam excelled at it in this movie. And that is really why this movie is so good. Much, much better than I thought it would be and I am glad that I took the chance and saw it. You should too!