Friday, July 15, 2011

#1077: Unknown

10:28 PM / Blu-ray / Comments8 Comments

BD

(BD/DVD combo, Optimum, Region B/2, UK)

 
8 Comments

1. Erik said:

"From the director of AKIRA..."

Fairly mediocre, TAKEN-light mainstream fluff.

(Posted on Friday, July 15, 2011 at 11:19 PM)

2. LordAwesome said:

Prepare for teal overload.

(Posted on Friday, July 15, 2011 at 11:52 PM)

3. Phil Quail said:

"TAKEN-light mainstream fluff"

TAKEN-light? Is that even possible?

(Posted on Saturday, July 16, 2011 at 1:40 AM)

4. Erik said:

I'd say so, if we're going by the rating and basic plot.

Not that TAKEN was a grand thriller, but it more or less worked. IMO.

(Posted on Saturday, July 16, 2011 at 3:38 AM)

5. Greg M said:

This film is far from original (Polanski's FRANTIC, for example, was just one major influence), but the only reason people are calling it TAKEN-lite is because Liam Neeson is in both films. It's like saying UNFORGIVEN is DIRTY HARRY-lite.

(Posted on Saturday, July 16, 2011 at 5:55 AM)

6. Phil Quail said:

Yeah, excuse my flippancy, Erik. TAKEN was OK, but it was quite hyped up and when I eventually saw it, it didn't match the hype. Apart from the silly plot, I was disappointed that, after DISTRICT 13, Pierre Morel had to resort to the incomprehensible choppy-editing approach to the action scenes (understandable, of course, since he's trying to make 50 year old Neeson look good).

"It's like saying UNFORGIVEN is DIRTY HARRY-lite."

No, THE GAUNTLET is DIRTY HARRY-lite. ;)

(Posted on Saturday, July 16, 2011 at 12:03 PM)

7. Author Profile Page Michael said:

Yeah, I must confess I find the TAKEN comparisons a bit strained myself. OK, it has Liam Neeson masquerading as an American (with a decidedly Irish accent) while running around a European capital, but that's about it. I actually saw the film during its theatrical run and enjoyed it quite a bit. Remains to be seen how it will fare on a second viewing, though I suspect some of the more ludicrous plot twists will grate more.

(Posted on Saturday, July 16, 2011 at 2:18 PM)

8. Erik said:

@Greg: Point taken. And we all know GRAN TORINO is DIRTY HARRY-light. :)

@Phil: Loved DISTRICT 13, didn't really think TAKEN was a big hype film aside from having a very effective trailer. (My take on hype is... unusual, not enough room to go into it here).

@Michael: Really regretting making that dumb comparison by now! The cover made me do it! No, erm, the main reason is actually not the films themselves, it's more Hollywood based. I can picture a bunch of suits sitting around a table, going, "All right, so this TAKEN made a lot of money -- do we have anything similar we can throw into production and hire Neeson for?"

(Posted on Saturday, July 16, 2011 at 9:50 PM)

 
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