Jason Bourne is a Pussy! (Taken)

[Crux]

I finally got a chance to watch Taken, starring Liam Neeson last night. He plays Bryan Mills a form "preventer" as he put it - someone who prevents bad things from happening The basic story is Mills is a former government badass who went into retirement to be close to his daughter, who lives with his ex-wife and her new uber-rich husband. The daughter goes on a trip to Paris against his better judgment, and gets kidnapped. Mr. Mills proceeds to try and get her back.

I honestly though this was superior to any of the Bourne movies. The pacing was excellent. The fight scenes were just awesome. It was pretty realistic without any plot holes or major problems. There was no jumping down six stories, shooting someone along the way and then somehow surviving because I used a dead body as a landing pad moments. Just a true badass being really really badass. The camera work was great - no shaky cam during fights. You get to see exactly what is going on and the choreography of the fight scenes makes it worth seeing. In all, best movie I've seen in a long while. It's like Bourne meets Man on Fire, but better.

[PeteRock]

All of the positive feedback has both me and my wife excited to watch it.  Your comments only continue to fuel our anticipation.  Last night was our anniversary and she wanted to watch Lie to Me and the American Idol results show, so we had McDonald's, watched her shows, and then retired to bed to read.  We didn't have time to watch it last night, and having read some of the comments from forum members my wife asked if we could watch tonight, but I've got pool league from 5 until around 10.  I have a feeling on Friday following our anniversary celebration dinner we'll make it a "dinner and a movie" night and watch Taken when we get home.

It's been sitting in my DVD changer just beckoning to me, but we can't seem to find 90 free minutes.   

[Crux]

For what it is worth, I watched the "extended unrated" version (both were on the dvd I bought) and it didn't suffer for it. The movie just didn't drag at all.

[PeteRock]

For what it is worth, I watched the "extended unrated" version (both were on the dvd I bought) and it didn't suffer for it. The movie just didn't drag at all.

Is that the only version you watched?  Whenever I have the choice of theatrical cut or "extended unrated" cut, I choose the latter.  It usually only adds more to the film and rarely detracts from it.  Unless someone believes the theatrical cut to be superior, I plan to watch the extended unrated cut. 

[Simon]

I believe the extended version only adds two minutes.

We watched it last night too and thought it kicked ass all over. Not much in the way of story or character development, but watching Neeson take down bad guy after bad guy was great. I loved how he just never held back anything in the fights. Two guilty pleasure thumbs way up.

[Crux]

Well in all honesty, I think any 'character development' would have felt artificial. I thought the opening few scenes of the film did a great job of telling us a lot about the few main players. We get a good sense of Bryan's cautious and methodical personality... and the effect it had on his marriage. I really thought they did a good job of evoking empathy with him and the 'outside' role he plays both in his daughters life and society. I mean there is a story there - it just isn't a story about people changing or growing. It is a story about a very dangerous man trying to get his daughter back. I just don't count that one as a 'guilty pleasure'. A guilty pleasure for me is something like 'Shoot-em up'

[Moliere]

I believe the extended version only adds two minutes.

Which is usually the case with the scam about "Director's Cut", "Extended Cut" and "Unrated Version".

[hepcat]

I believe the extended version only adds two minutes.

Which is usually the case with the scam about "Director's Cut", "Extended Cut" and "Unrated Version".

tell me about it.  i was duped into owning two copies of BladeRunner....

[walTer]

I believe the extended version only adds two minutes.

Which is usually the case with the scam about "Director's Cut", "Extended Cut" and "Unrated Version".

tell me about it.  i was duped into owning two copies of BladeRunner....

HAAAA, do you know how many versions of Star Wars (the first and best) I own?  Um, Vhs, extended vhs, laserdisc, DVD regular, DVD anniversary, DVD remastered  and I think one more!  (I have 3 versions of Blade Runner)

On topic, this movie does indeed look kick-ass.  Has been sitting in my Netflix list from day one....totally looking forward to it.

[PeteRock]

I believe the extended version only adds two minutes.

Which is usually the case with the scam about "Director's Cut", "Extended Cut" and "Unrated Version".

I wouldn't make such a generalization.  A number of films were vastly improved by the director's/extended/unrated cut.  Live Free Or Die Hard was vintage John McClane in all his F-word glory rather than the PG-13ified crap shown in the theaters.  Chronicles of Riddick made little sense and was nearly unwatchable in its theatrical cut form.  The director's cut, on the other hand, made for quite the entertaining guilty pleasure. 

Lord of the Rings: Extended Cut.  Nuff said.  Sure, some just cash in on the "director's/extended/unrated" moniker, but there are also those films that truly benefit from it. 

The unrated version of Barbie Horse Adventures was fucking mind-blowingly spectacular. 

[TK-421]

The unrated version of Barbie Horse Adventures was fucking mind-blowingly spectacular. 

Is that the one that puts the deleted Tijuana scene back in?

[Moliere]

I wouldn't make such a generalization.  A number of films were vastly improved by the director's/extended/unrated cut.  Live Free Or Die Hard was vintage John McClane in all his F-word glory rather than the PG-13ified crap shown in the theaters.  Chronicles of Riddick made little sense and was nearly unwatchable in its theatrical cut form.  The director's cut, on the other hand, made for quite the entertaining guilty pleasure. 

Lord of the Rings: Extended Cut.  Nuff said.  Sure, some just cash in on the "director's/extended/unrated" moniker, but there are also those films that truly benefit from it.

Although there might be a few exceptions like you mentioned, they are the exceptions. Most director's/extended/unrated versions of the movie are scams.

[happydog]

The unrated version of Barbie Horse Adventures was fucking mind-blowingly spectacular. 

I have been searching for this for a while, anyone know where I can pick it up (the rated version seems to be everywhere though)?

[walTer]

There are many more not so tame...

[PeteRock]

Most director's/extended/unrated versions of the movie are scams.

Not if it's the only version available.  Taken is the perfect example.  Sure, there are only two minutes of additional footage, but there's only one version of the disc available which offers both the theatrical presentation and the extended cut.  Many films are only released as the "director's/extended/unrated version offering the theatrical presentation as an option of the disc.   

[Moliere]

Most director's/extended/unrated versions of the movie are scams.

Not if it's the only version available.  Taken is the perfect example.  Sure, there are only two minutes of additional footage, but there's only one version of the disc available which offers both the theatrical presentation and the extended cut.  Many films are only released as the "director's/extended/unrated version offering the theatrical presentation as an option of the disc.   

I'm not denying any of that either. My point remains that most DVD's are sold as if the director's/extended/unrated version was something special from the theatrical release. Usually it's not. You get 2 minutes of footage that are undetectable and add nothing to the original version.

[PeteRock]

Okay, I'll admit it.  I'm a director's/extended/unrated whore.   

I just can't seem to do without those additional 2 minutes, no matter how undetectable that footage may be. 

I am so ashamed.   

[Kagath]

I bet you have the Director's cut of Monty Python and the Holy Grail too. All for that extra 12 seconds. 

[Windows95]

It was pretty realistic without any plot holes or major problems.

Which part of the film did you the most find realistic?

Spoiler for Hiden:

The Albanian gang that kidnaps young tourists before auctioning them off to Arab sheiks for sex?

Correctly identifying and locating the gang through a cell phone voice recording?

Defeating wave after wave of trained fighter in effortless hand to hand combat?

Precision stunt driving that includes tipping over barrels of gas to create walls of flame?

French authorities looking the other way towards atrocities yet unable to apprehend the main character?

To quote Ebert’s review:

With this kind of intelligence, the CIA could be using bin Laden's Visa card in every ATM in Virginia. It's the set-up for a completely unbelievable action picture where Mills is given the opportunity to use one element of CIA spycraft after another, read his enemies' minds, eavesdrop on their telephones, spy on their meetings and, when necessary, defeat roomfuls of them in armed combat

Don’t get me wrong, the film is fun and exciting, and I highly recommend it.  Realistic though?  I only wish we had spies half as capable as this film makes them out to be.

Edit: Spoiler tag added

[Crux]

Woah dude. Never heard of spoilers? The thread is full of people who haven't seen the movie yet.

Spoiler for Hiden:

The Albanian gang that kidnaps young tourists before auctioning them off to Arab sheiks for sex?

You do realize shit like this actually happens right?

Spoiler for Hiden:

Correctly identifying and locating the gang through a cell phone voice recording?

That didn't even take place, so dunno where this is coming from.

Spoiler for Hiden:

Defeating wave after wave of trained fighter in effortless hand to hand combat?

There was never any 'wave after wave' scenarios in the entire movie. The most he faced at any one time was three. The rest of it was just a bunch of 1 vs 1s, and what makes you think a bunch of Albanian sex slavers are 'trained fighters'? The only truly trained fighter he seemed to face was the guy at the end, and that was a struggle in which he got pretty wounded.

Spoiler for Hiden:

Precision stunt driving that includes tipping over barrels of gas to create walls of flame?

That was honestly the only instance in the entire movie where I tilted my head sidewards and thought 'huh?' to myself. It didn't have any big impact on the outcome of the story though, so it wasn't a big deal.

Spoiler for Hiden:

French authorities looking the other way towards atrocities yet unable to apprehend the main character?

So were you even paying attention? The French authorities were looking the other way because they were being bribed. As for the 'unable to apprehend the main character', the only real chance they had was when he had set up the radio to the cell phone. The rest of the time he was off the net until near the end when he went to the 'desk job' guy's house. At that point he had dirt on the man, who wouldn't WANT him apprehended.

To quote Ebert’s review:
With this kind of intelligence, the CIA could be using bin Laden's Visa card in every ATM in Virginia. It's the set-up for a completely unbelievable action picture where Mills is given the opportunity to use one element of CIA spycraft after another, read his enemies' minds, eavesdrop on their telephones, spy on their meetings and, when necessary, defeat roomfuls of them in armed combat

Maybe Ebert didn't watch it closely either. There was no mind reading. No telephone eavesdropping. And I suppose if you count *THREE* whole people at once that might count as 'roomfuls of enemies'

Don’t get me wrong, the film is fun and exciting, and I highly recommend it.  Realistic though?  I only wish we had spies half as capable as this film makes them out to be.

I dunno. Half your criticisms come across like you didn't even watch the film Or maybe watched it but didn't pay any attention at all. Sure when you string the whole thing together it isn't a likely outcome, but the individual scenes were all workable within themselves. There was literally one scene in the entire movie where I thought 'yeah right' to myself. The rest was all doable stuff.

[Kagath]

In a reverse, there was one scene where I thought I saw a cliche coming and it never showed.

Spoiler for Hiden:

When he's driving the car around the city and sees the boat in the river. I figured that he would just drive the car off the bridge on to the boat or something. Refreshing when he didn't.

[Moliere]

In a reverse, there was one scene where I thought I saw a cliche coming and it never showed.

Spoiler for Hiden:

When he's driving the car around the city and sees the boat in the river. I figured that he would just drive the car off the bridge on to the boat or something. Refreshing when he didn't.

Spoiler for Hiden:

It was also refreshing when he hurt his ankle jumping onto the boat and was limping around after that.

[Simon]

In a reverse, there was one scene where I thought I saw a cliche coming and it never showed.

Spoiler for Hiden:

When he's driving the car around the city and sees the boat in the river. I figured that he would just drive the car off the bridge on to the boat or something. Refreshing when he didn't.

Spoiler for Hiden:

It was also refreshing when he hurt his ankle jumping onto the boat and was limping around after that.

Spoiler for Hiden:

Best part was with the wife.

[Jeff]

Just saw the movie tonight and loved it. I wouldn't have figured Neeson for this role, but damn if he doesn't pull it off.

"A very particular set of skills"    Indeed!

One of my favorite lines:

Spoiler for Hiden:

"We can neg..."   

[Kagath]

Yeah I was a little bit skeptical since I've never seen him in a role quite like this. I know he was in some 'actiony' stuff in the past but nothing I've seen compared.

[Windows95]

Woah dude. Never heard of spoilers? The thread is full of people who haven't seen the movie yet.

Spoilers added with apologies, but I thought the info I posted was pretty basic for a thread discussing the film.

Spoiler for Hiden:

The Albanian gang that kidnaps young tourists before auctioning them off to Arab sheiks for sex?

You do realize shit like this actually happens right?

Young women being sold into the sex trade?  Yes.  Constantly by an orgnaized gang in a major western nation?  No.

Correctly identifying and locating the gang through a cell phone voice recording?

That didn't even take place, so dunno where this is coming from.

About 30 minutes in.  His buddy Sam analyzes the recording Bryan made of Kim's call.  He tells him which town they're from in Albania based on their accent, and that they're in Paris.

Defeating wave after wave of trained fighter in effortless hand to hand combat?

There was never any 'wave after wave' scenarios in the entire movie. The most he faced at any one time was three. The rest of it was just a bunch of 1 vs 1s, and what makes you think a bunch of Albanian sex slavers are 'trained fighters'? The only truly trained fighter he seemed to face was the guy at the end, and that was a struggle in which he got pretty wounded.

They're described as being so bad that even the Russian mob steers clear.  Even if they’re just regular bad guys, for him to effortlessly kill them all is still pretty impressive.   

French authorities looking the other way towards atrocities yet unable to apprehend the main character?

So were you even paying attention? The French authorities were looking the other way because they were being bribed. As for the 'unable to apprehend the main character', the only real chance they had was when he had set up the radio to the cell phone. The rest of the time he was off the net until near the end when he went to the 'desk job' guy's house. At that point he had dirt on the man, who wouldn't WANT him apprehended.

I dunno. Half your criticisms come across like you didn't even watch the film Or maybe watched it but didn't pay any attention at all. Sure when you string the whole thing together it isn't a likely outcome, but the individual scenes were all workable within themselves. There was literally one scene in the entire movie where I thought 'yeah right' to myself. The rest was all doable stuff.

Yep I really was watching the film (which I own because I like it so much). 

I'm not attacking the film.  It's got great action, and it’s really fun to watch.  My nitpicks about its realism aren’t negatives, I just disagree with the notion that it’s any different than a Bourne flick in terms of plausibility.

[Crux]

Spoiler for Hiden:

Young women being sold into the sex trade?  Yes.  Constantly by an orgnaized gang in a major western nation?  No.

I don't know for a fact it doesn't. I know this stuff happens, so the scenario presented here just isn't unrealistic to me.

About 30 minutes in.  His buddy Sam analyzes the recording Bryan made of Kim's call.  He tells him which town they're from in Albania based on their accent, and that they're in Paris.

Hehe. This is just a misrepresentation. Yes Sam analyzes the recording and tells him they are Albanian. I'm going to assume it isn't a big stretch for them to have any intel on sex slavery rings like this. And he already knew they were in Paris, so that really narrows down their search. The recording didn't identify a specific gang - as the Inspector said they came in a trickle at first and now there are thousands of them (Albanians in the trade, not gangs. I'm assuming there is more than one gang though). All it really did was give him a nationality, and some background information on the trade. It's not like Sam says "You're looking for Bob Jones, a member of a Happyman Gang and he can be found at 115 Rue de Paradis".

They're described as being so bad that even the Russian mob steers clear.  Even if they’re just regular bad guys, for him to effortlessly kill them all is still pretty impressive.   

Meh. If they're mostly regular guys with a bit of experience at killing or roughing up mostly unresisting opponents, it isn't *that* impressive. This is a thing I've always found interesting. Almost all men want to believe they can fight. Nobody wants to consider the fact there are men out there against whom they are pretty much defenseless. If I put you on a tennis court to play Rafael Nadal or Roger Federer they would destroy you, because just don't have the skills at tennis. They've spent a lifetime honing those skills. What makes you think hand to hand combat is any different? I'm a decently experienced martial artist, and I know from the few fights other people have started with me that I can handle the average joe with relative ease. And that's handling him while taking care not to kill him or cause permanent damage. I'm a very good athlete with extremely fast reflexes. And yet I can tell you there are people in this world who could destroy me faster than I'd like to think about - because while I've spent a *lot* of hours training in this stuff they've spent a lifetime at it. And they've been training to maim and kill.

As I said in my last response, I agree that someone sequencing together all of those fight scenes and making it out is very unlikely. But each fight scene individually was doable. Some were obviously harder than others, but they were all possible.

[ibdoomed]

Spoiler for Hiden:

The only part I had a "yeah, right" moment about was when he was hanging from the pipe and managed to pull it out of the ceiling. It felt too convenient.

[Jeff]

Spoiler for Hiden:

The only part I had a "yeah, right" moment about was when he was hanging from the pipe and managed to pull it out of the ceiling. It felt too convenient.

Spoiler for Hiden:

The setup for that moment was also a tad weak, IMO. I'm referring to when he's leading the boss guy out of the room at gunpoint, and someone as trained as he didn't look left in the hallway setting himself up for getting knocked out. Also, why didn't that guy just shoot him? Easily forgivable for a movie like this though, which I still give 4/4 stars.

[gellar]

I really enjoyed this one as well.  One of the best action films of the last few years.

gellar

[Odin]

Yeah I was a little bit skeptical since I've never seen him in a role quite like this. I know he was in some 'actiony' stuff in the past but nothing I've seen compared.

As a Krull alum, I'm sure he can handle anything.

[leo8877]

 

[PeteRock]

Finally watched Taken this weekend.  Although I didn't think to choose the "unrated" version as my DVD player automatically skips all of the legal crap and menus and goes right into the film.     Still, I enjoyed it.  The pacing seemed about right, they do just enough to develop the characters and their relationships without dwelling too much on the emotional side, and the action is visceral and relatively realistic.  And at 90 minutes you get what you came for without the film trying to be more than it is or going off into unnecessary tangents merely to extend running time.

I give it a solid 

[stimpy]

I thought it was mediocre at best.

[PeteRock]

Spoiler for Hiden:

Best part was with the wife.

Yeah, that part got a  out of me.  Awesome.

[hepcat]

Yeah I was a little bit skeptical since I've never seen him in a role quite like this. I know he was in some 'actiony' stuff in the past but nothing I've seen compared.

As a Krull alum, I'm sure he can handle anything.

 

[rickfc]

Spoiler for Hiden:

Best part was with the wife.

Yeah, that part got a  out of me.  Awesome.

Agreed...We watched it this weekend, and we came out highly impressed.

Spoiler for Hiden:

One thing that I usually don't care for in these kinds of movies is that the lead will oftentimes show restraint or remorse.  In Taken, however, Neeson, while calculating and efficient, never gives the bad guys a second chance or takes a moral high road.  Things like shooting guys in the back, shooting them through the portholes in doors, electrocuting the guy who 'wished' him "good luck", etc.  That was more refreshing to me than any other part of the movie.

That, and the fact that the movie wasn't laden with profanity as many movies in this genre are.

After the movie, I told my wife about this thread and how the OP was correct in assessing that Jason Bourne is indeed now a pussy in my book. 

[PeteRock]

After the movie, I told my wife about this thread and how the OP was correct in assessing that Jason Bourne is indeed now a pussy in my book. 

I think that's not quite accurate.  After all, Jason Bourne kicks all kinds of ass and he doesn't even know why or who he is.  It's one thing to have skills and know how to use them, but it's another thing entirely to instinctually use skills you didn't even know you had. 

Bryan Mills would kick your ass and like it.  Jason Bourne would kick your ass and you'd be dead before he even knew what was going on.  It's scary to be whooped by someone aware of their actions.  It's even more scary to be whooped by someone who doesn't even know what he's doing or what's going on. 

Still, it doesn't matter.  Because when Chuck Norris talks, everybody listens. And dies.

[Jeff]

Still, it doesn't matter.  Because when Chuck Norris talks, everybody listens. And dies.

Any horse Chuck Norris leads to water, promptly begins drinking.

Why doesn't Chuck Norris wear a watch? Because Chuck decides what time it is.

Evolution: the plants & animals that Chuck Norris decides to let live.

[PeteRock]

Chuck Norris doesn't acknowledge the Periodic Table, because Chuck Norris only recognizes the element of surprise.