Review: Taken

Today, we will be discussing Taken on Bluray.

The Blu-ray in question offers both theatrical and unrated editions. Having seen the former in the theater, I chose the latter.

As per usual, this review will be spoiler free.

Taken is the story of a father who had been a spy. He quit his day job, as it were, to build a relationship with his daughter who is turning 17 as the film opens. She wants to go to Paris with her 19 year old friend, and he doesn’t like it.

My little sister went to Europe when she was 16 with a church group and I remember my own father being reticent even about that — something I completely understand and agree with, as it happens.

Eventually, her father agrees after thinking about it, then gives her an international cellphone so he can keep track of her. No sooner than they exit the airport in Paris do they do something stupid: they share a cab with some random guy they just met, followed by telling him all about where they are staying and how they’ll be all by themselves there.

When Kim (his daughter) finally calls home, the kidnappers burst in and take her friend; she describes it all to her father and he tells her what to do, and specifically, that she will in fact be Taken, which she is shortly thereafter.

Not to give anything away, the next hour or so involves some fast paced action, lots of violence, and a really nice body count. Basically, Liam Neeson is a bad ass.

Quick bit of info on the disc itself. Audio is 5.1, didnt find anything particularly exciting to report in the surround sound department on this flick. As is standard with blu-ray, the video is 1080p at ~24 fps (Blu-rayStats.com says it is 23.976 fps).

And I just noticed that there is a PiP/Bonus View special feature, “Black Ops Field Manual”, that promises to provide up to date mission information in the form of anatomical and geographical info. So I’ll have to check that out next time I watch the flick.

Lastly, it also comes with a Digital Copy, so you can watch it on your iPod should you so choose.

Verdict: If you enjoy movies with action and violence, buy it.