Steven Spielberg Presents Taken

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Product Details

Director : Robert Harmon, Tobe Hooper
Actor : Julie Benz, Matt Frewer, Willie Garson, James N. Kirk, James McDaniel
Format : Import, Box set, Dolby, Dubbed, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Aspect Ratio : 1.78:1
Binding : DVD
EAN : 9780783280806
Product Group : DVD
Release Date : 2003-10-21
Studio : DreamWorks
UPC : 678149055528

ASIN : B00005JM39

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Editorial Reviews

From Amazon.com

Steven Spielberg's alien abduction opus Taken is what happens when you cross-breed Close Encounters of the Third Kind with The Waltons. Obviously flushed with the success of the TV miniseries Band of Brothers, Spielberg's Dreamworks studio has created an equally epic 10-part story chronicling 50 years of habitual abduction over several generations of three American families. Beginning with the most notorious alien cover-up in U.S. history, the 1947 "crash" at Roswell, New Mexico, Taken introduces the "Greys" and the families they routinely abduct, probe, and, in a couple of cases, impregnate over the course of the ten 90-minute episodes. The three families are: the Keys, from which first Russell, then his son Jessie, then grandson Danny, are all abducted; the Clarkes, who are descended from a liaison between lonely put-upon housewife Sally Clarke and one of the Roswell crash survivors; and the Crawfords, the ruthless G-men who are committed to uncovering the purpose behind the alien visitations at any cost.

It's this question that forms the main thread of the story: but even though the Greys' actions are at best ambiguous and at worst hostile, the viewer can't help feeling that after all this systematic abuse of their human test subjects the aliens will in the end present them with a cure for cancer. In fact, Taken is Spielberg at his most touchy-feely: for all its science fiction trappings it's basically a soap opera, lacking the sinister undercurrent of either Dark Skies or The X-Files. Nevertheless, it's an engaging series with decent performances--most notably Joel Gretsch as psychotic Owen Crawford--good special effects, and an engaging enough storyline to make it entertaining, if somewhat disposable, TV. --Kristen Bowditch

Customer Reviews

Series finale compensates for the flaws. (2004-05-20)

The series is a power-mix of everything UFO-Alien, it borrows heavily, and sometimes just steals ideas from Close Encounters, E.T., Independence Day, X-Files, 50's sci-fi movies, history and more. But don't expect to see many aliens, it's more about humans, and that is why it works. At first, I wasn't sure. But after the first two chaptes, I was hooked. I found a big flaw in the transition and aging of characters from chapter to chapter for two reasons, incompatible casting from child/teen to adult characters and not very convincing makeup. Also the way some key characters are eliminated from the plot is almost cartoonish. Very good performance by Joel Gretsch as the relentless Owen Crawford, and I found an interesting performace by Matt Frewer as the sarcastical and witty Dr. Chet Wakeman. But the best is cute, little Dakota Fanning, she steals the show. I hope Spielberg has more projects in mind for her potential tallent. 3/4 of the way the series starts to deviate dangerously, but falls back on track to a rewarding ending. Overall the series is very good. Highly recommended.

genre fans should enjoy this (2004-05-03)

Some have likened the nearly 15-hour miniseries "Taken" to "Close Encounters Of The Third Kind" meets "The X-Files." That's not far off the mark. In fact, it is what this reviewer thought even before reading similar sentiments elsewhere.

Featuring solid television production, good scripts, passable special effects and fantastic performances by a huge cast, "Taken" is a strong series chronicling 50 years of alien abduction and government conspiracies, all circling around three families. Fans of Spielberg's view on aliens and the X-Files' view on government secrecy and paranoia will likely enjoy this (though Spielberg's sweetness and light trumps the Files' jaded cynicism in the end).

All ten episodes, each 90 minutes long, tie together to form one long narrative, though many of the episodes can serve well as standalone entertainment, too. It is the characters that keep the whole affair afloat, with family being the tie that binds three generations together. Some of the middle episodes are a bit slow, and the later installments rely too heavily on cliffhangers, but all in all viewers will want to keep watching well past bedtime. I was so pulled in, I watched the whole series in just three days.

Most impressive is the cast, who turn in great performances throughout. Great makeup work ages the characters as the series moves forward, allowing us to see people live out 30-plus years of their life in a convincing fashion. Very engaging. Most impressive is the young Dakota Fanning. Pay attention to this one. She turns in a startling, deep, engaging, endearing performance.

Take note, this is not Hollywood blockbuster filmmaking. What this is, is classic TV miniseries material. The production values are not nearly on par with those of Band of Brothers. The pacing is television pacing, not movie pacing (deliberate, not action-oriented). And little is shown that could not be shown on network television. None of this works against the series, either. Rarely in these 15 hours does it fail to compel.

So do we get a dark view or light view of aliens? A bit of both, actually. We have dread and we have wonder. They are scary and they are wonderful. Questions of the aliens' intent always linger. Yes, questions are answered for those who watch all 15 hours, but other questions are left open, which is a must for a tale like this. I never felt gypped at being left with too many questions, nor did I ever feel too much was explained.

The DVD set features nice packaging and good disc quality. The last disc of extras is sparse, with a glossy bit of hype disguised as a documentary, but it's better than nothing.

So is "Taken" worth the steep price tag? That's a tough question to answer. For lovers of the aforementioned works, probably. You'll love the first viewing, and you'll watch it more than once. Not as dark as X-Files, nor as light as Close Encounters. For casual fans of the genre, well, a rental might be a good idea before taking the big plunge. Those looking for pure sci-fi, too, should proceed with caution; a special effects extravaganza this isn't.

I long for Max Headroom (2004-04-20)

I have something in common with alien abductees: `lost time.' Twenty hours of lost time, to be exact. Counting the four hours of self-flagellation for sitting through this painfully boring mini-series amounts to a whole day of my life which would have been better spent watching Close Encounters of the Third Kind twelve times. Obviously, most of the casting budget must have been spent on Dakota Fanning. With the exception of her performance, the acting was one step below a Lifetime made-for-tv melodrama. Heather Donahue was irritating enough for two hours in the Blair Witch Project but after ten hours of her self-conscious twitching and creepy bug-eyes, I was thrilled when it appeared the aliens took her. Alas, they gave her back. Matt Frewer's acting style , while being at least unique and imaginative, has the overall effect of fingernails on a chalkboard or an ice cream headache. You just want it to stop already. Why did I watch the whole twenty hours you might ask. I was hoping for an ending that would justify the money and effort put into this project and was sadly disappointed. The payoff was a simplistic and obvious religious analogy that was an insult to the intelligence of anyone over the age of six years old. They even threw in Peter's denial of knowing Jesus and the little girl's journal as the bible just in case you didn't `get it.' How dumb did they think this audience would be? Bottom line: watch Close Encounters again.and again.and again. For that matter, even an old episode of Max Headroom would be thirty minutes better spent and much more entertaining.

POR FIN, VERE COMPLETA LA MINISERIE DE TAKEN.... (2004-04-11)

Si, por fin pude ver completa mi serie favorita! En Morelia, Michoacán, MEXICO, donde vivo la había visto incompleta en dos ocasiones y no lograba entender algunos puntos de su historia. Hoy gracias a este DVD, ya entendí la relación entre Kays, los Clarke y los Crawford. I live in Morelia City, and I have watched this Miniserie in my TV twice, but could not understand it at all. Now, with the dvd I am able to

TAKEN isn't as good on a whole as it is ambitious. (2004-03-22)

There is a point in the fourteen and a half hour mini-series TAKEN that you realize you're watching something truly great, and just about the same moment the momentum that carried the first half hits a brick wall and slides into mediocre. The first five episodes represent an excellent, well written, engaging mini-series that gets you hooked by the end of the first episode and makes you excited to see the next. A soap opera of alien abduction and government cover-up with richly drawn characters and some great production values, TAKEN takes a turn after episode five into an overly melodramatic crawler that lacks many of the aforementioned good qualities. The first half takes place between the 1940's and 80's and features some great plotlines and characterization, as well as superb fx and remarkable attenion to period detail. The remainder takes place in present day and has many lulling moments, and very little in the inventive storytelling utilized in parts one through five. On a whole TAKEN is pretty good and definitely worth the look at least for one viewing but keep in mind that for 14+ hours and for 100+ bucks (if you decide to purchase, I'm glad I didn't even though the DVD package is nice and sound and picture quality is really good), it's not as good as the sum of it's better parts, most of which take place early on. All and all TAKEN does entertain, but lacks what most television mini-series lack, and that is the devotion and execution of feature films. TAKEN ends up fizzling out, and thats a shame, because it definitely could've (and should've) been better.

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