Rating: 
Summary: Awesome suspense -- unusual plot.
Review: This movie isn't like most Hollywood flicks about ransom, it's actually completely different! The entire cast and supporting cast does a surpurb acting job. RANSOM is about an extremely wealthy, multi-millionaire, Tom Mullen (Mel Gibson). Tom is an airline owner, and his top priority in life is his family that includes his wife, Kate Mullen (Rene Russo), and one son, Sean Mullen (Brawley Nolte). Soon, an enemy of Tom Mullen and his gang are after Tom's money. To get what they want, which is about a million dollars, they kidnapp Tom's son, Sean, while the family is at a district science fair in their hometown of New York City. Tom and Kate are so desparate to find Sean and bring him back home that they will do just about anything in their power to bring Sean back alive and safe. All throughout the film, the guy who kidnapps Sean (I forget his name), tries to give Tom clues on how he can get his son back and where he is. The ending of this film may surprise some people, because it's definitely not the usual ending of a Hollywood suspense film. A must-see for any Mel Gibson fan and is very well-worth watching even if you don't like Mel Gibson. I very much enjoyed it!
Rating: 
Summary: Flawed yet serviceable thriller with tight suspense.
Review: One of the factors that keeps "Ransom" from being a great movie, as opposed to a good one, is that we know too much in the beginning about who's behind the crime at the center of the story. In effect, this tactic also works in the movie's favor, providing it the opportunity to create a truly suspenseful game of psychological cat-and-mouse while showcasing powerhouse performances from Mel Gibson and Gary Sinise. Once the movie draws to a conclusion, the good points of this Catch-22 plot point outweigh the bad, but there are drawbacks. Gibson is cast as wealthy airline owner Tom Mullen, living a picture-perfect life in New York City with his wife Kate (Rene Russo) and young son Sean (Brawley Nolte). All is as it should be until Sean is kidnapped from a science fair in Central Park, leaving Tom and Kate distraught and feeling helpless. Despite the kidnapper's warning that there be no police or law officials involved, Tom turns to the FBI, believing that this crime against him may have a connection to a payoff he made that landed gangster Jackie Brown in prison (the motivation behind the crime is never really cemented, but passed off as jealous rage for Tom's avoidance of prison for said payoff). On the opposite end of the threatening phone calls and emails is detective Jimmy Baker (Gary Sinise), his girlfriend Maris (Lili Taylor), hacker whiz Miles (Evan Handler), and brothers Clark and Cubby Barnes (Liev Schreiber and Donnie Wahlberg). They make a demand of two millions dollars in return for the safe delivery of Tom's son, which Tom agrees to pay at the behest of Kate and the FBI officials assigned to the case. To this day, I don't know why filmmakers even bother to include an FBI subplot in any crime thriller, given their obvious failures and mishaps in movies stretching back as far as time itself. Take, for instance, the scene in which Tom leaves to deliver the money in return for the address where his son is located. When he arrives for the exchange with Cubby, who has told his brother he will not deliver the money until Baker delivers Tom's son, the FBI helicopters fill the night sky and ruin what would have been a successful payoff. Only after this incident does it ever occur to them that there might be more than one person involved in the kidnapping. I also think the movie would benefit from keeping the identity of Sinise's character a secret until a sufficient point much later in the film, perhaps when he alerts the police to the boy's whereabouts. The presence of his fellow kidnappers is more than enough to suffice the mystery of his identity; it just seems like the old unknown mastermind plot twist would serve the movie better than knowing upfront. And that's an even bigger problem, considering that the identity of this character is intrical to the effectiveness of the movie's turn of events, in which Tom turns his promised delivery of the ransom money into a bounty for the kidnappers' identities, provided they are captured and positively identified as such, of course. Risking his son's life and the disapproval from his wife, he dives into a dangerous mind game in which he challenges his son's captors to come clean without their expected reward, and despite the fact that we can predict how this plot twist will eventually end up, there is still a great deal of tension resonating from this psychological battle of the minds. In addition to the high level of suspense, this thriller is armed with a sure-fire cast that hits all the right notes in all the right places. Tom's devotion to his son, as well as his wanting for nothing more than his safe return, is beautifully acted by Gibson, who delivers lines like "Give me back my son!" with a sublime mixture of fear and anger. Russo also receives high marks as a mother driven mad by all that's going on around her, and her scenes involving fits of anger and fright are hard-hitting and realistically acted. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Sinise portrays Baker's gradual breakdown with savage brutality, becoming more than just an ordinary movie villain. As the quartet of kidnappers, Taylor, Handler, Schreiber and Wahlberg each have moments where they shine. Overall, I liked "Ransom." I enjoyed its ability to keep me on edge while waiting for a plot twist I saw coming a mile away; I greatly enjoyed watching a wonderful cast exercising their most extreme talent; most of all, I relished the tension that centers on the mind game Tom engages in with those who wish to do his son harm. As much as I enjoyed it, I wonder how the movie would fare if Baker's identity as the mastermind were kept a secret, and whether or not the absence of the FBI from the story would make much of a difference; maybe we'll never know.
Rating: 
Summary: THE ONLY GOOD THING ABOUT THIS DISC IS THE EXTRAS!
Review: "Ransom" is the taut thriller about one man's desperation and determination to get back his kidnapped son. Mel Gibson headlines as Tom Mullen - a man whose seemingly perfect world is shattered when his son, Sean (Brawley Nolte) is stolen from him during a science fair in Central Park. Rene Russo, Gary Sinise and Lily Taylor add genuine weight to their roles. As far as suspence and deception go - they don't get much better than "Ranson".
TRANSFER: Unfortunately, no one at Touchstone seems to care. The quality of this transfer is, pending a few truly horrific digital transfers that I have seen in my life time, really nothing to get worked up about. This DVD is NOT ANAMORPHICALLY ENHANCED for 16:9 displays. Colors are generally weak and often muddy and on occasion tend to bleed. Fine detail is completely lost in the darker scenes and contrast levels are way, way too low. Black levels register as more of a dirty brown than black. Aliasing, shimmering of fine details and edge enhancement are all present for a very uneven visual presentation. There is NO EXCUSE for the barrage of "age related" nicks, chips and scratches that are all over this visual presentation. Some films from the 1950s don't look this bad!!! The audio is Stereo Surround. Apart from the extras, this is virtually the same DVD as previously released by Buena Vista. What a crock!
EXTRAS: Deleted scenes, an audio commentary, a really brief making of featurette and the original theatrical trailer.
BOTTOM LINE: If this is Buena Vista's idea of a Special Edition I'd hate to see what their idea of bare bones is. Oops! Almost forget. I have seen it on "Beaches", "I Love Trouble", "Pretty Woman", "Can't Buy Me Love", "Adventures In Babysitting"...
Rating:
Summary: one of the better remakes
Review: I usally dont care for remakes! This was a remake of a 1955 version with Donna Reed and Glen Ford. But this is much better the raw emotion of Mel Gibson and Renee Russo just made the movie just so completly come into place. I had tears in my eys through out the whole movie. The commentary with Ron Howard is great also. A must have for any collection!!!
Rating: 
Summary: The Big Payoff?
Review: At first glance, director Ron Howard's Ransom, seemed like a pretty solid thriller. However, after seeing it a second time on the special edition DVD, my feelings about it changed somewhat. And then there's those extras. Tom Mullen (Mel Gibson) is a wealthy airline tycoon. Along with his loving wife Kate (Rene Russo), and their son Sean (Brawley Nolte), they seem to have it all. Things are turned upside down for the family though, when Sean is abducted and held for ransom, by a gruoup of kinappers. Frantic, Tom decides to take matters into his own hands, despite the pleas of his wife and FBI agents, led by agent Lonnie Hawkins (Delroy Lindo). Then, he deal with the consequences of attempting to turn the tables on the kidnappers, and find a way to help get his son back. Ransom boasts fine perfomances from Gibson and Russo, who carry over their obvious chemistry from the Lethal Weapon films. Lindo is top notch as Hawkins, as is Gary Sinise, playing Detective Shaker. With all this talent in front of the camera, and Howard as a fine director Ransom should still be a better film.The major twist of the story is telegraphed too early. It's bad enough the trailer gives away a minor twist, but, I think it would have been better to keep that secret a bit longer. It kind of takes the suspense of the last act and leaves it muted. Thanks to a solid cast--it's still watchable. Now to the DVD extras. You would think, after reading the back of the snapper case, that the bonus features would be worthwhile, well, in reality they don't measure up. Take the audio commentary by director Ron Howard, it's fact filled about the production--almost to a fault--it's also lacking any ommff. Having someone else there would have probably helped. The deleted scenes are nothing more than minor snipets of edited material. The "What Would You Do?" featurette is all too brief and doesn't do anything except take up space. The lack of any of the film's cast is noticed and hurts the piece. The "Between Takes" featurette is also short, but at least it's fun to watch. The movie's Internationl trailer and a Touchtone products ad round out the disc. I wish I could rate Ransom a bit higher but I can't. I would say rent don't buy
Rating:
Summary: Pass the time
Review: ENOUGH with the "cat and mouse" expression! Anyway, this is another "Hollywood" movie. Very unrealistic, many times during the movie you will be thinking "that would NEVER happen". The beginning of the movie we see dad and son play around, laugh, and and have fun, as if that is a typical every day for them. (Who hasn't seen that 20 times before?) This DVD was given a special edition, but I am unsure why. The featurette is boring, 3/4 of it are clips we've just seen from the movie. Overall, sure it's mildly entertaining if you can ignore how unbelievable it is.
Rating:
Summary: IF THIS IS A JOKE IT'S NOT A FUNNY ONE!
Review: "Ransom" is the taut thriller about a man's desperation to get back his kidnapped son. Instead of paying the ransom, Tom Mullen (Mel Gibson) decides to play a deadly game of cat and mouse with his son's kidnappers. He publically offers a million dollar reward to the person who can apprehend his son's attackers - either dead or alive. Gary Sinise, Rene Russo and Brawley Nolte (yes, Nick Nolte's son)all offer stellar performances that make this high stakes drama intense visual pleasure for the cinematic thrill seeker.
TRANSFER: Unfortunately no one at Touchstone seems to agree. There can be no other reason for offering "Ransom" in the identical, tired, poorly rendered, NON-ANAMORPHIC transfer that was previously available. The open credit sequence is riddled with "age" related nicks, chips and scratches (how old is this film?!?!). The color palette is betrayed with muddy, inconsistent hues and an overly low contrast level that even in a completely blackened room is hard on the eyes. Aliasing, edge enhancement and pixelization - as before - are obvious on this transfer as well as more than a passable amount of film grain. The audio is STEREO - not 5.1!!!
EXTRAS: An engaging commentary by director Ron Howard, four deleted scenes, a ridiculous but new making-of featurette and a thoroughly useless "Between Takes" featurette. Also, the internationl trailer (gee, thanks!).
BOTTOM LINE: DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY!
Rating:
Summary: Flawed yet serviceable thriller with tight suspense.
Review: One of the factors that keeps "Ransom" from being a great movie, as opposed to a good one, is that we know too much in the beginning about who's behind the crime at the center of the story. In effect, this tactic also works in the movie's favor, providing it the opportunity to create a truly suspenseful game of psychological cat-and-mouse while showcasing powerhouse performances from Mel Gibson and Gary Sinise. Once the movie draws to a conclusion, the good points of this Catch-22 plot point outweigh the bad, but there are drawbacks. Gibson is cast as wealthy airline owner Tom Mullen, living a picture-perfect life in New York City with his wife Kate (Rene Russo) and young son Sean (Brawley Nolte). All is as it should be until Sean is kidnapped from a science fair in Central Park, leaving Tom and Kate distraught and feeling helpless. Despite the kidnapper's warning that there be no police or law officials involved, Tom turns to the FBI, believing that this crime against him may have a connection to a payoff he made that landed gangster Jackie Brown in prison (the motivation behind the crime is never really cemented, but passed off as jealous rage for Tom's avoidance of prison for said payoff). On the opposite end of the threatening phone calls and emails is detective Jimmy Baker (Gary Sinise), his girlfriend Maris (Lili Taylor), hacker whiz Miles (Evan Handler), and brothers Clark and Cubby Barnes (Liev Schreiber and Donnie Wahlberg). They make a demand of two millions dollars in return for the safe delivery of Tom's son, which Tom agrees to pay at the behest of Kate and the FBI officials assigned to the case. To this day, I don't know why filmmakers even bother to include an FBI subplot in any crime thriller, given their obvious failures and mishaps in movies stretching back as far as time itself. Take, for instance, the scene in which Tom leaves to deliver the money in return for the address where his son is located. When he arrives for the exchange with Cubby, who has told his brother he will not deliver the money until Baker delivers Tom's son, the FBI helicopters fill the night sky and ruin what would have been a successful payoff. Only after this incident does it ever occur to them that there might be more than one person involved in the kidnapping. I also think the movie would benefit from keeping the identity of Sinise's character a secret until a sufficient point much later in the film, perhaps when he alerts the police to the boy's whereabouts. The presence of his fellow kidnappers is more than enough to suffice the mystery of his identity; it just seems like the old unknown mastermind plot twist would serve the movie better than knowing upfront. And that's an even bigger problem, considering that the identity of this character is intrical to the effectiveness of the movie's turn of events, in which Tom turns his promised delivery of the ransom money into a bounty for the kidnappers' identities, provided they are captured and positively identified as such, of course. Risking his son's life and the disapproval from his wife, he dives into a dangerous mind game in which he challenges his son's captors to come clean without their expected reward, and despite the fact that we can predict how this plot twist will eventually end up, there is still a great deal of tension resonating from this psychological battle of the minds. In addition to the high level of suspense, this thriller is armed with a sure-fire cast that hits all the right notes in all the right places. Tom's devotion to his son, as well as his wanting for nothing more than his safe return, is beautifully acted by Gibson, who delivers lines like "Give me back my son!" with a sublime mixture of fear and anger. Russo also receives high marks as a mother driven mad by all that's going on around her, and her scenes involving fits of anger and fright are hard-hitting and realistically acted. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Sinise portrays Baker's gradual breakdown with savage brutality, becoming more than just an ordinary movie villain. As the quartet of kidnappers, Taylor, Handler, Schreiber and Wahlberg each have moments where they shine. Overall, I liked "Ransom." I enjoyed its ability to keep me on edge while waiting for a plot twist I saw coming a mile away; I greatly enjoyed watching a wonderful cast exercising their most extreme talent; most of all, I relished the tension that centers on the mind game Tom engages in with those who wish to do his son harm. As much as I enjoyed it, I wonder how the movie would fare if Baker's identity as the mastermind were kept a secret, and whether or not the absence of the FBI from the story would make much of a difference; maybe we'll never know.
Rating:
Summary: Pass the time
Review: ENOUGH with the "cat and mouse" expression! Anyway, this is another "Hollywood" movie. Very unrealistic, many times during the movie you will be thinking "that would NEVER happen". The beginning of the movie we see dad and son play around, laugh, and and have fun, as if that is a typical every day for them. (Who hasn't seen that 20 times before?) This DVD was given a special edition, but I am unsure why. The featurette is boring, 3/4 of it are clips we've just seen from the movie. Overall, sure it's mildly entertaining if you can ignore how unbelievable it is.
Rating:
Summary: MARVELOUS MEL-O-DRAMA
Review: RANSOM is probably Ron Howard's most fully realized film to date. Howard helms a tense, literate script, without letting its potential maudlin come through. Mel Gibson, who has "ruined" his career with the 350 million dollar+ gross of THE PASSION OF CHRIST (Notice tongue in cheek, folks) shows us what a powerfully commanding actor he can be. His role as the tortured, yet committed, father is beautifully performed. Mel doesn't parlay his looks into establishing his popularity. The Australian is a very good actor, and in some ways, has never been recognized for the fact. Rene Russo is amazing, too. Starting off in a cool, I've got things under control aura, she melts into a desperate, crazed, and passionate woman who loves her husband dearly, but can't believe he's risking their son's life. Gary Sinise once again brings a mercurial sense of villainy to his role as the mastermind behind the kidnapping, and his coldhearted murders only enforce his psychosis; Delroy Lindo as the head FBI agent gives a sturdy, tense and compassionate portrayal; Lili Taylor is devastating to watch as she crumbles under the pressure of her part in the kidnapping, but her cold hearted willignness to kill the little boy is frightening; Liv Schrieber and Donnie Wahlberg as the brothers are convincing, in view of their relatively little time on screen.
I liked this film a lot because it touched my emotions in the way a thriller of this type should. Nail bitingly good, it's one of Gibson and Howard's best works.
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