Rating: 
Summary: A waste of Ron Howard's talents!
Review: I'm not sure how long ago Howard and the screenwriters came up with this story, but it could have stayed on the shelves. Yes the acting is great, but COME ON! Rich couples' child gets kidnapped, perpetrators demand ransom money in return, suspense ensues, hero and villain play cat and mouse - OLDEST STORY IN THE BOOK! Anybody could have directed this movie! Word of advice, Howard: stick to comedy and real life drama which you have perfected so well over the years.
Rating: 
Summary: No Quite Perfect. But that close!
Review: This film is not just a thriller. It is a deep psychological thriller. Instead of relying on action this movie stands firmly on the emotions of an impressive gathering of some of the greatest actors ever: Mel Gibson, Rene Russo, Gary Sinise, and Delroy Lindo.My only real complaint is that the final action sequence seemed delayed a little too long, and then occurred too simply. But don't let that shake the movie. There are still tears enough to drown in; rage enough to burn down the house; and suspense enough to stop the clock!
Rating: 
Summary: Melvin Gibson's Steady Climb Up The Acting Ladder
Review: Ransom showcases Melvin Gibson in more of an acting role than do many of his past films, and the theater lessons he has been taking are apparent. He occasionally frowns as he talks, his delivery being far more low-key than in, say, Lethal Weapon -- when his acting consisted of coupling dialog with lots of wild facial expressions and eye-rolling. It's obvious that Melvin employs what he learns; in his next film, Conspiracy Theory, he combined the tight frowning from Ransom with the wild stuff from Lethal Weapon, and ascended another rung on the Acting Ladder. It has been a pleasure to watch Melvin Gibson work and strive, these past two decades, to become an actor. Melvin is beginning to make encouraging progress, and it is apparent that, at some point in some future film, he will actually act -- and grow to be more than just a pretty face.
Rating:
Summary: Game theory relevant film
Review: "Ransom" is one of the more intelligent movies I have ever seen. Apart from being a very well made thriller, it's thought provoking, too. In fact, "Ransom" is game theory relevant, because the strategies of the adversary, as I shall call him, and the father - can be analyzed from a game theoretic point of view, within "the game of ransom". Optimal mechanism design suggests that some strategies dominate others on the part of the father. If we generalize the setup of the game a little, we will see that any organization facing a similar danger can be analyzed within a simple mechanism design setup. Let's stick to the film case in what follows. Given the objectives of the adversary, the father maximizes his objective function by never giving up to the adversary's requests, and thus removing the lever of advantage the adversary has on him. The sole power of the adversary stems from the fact that he came into possession of the good or a person, which or who is of enormous value to the father - in this case, the father's offspring. By applying a "commitment technology", the father eliminates the adversary's advantage, and as long as he is able to stick to his wits and his strategy, i.e. have a credible commitment, also apparent to the adversary, the latter has little incentive to continue, since the mechanism of terror he planned, and counted for - stopped working.
It's obvious that having acquired the offspring, the adversary has no incentive to keep him alive regardless of achieving his monetary goal. In fact, getting rid of the offspring permanently dominates the strategy of fulfilling his promise, and giving the child back. If the father predicts the incentives of the adversary correctly, he knows his offspring will pass away irrespective of his action. Therefore no matter how difficult it is emotionally, how hard it is on the mother, he should assume that the offspring would pass away, if he follows the adversary's instructions. At this point, the equilibrium strategy emerges quite clearly. In any equilibrium of the " game", the father should never pay the adversary. Also, in any equilibrium of the "ransom game", the probability of the offspring passing away is one, unless the incentives of the adversary are removed by applying credible commitment on the part of the father with respect to the optimal strategy. The latter is to hunt down the adversary, and have him removed, devoting all resources to this end. Only in this way the offspring has the chance to live, as the adversary's best response to the father's strategy is to back off and return the offspring. This is true because returning the offspring as a strategy dominates the strategy of keeping him hidden, since no reward is to be expected, and the utility of being hunted by the whole world is less than the utility of returning the offspring AND trying another case, where the other father might not follow his optimal strategy. "Ransom" is a very good film, very well made with respect to the traditional elements of a thriller - suspense, action, and credible screenplay. However, it's much more than that. It's a very conservative film in the sense that it praises following the rules of the game instead of emotions. What needs to be done is done, regardless. Almost identical motivational scheme could be used for justification of very harsh and rigorous law. I applaud Mel Gibson for creating a memorable role, and I applaud the screenplay writer and the director for offering us one of the most intelligent films that have ever been made. The fact that this film is also game theory relevant raises the rating.
Rating:
Summary: Keeps you on the edge of your seat
Review: Ransom is full of twists and turns that keep you on the edge of you seat. This movie is full of *unexpected* moments. It gets to the heart of the matter when the mother played by, Rene Russo and the father, played by Mel Gibson are forced to face the fact that their son has been kidnapped. If you are a fan of these two talented actors you'll love their chemistry in this movie (even better than in the Leathal Weapon movies). This movie tugs at your heart and gets to the real fear that all parents have of their child being kidnapped. Gary Sinise displays another outstanding performance in this movie as well. not giving away the ending... you'll have to watch the movie for that! Buy it, esp. if you like any or all of the cast actors, I personally enjoy all of them, there are just too many to mention.
Rating:
Summary: Action packed, full of surprises
Review: The year following Braveheart, Mel Gibson starred in this Ron Howard-directed action-packed movie, where he plays the role of a media mogul whose kid gets kidnapped. The plot evolves around all the corageous moves he takes to try and get his son back. For those who enjoyed the "Lethal Weapon" series, this movie will be a perfect match.
Rating:
Summary: Can Gary Sinise get any Better!!!
Review: In whatever Mr. Sinise seems to do he always comes out on top. In this movie it really shows by the man playing a cop who is actually holding an eleven year old kid for a two million dollar ransom. The two sequences in the movie that are very supurb are the ones where Sinise is telling Gibson how to pay him off in the car where he's talking about comparing THE TIME MACHINE to New York City. The other is the last sequence where he (Sinise) is about to get paid four million dollars by Gibson. In short Gary Sinise is and will be for a long time one of the most lively and emotional actors on screen and stage. (Please see him in ONE FLEW OVER THE CUKOO'S NEST on Broadway until the 29th of July. He plays R.P. McMurphey. He's better than Douglas and Nicholson)
Rating: 
Summary: A different type of movie from Ron Howard.
Review: Intense but uneven story from director Ron Howard in which Mel Gibson and Rene Russo play a father and mother who play a deadly game of cat and mouse to save their son from violent kidnappers. Very violent and the story does suffer a bit in the course of the movie toward the climax.
Rating:
Summary: A good movie for anyone. A bad one for Gibson
Review: I felt very different about this movie throughout but overall I would say I liked it.A interesting film that was good but could have been great. This movie almost fet rushed and Gary Sinise was the person I felt did the worst. As a fan of most of his work he lacked everything a villian in that kind of movie should have:a real personality,spunk,style and cold hearted.If you like Mel Gibson see it. You mite get a kick out of it.
Rating:
Summary: Decent thriller with a superb cast
Review: Ransom features two of my all-time favorite actors-Mel Gibson and Gary Sinise-facing each other off in a game of cat-and-mouse. Naturally, my expectations for the film should be high. While the film does have its thrilling sequences, there are also needless subplots and repellent violence and tone. There are also a lack of surprises, as everything plays in a manner that's not too hard to guess. As should be expected, the acting in the film is superb, with Gibson delivering a powerful performance as the flawed man who only wishes to get his son back. Rene Russo as his wife also shows strength and passion. Equalling Gibson's performance is the terrific Gary Sinise, who plays his villainous character to perfection (or rather imperfection), a guy you just love to hate. Though far from perfect and the occasionaly stilted direction from Ron Howard, the great cast and some suspenseful sequences make this film worth a look
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