DVD Collectors Online

Taken, a review by Rich

Taken



Liam Neeson stars in this action-packed international thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. When his estranged daughter is kidnapped in Paris, a former spy (Neeson) sets out to find her at any cost. Relying on his special skills, he tracks down the ruthless gang that abducted her and launches a one-man war to bring them to justice and rescue his daughter.

After reading good reviews here I purchased this, and was not disappointed. It is a top notch action-thriller, full of pace and punch, delivered straight into your face. It is a surprise it was so underhyped by the studio?
The leading role is seemingly crafted for Liam Neeson, and he is totally convincing playing the father hell bent on rescuing his daughter from sex slave traders. Seldom does he appear in bad films, clearly fortunate to be able to select the best scripts/roles. Perhaps a future Bond?
Although there is a major amount of violence, it is never too OTT, and the production values and pacy plot make it addictive edge of the seat viewing.
Close enough to Bourne standards to be cousins.
 
 


(From Riches Random Reviews on July 9th, 2009)

Riders of Destiny, a review by Rogmeister

Riders of Destiny (1933)  58 Minutes (?)
Directed by Robert N. Bradbury
Cast: John Wayne, Cecilia Parker, George "Gabby" Hayes, Forrest Taylor, Yakima Canutt, Al St. John

While most of my reviews are done watching DVDs, I found this on an old VHS tape I've had for many years.  This movie has doubtless found its way onto many a public domain DVD westerns collection, though, I would imagine.

This was probably to be the first of a series of films where John Wayne played a character called "Singin' Sandy" and in the opening credits he is billed as "John Wayne as Singin' Sandy" but I think this was actually the only official Singin' Sandy movie ever made.  In the movie, it starts off with him riding the trail on horseback...while singing...and playing a guitar...all at the same time.  He finds a sheriff who has been shot in the back.  He eventually comes to town where ranchers have to deal with a villain who wants to buy their ranches at dirt-cheap prices while charging them exorbitant prices for much-needed water.  Singin' Sandy doesn't tell anyone who he is...it turns out he is a government agent sent to find out what is going on and help solve the situation.  Not only does Sandy sing to the daughter of a rancher he encounters, but he also sings just before he plugs a bad guy.  He makes the bad guy think he's helping him but it's all part of a clever plan and the bad guy ironically meets his end by drowning in newly released lakes of water.

A book I have lists this movie as 58 minutes (about the average length for a "B" western back in those days) but my copy is actually a bit shorter, running only about 52-54 minutes.

As with most quickie westerns of the time, the story moves along very quickly but the whole singing thing (especially since John Wayne's singing was obviously dubbed by another singer) makes the whole affair an unbelievably corny time, even for me when I'm in my "young cowpoke" guise.  There's some decent photography and a nice stunt or two so it's not really that hard to take...but I definitely wouldn't call it a classic.  I enjoyed seeing it again after many years so m aybe I'll look it up in another decade or so.

(From Roger's Ongoing Westerns Marathon on October 12th, 2009)

Tom's TV Pilots marathon, a review by Tom

Lateline: The Complete Series (1998/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia Paramount Home Entertainment (United States) Length: 417 min. Video: Full Frame 1.33:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround Subtitles:

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Plot:
Late-night TV news programs get turned on their ear in Lateline, the hilarious sitcom spoofing the stories, talent and upheaval behing the cameras. Based in Washington, D.C., Lateline follows news correspondent Al Freundlich (Al Franken of TV's "Saturday Night Live"), who works side-by-side with an entertaining gang of zany, ambitious and pretentious co-workers. This three-disc collection contains the entire LatelineG. Gordon Liddy, Kathie Lee Gifford, Buddy Hackett, Joan Lunden, Conan O'Brien, Rosemary Clooney, Allison Janney, Martin Sheen, Vanessa Williams... and many more. It's time for LatelineLateline
1.01 Pilot Episode
Writer: Al Franken (Created By), John Markus (Created By), Al Franken (Writer), John Markus (Writer)
Director: Andy Ackerman
Cast: Megyn Price (Gale Ingersoll), Miguel Ferrer (Vic Karp), Catherine Lloyd Burns (Mona), Ajay Naidu (Raji), Sanaa Lathan (Briana), Robert Foxworth (Pearce McKenzie), Al Franken (Al Freundlich), Natasha Pavlovich (Yelena), Zaid Farid (Darryl), Cal Bartlett (Tobacco Spokesman), Bob Glouberman (Prompter Techie), M. Joycelyn Elders (Herself), Candace J. Gingrich (Herself), G. Gordon Liddy (Himself), Ralph Nader (Himself), Laurin Sydney (Herself), Terry Murphy (Herself), Robert Prosky (Boone LeGarde), Dana Carvey (Sen. Crowl Pickens (uncredited))

A short-lived series I haven't watched in a long time. The pilot episode is a really great introduction to the series. The plot is nothing new, but I really liked the execution of it.

Rating:

(From Tom's TV Pilots marathon on June 5th, 2012)