Customer Reviews

Ransom [VHS]

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

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.

Although this is actually a remake of a 1940s film in which the protagonist turns the tables unexpectedly on his child's kidnappers, this very well produced film directed by Ron Howard is quite contemporary and sophisticated. Mel Gibson shines as the controversial developer who has had shady dealings with union reps on his way to fantastic wealth, and is pursued unsuccessfully by the FBI even while they are suddenly called in to help on his son's kidnapping. When things go from bad to worst, Gibson takes control of the negotiation, and suddenly all hell breaks loose.

This is an entertaining and quite suspenseful film, wth a terrific supporting cast that includes Rene Russo as Gibson's wife, Gary Senise as a duplicitous local cop, and Mark Wahlberg as one of the kidnappers. The plot takes some interesting twists and turns, and although it is nt predictable, all works out quite well in the end. Or does it. In order to see, you'll just have to watch this very well made suspense thriller for yourself. Enjoy!

While I think the movie is great, I thought everyone should be warned that this is the exact same non-anamorphic transfer as the previous release. Amazon's technical details are in error. The back is absent of any 16x9 markings. Popping the movie in confirmed this. Stay away if you're looking to upgrade from the first disc.

"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.

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!

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)

Tom Mullen is a wealthy corporate executive used to mediating tough business deals, and doing things his own way. Along with his beautiful wife Kate and son Sean, Tom has all the material trappings of success, including a Fifth Avenue penthouse, an enviable position in New York society and high media visibility. But when the thing he cherishes most--his young son--is abducted by desperate criminals and held for ransom, Tom's world of affluence and privilege comes crashing down. And after an FBI rescue operation fails, he engineers a dangerous countermeasure in a last chance effort to bring his boy back to safety. With his son's life hanging precariously in the balance, and his wife terrified by the shocking plan, Tom offers an appalling proposal, the response to which could easily result in the loss of his son forever. If you're looking for intense drama, suspense, and amazing acting, "Ransom" has it all.

Bad. Really bad. Only Gary Sinise manages to save this nearly unbearable flick. Avoid it. It is silly, predictable, and revels in violence. For an interesting movie with a similar plot, watch Kurosawa's High and Low.

"Ransom", directed by Ron Howard, offers chilling performances by Mel Gibson, Gary Sinise and Rene Russo, all of whom are highly talented, seasoned professional actors. Donnie Wahlberg, Lili Taylor and Brawley Nolte make up a fine supporting cast as well. The kidnapping plot and storyline are well thought out and well scripted, and make for a wonderful suspense thriller from start to finish. This one's worth owning!

Dull. Bad. Over violent. Mel Gibson trots out his three acting tricks. Only Gary Sinise manages to create anything credible in this stupid flick. If you want to see an interesting movie with a similar plot, rent Kurosawa's High And Low. Avoid Ransom.