Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

An intense kidnapping thriller with a great performance by Mel Gibson. Excellent work by the director of the film, Ron Howard. The film has a great story with characters you feel sorry for. The villain is played very well by actor Gary Sinise, he was great in the film as Jimmy Shaker, the leader of the kidnappers. The film is really suspenseful. The ending is tense and satisfying. The music is great, by James Horner. Rest in Peace Mr Horner. That line from Mel Gibson "GIVE ME BACK MY SON!". that part never gets old, its awesome. It is one of my favourite movies from the 1990's. I might watch it again soon.

Although not being the biggest fan of Mel Gibson (don't dislike him either), 'Ransom' did seem like it had an interesting story going for it, Ron Howard has done his fair share of good films and Gary Sinese has done work that is worth admiration.'Ransom' is a long way from flawless and it could have been better. At the same time, it is an entertaining and tense film as well as very well played. 'Ransom' is a film that starts off very well, even if a few things could have been done better, but loses steam towards the end. Like some people here, was really not crazy about the ending which reeked of studio interference. It was wildly improbable and the way everything was resolved was anti-climactic and overwrought.The secondary characters could have been better written. For the early reveal of the mastermind kidnapper to properly work, the kidnappers needed to be developed well. Other than Shaker the rest of the gang are very thinly sketched, well performed but one knows very little about them. There is very little to Sean too, making it difficult to sympathise with his dire situation. Tom's motives and reasons for such drastic decision making could have been clearer at times.Lastly, while the back and forth between Mel Gibson and Gary Sinese was essentially the film's driving force and very effectively executed in giving some great tension, the reveal of who was behind it all felt like it was revealed too early, not having it done later diluted the suspense somewhat.However, Howard does do a more than competent job directing, creating very nice visuals, good sense of mood and high levels of tension, although the more action-oriented parts felt too stagy and overblown. 'Ransom' was clearly made with a lot of skill, everything looking super slick and atmospheric.James Horner's score has some beautiful moments as well as some haunting ones, though to me he did do better scores. The script flows well and delivers on the tension, shining especially in the back and forth between Tom and Shaker. The story is taut and twisty, only unravelling in plausibility at the end, the big twist handled more than adequately. One really connects with what Tom and Kate are going through in one of the worst things that can happen to anybody.Gibson is a very commanding lead, and while she is somewhat wasted with an underwritten character Rene Russo does do a very good job with what she's given. The supporting cast are all good, with standouts being Delroy Lindo, Donnie Wahlberg and Lillie Taylor. Best of all, and other than the back and forth between him and Gibson the best thing about 'Ransom' is Sinese, who sends chills up the spine while adding a few wry twists to his characters in some of his best work he's done.In conclusion, above average, tense and entertaining thriller, but falls a little short. 6/10 Bethany Cox

When a rich man's son is kidnapped, he cooperates with the police at first but then tries a unique tactic against the criminals. Ransom is directed by Ron Howard and stars Mel Gibson, Gary Sinise, Rene Russo, Delroy Lindo, Donnie Wahlberg, Liev Schreiber and Lili Taylor and everyone gave terrific performances and Sinise was pretty ruthless as this dirty cop big mastermind kind of a villain and he really sold the film with his performance especially when the kid show him and peed himself was easily the stunning point of what this man did to Gibson's son and the ending where they fight was pretty cool the whole movie is cool if Taken and Commando was great then prepare to see another great film about a kid who gets kidnapped and the father goes crazy and doesn't pay a thing cause he has a plan.

Yes, I enjoyed watching this movie - even though it felt at times that it would never end. It looks like there are enough reviews on here praising its technical "merits" by Hollywood criteria. I for one do not think the acting had much quality or depth to it at all (Gibson's is really inconsistent/ delirious), nor would I say at all that this is a "good" film story, just an enjoyable one, and a compelling one for the following reason; This is possibly the most thinly-veiled cinematic propagation of a Neoliberal capitalist mentality I have seen - from the mid-nineties: White collar criminal (Gibson) gains his redemption / dignity and the respect of his family and government (the skeptical FBI agent (Lindo)) by pursuing a stubborn, risky path of non-negotiation (which jeopardizes the life of his son). Gibson's character refuses to pay-off the "human garbage" who could partially be seen to represent an extralegal justice.. and effectively pits the actors who constitute the threat to his decadent life against one another; the competition literally destroys itself -for the most part. The final scene is the most unbelievable, where we see the corporate 'hero' disobey the faithful but ineffective state - the officers demanding that he "drop the gun", who failed to take down the wayward dissatisfied officer from their ranks. A sort of case for the benefits of extreme self-interest, privatization, deregulation of business, realpolitik, etc.? This is an interesting watch as it significantly predates the wall street crash, the more contemporary political-economic policy that one would associate with this sort of message, and the more recent flashier action films (i.e. Nolan's Dark Knight, Miller's 300 etc) that are recognizable now as the Hollywood promotion of (I would say quite TOXIC) Neoliberalism. Thanks for reading.