Info

• Katie As: Amanda
• Other Cast: Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen, Leland Orser and Holly Valance
• Directed by: Pierre Morel
• Written by: Luc Besson | Robert Mark Kamen
• Release Year: 2008
• Genre: Action | Crime | Thriller
• Rating: TV-MA (usa) / 18 (uk)
• Filming locations: Paris, France / LA, USA

Sypnosis

The successful life coach Erik Naybor seemingly has everything, but his success covers a dark history, and when his difficult nephew shoots his brother, the challenges starts unfolding.

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Trailer

Trivia & Facts

• In the film, Katie Cassidy’s character (Amanda) is 19 years old and Maggie Grace’s character (Kim) is 17. In real life, Grace is older than Cassidy by three years.
• Liam Neeson expected the film to bomb, but he signed on in order spend four months in Paris and learn karate, while playing the kind of role he had rarely been offered in the past. Ironically, not only was the film a massive hit, but created a new on-screen image for Neeson as an action hero.
• Jeff Bridges was first cast as Bryan Mills, but after he dropped out of the project Liam Neeson accepted the part, desiring to play a more physically demanding role than he was used to. Bridges eventually saw the film, and said Neeson was a much better choice for the role.
• Former Special Air Service (SAS) soldier Mick Gould trained Liam Neeson in combatives and weapons handling skills to prepare him for the role.
• Liam Neeson performs many of his own stunts.
• When Liam Neeson first read the script, he felt certain that the film would be a straight-to-DVD release. As it turned out, the movie became an unlikely blockbuster, revitalizing his career in the process.
• Liam Neeson has stated in interviews that the biggest misunderstanding that people seem to take from the movie is that Europe (and France in particular) is a place where young people are at high risk of being abducted by human traffickers. He has said that several American parents thanked him after the movie for warning them of the dangers, saying they would no longer allow their children to go on a trip to France. Neeson always takes time to explain that the dangers were highly exaggerated for the film, and tells parents that they should encourage their children to get out of the USA more often.
• Doing this film inspired Famke Janssen to take action in the fight against corruption. She now serves as the Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
• The map that Bryan is holding, when he finds out about the girls’ plans at the airport at the beginning of the movie, is an old Europe map (probably dated 1992), as the now dissolved Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia can clearly be seen. Czechoslovakia separated into two independent countries, Czech Republic and Slovak Republic, in 1993. Yugoslavia was dissolved in 1992.
• Before any action takes place, Bryan already has scratches to the left side of his face, hinting at his “spare time” activities.
• Liam Neeson was paid a total of $40 million for the Taken trilogy.
• Maggie Grace was reportedly trained by world-renowned running coach Alberto Salazar in order to learn the finer points of running like a 17-year-old girl.
• The iconic apartment fight scene where Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) interrogates and neutralizes the kidnappers, using brutal hand-to-hand combat techniques, was filmed in a way that aimed for raw authenticity with minimal cuts. Director Pierre Morel wanted the audience to feel as if they were witnessing genuine combat skill, not overly choreographed action. Liam Neeson performed many of these moves himself after extensive martial arts training.
• All of Liam Neeson’s character’s ex-agency friends were played by actors who had previous roles in “spy” or “cop thriller” television shows and movies. Jon Gries played a major role in The Pretender (1996), Leland Orser was in both The Pretender (1996) and 24 (2001), and David Warshofsky had appeared in minor roles in numerous similar shows.
• The singer’s name in the movie is Sheerah. In Hebrew, shirah is the feminine form of the word meaning “singing” or “poetry.”
• Liam Neeson and Clive Standen, who plays Bryan in Taken (2017), are both from Northern Ireland.
• In the Taken (2008) series of films, Bryan’s weapon of choice is a Beretta 92FS.
• A father tells his two children the story of “Little Red Riding Hood”. The story has often been cited as a cautionary tale against speaking to strangers and the dangers of the sex trade… both of which are themes that appear in the film.
• There is a scene where Bryan and Lenore argue about Kim traveling around Europe to see U2. Liam Neeson is good friends with U2’s vocalist Bono.
• There are two versions of the electric chair torture sequence. In the original version released in theaters, Bryan Mills stabs two long nails to Marko’s legs and hooks electric clips to them. While in the U.K. version, he simply attaches the electric clips to the chair and the sequence is shortened (removing Marko’s expression of pain face) to secure the PG-13 rating. Both versions were released on DVD, with the original as Extended cut and the shortened version as U.K. Cut.
• Given the fact that there’s a middle finger and Jean Claude Pitrel uses the F-word in French along with others, this (meaning the theatrical version not the uncut) was likely originally rated R already (and might have been advertised as such on several mediums). It was hard R too (18 by Schengen Area and BBFC standards).
• The gang of Marcos of Tropogia at the house with the red door are drinking a beer “Vergina” that is Greek from Macedonia.
• Film debut of Sophie Chamoux.
• Maggie Grace admitted that filming Taken made her far more cautious while traveling. She said she was already “personally pretty paranoid” by nature, but the movie amplified it, leading her to become the “protector” among friends during trips and even change hotels if she felt strangers knew too much about them.
• Before being cast, Maggie Grace had written down a list of actors she hoped to work with, with Liam Neeson as her number one choice. She got the role just three weeks later.

Goofs

• When Kim makes a phone call just before getting kidnapped, she describes the man as having a beard. When Bryan hears this recording on the plane, it’s changed to mustache, and again in a later scene when Bryan is listening to the recording it’s beard.
• When Bryan listens to the recording of his daughter on the airplane, the recording starts when his daughter says “They’ve got her”, which would have been when his daughter was in the bathroom. Bryan originally started the recording after his daughter was under the bed in the bedroom, so the recording wouldn’t include that part. It also would’ve recorded Bryan’s voice, which was not on the recording.
• When Bryan drives Kim to the airport, exterior shots show a Nissan Sentra. Interior shots show a BMW 7-Series, as evidenced by its unique seat and headrest design.
• When Bryan interrogates Marko, he removes his tie and loosens his collar. When he returns to the light switch, his tie has returned. Next time he hits the switch, the tie is missing.
• After Bryan Mills saves the girl from the construction area brothel, he drives away in a white SUV. The pursuing bad guys shoot out the back window. The same window is intact in several following scenes.
• On the boat, when Bryan is fighting the knife-wielding thug, this man smashes a lamp on the wall. In the next frame, the lamp is untouched.
• Bryan’s diversion with the small walkie to avoid being caught when the French agents detect his cell phone location cannot work in the way depicted. First off, walkies usually are PTT, so either you can listen or you can talk, but to change from one mode to the other, you need to push a button. Even if these walkies were to transmit and receive at the same time without hitting a PTT button though, Bryan would have to either dial or pick up the phone before he could start moving to his alternate location. That alternate on the other roof was too far for him to have reached it in the few seconds that pass between the start of the conversation and the first shot of static Bryan with his binoculars. But even if they had shown him on the move rather than observing, the French agents would have known he needed to stay in range of the low-power walkie for the trick to work, so he could not be more than a few dozen yards away.
• When Bryan’s friends come over for a barbecue, they are drinking Newcastle Brown Ale. However, as seen particularly with Sam’s beer, the contents are too clear to be that particular brand of beer.
• The police license plates have a single letter, which would make it a commercial plate rather than a police car plate. Police car plates in California only contain numbers.
• In the scene where Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) is driving and chasing another car, trying to contact Kim on her mobile phone, there’s a moment when he actually presses the “end call” button instead of the “redial” or “call” button. However, the phone screen still shows the call continuing. This is a small error in phone operation that went unnoticed during filming or editing.

Goofs

• Some of the shoot outs, the torture scene and some fisticuffs have been shortened in length for the film’s US release to secure a PG-13 rating. The run time difference to the international version is about three minutes.
• The distributor made minor changes to secure a 15 certificate for the UK theatrical release. The UK theatrical cut is the same as the International Cut except for the torture scene, which was replaced with the PG-13 version to secure a 15 certificate. In the PG-13 version, clamps are attached to the chair. In the International Cut, they’re attached to spikes which are stabbed into the victim’s legs. The uncut International Cut was released with an 18 certificate on video. This censored UK version was also released theatrically in Ireland with a 15A certificate. The extended torture scene didn’t affect the certificate on video, and the uncut International Cut was also released with a 15 certificate in Ireland (cinema and video certification systems are different in Ireland – a 15A at the cinema is equivalent to a 15 on video).

Box office

• Budget $25,000,000 (estimated)
• Gross US & Canada $145,000,989
• Opening weekend US & Canada $24,717,037Feb 1, 2009
• Gross worldwide $226,837,760