The passage of time has not been kind to this film. It was an IMDb Top 250 member back in 1996 but has fallen to a 6.6 rating as I write this. Personally, I don't get the low ranking. There are a handful of reviewers here who knock it for plot holes left unnamed, whereas I concentrate on a film to look for them and I really couldn't detect anything in the story line that didn't maintain a continuity toward the eventual resolution. One might challenge Tom Mullen's (Mel Gibson) decision to up the stakes against kidnapper Jimmy Shaker (Gary Sinise), but if I were Mullen, I think I might have gone for the same gambit. The clue Tom Mullen picked up from Cubby Barnes (Donnie Wahlberg) convinced him that this wasn't a straight ransom demand and that his son was probably marked for death anyway. The surprise if any is that Mullen's wife (Rene Russo) went along with his decision after initial misgivings. The scene that could have been handled better was when Shaker showed up at Mullen's apartment and Sean (Brawley Nolte) recognized his voice. The cutting back and forth between Tom and his son didn't do enough in my estimation to tip Tom off that Shaker was the kidnap mastermind. It was Shaker's own greed that provided the tip-off, which goes to show that the desire for even more money was his own undoing. If one wants to criticize any aspect of the story, I'd look at Tom Mullen's commitment to honoring ten times the ransom demand; how much more would that have been than the bribe to avert a machinist strike at his company?

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.

When a rich man (Mel Gibson)'s son (B. Nolte) is kidnapped, he cooperates with the police at first but then tries a unique tactic against the criminals.One thing I really like about this film is the comparison of New York City with the two species from H. G. Wells' "The Time Machine": the elite and the cannibals. Now, what is most interesting is how they stopped at New York City and did not take it further. Could we not say this is most of society (at least in America)? But still, very clever.But really, this is a good action film. Sure, not as in-your-face as "Taken"... but still rather clever, relying more on wit than guns. Gibson challenges the kidnapper without getting physical, and there are twists that are rather clever.

Ron Howard and Mel Gibson have a thing in common. Unreliability of excellence. Both have done exceptional work, but some of it not so. This is ironically a meeting of those inconsistencies in a movie that is not the best or the worst of either. The blending of the two talented, if spotty, mega-stars ends up being a glaring case of highlighted mediocrity not superiority.The overacting and totally unbelievable Gibson uses many mannerisms of his earlier films and seems unable to play any emotion except righteous indignation, and that he does well. But here he is called upon to emote and react with heartfelt feelings that come off as hammy and borderline horrendous. His best scenes are in the car and on the phone and with the bad guys and the worst are with his wife and child and his over reactions with the FBI and police.The Director gives this a good try but again, he seems glaringly out of his element. The action scenes are well done but the suspense and the rhythm of the film seems craggy and out of step. Since then he has honed his abilities and stylish beats and does much better in recent years. But here he is not quite with it when it comes to this type of thing.The bad guys scenes work much better than the family situations both with the kid and with law enforcement types. The plot is overly complex with muddled motivations but moves along quickly enough to make this nothing more than an average feeling man's action movie that has too much fake feeling and not enough edgy action.