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?

In this stirring film Mel Gibson gives us once again a brilliant performance as he sets about to rescue his kidnapped son from Jimmy Shaker played by Gary Sinise. Beloved parents Tom & Kate Mullen's lives are turned upside down after their son is kidnapped and used to blackmail the rich and powerful Tom Mullen. The consequences are a roller coaster of emotional turmoil as the psychological impact forces Tom to take extreme measures to get his son back.The conflict between the hostage taker and the wealthy billionaire is superbly played out and while the investigators try as they must to save the boy's life, Jimmy is already two steps ahead of him. An unexpected twist occurs when Tom rips up the rule book and relies on his business instincts to beat Jimmy at his own game. Death, betrayal & vengeance best sum up this film as two worlds collide. Shakers determination to hurt Tom were it matters and Tom's attempt to redeem himself for his past errors in the commercial world leads to an epic encounter between two. All in all a great film and one of Gibson's best.

Mel Gibson once again comes up trumps with this acclaimed thriller, can this man do no wrong? After BRAVEHEART, there's been this, LETHAL WEAPON 4, PAYBACK, a great run of films. RANSOM is an expertly crafted thriller which pushes all the right buttons and notches up the tension and suspense as Gibson engages in a complex game with the kidnappers of his son. The theme of ransom is fully explored in this intelligent film, which is enlightening as well as entertaining. Also, it's realistic, brutally so in some cases, and has a great cast of performers.Okay, so Gibson is playing the same guy he always plays - the twinkle in his eye, the jokes, the cool exterior, and outbursts of violence. The nice tough guy, but it's a winning formula and once again it works. He is well supported by Rene Russo (surprise, surprise, these two are stapled together) as his wife, and surprisingly she is not so bad this time around. The actor playing the chief negotiator, Delroy Lindo, is also excellent.The bad guys are pleasingly fleshed out for this film, there are no two-dimensional villains, all characters have a motive and act in believable ways. Lili Taylor puts in a sympathetic portrayal as a woman caught up in the crimes, while Liev Schreiber also fills out a minor role. However, it's Gary Sinise who once again steals the show as the cool villain, he's charismatic and ruthless. It's a shame this guy gets typecast as the villain, though, as I'd like to see him in a 'good' role for a change.Among the many violent verbal outbursts there are some effective, if brief, action sequences, such as a shootout at a quarry and an excellent moment where Sinise turns on his fellow criminals and guns them all down in cold blood. It's the ending, though, which turns out to be one of the best endings of an action film I've ever seen, even better than DIE HARD...a rare case where the punishment fits the crime. Sinise gets beaten, broken, lacerated, and finally shot six or seven times before dying, and did he deserve it. RANSOM is a solid, one of a kind film, bolstered by a charming Gibson and rarely putting a foot wrong, thankfully not relying on explosions in the action stakes (nothing blows up for a change). I saw it first at the cinema and again on video, and it didn't disappoint me either time. Well worth your time and money.

Kidnap thrillers usually produce plenty of tension and drama but when they also feature action, excitement and a terrific plot, they're virtually irresistible. This is certainly the case with "Ransom" which is highly entertaining, thoroughly engrossing and justifiably became a huge commercial success. Because the story involves the abduction of a child, emotions run high from an early stage as the parents and everyone else involved with trying to bring the child back home safely, struggle to keep their composure in order to achieve the best possible end-result.During a science fair in Central Park, Sean (Brawley Nolte), who's the 9-year-old son of wealthy airline owner Tom Mullen (Mel Gibson) and his wife Kate (Rene Russo), is abducted by a gang of criminals who take him to their house where they handcuff him to a bed and tape up his eyes before sending the Mullens an e-mail in which they demand a payment of $2,000,000 for the return of their son. Tom calls in the FBI who soon arrive and use his New York City penthouse as their operations room.Special Agent Lonnie Hawkins (Delroy Lindo) who's in charge of the investigation, is also an expert in dealing with kidnapping situations and so when he advises Tom to pay the ransom to get his child back, Tom readily agrees and meets up with one of the gang members to hand over the cash. Things go wrong however, when an FBI helicopter suddenly appears and following an exchange of gunfire, the gang-member is left dead and Tom is no wiser about the location of his son. Even more seriously, when Tom reflects on the gang member's reactions when he was going to hand the cash over, he becomes convinced that the gang never had any intention of returning Sean alive, even if the full ransom had been paid. Tom's response to this situation is swift and shocking as he goes on TV and announces that he's no longer prepared to pay the ransom and is instead, offering the money as a bounty to anyone who can bring in the kidnappers dead or alive.Tom calculates that the kidnappers' best move would be to return his son safely to avoid being hunted down by a bounty hunter but Kate and Lonnie certainly don't see things the same way. Kate, who's always been a very devoted and supportive wife, is desperately upset because she's convinced that Tom's putting Sean's life in greater danger by not co-operating with the kidnappers and Lonnie tries to use rational argument to dissuade Tom from what he's doing. Interestingly, Tom's action also triggers discord amongst the kidnappers and a whole series of unexpected developments then follow before the story reaches its violent climax.The character of Tom Mullen is interesting because he's a self-made man who'd built up his airline from nothing and his success had made him used to being able to get his own way either by negotiation or (on one notable occasion) bribery. The criminal who'd masterminded the kidnapping had targeted Tom because of his wealth but also significantly because he's identified him as "a payer". Tom is consumed with guilt about this action in his past which had led to his son's life being put in danger and Kate and himself having to suffer unbearable levels of anguish, fear and despair as a consequence.In an incredibly intense performance, Mel Gibson portrays the frustration, anger and pain that Tom endures as he tries to navigate his way through a dreadful ordeal and Rene Russo is also convincing as she displays Kate's mixture of fear for her child and outrage at her husband's actions. Gary Sinise is great as the kidnapping mastermind and the remainder of the cast members are also superb in this wonderfully enjoyable, plot-driven thriller that's full of neat twists.