Taken (Blu-ray Disc, 2009, Extended Cut; Digital Copy)

Taken is a straight-up wicked action movie that features intense and brutal fight scenes & a fantastic performance from Liam Neeson. This film could have been a disaster with the whole one man army scenario however Neeson's performance keeps this film grounded in reality and he really can play a leading action hero perfectly. Morel's direction is really good and the action sequences are truly thrilling to watch and really reminded me of the Bourne franchise in that you actually can feel the punches. Overall, Taken is a great action film, Neeson is excellent as Bryan Miller and while the film is never very deep; it is very thrilling and highly entertaining.
On the disc now and Fox has really put some great effort into the quality of both the PQ and AQ. The transfer is excellent; detail & depth was very good and the image is quite sharp really giving you that 3D effect especially on the wide shots of Paris. There is a fine layer of grain present through-out the entire film but it never hinders the quality and adds the gritty natural of the movie. While the PQ is excellent, the audio is the real highlight here. It is powerful and dynamic; really working your back speakers / sub. (Check out scene 13 for a great 360 experience with bullets whizzing by and explosions rocking your house) Even with all the action, dialogue remains very clear and the movie had a perfect balance to it, I never had to adjust my set once for action being too loud or dialogue being too soft. The only disappointment is that for such an awesome film, the extras are fairly lacking. There are two commentaries which sadly Neeson doesn’t participate in (considering how much of this movie he made, I will kind of letdown because it would have been wicked to hear his thoughts on the film) and a couple of okay BTS featurettes.
Overall, Taken is a gripping action thriller that is really amped up thanks to Liam Neeson’s bad ass performance and very vicious action sequences. The PQ is superb and the audio is top-notch demo stuff so I definitely say add Taken to your collection, it is a must have of any self respecting action fan.