Rating: 
Summary: IF THIS IS A JOKE IT'S NOT A FUNNY ONE!
Review: "Ransom" is the taut thriller about a man's desperation to get back his kidnapped son. Instead of paying the ransom, Tom Mullen (Mel Gibson) decides to play a deadly game of cat and mouse with his son's kidnappers. He publically offers a million dollar reward to the person who can apprehend his son's attackers - either dead or alive. Gary Sinise, Rene Russo and Brawley Nolte (yes, Nick Nolte's son)all offer stellar performances that make this high stakes drama intense visual pleasure for the cinematic thrill seeker.
TRANSFER: Unfortunately no one at Touchstone seems to agree. There can be no other reason for offering "Ransom" in the identical, tired, poorly rendered, NON-ANAMORPHIC transfer that was previously available. The open credit sequence is riddled with "age" related nicks, chips and scratches (how old is this film?!?!). The color palette is betrayed with muddy, inconsistent hues and an overly low contrast level that even in a completely blackened room is hard on the eyes. Aliasing, edge enhancement and pixelization - as before - are obvious on this transfer as well as more than a passable amount of film grain. The audio is STEREO - not 5.1!!!
EXTRAS: An engaging commentary by director Ron Howard, four deleted scenes, a ridiculous but new making-of featurette and a thoroughly useless "Between Takes" featurette. Also, the internationl trailer (gee, thanks!).
BOTTOM LINE: DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY!
Rating:
Summary: THE ONLY GOOD THING ABOUT THIS DISC IS THE EXTRAS!
Review: "Ransom" is the taut thriller about one man's desperation and determination to get back his kidnapped son. Mel Gibson headlines as Tom Mullen - a man whose seemingly perfect world is shattered when his son, Sean (Brawley Nolte) is stolen from him during a science fair in Central Park. Rene Russo, Gary Sinise and Lily Taylor add genuine weight to their roles. As far as suspence and deception go - they don't get much better than "Ranson".
TRANSFER: Unfortunately, no one at Touchstone seems to care. The quality of this transfer is, pending a few truly horrific digital transfers that I have seen in my life time, really nothing to get worked up about. This DVD is NOT ANAMORPHICALLY ENHANCED for 16:9 displays. Colors are generally weak and often muddy and on occasion tend to bleed. Fine detail is completely lost in the darker scenes and contrast levels are way, way too low. Black levels register as more of a dirty brown than black. Aliasing, shimmering of fine details and edge enhancement are all present for a very uneven visual presentation. There is NO EXCUSE for the barrage of "age related" nicks, chips and scratches that are all over this visual presentation. Some films from the 1950s don't look this bad!!! The audio is Stereo Surround. Apart from the extras, this is virtually the same DVD as previously released by Buena Vista. What a crock!
EXTRAS: Deleted scenes, an audio commentary, a really brief making of featurette and the original theatrical trailer.
BOTTOM LINE: If this is Buena Vista's idea of a Special Edition I'd hate to see what their idea of bare bones is. Oops! Almost forget. I have seen it on "Beaches", "I Love Trouble", "Pretty Woman", "Can't Buy Me Love", "Adventures In Babysitting"...
Rating: 
Summary: Game theory relevant film
Review: "Ransom" is one of the more intelligent movies I have ever seen. Apart from being a very well made thriller, it's thought provoking, too. In fact, "Ransom" is game theory relevant, because the strategies of the adversary, as I shall call him, and the father - can be analyzed from a game theoretic point of view, within "the game of ransom".Optimal mechanism design suggests that some strategies dominate others on the part of the father. If we generalize the setup of the game a little, we will see that any organization facing a similar danger can be analyzed within a simple mechanism design setup. Let's stick to the film case in what follows. Given the objectives of the adversary, the father maximizes his objective function by never giving up to the adversary's requests, and thus removing the lever of advantage the adversary has on him. The sole power of the adversary stems from the fact that he came into possession of the good or a person, which or who is of enormous value to the father - in this case, the father's offspring. By applying a "commitment technology", the father eliminates the adversary's advantage, and as long as he is able to stick to his wits and his strategy, i.e. have a credible commitment, also apparent to the adversary, the latter has little incentive to continue, since the mechanism of terror he planned, and counted for - stopped working.
It's obvious that having acquired the offspring, the adversary has no incentive to keep him alive regardless of achieving his monetary goal. In fact, getting rid of the offspring permanently dominates the strategy of fulfilling his promise, and giving the child back. If the father predicts the incentives of the adversary correctly, he knows his offspring will pass away irrespective of his action. Therefore no matter how difficult it is emotionally, how hard it is on the mother, he should assume that the offspring would pass away, if he follows the adversary's instructions. At this point, the equilibrium strategy emerges quite clearly. In any equilibrium of the " game", the father should never pay the adversary. Also, in any equilibrium of the "ransom game", the probability of the offspring passing away is one, unless the incentives of the adversary are removed by applying credible commitment on the part of the father with respect to the optimal strategy. The latter is to hunt down the adversary, and have him removed, devoting all resources to this end. Only in this way the offspring has the chance to live, as the adversary's best response to the father's strategy is to back off and return the offspring. This is true because returning the offspring as a strategy dominates the strategy of keeping him hidden, since no reward is to be expected, and the utility of being hunted by the whole world is less than the utility of returning the offspring AND trying another case, where the other father might not follow his optimal strategy. "Ransom" is a very good film, very well made with respect to the traditional elements of a thriller - suspense, action, and credible screenplay. However, it's much more than that. It's a very conservative film in the sense that it praises following the rules of the game instead of emotions. What needs to be done is done, regardless. Almost identical motivational scheme could be used for justification of very harsh and rigorous law. I applaud Mel Gibson for creating a memorable role, and I applaud the screenplay writer and the director for offering us one of the most intelligent films that have ever been made. The fact that this film is also game theory relevant raises the rating.
Rating:
Summary: THE ONLY GOOD THING ABOUT THIS DISC IS THE EXTRAS!
Review: "Ransom" is the taut thriller about one man's desperation and determination to get back his kidnapped son. Mel Gibson headlines as Tom Mullen - a man whose seemingly perfect world is shattered when his son, Sean (Brawley Nolte) is stolen from him during a science fair in Central Park. Rene Russo, Gary Sinise and Lily Taylor add genuine weight to their roles. As far as suspence and deception go - they don't get much better than "Ranson".
TRANSFER: Unfortunately, no one at Touchstone seems to care. The quality of this transfer is, pending a few truly horrific digital transfers that I have seen in my life time, really nothing to get worked up about. This DVD is NOT ANAMORPHICALLY ENHANCED for 16:9 displays. Colors are generally weak and often muddy and on occasion tend to bleed. Fine detail is completely lost in the darker scenes and contrast levels are way, way too low. Black levels register as more of a dirty brown than black. Aliasing, shimmering of fine details and edge enhancement are all present for a very uneven visual presentation. There is NO EXCUSE for the barrage of "age related" nicks, chips and scratches that are all over this visual presentation. Some films from the 1950s don't look this bad!!! The audio is Stereo Surround. Apart from the extras, this is virtually the same DVD as previously released by Buena Vista. What a crock!
EXTRAS: Deleted scenes, an audio commentary, a really brief making of featurette and the original theatrical trailer.
BOTTOM LINE: If this is Buena Vista's idea of a Special Edition I'd hate to see what their idea of bare bones is. Oops! Almost forget. I have seen it on "Beaches", "I Love Trouble", "Pretty Woman", "Can't Buy Me Love", "Adventures In Babysitting"...
Rating:
Summary: This film is a must have!
Review: "Ransom", directed by Ron Howard, offers chilling performances by Mel Gibson, Gary Sinise and Rene Russo, all of whom are highly talented, seasoned professional actors. Donnie Wahlberg, Lili Taylor and Brawley Nolte make up a fine supporting cast as well. The kidnapping plot and storyline are well thought out and well scripted, and make for a wonderful suspense thriller from start to finish. This one's worth owning!
Rating:
Summary: a brill film
Review: a very original film which is acted extremley well a must own for all mel gibson fans. an amazing action pact thhriler. buy it!
Rating:
Summary: amazing
Review: a very original movie five star acting. a must have for all Mel Gibson fans. an action packed kidnapping thriler. BUY IT!
Rating:
Summary: Clever, Tense, Emotional
Review: Although not entirely realistic, this film has some interesting ideas. Gibson is perfectly casted, in one of the rare occasions when you can't possibly imagine anyone else playing a role. I actually agreed with Mullen's decision to turn the tables. Everybody would agree that, if they were the kidnappers, they would seriously consider dropping the plan and either do what Sinise did here in the movie or turn the victim in. Another gem from dir. Ron Howard.
Rating:
Summary: Superb Thriller!
Review: Although this is actually a remake of a 1940s film in which the protagonist turns the tables unexpectedly on his child's kidnappers, this very well produced film directed by Ron Howard is quite contemporary and sophisticated. Mel Gibson shines as the controversial developer who has had shady dealings with union reps on his way to fantastic wealth, and is pursued unsuccessfully by the FBI even while they are suddenly called in to help on his son's kidnapping. When things go from bad to worst, Gibson takes control of the negotiation, and suddenly all hell breaks loose. This is an entertaining and quite suspenseful film, wth a terrific supporting cast that includes Rene Russo as Gibson's wife, Gary Senise as a duplicitous local cop, and Mark Wahlberg as one of the kidnappers. The plot takes some interesting twists and turns, and although it is nt predictable, all works out quite well in the end. Or does it. In order to see, you'll just have to watch this very well made suspense thriller for yourself. Enjoy!
Rating: 
Summary: BORING
Review: Am I the only one in the world who thought this movie was as entertaining as a funeral? I guess so.
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