Breck Eisner, Felix Enriquez Alcala, John Fawcett, Tobe Hooper, Jeremy Paul
Kagan, Michael Katleman, Sergio Mirnica-Gezzan, Bryan Spicer, Jeff Woolnough
and Thomas J Wright
Producer:
Richard Heus
Written and created by:
Leslie Bohem
Original Music :
Laura Karpman
Cast :
Capt. Owen Crawford: Joel Gretsch
Anne Crawford: Tina Holmes
Capt. Russell Keys: Steve Burton
Kate Keys: Julie Benz
Sally Clarke: Catherine Dent
John: Eric Close
Jesse Keys (teen): James Kirk
Jesse Keys (adult): Desmond Harrington
Amelia Keys: Julie Ann Emery
Charlie Keys (adult): Adam Kaufman
Sam Crawford: Ryan Merriman
Julie Crawford: Emily Holmes
Eric Crawford (adult): Andy Powers
Mary Crawford (adult): Heather Donahue
Tom Clarke (adult): Ryan Hurst
Becky Clarke (adult): Chad Morgan
Jacob Clarke (child): Anton Yelchin
Jacob Clarke (adult): Chad Donella
Carol Clarke: Sadie Lawrence
Lisa Clarke (adult): Emily Bergl
Allie Keys: Dakota Fanning
Dr Chet Wakeman: Matt Frewer
When this series began on BBC2, I wasn't quite "Taken" with it.
This DVD release, so soon after the broadcast, is a chance to give it another go
and this time it does seem a lot more intriguing. Perhaps that's partly down
to not having to endure a bright "BBC THREE" logo onscreen, or loud
interruptions as soon as the end credits begin, not to mention shrinking them
up so they can barely be seen, such as the want of the so-called public service
broadcaster.
Aliens have crash-landed in small-town America, largely populated by
small-minded people and the only downside to this programme is that the uninvited
guests look just like we've come to expect from many a film that's gone before,
which is partly what put me off beforehand. It's worth looking beyond that though
as the plot transcends across three families and 50 years, from World War II
to the present, throughout the ten near-90-minute episodes.
Within even the first ten years of the plot, the US Army still haven't figured
out what powered the alien craft, despite taking it apart. How do you control
a device that doesn't even have an engine? Due to an early encounter they
believe it's harnessed in the power of the mind, but just what sort of human
could achieve such a thing? Perhaps someone with psychic abilities but even
that's not a given. At the same time, selected members of the public
are disappearing briefly... they're being 'taken' by the aliens to be
experimented upon before being put back. But for what purpose?
Taken is a series that's much better than I originally gave it credit
for, but I think they should've shyed away from showing what the aliens look
like it they can't make them look particularly original. Of course, it also does
get a bit moralistic at times, such as when some characters attempting to
fight the prejudices of the time.
As for the actors, it's a brave thing to film a series with an almost completely
unknown cast, but they work together and spar off each other well. It's best
to start viewing without any preconceived ideas about any one character so I
won't go into any individual details. However, one thing I can make clear is
that it's far from 'Spielberg aliens for kids' this time. It can get very
violent and certainly earns its 15-certificate.
The disc is presented in the original 16:9 anamorphic widescreen ratio as was
broadcast on TV - and even analogue BBC2 showed it in 16:9 letterbox - and the
image on view has no defects to be found. It can look a little soft at times,
but that's due to the way it was filmed.
On DVD you get the benefits of Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. Most of the show uses
it mainly for ambience, but when the need comes for split-surround action or
an effect going from front to back and vice versa, it's a clear and pleasing
experience.
This package contains the series on five discs, with two episodes to each disc,
plus a sixth for the special features. Alas, despite all that space there's
just a single piece of supplementary material - a 42-minute documentary about
the series, called "Inside Taken". I found it rather unnatural
the way those talking spoke to the camera looked directly on into it. This
extra is presented in 16:9 letterbox, blending clips of the programme in the
same format.
The main menus have a small amount of animation and sound that's repeated in
a loop, Subtitles are in English and there are 10 chapters per episode, but
these aren't quite evenly spread.
As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B
37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Jan 2011: Intel Quad Core Dell XPS 8100, i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80Ghz, 8Gb RAM, nVidia GeForce GTS 240, Windows 7
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
