Schwarzenegger. Stallone. Van Damme. Gibson. Snipes. Ford. When you make a listing of the preferred motion heroes of all time, there’s one other identify that must be added to that checklist – Liam Neeson. Over the final sixteen years, he’s headlined a neverending collection of motion thrillers which have propelled him to a a lot larger echelon of fame than he’d ever been on earlier than, with him solely ever turning into an motion star as soon as he was fifty-six. Ultimately, it was all as a result of a low-budget, European-financed motion flick, which got here very near going direct-to-video and reached theatres in Europe a full yr earlier than it opened in North America. That film is Taken, and we’re going to let you know the way it revitalized the profession of a person who – on the time – was usually thought-about a top-tier character actor with restricted field workplace attraction. That’s proper – it’s time to seek out out What the fuck occurred to Taken!
The story started within the late nineties when director Luc Besson was using excessive off the success of The Fifth Element. Like his earlier movie, The Professional, the movie was a much bigger hit internationally than on the home field workplace. In reality, 75% of The Fifth Element’s income got here from outdoors North America. Clearly, there was a requirement for American-style, slick motion movies made with the European market in thoughts. Thus, Luc Besson began funding modestly budgeted motion films via his firm, EuropaCorp. Besson, who was intensely prolific as a author, would churn out the scripts himself (usually with a co-writer) and hand off the directing duties, often to a French director. The formulation proved to be successful with Taxi, a French automotive chase thriller, giving rise to a collection of motion films.
Soon, Besson was in a position to strike up a cope with twentieth Century Fox for a collection of motion movies in English, with lower-tier stars, on modest budgets. Along together with his Fifth Element collaborator, Robert Mark Kamen, he made a number of profitable films, together with Kiss of the Dragon, starring Jet Li, and The Transporter, which made Jason Statham an motion star. While neither of these films was a smash in North America, they did effectively internationally and had been main hits on the DVD market.
What made their Jet Li and Jason Statham films so worthwhile was that neither man commanded a large wage on the time, as Li was nonetheless breaking into the North American market. At the identical time, Statham was just about unknown outdoors of his appearances in Guy Ritchie films. Eager to launch one more motion star, Besson had the thought to make a film a few retired particular forces agent attempting to rescue his daughter from human traffickers. Rather than rent somebody apparent, like Harrison Ford or Mel Gibson, he conceived of the movie as a automobile for Jeff Bridges, who’d by no means actually finished a serious motion movie on the time. When Bridges handed, the thought was floated to go together with Liam Neeson.
At the time, Neeson’s profession was going effectively, with him having lately performed Ra’s al Ghul in Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins. But, on his personal, he was not identified to be a field workplace draw. While he had dipped his toe into motion with Darkman in 1990, all through the nineties, he established himself as a severe actor, because of films like Schindler’s List, Michael Collins, and Les Miserables. He additionally performed Qui-Gon Jinn in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. He had headlined just a few big-budget films, corresponding to Rob Roy and The Haunting, however they weren’t thought-about hits. Nevertheless, he had a terrific profession as a severe actor.
When he took on Taken, Neeson figured it was only a job. He absolutely anticipated the film to flop, as nobody took him severely as an motion star on the time. Indeed, the finances was comparatively low, costing solely $25 million. The director, Pierre Morel, had beforehand helmed an motion movie for Luc Besson known as District 13, which was acclaimed by motion followers. One of the explanations Neeson had taken the function was to attempt to do a extra bodily demanding half than standard, with him claiming he was completely satisfied to receives a commission to spend 4 months in France studying karate.
One of the explanations the film did so effectively was that Neeson was by no means thought-about an motion hero, making his casting very a lot towards kind. Yet, together with his imposing 6 foot 4 peak and his earlier expertise in boxing, it didn’t take a lot to carry out one thing in him audiences had by no means anticipated from him earlier than. With Neeson taking his coaching severely, the movie additionally benefitted from a premise that struck a chord with folks. Human trafficking was – and is – an enormous concern, notably to oldsters sending their youngsters off for the primary time on their very own for the standard school European tour. The film performed as want success to many, with Liam Neeson’s Bryan Mills, an insanely competent ex-special forces agent who makes use of his “special skills” to avoid wasting his daughter, performed within the movie by Maggie Grace.
One of the neatest issues about Taken is how well-constructed it’s, with it taking a strong chunk of operating time earlier than you ever understand that Liam Neeson’s character is greater than only a considerably overprotective father. I nonetheless keep in mind watching the film in theaters on opening weekend and listening to the viewers roar with approval throughout Neeson’s first huge motion sequence.
But, humorous sufficient, the film virtually by no means got here to theaters in North America. Due to the way it was made, Taken opened in Europe in February of 2008, and it took a very long time for it ever to get a North American launch date. It’s a miracle the film wasn’t despatched to DVD, as torrents of the movie had been extensively shared on file-sharing providers on the time. In reality, I labored at an organization that did high quality management for Blu-rays and DVDs, and I can testify {that a} DVD launch of the movie was locked and loaded lengthy earlier than it reached American theaters.
Yet, the trailers for this film hit a chord, with them brilliantly centered across the now well-known scene the place Neeson warns the boys who’ve “taken” his daughter that he possesses “certain skills” that make him a nightmare for folks like them. Everyone who noticed that trailer wished to seek out out what these particular expertise had been, however the movie wildly exceeded twentieth Century Fox’s expectations once they opened it on the notoriously sleepy Super Bowl weekend again in 2009. The movie opened with $24.7 million, which nearly matched its finances, and have become a monster word-of-mouth hit, grossing $145 million within the US, making it EuropaCorp’s greatest field workplace hit to this point. It instantly established Neeson as an motion hero, with critics praising his efficiency, even when they criticized the motion sequences. His motion stardom was solidified when he appeared in three straight motion flicks that made cash – Unknown, Taken 2, and Non-Stop. He grew to become the king of thrifty, no-frills motion thrillers that could possibly be made for small budgets and show worthwhile for studios. In reality, greater than a decade and a half later, Neeson remains to be making them, though he’s about to attempt to reinvent himself as soon as once more by taking part in the lead in Paramount’s long-planned reboot of The Naked Gun.
So that’s what occurred to Taken – mainly, a strong and easy premise, coupled with outside-the-box casting, struck gold for all concerned. It additionally established a brand new development the place audiences appeared to love older motion heroes, with most of the greatest names within the style these days, together with Keanu Reeves, Tom Cruise and Keanu Reeves, all being north of sixty. Several middle-aged actors tried to “do a Neeson” with Kevin Costner making Three Days to Kill and Criminal, and Sean Penn even teaming with Pierre Morel for The Gunman. Still, outdoors of Bob Odenkirk, nobody has come near hanging the general public’s fancy like Mr. Neeson.