man on fire vs taken
very similar films in my opinion, 'taken' edges it on the imdb rating with 7.8, maybe i have to rewatch taken, but i thought man on fire takes the edge with cinematograghy and character development..
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MovieChat Forums > Man on Fire (2004) Discussion > man on fire vs taken
I watched this film just last night, and I thought this was similar to taken, but different, the age of the kidnapped girls and their relation to thier hero's is slightly different.
In fact the stories are slightly differnet, MOF involves great levels of corruption and so forth,... well, IMO, I can't pick one, I think they equally hold thier as great kidnap/hostage/kickass hero films...
It's a tie I say lol
Da Mayor - 'Doctor..., Always Do The Right Thing'
Good question. Man on Fire definitely should win out over Taken, since it simply has so much more to offer — it's a "better" movie by a lot of standards.
If you like stories about badass former CIA operatives who everybody else just can't seem to beat, you'll probably like both movies. But, the character depth and development in Man on Fire wins out. Creasy's inner struggle is practically its own subplot. I wouldn't really compare cinematography because, although it's definitely more interesting in Man on Fire, sometimes Tony Scott goes a little overboard with the intense camera work. Although it does give the movie a unique feel.
That said, Liam Neeson is a great actor, and I absolutely loved the hand-to-hand combat action of Taken (he's like Jason Bourne's father...what's not to like?). So if I want to watch a movie with more depth and drama (the first half of Man on Fire is mostly slow character development) I'd pick this one, but if I want to watch a "simpler, quicker" movie that mainly focuses just on action, I'll watch Taken.
That said, I disagree with the imdb ratings: Taken should be only slightly lower than it is (because I do like it quite a bit, so it should still have a good rating), but Man on Fire should be quite a bit higher.
I completely agree with siphis on everything except that I don't think Man on Fire should be "quite a bit higher." It should be a 7.9 +/- .1 and don't wory about Taken, it's rating will lower as time goes on. You really can't trust an imdb score until some time has passed since a movie's release. 5 years after a release the score of a movie most likely won't change beyond tenth of a point.
shareThe subtext of Taken has nothing on Man on Fire.
A man, ready to die in despairing of any goodness in life, is revived by the innocence and genuine affection of a child.
She is taken and presumed dead.
He goes about dismantling the death machine that is responsible, not only for her abduction, but many others.
He is dispassionate.
I really never get the sense he is doing it out of revenge for himself or his loss...even though he uses the famous quote.
I see a more appropriate use of Doc Holliday's quote from Tombstone "It ain't vengeance he's after, but a reckonin'"
You know the father in Taken would have also gladly given his life to save his daughter's...but Creasy, even given the opportunity (no inclination at all to save himself)...and never sought anything of Pita for himself. (Unlike Liam Neeson's character...that was always chasing after his daughter's affection)
She was a symbol of life and innocence, and a goodness that was to remain untainted. He gladly gave himself over to death for her sake...
One centered around the power of love to raise a man back to life...and in that resurrection be the source of salvation for that innocent one.
The other revolves around the self centered misadventures of an overindulged brat.
True, she sees the light...but even that is a bit ham fisted.
One really was a morality tale.
The other, a bang bang shoot 'em up action movie.
I would never belong to any club that would have me as a member. G. Marx
^^Very good post^^ I love your breakdown of the subtexts!
I just didn't enjoy Taken very much, but MOF gets me every single time.
I just finished watching it and still have teary eyes, lol ;-P
You just did an amazing job summing up this film really A+ comment
shareI agree with Siphis, MOF has more character development (in my opinion), so is more memorable than taken. I suspect the rating of Taken will fall, as it ages, as they do on IMDB. I like both films though.
shareWhile very similar, they are each unique to one another. Taken was just plain awesome. You would never think Liam Neeson would play a character like that, which is why I think the movie turned out so well.
Man on Fire, on the other hand, IS one of my favorite movies of all time. It wasn't just an all out ass-kicking movie. Pita (Dakota Fanning) gave a stellar performance, and her interaction with Denzel is just perfect. This is probably my favorite Denzel Washington movie (yes, even better than Training Day).
The fight sequences in Taken were better than in MOF (the description I heard, and liked, about Taken was "Every punch sounds like a car crash").
But in terms of overall quality, MOF is by far the superior film; much more nihilistic too... which I like.
+++++SPOILER++++++
At the time Creasey thinks the girl is dead, so there's nothing really for him to gain except revenge for the rampage he goes on.
I enjoyed them both, but here's another vote for Man On Fire. Deeper, more believable characters, and more humanity.
Taken was fun, and I loved all the beatings Neeson's character gave out, but everyone else was pretty plastic.
1 - 10:
MOF: 9
Taken: 6.5
Man on Fire. Everything here was great. The only great thing about Taken was Liam Neeson.
Howdo you like that piece of satire?
It's interesting that I can perfectly understand why Man on Fire is "better". More character development. It's longer. It feels like a full movie with all the trimmings.
But there were NO scenes in Taken I disliked, whereas Man on Fire had scenes that (particularly, the husband suicide scene) I absolutely hated. And the main character dies at the end of Man on Fire.
Call me a sap, but I like happy endings.
I'll never watch Man on Fire again.
I'll watch Taken for the rest of my life.