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Ransom (Special Edition) Customer Reviews (16 - 18 of 23 Reviews)

IF THIS IS A JOKE IT'S NOT A FUNNY ONE!
"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!

one of the better remakes
I usally dont care for remakes! This was a remake of a 1955 version with Donna Reed and Glen Ford. But this is much better the raw emotion of Mel Gibson and Renee Russo just made the movie just so completly come into place. I had tears in my eys through out the whole movie. The commentary with Ron Howard is great also. A must have for any collection!!!

THE ONLY GOOD THING ABOUT THIS DISC IS THE EXTRAS!
"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"...

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