Has Anyone Seen "Taken"? (Spoilers)

[Big Orange]

I have had the misfortune of recently sitting through the overlong and rambling Spielberg endorsed miniseries, Taken, a pretty slick but rather clichéd sci-fi thriller that deals with a multi-generational story arch involving UFOs, alien greys and Roswell. I found the writing solid, but the miniseries' storyline was intrinsically derivative, the middle episodes felt like padding and the CGI for the alien greys have dated BADLY (even though Taken is only four years old).

However Taken has it's strongpoints in some of the cast members: Joel Gretsch was outstanding as the sociopathic US Army (later US Air Force) officer Owen Crawford and James McDaniel was notable as a crusty Black Project scientist. And Dakota Fanning was tolerable as the human-grey hybrid child, while Blair Witches' Heather Donahue was credible as the almost equally evil successor to her grandfather.

This series had it's good moments (the best scene was when Crawford's henchmen attempted to remove a alien tracker from somebody's brain, but it drives them insane and they kill each other) but there was far too much padding for it's own good and there were a few minor plots holes (why did the US Government want to pull the plug on a alien project? Why was the Black Project invested in the hands of the mostly nutty Crawford family for so long?).

In my mind the earlier seasons of The X-Files and even the other relatively shortlived derivative UFO series, Dark Skies, are better bets for UFO themed sci-fi thrillers (I heard that Dark Skies will be released on DVD in the near future).

[m112880]

Taken was good but yea not great. But for a tv minis series it was pretty good. Taken had decent ratings and really without taken we might not have had 4400.

[JonathanMS]

It was pretty good for a scifi drama. But throughout the whole thing I kept hoping their would be a big alien invasion or something to give as at least an action packed conclusion. Needless to say, that didnt happen.

[Lazarus]

I watched it when it was on UK tv, and enjoyed it a lot, though at the time I was only about 13. It had a few clever points, like the 'shooting down' of the UFO, which was actually a hallucination. I liked the black project scientist fellow at the time, but I can't find who played him (it wasn't James McDaniel - he was General Beers).

[Big Orange]

though at the time I was only about 13.

Then you're only 17 now...

I liked the black project scientist fellow at the time, but I can't find who played him (it wasn't James McDaniel - he was General Beers).

Looking up on Taken's info again, I think the chief Black Project scientist was Matt Frewer. Why did I get it mixed up?

Although most of Taken's cast was mostly made up of comparatively unknown B-listers, so getting the actor's names mixed up is understandable...

[2000AD]

I liked it, especially the Crawford family seemingly having an Evil Bastard/Bitch gene in them

Favourite scene has to be when Owen Crawford tries to kidnap Jacob (the first hybrid).

[Big Orange]

I liked it, especially the Crawford family seemingly having an Evil Bastard/Bitch gene in them

Favourite scene has to be when Owen Crawford tries to kidnap Jacob (the first hybrid).

I lloved the scene where a middle aged Owen Crawford in the early 1970s episode retches from a prolonged fatal heart attack then his young adult son, Eric Crawford, circles around him and taunts his dying father ("You've wet yourself..."), then Owen pops his clogs. I'm atill puzzled how Owen Crawford seized control of the UFO project from the weak Colonel Thomas Campbell in 1947, allowed his almost equally nasty offspring to inheret it and do so much damage for many decades without the rest of the US Government stepping in.

[2000AD]

I liked it, especially the Crawford family seemingly having an Evil Bastard/Bitch gene in them

Favourite scene has to be when Owen Crawford tries to kidnap Jacob (the first hybrid).

I lloved the scene where a middle aged Owen Crawford in the early 1970s episode retches from a prolonged fatal heart attack then his young adult son, Eric Crawford, circles around him and taunts his dying father ("You've wet yourself..."), then Owen pops his clogs.

Yeah. The series did seem to have a load of brilliant scenes in a sea of average.

I'm atill puzzled how Owen Crawford seized control of the UFO project from the weak Colonel Thomas Campbell in 1947, allowed his almost equally nasty offspring to inheret it and do so much damage for many decades without the rest of the US Government stepping in.

IIRC Eric blackmailed someone and his daughter only got in as a consultant until she could blackmail someone.

[Big Orange]

Yeah. The series did seem to have a load of brilliant scenes in a sea of average.

Yeah, and going back on the truly awsome scene where Crawford's AF men suddenly went deranged from the exposure to the tiny alien centepede extracted from Mr. Key's brain, that moment jarred with the overall saccharine tone that permeates Taken and I wonder how the quality of Taken would've improved if cut off twenty minutes off most episodes, spent less time among the Clarkes and concentrated more on the US Government's Black Project.

IIRC Eric blackmailed someone and his daughter only got in as a consultant until she could blackmail someone.

I missed that among the ponderous multi-episode padding, but Eric Crawford was a relatively sane person in comparison to his old man and his spawn.

[2000AD]

According to Wiki Eric blackmailed someone to get on the project and Mary was a scientist on the project before 'replacing' her father.

[Big Orange]

According to Wiki Eric blackmailed someone to get on the project and Mary was a scientist on the project before 'replacing' her father.

It seems ironic that the human Crawfords were by far the biggest monsters in Taken and the alien greys (represented by Dark Skies's Eric Close) seemed to come across as relatively benign, with most of the damage they did being indirect in nature. Also I've got word that Dark Skies will see a DVD release in the near future.