A Discussion of my Favourite Films

A Discussion of my Favourite Films:

TAKEN:


There are many films that I have seen and enjoyed, it is incredibly hard to try and pick a film that I can call my favourite. I enjoy watching films that keep me on edge and engaged, most action and adventure films grasp my interest but only if they have a good story line. I don't find sci-fi or fantasy that interesting as i get distracted and drawn away from it. 

Taken, released in 2008,  starring Liam Neeson and Maggie Grace is my favourite film, I have watched it over and over again, for me it does not get boring and will entertain me for a long time. Being an action adventure / thriller / crime film, it has quite a simple story line but the director has made this basic story line into a wonderful film.

A brief description of the plot is an retired CIA agent travels around Europe in order to try and rescue his daughter. She has been kidnapped whilst on a girls holiday in France. He has to rely on many of his old skills in order to attempt to rescue her.

The opening sequence to the film is unconventional, it is not all fast and action filled. Instead it starts by making you wonder who the young girl is and why the man is watching the videos of her birthday. It engages the audience as it makes them have to watch some more of the film to find this information out. It is also personal, as the video footage that is being shown is filmed on a hand held camcorder. Most of us are able to relate to this as our parents, or maybe even us, have recorded or been recorded at such event like a birthday or Christmas.

The most famous line and the most well known quote from the film occurs just after Kim Mills (Maggie Grace) is 'taken'. This is a clip of the most famous line in the film and the most remembered moment.
The response from the man that is currently unknown at the other end of line, sets the tone for the film and you from that point can tell how determined Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) is to save his daughter. The voice of the man is also very distinctive and therefore it sticks in peoples minds.

Taken is conventional for an action film as it is fast and there is a lot going on at one time. There is a car chase and lots of violence too. However the crime side it is unconventional is doesn't have the normal detective in a uniform, instead it uses the father of the daughter. This has many effects it makes it more personal and as the audience you are automatically on the side of Bryan Mills to get his daughter back. The film has been nominated for 3 awards in the past and has successfully won one of these three. They later released Taken 2 which is the sequel to Taken, this tells you that the film must have been a great hit and they were excited to continue the story line on further.

 The director of the film is Pierre Morel, he has a history of producing action films. You can find more information about him on my page all about him and what he has achieved.


SAFE HAVEN:

Another film that I could say is one of my favourites is Safe Haven, it is quite a recent film and I can remember going to the cinema to watch it. It is a little out of the ordinary and there are not many films that are like it. The genre is a mix between mystery, drama and romance. I do not normally enjoy romance films unless they are ROM-COM's however this is a fantastic film that I would suggest everyone watches. It is definatley a romance film as it is written by the author of The Notebook and it was directed by Lasse Hallström who also directed Dear John. It has been nominated for 5 awards and won 2 of these, having only been released in March 2013 this is a brilliant achievement.

It has a cast that is well known and this film just emphasises their acting talent. The main characters in the underlying romance side of the story are Julianne Hough who plays the role of Katie and Josh Duhamel who plays the role of the local lad Alex. The plot and story line is very unique and a the twist at the end of the film makes the whole film make sense. The plot in brief; A young lady turns up in a small town in North Carolina, everyone is unsure of her past and her history. She was reluctant to let anyone know about her but then slowly lowers her guard, this is because she falls in love with the owner of the general store, Alex, who has two young children. She also falls in love with the town and finds it extremely hard to leave as she has set roots there. However something comes to haunt her and all of her past is revealed. It is an emotional roller coaster of a film with many twists and turns that you do not expect.

The opening sequence of the film is engaging as it ensures the audience continues to watch the film to find out what has happened. Why is there a lady running? It gives the audience a lot of questions to try and answer. There is only one way of which there could to find the response, to watch the entire film. The opening sequence is very dramatic and fits all the conventions of a drama movie or scene. Someone running away but you do not know why, she has no shoes on and is carrying a plastic bag, this is not a normal way for any film to open, you do not have any idea where it is set or any idea who the person is.

These two films are the two that I consider to be my favourite however it was incredibly hard to narrow down, Inception (2010) is a very clever film. I appreciate older films such as The Blues Brothers, The Terminator and Pulp Fiction. There are hundreds of thousands of films and I have only seen a few.