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Customer Reviews of Steven Spielberg Presents Taken

I was instantly hooked....
I was instantly hooked after watching the first episode of Stephen Spielbergs 10 part mini series Taken. A remarkable story about 3 families and their experiences with Aliens, which spans almost 50 years. Extradordinary writing, impressive special effects, and mostly strong performances from a cast of relative unknows. The best performances come from the adorable Dakota Fanning. This little girl gives a heartfelt, and moving performance as Allie Keys. Emily Bergl (Carrie 2: The Rage) also gives a strong, emotional peformance as Allie mother. Other noteworthy performances come from Adam Kaufman as Charlie and Joel Gretsh as Owen Crawford. There are a few things that bothered me which is why I gave it only 4 stars. Heather Donahue(Blair Witch Project girl) is absolutley atrocious, and she almost made me fast forward her scenes. Unbearable. Matt Frewer is also terrible, and way over the top, and his comedic skills are way out of place. Overall, the story was amazing, and I loved how the three families were all connected and the writer did a wonderful job at not confusing the audience, which could have happened in a 14 hr mini series. I definetly reccomend Taken. You won't be able to wait to see what happens next.

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Carried Away !
Hi everybody 'out there',

I hardly watch series on television. Still, for a period of ten weeks the Steven Spielberg-event 'Taken' -broadcasted on BBC 2- got me hooked! The topic of 'alien abduction' might be a very tricky one, but fact and fiction were handled satisfactory. The idea to depart from a well known historical event -the Roswell case in 1947- and to relate this to the story of three families, spanning more than three generations and more than 50 years of American history, is simply great. As I watched the series I saw the unfolding of a fascinating beautiful story (with several milestones of history looming in the background) while at the same time I could easily relate to the three portrayed families, as if I was watching my favourite soap opera. It was good drama, offering not only fascinating weird stuff and people (alien abductions, spacecrafts, genetic engineering, mad scientists, the obsessive nature of the Crawford family), but also the joy and the burden that goes well with relationships: love, friendship, romance, betrayal and adultery.

The characters were a real treat. Very entertaining! And who could expect otherwise? A plot dealing with alien abduction will always invite some weirdo's to arrive on the scene sooner or later.

Script-writer Leslie Bohem did a great job. I think we owe it much to Bohem's contribution that 'Taken' is a compelling, fascinating, coherent and consistent fifteen hour television show. An immense effort! Also much praise for Dakota Fanning's fantastic and sometimes deeply moving performance. In the last four episodes she plays the bright, intelligent 9 year old girl Allie Keys. She was absolutely brilliant!

Throughout the story Allie also appears in a 'narrative role', reading her thoughts from her diary, pondering on the "how's" and "why's" of daily behaviours and human fate. I liked her comments on 'human endeavours'. This 'narrative element' -handled with care by Leslie Bohem- worked really fine for me.

As her name 'Allie Keys' already suggests, Allie is the strange key figure of the drama. Although Allie looks and acts 'human' in every way, she has a unique genetic makeup: she's a mixture of human and alien DNA. This mix of DNA makes her more than the sum of its parts: it endows her with superhuman powers. She can manipulate time and she can manifest thought, among other things. For the aliens she becomes 'an unqualified success', representing the next step in their evolution. In order to create someone like Allie, abducting and researching people was necessary. Achieving this goal seems to be their number one priority and they don't seem to care much about the 'collateral damage' they inflict on their human victims for many decades. Three successive generations of the Crawford family -in charge of a secret USA-government/army-project concerning alien abductions- are unceasingly trying to understand the aliens' intentions.

In the end the aliens' experiment turns out to be very meaningful for humankind as well. Allie's innate goodness as well as the use of her powers for the benefit of people around her transforms those people's lifes. In this regard Allie shows characteristics of a messianic figure. Like almost all messianic figures Allie passes through a severe crisis, a period of retreat -in this case a coma that blocks her off from normal human conditions and surroundings- before she can face up her new mission and destiny. People that have been 'touched' by her 'good works' will eventually gather and become her followers/admirers before she 'takes off'. The last two episodes manifest strong religious elements. A lot of events seem to refer to the biblical New Testament. Let me name a few:
*the 'supernatural' way -via alien, non-human intervention- in which Allie is conceived, resembling the 'divine intervention' prior to the birth of Christ
*the alien John -Allie's great-grandfather- comes as a 'messenger', reminding Allie of her destiny, as -likewise- John the Baptist did for Christ
*Allie's uncle Tom Clarke becomes a 'believer' after years of disbelief and scepticism towards alien abduction. In a way Tom resembles the apostle Thomas who eventually becomes a believer in the message of Christ
*before she leaves, Allie frees her followers-admirers of tracking devices put in their heads by aliens, devices that have ruined most of their lives. In this scene Allie's admirers bleed out of their noses, as if they all in fact spill their blood for Allie... a variation on Jesus' Last Supper with his Apostles?
*there's the betrayal-denial of Allie after she has left with the aliens: when interrogated by a soldier, one of Allie's most fervent admirers -a man whose life was transformed by her- denies that he knew her, just like the apostle Peter denied Christ in a very similar situation
*after Allie has left with the aliens her mother Lisa is convinced that her daughter will return to Earth again, just like Christ is believed to do so (or do Lisa's words here only refer to the possibility of a sequel of 'Taken'?)
*the close of the last episode shows 'believer' Tom Clarke handing over Allie's diary to her mother Lisa, the book with Allie's thoughts on humanity. To me this seemed like referring to 'the Gospel of Allie' that's left behind for the benefit of mankind

I don't have a clear opinion about alien abductions (How could I? So far, I've never been abducted), but I do believe there's more out there beyond the sky. The universe with its billions of stars is simply too big to have only room for us. But we'll probably never find out about this. What really matters is to keep in mind Allie's 'last thoughts' at the close of the final episode: it's more important to keep asking questions than knowing all the answers. While I am writing this, the dvd-box has not been released yet, but I already look forward to give 'Taken' a re-run on my dvd-player.

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Series finale compensates for the flaws.
The series is a power-mix of everything UFO-Alien, it borrows heavily, and sometimes just steals ideas from Close Encounters, E.T., Independence Day, X-Files, 50's sci-fi movies, history and more. But don't expect to see many aliens, it's more about humans, and that is why it works. At first, I wasn't sure. But after the first two chaptes, I was hooked. I found a big flaw in the transition and aging of characters from chapter to chapter for two reasons, incompatible casting from child/teen to adult characters and not very convincing makeup. Also the way some key characters are eliminated from the plot is almost cartoonish. Very good performance by Joel Gretsch as the relentless Owen Crawford, and I found an interesting performace by Matt Frewer as the sarcastical and witty Dr. Chet Wakeman. But the best is cute, little Dakota Fanning, she steals the show. I hope Spielberg has more projects in mind for her potential tallent. 3/4 of the way the series starts to deviate dangerously, but falls back on track to a rewarding ending. Overall the series is very good. Highly recommended.