Ransom (1996)

When a rich man's son is kidnapped, he cooperates with the police at first but then tries a unique tactic against the criminals.

Director:

Ron Howard

Writers:

Cyril Hume (story), Richard Maibaum (story),

Stars:

Mel Gibson, Rene Russo, Brawley Nolte

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 3 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mel Gibson	...	Tom Mullen
Rene Russo	...	Kate Mullen
Brawley Nolte	...	Sean Mullen
Gary Sinise	...	Det. Jimmy Shaker
Delroy Lindo	...	Agent Lonnie Hawkins
Lili Taylor	...	Maris Conner
Liev Schreiber	...	Clark Barnes
Donnie Wahlberg	...	Cubby Barnes
Evan Handler	...	Miles Roberts
Nancy Ticotin	...	Agent Kimba Welch
Michael Gaston	...	Agent Jack Sickler
Kevin Neil McCready	...	Agent Paul Rhodes
Paul Guilfoyle	...	Wallace
Allen Bernstein	...	Bob Stone
José Zúñiga	...	David Torres (as Jose Zuniga)

Storyline

Tom Mullen is a millionaire, he built his fortune by working hard. Along the way he learned how to play the game. He has a great family. One day his son is kidnapped. He is willing to pay the ransom but decides to call in the FBI, who manages to go into his home secretly. When he goes to make the drop something goes wrong. The kidnapper calls him again and reschedules it. On the way Mullen decides not to go and appears on TV saying that the ransom he was going to give to the kidnapper is now a bounty on the kidnapper.

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Plot Keywords:

ransom | money | bounty | fbi | police | 

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Taglines:

Someone is going to pay.

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Genres:

Crime | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for graphic, bloody violence and strong language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 November 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

Kopfgeld

Filming Locations:

Bergen County, New Jersey, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$80,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

ITL 6,942,377,000 (Italy) (31 January 1997)

Gross:

$136,448,821 (USA) (11 April 1997)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Touchstone Pictures, Imagine Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

121 min 139 min (special edition)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (DuArt) Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ron Howard's first choice for the role of Jimmy Shaker was Alec Baldwin, who turned it down due to the sinister nature of the character as well as the film's theme of endangering a child.

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Goofs

While Mel Gibson's character was driving to the quarry, notice that the same store fronts keep passing by. The most obvious one would be the yellow sign or a few lights that keeping repeating. This was because they were just driving up and down one section of Route 4 in NJ.

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Quotes

Tom Mullen: [to Cubby who's] What is it? Come on, what is it? A name. I swear if you tell me, I'll make sure you get the best funeral there is.

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Crazy Credits

The opening Touchstone Pictures logo is in black and white.

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Connections

Featured in Tosh.0: The Average Homeboy (2010)

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Soundtracks

"Worms 1"
Written, Produced, and Performed by Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins
Billy Corgan appears courtesy Virgin Records USA

User Reviews

Good Thriller!

Good action thriller that actually gets better as the movie progresses.Good all around production and will satisfy most fans of this genre.Very good performance by Gibson.Could have been better if it had an even higher quality script.Not a typical average pop thriller.Has a good edge to it.Only for fans of the genre and for big fans of the lead actors......