Who doesn’t love some Mel Gibson? He is such a talented actor and 1996’s Ransom may be one of the best Mel Gibson performances ever! I watched this when it first came out and I am sure I saw it again after that. However, I recently watched Ransom for what has to be the first time in like 20 years and I actually liked it more than I remembered and I did remember liking this.
How to Download Ransom
Ransom was released on November 8, 1996. You can download or stream the film from a digital platform. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and make your choice. If you like Mel Gibson, check him out in Braveheart, The Passion of the Christ, Apocalypto, or Hacksaw Ridge.
The Movie Review
This movie is directed by Ron Howard and I think you could easily make the argument that it was unlike anything else that Ron Howard had done before. I am a massive fan of Ron Howard and while many people love Ransom. For me, I do think this is one of his more forgotten and underrated movies as it is one that you never hear brought up these days. To be fair, Ron Howard has directed so many movies, that it is easy to forget some of them.
Mel Gibson is our lead and he plays the role of a businessman called Tom Mullen. Tom is super rich and he, his wife Kate, and their son Sean are attending a science fair. Sean ends up going missing with his parents, Tom and Kate, and it is soon revealed that he has been kidnapped. That right there is the setup for what is to come and it is really cool how quickly the movie gets to this point.
Twists and Turns in the Plot
A ransom is agreed and Tom is willing to pay it in order to get his son back. However, Ransom has a very clever twist in that Tom turns the tables on the kidnappers. When the first trade off goes wrong. Tom decides that he is not going to pay the ransom, instead, he is going to take that two million dollars and use it as a bounty on the head of the kidnappers so that he can get his son back!
It is a very ballsy and risky move for Tom to take, but also kind of brilliant as it ensures that the kidnapper can not trust anyone around them. Which by the way is more than a few people! The person behind the kidnapping is not exactly who you expect and until we know for sure, Ransom hits us with many twists and turns along the way.
A Strong Ensemble Cast
A huge part of what makes Ranson such a great movie is the casting. I will start by saying that this movie has a great cast with Rene Russo, Gary Sinise, Live Schreiber, Delroy Lindo, and New Kid Donnie Wahlberg to name a few. Each and every actor in this movie brings their A game and makes you believe in everything that they say and do.
This rings especially true for our star, Mel Gibson. He plays the panicked father so well, but he has a cold-as-ice determination about him as well. I am a big Mel Gibson fan and I have to say, after watching Ransom again, I feel that Tom Mullen is one of the best performances he has ever given. He is still a badass, but he is a dad first and foremost, a dad that is willing to do whatever it takes to get his son back.
Final Thoughts
Ransom is one of those movies that I always held in high regard, but after watching this again for the first time in many years, I can hand on my heart say that this is a great movie. It is thrilling, and exciting and has so many great performances. I do think the fact that I had forgotten a lot of what had happened probably helped with how exciting I found the movie. So with that being said, it may not have the same impact if I were to watch it again in the next year or so.
