By Lauren Ferri
Taken (2008)
Bryan (Liam Neeson) is a retired government agent who left the CIA to be close to his 17-year-old daughter Kim (Maggie Grace) in California. Bryan reluctantly agrees to let Kim travel to Paris with her friend Amanda. After arriving in Paris, the girls share a cab with a chivalrous stranger named Peter, as Amanda lets it slip that the two girls are alone in Paris. Following this information an Albanian gang of human traffickers kidnaps the girls. Bryan's only lead is a short snippet of a conversation when Kim phones him in distress, briefly talking to one of the kidnappers. With this information Bryan is able to identify the origin of the speaker and the gang he identifies with, promising to kill the kidnappers if they don't let Kim go free. The kidnapper wishes him 'good luck', and with only 96 hours to find his daughter he rushes to France to find her, showing everyone that he will stop at nothing to get his daughter back.
The Collector (1965)
Freddie Clegg (Terence Stamp) is a socially withdrawn bank clerk and butterfly collector. Freddie stalks, kidnaps and imprisons a young art student, Miranda Grey (Samantha Eggar) after following her in his van. He consequently chloroforms her and puts her in a windowless stone cellar equipped with a bed, some furnishings and a heater. Much like his love for butterflies, he loves Miranda and treats her as one of his specimens. She is surprised that he is not looking for ransom money or to hurt her; he respects Miranda's wishes except the wish of letting her go. She tries her best to escape while maintaining her safety in the precarious position of being captive.
Liam Neeson in Taken.
Fargo (1996)
In 1987, Minneapolis car salesman Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macy) is desperate for money. He hires two men to kidnap his wife to receive ransom from his wealthy father-in-law and boss. From the moment of the kidnappings, things go wrong and what was meant to be a non-violent affair turns bloody. Blood is shed when a police officer and two innocent people are killed. Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand) is seven months pregnant and is hired to investigate the homicides.
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
A psychopath under the name 'Buffalo Bill' is kidnapping and murdering young women, skinning the corpses. Agent Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) is pulled from her training and sent by the FBI to interview a psychopathic prisoner, who may be able to provide psychological insight and clues to the killer's actions. The prisoner is a former psychiatrist, Dr Hannibal Lecter, an incarcerated cannibalistic serial killer, who will help Starling only if she feeds into his curiosity with details about her personal life. The relationship forces Starling to confront her own psychological demons and leads her to a confrontation with a terrifying killer.
Ransom (1996)
Tom Mullen (Mel Gibson) is a millionaire and built his fortune by working hard. While he attends a science fair with his wife, their son Sean is kidnapped. Tom receives an e-mail from the killersdemanding $2 million. Willing to pay the ransom, Tom calls the FBI who begin operating from his New York City penthouse. Detective Shaker of the NYPD is the mastermind behind the kidnapping. After things go wrong with handing over the money, Tom goes on the news, offering the ransom as a bounty for the kidnapper. This step changes the kidnapper's plans.