Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 05/01/2007 Rating: Nr
Steven Spielberg's alien abduction opus Taken is what happens when you cross-breed Close Encounters of the Third Kind with The Waltons. Obviously flushed with the success of the TV miniseries Band of Brothers, Spielberg's Dreamworks studio has created an equally epic 10-part story chronicling 50 years of habitual abduction over several generations of three American families. Beginning with the most notorious alien cover-up in U.S. history, the 1947 "crash" at Roswell, New Mexico, Taken introduces the "Greys" and the families they routinely abduct, probe, and, in a couple of cases, impregnate over the course of the ten 90-minute episodes. The three families are: the Keys, from which first Russell, then his son Jessie, then grandson Danny, are all abducted; the Clarkes, who are descended from a liaison between lonely put-upon housewife Sally Clarke and one of the Roswell crash survivors; and the Crawfords, the ruthless G-men who are committed to uncovering the purpose behind the alien visitations at any cost.

It's this question that forms the main thread of the story: but even though the Greys' actions are at best ambiguous and at worst hostile, the viewer can't help feeling that after all this systematic abuse of their human test subjects the aliens will in the end present them with a cure for cancer. In fact, Taken is Spielberg at his most touchy-feely: for all its science fiction trappings it's basically a soap opera, lacking the sinister undercurrent of either Dark Skies or The X-Files. Nevertheless, it's an engaging series with decent performances--most notably Joel Gretsch as psychotic Owen Crawford--good special effects, and an engaging enough storyline to make it entertaining, if somewhat disposable, TV. --Kristen Bowditch

Customer Rating:
Summary: One of the very best UFO stories.
Comment: This series is a solid hit. Well written and very well told through the use of some great talent. Call me I have the sequel.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: One of my all-time favorites
Comment: This is an excellent mini-series. An amazing and intriguing story covering 4 generations and three families starting with the Roswell crash to "modern day."

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Customer Rating:
Summary: watched it multple times
Comment: the only sink hole in the whole thing is when it shows that Lubbock, Texas has mountains in the background!!! That took a little credibility from this otherwise very entertaining DVD series. Maybe they will fix that in 10 or 15 years when the sequel is done!!! :D

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Engaging
Comment: This is a DVD series which our whole family looked forward to watching every night, as long as it lasted. The story is engaging and the acting is 1st rate, especially the original Air Force officer who ruthlessly maneuvers himself into a position to run the Alien project. The story line over this series meanders a bit but this series is definitely worth watching. I'm surprised no one mentioned that the last segment just sort of stops. There's no real ending, finale, or payoff. Also, I was hoping for more interaction with the aliens, like what makes them tick? Nevertheless, it was great to watch something on TV without all the usual cliches.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Suprisingly good television
Comment: I love sci-fi and this is an engrossing story. Actors performances are great and I like the way the mini-series gives us time to watch the characters develop and find out what makes them tick. There are some parts of this story that seem a bit long, but overall I found this to be a very interesting and and well made mini-series. I find story and character development much more important than a bunch of splashy special effects, but this series delivers on both counts. The special effects are believable and the characters draw you into the story. I would recommend this mini-series.

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