Child torture and gratuitous gore from the man who brought us A Beautiful Mind? You'd better believe it. The Academy may be suckers for a mathematical mentalist, but make no mistake - this gripping story of a millionaire who offers the ransom for his stolen sprog as a bounty on the kidnappers' heads remains Ron Howard's finest directorial outing. Dangerous, tense and even surprising, Ransom pays off richly thanks to some taut direction and a central performance of real passion and intensity from Mel Gibson.
DVD Extras:
Director's commentary, two featurettes, deleted scenes, trailer.Howard's commentary is intermittent but engaging as he proffers a nice mix of behind-the-scenes banter, personal perspectives and technical insight. The featurettes cover much the same ground - but with the added bonus of Gibson clowning around, Rene Russo wittering about her pantyhose and Ron chipping in with an excellent Jimmy Stewart impersonation.
