Liam Neeson gave cinema’s most chilling speech 15 years ago today

One dad, a soul-shredding scream, and a daughter Taken – 15 years ago, this cued the greatest action movie monologue of all time. 

Kim (Maggie Grace) is dragged out from underneath the bed, shrieking “Daddy” and frantically, hysterically shouting descriptors of her kidnappers. Bryan (Liam Neeson) is powerless – sturdy, but tearful. He studiously takes note of every minute detail through her peril, her fear; the worst nightmare a parent could imagine. Then, from the clatter, a breath. He picks up the phone.

“I don’t know who you are. I don’t know what you want. If you’re looking for ransom, I can tell you I don’t have money… but what I do have are a very particular set of skills. Skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that’ll be the end of it – I will not look for you, I will not pursue you… but if you don’t, I will look for you, I will find you… and I will kill you.” 

“Good luck.”

Taken is 15 years old today

Even 15 years ago, Liam Neeson wasn’t necessarily a stranger to throwing down. He played an (uncredited) Delta Force commando, faced off against Darth Maul, commanded the League of Shadows and trained Batman. But a well-trodden path ended up being the star’s catapult into a new lease of fame: the one-man army movie. 

Taken sounds like your run-of-the-mill, mildly – if not severely – problematic actioner. In many ways, it is. But off the back of one scene, it transformed Neeson into a contemporary Charles Bronson: a no-nonsense (anti)hero that never minces his words.

Nobody remembers Taken for its risibly pointless sequels, and rarely do they consider the xenophobia not-so-subtly hidden within its kidnapping plot (as George Clooney says in Up in the Air, it stereotypes because it’s “easier”). Others may recall the toe-curling – and not in a good way – torture scene. But everyone, and I mean everyone, knows the speech.

It’s the moment the film switches gear, but that’s not the source of its rewatchability: it stands entirely on its own, everlasting as a time capsule of compact storytelling. The context is simple: she unknowingly led human traffickers to her apartment in Paris. But you don’t need it: all that matters is she’s over there, and he’s over here. 

20th Century Studios

“There’s someone here… oh my god, they got Amanda,” she cries over the phone as men barge into the flat, rendering a young woman child-like, desperate for her dad’s help. Bryan leaps into action, grabbing a briefcase with recording equipment and giving her swift instructions. Soon, she’s hiding under the bed.

Neeson’s acting is impeccable, as is the staging – but there’s reason it’s so harrowing: the whole sequence is predicated on an acceptance of fate before she’s taken. It’s a parent’s job to protect them from harm, or at least the idea they could be hurt – but not here. “Now, the next part is very important,” Bryan says, before closing his eyes. “They’re going to take you.”

When Kim eventually falls to the film’s title, Neeson’s performance is absolutely heartbreaking. He sits perfectly still, trembling at his daughter’s panic, trying to absorb as much information as he can as desperation floods his eyes. It’s an unimaginable situation made vividly, horrifically real.

Then comes the speech. A new authority comes to the fore, his power as a “preventer” is resurrected. It’s not a threat, per se, nor is it laced with macho arrogance – it’s merely a warning of the inevitable, and it could freeze ice.

The “Good luck” is the perfect endnote; a sinister, cocky taunt to guarantee a bloody, justified reckoning for these monsters. Anything more would give the villains more credence than they’re worth. We only care about one thing from this moment on: Bryan “tearing down the Eiffel Tower” to get his daughter back.

It’s immaculate and, importantly, unforgettable. The world will always heed the warning of “a very particular set of skills.”

Taken is available to stream on Netflix and buy or rent on-demand from Amazon Prime.

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