This well-made thriller harkens back to the gritty crime films of the 1970s. Bruce Willis plays Jeff Talley, a traumatized ex-LAPD hostage negotiator whose new career as small town sheriff doesn't turn out to be as restful as he had hoped; a hostage situation breaks out on "low crime Tuesday" and he is thrown right back into the business he knows all too well. Some punk kids have shot a cop and are holed up in a local mansion inhabited by crooked accountant Walter Smith (Kevin Pollak), his two kids, and a lot of surveillance cameras. Walter's young son (Jimmy Bennett) escapes his bonds and reports to Talley from the air shafts via his sister's cell phone. The sister--a Goth teen played by Michelle Horn--draws the romantic attention of Mars (Ben Foster), the pot-addled sociopath in the gang, thus adding a unique twist to the damsel-in-distress factor. Meanwhile, amid the buzzing helicopters and mobilizing S.W.A.T. teams, another group of bad guys has kidnapped Talley's wife and daughter, in order to force him to retrieve a secret disc in Walter's study. Florent Siri's efficient direction keeps the action flowing in unexpected directions while allowing for plenty of interesting procedural details and sly bits of humor. The score is ominous and the performances are strong, with Foster memorably creepy and Willis excellent as the frightened hero.

Theatrical Release: March 11, 2005

DVD Features:

Region 1
Keep Case
Audio:
Dolby Digital - English
Additional Release Material:
Deleted Scenes
Extended Scenes
Featurette - TAKING HOSTAGE - Behind The Scenes

Distributor Notes: Hostage

Action superstar Bruce Willis (SIN CITY, DIE HARD, UNBREAKABLE, THE SIXTH SENSE, ARMAGEDDON, PULP FICTION) powers a nail-biting thriller that crackles with action and suspense! When Jeff Talley (Willis) became chief of police in a sleepy town, he thought he'd left behind the traumas of his career as a big city hostage negotiator. But when a random crime escalates into a deadly standoff, Talley finds himself thrust into a situation far more volatile and terrifying than anything he could ever imagine! Also starring Kevin Pollak (THE USUAL SUSPECTS, THE WHOLE NINE YARDS), Jonathan Tucker (THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE), and Ben Foster (SIX FEET UNDER, THE PUNISHER), this acclaimed hit is based on the best-selling novel by Robert Crais.

Source: Buena Vista Home Entertainment

Bruce Willis: American Actor, THE SIXTH SENSE (1999)
Kevin Pollak: American actor, comedian
Jonathan Tucker: Actor/"Two If By Sea"
Serena Scott Thomas: Actress
Ben Foster: American Actor
Johnny Messner: Actor, ANACONDAS: THE HUNT FOR THE BLOOD ORCHID (2004)
Robert Armstrong: American Actor
Tina Lifford: American Actress
Marjean Holden: Actor
Kim Coates: Actor
Michelle Horn: Star, HOSTAGE (2005)
Jimmy Bennett: Actor, HOSTAGE (2005)

Florent Emilio Siri: French Director, THE NEST (2002)

Arnold Rifkin: Producer
Mark Gordon: Producer, "Hard Rain" et. al.: Hollywood executive
Bob Yari: Producer
Bruce Willis: American Actor, THE SIXTH SENSE (1999)
Richard D. Zanuck: Producer

Doug Richardson: SCREENWRITER

Alexandre Desplat: Composer

"HOSTAGE exemplifies taut, confident filmmaking. Bruce Willis draws upon the full measure of his strong physical presence, his intelligence and his considerable emotional resources held in reserve."
"[T]he film's vaguely haunted, melancholic European sense of displacement does our Bruno good."
"HOSTAGE is wonderfully nasty funny -- thanks to an authentic performance from Bruce..."