2hotFeature one of my absolute favorites!

Catangro After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Zlatica One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Francene Odetta It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

mstyles-624-399356 I watched this when it first came out.. Just watched the whole thing again.. I was surprised at how well, it stood up to the passage of time.. I don't know how much Spielberg actually had a hand in this, but it does carry much of his expert film making. Some of it, especially the early episodes, remind us original 'baby boomers' of the 'wonder ness' of those years. The fact it cover cult-decades, and several generations, it is extremely well put together. There is not a lot of special effects. But just enough at the right moments. It's more a human nature series. While we have gotten used to super fancy CGI effects, and razor fast, radical edits. I appreciated the pace of this very much.. Yes, some episodes are better than others. I didn't pay attention to who directed which episodes, but I did notice some difference. I think for the scope it covered, it is a well executes series.

schaudhurikol This series first came on TV when I was only 11 years old and I never missed a single episode. 10 years down the road I got my hands on the DVD. Believe me, watching it even after 10 years hasn't changed my mind. This series is one of the best I have ever watched(I have watched quite a lot of them). Don't watch it as a sci-fi with brilliant graphics. The human characters, their emotions, their complexities is what makes this series absolutely brilliant. In some sense it is quite dark when compared to The Close Encounters of The Third Kind or the E.T. Young Dakota Fanning is very good. I suggest TAKEN for everyone, provided you can watch it an open mind. Cheers Mr. Spielberg!

MrGKB ...it's small wonder that Steven "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial" Spielberg was the guy riding shotgun on this production, not to mention the wide range of acting, directing, and production talent who collaborated to bring this baby to fruition. Just to mention a few: exacting art direction by Chris "Minority Report" Gorak; stellar DP work from Joel "The X-Files" Ransom and Jonathan "Possible Worlds" Freeman; tight direction from the likes of Tobe "Invaders From Mars" Hooper, Jeremy "Roswell" Kagan, and numerous others with shows like "The X-Files," "Dark Angel," and "The Outer Limits" under their belts; effective special effects and make-up from the Dreamworks team; last but not least, some prime performances from a generation-spanning cast, capped off by an exquisite turn from rising star (pun fully intended), Dakota "I Am Sam" Fanning. All of these efforts build on the foundation of a well-structured script from Leslie Bohem, a writer who unfortunately has yet to be attached to a successful film beyond "A Nightmare on Elm Stree: Dream Warriors." I won't belabor the plot, other than to mention that it covers most all the bases in modern UFO mythology. The core of the tale is the various human (and alien) relationships that form over the course of the half century or so in which it unfolds, and for the most part these are handled very well indeed. Characterizations are consistent and believable within the context of the fantastical content, with only occasional lapses in logic beyond the obvious ones that afflict the genre (like, just how does the government keep a tight lid on a cover-up that involves hundreds if not thousands of personnel, but never mind, that takes the fun out of the telling of it). I watched it twice on DVD with a number of years between viewings, and liked it both times, particularly enjoying the precocious talents of Ms. Fanning.Probably the only real complaint I'd lodge would be against the typically Spielbergian, highly manipulative score by Laura Karpman. I think the show might have been all the more impressive without such overt plucking of heartstrings and sluicing of tear ducts.Regardless, "Taken" is a fine piece of work, very engaging, and if nothing else, helped propel Ms. Fanning into the ranks of acting stardom. Recommended to all fans of the genre.

Jeff Wayne I just finished watching this entire series and wanted to share some thoughts.The good:Much of the acting seems very natural and heartfelt.Dakota's narration really helps reinforce all the heartfelt acting including her own. Films that have also used narration well in the past really benefit from it. The Shawshank Redemption is a perfect example. I can't escape mentioning again just how heartfelt the acting is. There are many scenes where it doesn't even seem like acting and that it's a real person in that character just telling you how they feel or speaking of their trauma. I truly cherished all those great scenes where every word was spoke in earnest. If you enjoy really connecting emotionally with the characters in what you watch then I highly recommend this series. The bad:I found some of the non-verbal acting very unnatural. A prime example of this is early in episode 7 when it shows the one character playing drums. She looks so awkward and unnatural that I simply can't even pretend her character really is a drummer. Those types of non- dialogue scenes need to reinforce the character. Not devolve your belief in them.Some of the wigs and makeup is very bad and look extremely fake. I would expect more from something Spielberg was heavily involved with. I found the story was too scattered which weakened everything overall a little.