Actress Yami Gautam’s ‘A Thursday’ is getting some great reviews. The film has brought back the genre of hostage-thrillers in Bollywood. While the genre is quite popular in Hollywood, we rarely get to see that genre being explored in Hindi cinema that often.
So, if you've loved watching ‘A Thursday’, here are a few hostage-thrillers from the west which you might want to watch over the weekend:
Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
In this outstanding 1970s film, Al Pacino gave one of his best performances. He portrays Sonny Wortzik, a scared first-time robber who attempts to rob a bank to pay for his lover's sex-change procedure. It goes horribly wrong, resulting in a hostage crisis and a massive media incident. It is based on a true tale - the real-life Sonny and his accomplice Sal (played by John Cazale) formed a strong bond with the hostages, and the bank manager thought they were amusing. Pacino is a livewire throughout, cementing his status as one of Hollywood's finest actors.
Die Hard (1988)
It had to be at the top of the list, and it goes without saying that it is one of the best action movies of all time. A savvy NYPD detective takes on a building full of evil men in order to free a bunch of hostages, including his wife, cracking one-liners along the way. Alan Rickman (in his feature picture debut) nearly steals the show as diabolical genius Hans Gruber, and his linguistic sparring with McClane is hilarious throughout. From Arnie to Sly Stallone, nearly every action star in Hollywood turned down the part of John McClane until Bruce Willis made the dirty vest his own.
Misery (1990)
This is made from a Stephen King novel about a famous novelist named Paul Sheldon (James Caan) who is nursed back to health after a bad automobile accident by his number one admirer. Things take an unfortunate turn when she discovers that Sheldon is preparing to murder her favourite character in his upcoming novel. Misery is a sweat-inducing nightmare scenario, and Kathy Bates' depiction of the terrifying Annie Wilkes is a career peak. The legendary sledgehammer scene is enough to make anyone cringe - if you're brave enough to see it, here it is!
Speed (1994)
Homer Simpson refers to this film as ‘The Bus That Couldn't Slow Down’. Dennis Hopper, a genuinely insane man, places a bomb on a bus in Los Angeles that will detonate if its speed falls below 50 mph. It's up to hero officer Keanu Reeves to free the hostages on board, and he's aided by a fiery Sandra Bullock, who learned how to drive a bus for her role and passed her exam on the first try. Speed is a fantastic action-packed thriller, yet it's difficult to watch it without thinking about Dougal from the wonderful Father Ted spoof. The less said about the abomination that is the sequel, the better.
Taken (2008)
The movie reintroduced Liam Neeson as a ferocious action hero. He plays Bryan Mills, a former CIA man whose daughter (Maggie Grace) is kidnapped and used in a prostitution ring by some nasty Albanian thugs. They quickly discover that they have messed with the wrong man. Neeson himself predicted that the picture would be a box office flop, yet it was a major international success. His famous words to his daughter's abductor may have played a role in this.
