Ransom

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Ransom

R

1996

2h 0m

Mystery & Thriller

Action

Crime

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

72%

Tomatometer

72 Reviews

63%

Popcornmeter

100,000+ Ratings

Through a life of hard work, airline owner Tom Mullen (Mel Gibson) has amassed a great deal of wealth. When a group of criminals want a piece of his cash, they kidnap his son (Brawley Nolte) for a $2 million ransom. Encouraged by his wife (Rene Russo) and an FBI agent (Delroy Lindo), Tom prepares to pay the money, but the ransom drop goes awry. Enraged, Tom decides to turn the tables on the kidnappers by making the ransom a bounty on their heads -- which he announces on national television.

Critics Consensus

Directed with propulsive intensity by Ron Howard, Ransom is a fiery thriller packed with hot-blooded performances and jolting twists.

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Gene Siskel

Chicago Tribune

Jan 22, 2014

3/4

The special nature of this story is its many climaxes that border on false endings and also how Gibson's character responds to the ransom demand of $2 million.... it is Gibson who sells us on it and sells it well.

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Desson Thomson

Washington Post

Jan 22, 2014

There are more climaxes in here than in a Swedish blue movie. This is not to say you won't be thrilled, charged up and put through the ringer at times, but your intelligence will need to be shoved under your seat like warm, flat soda.

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Steven Rea

Philadelphia Inquirer

Jan 22, 2014

2.5/4

That's interesting stuff, but it doesn't play out with a lot of smarts. And the opportunity to end Ransom on a creepy note of unpredictability is forsaken for the usual glass-shattering, bullets-flying finale.

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Dan DiNicola

The Daily Gazette (Schenectady, NY)

Apr 10, 2026

C

As taut as their film may appear to be, it doesn't know when or how to release its energy. A slick, shallow movie.

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Rob Gonsalves

Rob's Movie Vault

Sep 1, 2022

C

The movie, quite unavoidably, becomes "Guys With Phones."

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Sheila Reid

Women in the Life

May 16, 2022

The result is a riveting 121 minute ride.

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Stoner J

@Stoner 4 days ago

One of the best thrillers of the 90s. Lots of awesome twists.

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Jacob W

@RT17896586 Oct 27, 2026

Directed with propulsive intensity by Ron Howard, Ransom is a fiery thriller packed with hot-blooded pertormances and jolting twists. This is a great movie with a Stella cast head Ed by Mel Gibson who relishes in the role. A real edge of your seat movie.

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Ryphxed A

@RT32475033 Sep 21, 2026

This movie was such a fun and thrilling watch. The phycological impact that getting a child taken from a parent was so well conveyed through the acting of the parents... truly great work. Towards the end of the movie, the anticipation grew so rapidly that I could barely focus on how much food I was eating. It's funny actually, because I had just boughten a few apples that afternoon, and by the end of the movie, I had nearly run out! Was it the film that was so good that I couldn't lost focus on how much I ate? Or were the apples just so tasty that without a concentrated conscious, I just couldn't stop eating? It could very well be that. Recently, I've been trying those green granny smith apples. They're alright, but they're not my first pick of fruit. To be honest, I've only started to eat more apples because of my high cholesterol, which I recently found out about. Scary stuff, but it runs in the family. I'm now trying to up my fiber intake, we'll see how it goes.

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Cinema S

@cinema_sensei Sep 14, 2026

I had a good time with this. The kidnapping setup creates some genuine tension, and Mel Gibson does a solid job carrying the movie as things keep getting more desperate. I also liked how the story keeps changing the situation instead of becoming a straightforward ransom thriller. It gets a little over-the-top at times, but overall, it’s an entertaining and worthwhile watch.

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Mickey B

@Mickerdoo Jul 29, 2026

I like the broadcast angle he takes. Definitely a twisting thriller with a lot of factors. But the subject matter isn’t very re-watchable.

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Evan H.

@RT39422729 May 30, 2026

Great movie. At least 2002 me thought so… want the roommate to watch it. She’s never seen it.

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Ron Howard

Director

Mel Gibson

Tom Mullen

Rene Russo

Kate Mullen

Gary Sinise

Det. Jimmy Shaker

Delroy Lindo

Agent Lonnie Hawkins

Lili Taylor

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Synopsis

Through a life of hard work, airline owner Tom Mullen (Mel Gibson) has amassed a great deal of wealth. When a group of criminals want a piece of his cash, they kidnap his son (Brawley Nolte) for a $2 million ransom. Encouraged by his wife (Rene Russo) and an FBI agent (Delroy Lindo), Tom prepares to pay the money, but the ransom drop goes awry. Enraged, Tom decides to turn the tables on the kidnappers by making the ransom a bounty on their heads -- which he announces on national television.

Director: Ron Howard
Producer: Brian Grazer, Kip Hagopian, Scott Rudin
Screenwriter: Cyril Hume, Richard Maibaum, Richard Price, Alexander Ignon
Distributor: Touchstone Home Video, Buena Vista Pictures
Production Co: Touchstone Pictures, Imagine Entertainment
Rating: R
Genre: Mystery & Thriller, Action, Crime, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 8, 1996, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 27, 2020
Box Office (Gross USA): $136.5M
Runtime: 2h 0m
Sound Mix: Surround

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