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Taken poster

Movies that feel likeTaken (2008)

Bryan Mills, a former government operative, is trying to reconnect with his teenage daughter Kim. After reluctantly agreeing with his ex-wife to let Kim go to Paris on vacation with a friend, his worst nightmare comes true. While on the phone with his daughter shortly after she arrives in Paris, she and her friend are abducted by a gang of human traffickers. Working against the clock, Bryan relies on his extensive training and skills to track down the ruthless gang that abducted her and launch a one-man war to rescue his daughter.

If you loved Taken, the closest films we have are Live Free or Die Hard (2007), Unstoppable (2010) and True Lies (1994). All three share Taken's kinetic and tense feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Atomic Blonde (2017).

🍅 60% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.7 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Pierre Morelkinetictense
12 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Amazon Prime Video

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See it on the Mood Map

If Taken hit the spot, these will too

Looking for the series itself? Also in this series: Taken 2 (2012) · Taken 3 (2014)

Live Free or Die Hard poster
Live Free or Die Hard
2007 · dir. Len Wiseman
🍅 82%★ 7.1action · thrillerHulu

An old-school hardcase out-toughing a smarter enemy

The difference: Nationwide cyber stakes — the personal mission gets diluted

John McClane is back and badder than ever, and this time he calls on the services of a young hacker in his bid to stop a ring of Internet terrorists intent on taking control of America's computer infrastructure.

Unstoppable poster
Unstoppable
2010 · dir. Tony Scott
🍅 87%★ 6.8action · thriller

A race against the clock with ordinary lives on the line

The difference: No villains at all — the enemy is a runaway train

When a massive, unmanned locomotive roars out of control, the threat is more ominous than just a derailment. The train is laden with toxic chemicals, and an accident would decimate human life and cause an environmental disaster. The only hope of bringing the train to a safe stop is in the hands of veteran engineer Frank Barnes, and young conductor Will Colson, who must risk their lives to save those in the runaway's path. Inspired by true events.

True Lies poster
True Lies
1994 · dir. James Cameron
🍅 77%★ 7.3action · thrillerRent or buy

A secret agent's deadly skills crashing into family life

The difference: Plays it for laughs — a comedy where Taken is dead serious

A fearless, globe-trotting, terrorist-battling secret agent has his life turned upside down when he discovers his wife might be having an affair with a used car salesman while terrorists smuggle nuclear war heads into the United States.

No Escape poster
No Escape
2015 · dir. John Erick Dowdle
🍅 46%★ 6.8thriller · actionPrime Video

A father clawing his family out of sudden foreign danger

The difference: He's helpless, not lethal — dread replaces competence porn

In their new overseas home, an American family soon finds themselves caught in the middle of a coup, and they frantically look for a safe escape in an environment where foreigners are being immediately executed.

Nobody poster
Nobody
2021 · dir. Ilya Naishuller
🍅 83%★ 7.4action · thrillerPeacock

Kinetic where it counts, tense underneath

Hutch Mansell, a suburban dad, overlooked husband, nothing neighbor — a "nobody." When two thieves break into his home one night, Hutch's unknown long-simmering rage is ignited and propels him on a brutal path that will uncover dark secrets he fought to leave behind.

Atomic Blonde poster
Atomic Blonde
2017 · dir. David Leitch
🍅 79%★ 6.7action · thrillerPrime VideoMax

Action with a pulse of momentum, in both cases

An undercover MI6 agent is sent to Berlin during the Cold War to investigate the murder of a fellow agent and recover a missing list of double agents.

From Paris with Love poster
From Paris with Love
2010 · dir. Pierre Morel
🍅 37%★ 6.4action · crime · thriller

Same director, same Paris underworld, double the gunfire

The difference: A buddy romp — the father's desperation is nowhere in it

James Reese has a good job as an ambassador's aid in France, but his real passion is a side gig—working in a minor role in the CIA. He would love to be a full-fledged agent and can't believe his luck when he lands an assignment with Charlie Wax. Trigger-happy Charlie soon has James crying for his desk job, but when he learns that the same guys they're trying to catch are after him, James realises that Charlie may be his only hope of survival.

The Gray Man poster
The Gray Man
2022 · dir. Joe Russo
🍅 45%★ 6.5action · thrillerNetflix

An ex-CIA man hunted hard and hitting back harder

The difference: Overstuffed streaming gloss — the lean urgency gets lost

When a shadowy CIA agent uncovers damning agency secrets, he's hunted across the globe by a sociopathic rogue operative who's put a bounty on his head.

Safe House poster
Safe House
2012 · dir. Daniel Espinosa
🍅 52%★ 6.7action · thrillerNetflixStarz

A capable man betrayed by the system he served

The difference: Spy-game murk — no daughter, no clean moral through-line

A dangerous CIA renegade resurfaces after a decade on the run. When the safe house he's remanded to is attacked by mercenaries, a rookie operative escapes with him. Now, the unlikely allies must stay alive long enough to uncover who wants them dead.

The Bourne Legacy poster
The Bourne Legacy
2012 · dir. Tony Gilroy
🍅 56%★ 6.6action · thrillerNetflixStarz

A trained operative on the run with agency machinery behind him

The difference: Cerebral franchise upkeep — it forgets to be thrilling

New CIA operative Aaron Cross experiences life-or-death stakes that have been triggered by the previous actions of Jason Bourne.

Escape Plan poster
Escape Plan
2013 · dir. Mikael Håfström
🍅 50%★ 6.7action · thrillerPrime VideoStarz

An expert using every skill he has to beat an impossible setup

The difference: A prison puzzle, not a rescue — the pulse stays slower

Ray Breslin is the world's foremost authority on structural security. After analyzing every high security prison and learning a vast array of survival skills so he can design escape-proof prisons, his skills are put to the test. He's framed and incarcerated in a master prison he designed himself. He needs to escape and find the person who put him behind bars.

Olympus Has Fallen poster
Olympus Has Fallen
2013 · dir. Antoine Fuqua
🍅 49%★ 6.5action · thrillerPrime Video

One determined man inside, hostages out of reach, no backup

The difference: Flag-waving siege bombast — subtlety is the first casualty

When the White House (Secret Service Code: "Olympus") is captured by a terrorist mastermind and the President is kidnapped, disgraced former Presidential guard Mike Banning finds himself trapped within the building. As the national security team scrambles to respond, they are forced to rely on Banning's inside knowledge to help retake the White House, save the President and avert an even bigger disaster.

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The best-reviewed films that share Taken’s defining feeling.