2K Replay: HOSTAGE

 by Adam Riske

Nominated for “Most Underrated Movie of the Year” at the Golden Schmoes Awards. It lost to Serenity.

• Best Scene/Moment (tie): The opening credits have some cool, Sin City-looking animation to it and the part where Bruce Willis tells Jonathan Tucker that he wants half of the stolen money and Tucker says “Half is gooooood” in a way where it sounds like he was possessed by Emperor Palpatine. It’s very funny.

• Best Song: There’s only one song called “Outta Here” by K.I.N.D. which I don’t remember in the movie and somehow isn’t even on YouTube so I’m not picking that and will default to Alexandre Desplat’s score, which is pretty good.

• Best Merch: A “Hostage - Bruce Willis Movie Chirashi Mini Poster Flyer Cinema Japanese #529” for $28.99. I like this mini poster because unlike the more serious/generic looking poster for American audiences, this one looks like Willis saying, “Hey kid, get off the phone!”

• Director Grade: Hostage was directed by Florent-Emilio Siri.
Great Movies: N/A
Good Movies: Hostage
OK Movies: N/A
Bad Movies: N/A
Unseen By Me: A Minute of Silence, The Nest, Intimate Enemies, My Way, French Cuisine, Elyas
Overall Grade: B

• Double It with This 2005 Movie: Assault on Precinct 13 (2005)

• Year 2005 Movies to Trailer Before Them: Harsh Times, Sin City, Transporter 2

• Never Talk to Strangers or Hostage? Tie.

• Mall Movie? I’m going to lean towards yes because this is a C-grade Bruce Willis action flick.

• Only in 2005: The bad guys keep threatening people over data downloaded onto a DVD. They’re all “We need that DVD!” which I’ve never heard before or since in a movie.

• Scene Stealer: Ben Foster.

• I Miss (tie): Bruce Willis and Ben Foster trying to out-crazy himself with every new performance.

• I Don’t Miss: Stressed/sweaty Jonathan Tucker performances. The set of Hostage must have been warm because multiple actors look distractingly flush. Either that or they all got food poisoning.

• 2005 Crush: Serena Scott Thomas.

• 2025 Crush: Serena Scott Thomas.

• What I Thought in 2005: I remember thinking Hostage was weird but in a way that was memorable and interesting. I expected something generic, and Hostage was not that.

• What I Think in 2025: I feel similarly to my take on it from twenty years ago. This is a strange movie, and it grew on me all over again as I watched it for only the second time. It feels less polished than a typical Bruce Willis vehicle but makes up for it by drawing outside the lines in a way something like Mercury Rising would not.