scotthumphries Yes, the popular opinion on this board is correct - despite some good acting (with what they had to work with, I mean), this film is rubbish. It's nothing you have not seen before except with prettier kids.Like another reviewer I only got it see Morgan Fairchild and Joan Van Ark, both of whom look good but have very small parts. Fairchild looks lovely but has only 3 scenes; Van Ark plays her standard quivering mother with a similar number of scenes - she does not even get to react to the "twist" at the end! As for Dennis Hopper, it's a part he could play in his sleep. Obviously this was one of those "pay the mortgage" films.To be fair though, some of the music on the soundtrack is okay.

suchenwi "Easy Rider" it of course isn't. It's not big cinema at all, just a low-budget TV film, which shows us an old Dennis Hopper, 45 years after his debut in Rebel Without A Cause. And in my opinion, not awful either (nor was I offended by realistic language).They didn't do chases, but I liked to see those propeller boats in the Everglades (also the dog race - things that aren't so often shown in movies). They did hardly do any action, it was mostly talk, but sometimes that is quite welcome to me - for a late-night mildly thrilling film. The psychology of kidnappers, victims, parents, and the internal conflicts in these groups were illustrated, more or less convincingly. Police didn't really achieve something, the kids basically took care of themselves. Witness the final voice-over.This film was sold in January 2009 with the German SFT magazine, together with "Finder's Fee". At 3.90 euro, I didn't think of it as a bad investment (and haven't seen the other film yet :^)

Jack the Ripper1888 A strait to video release, you have to give it some credit. HELD FOR RANSOM is based on the Lois Duncan novel and you can obviously tell that it is a low-budget film. But the fact that it was based on a book helped give it some more famous actors to star in the film. The film was a little suspenseful you have to admit, but I still don't understand why everyone hated this movie so. I mean, we get to see Tsianina Joelson strip down to her bra and panties. No, but seriously the film was pretty enjoyable for me. It is very realistic as to what some people might do in a hostage situation. It is somewhat different from the book as the film takes place in the sweltering Everglades and the book is in the icy cold mountains. I seriously didn't think it was that bad. HELD FOR RANSOM gets 4/5.

Rich-307 Held For Ransom starring Zachery Ty Bryan, Jordan Brower, and Randy Spelling, among others is set in the swamps of Florida. It centers around five high school students whose school bus is hijacked on the way home when they are the last of the passengers. The five teenagers taken off the bus, tied up, and taken deep into the swamps to a small house where they are to be held hostage. The kidnappers take an instant disliking to their male hostages. While the girls are untied, the three boys have their hands tied behind their backs the entire movie. The boys spend more than a few scenes locked in a small, hot shed. Bryan is even threatened with an alligator. The film has a basically good story. However, it is ruined by frequent use of foul language.