Surprisingly incoherent and boring

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

'The Terrorists' or also known as elsewhere in the world as 'Ransom' as i recall it being titled from the television showing i watched many years ago, Sean Connery stars in this Co-Production as a Scandinavian police chief(in typical Connery tradition has a Scottish accent!) who is called in to end the terrorists siege at an airport carried out by a gang of suit-clad Englismhmen led by the charismatic Ian McShane. His mission is complicated further when a second hostage situation arises at the nearby residence of the British Ambassador. 'Ransom' is an enjoyable and well acted potboiler which sadly remains underrated but fear not as it is readily available on DVD.

In the generally peaceful country of Norway some terrorists have grabbed the British ambassador and are holding him for Ransom. What they want is some of their compatriots released from British prisons. When that doesn't happen, an airliner is hijacked and landed at Oslo airport and the Norwegians have two hostage dramas going simultaneously.Sean Connery plays the Norwegian head of what would be the equivalent of their Delta Force team. Dealing with one situation is bad enough, but dealing with two at the same time can strain anyone's nerves. Connery as always is the good tough action hero. His opposite number is Ian McShane who heads the team of hijackers on the plane. They're evenly matched, but it seems like McShane is almost too good at what he does. Connery continually remarks about the professionalism shown. Of course there's a reason for that, but I can't give that away lest you want to see Ransom.The surprise ending in Ransom doesn't make up for a very sloppy script. We never do find out exactly who these terrorists are and what they're beef with the establishment is. Ransom is like a made for TV film that someone decided on the strength of Sean Connery's name would do well on the big screen instead. It barely made a ripple when released, but by that time Sean Connery was a big enough star so that a mediocre film didn't really hamper his career.

I bought this movie only because I was curious what would Sean Connery do in Swedish movie... Well, it turned out to be British movie filmed in Norway, but the story takes place in Sweden. But that wasn't the big surprise...After watching "Ransom" I was really surprised that I've never heard of this movie, because it was really good - intelligent, surprising and entertaining - what more could you expect from a thriller?? I was even more surprised when I saw how low the rates are in IMDb - perhaps some people were expecting lots of explosions and car chases, but instead it is brilliantly handled thriller which really worked for me :)

This film is also called The ransom, not to be confused with the mild action film with Mel Gibson.The film set in the Scandinavian country (called Scandinavia in the movie, while it is shot in Norway), the snow atmosphere and the heavily dressed characters somehow dictated the slowness of the pace in the movie. Nevertheless, it's exciting. The whole look is not your conventional Hollywood actioner, while at the same time deserves the same class as that of the late sixties/early seventies crime/caper movies like Bullit, French Connection, Taking Pelham One, Two and Three and Dirty Harry. Connery is fun to watch. He really adds to the atmosphere of the movie and the relatively tame climax looks good with his presence. Good movie. 7/10